Moving Sri Lanka: thoughts of a traveler

Published on By Flying Squirrel Vacations

Five of us, friends since elementary school, decided to celebrate our 70th birthday^th year in style with nine days of conviviality. We chose Sri Lanka and Flying Squirrel Holidays put together our itinerary and travel arrangements. Sri Lanka, although in many ways similar to parts of South India, has a lot to offer: It has natural beauty, ancient history, truly impressive Buddhist temples, stupas and statues, colonial ports, buildings and churches, hills, lush forests, and stunning beaches and seascapes.

It also offers a range of excellent hotels with amazing spreads, clean air, polite people and orderly traffic. There is something for everyone! What was also very encouraging was that our interlocutors seemed confident about the future under the leadership of Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People’s Power (NPP). They came to power after the overthrow of Rajapaksa in 2022, after the government announced it was defaulting.

Reach Sri Lanka and get started instantly

Although we left Kolkata before dawn to catch our connecting flight in Chennai, we drove to our hotel, dropped off our bags and were ready to make the most of the day. After a delicious Sri Lankan lunch, we headed to the Gangaramay Temple in the heart of the city.

What impressed me most about this Buddhist temple and museum were the rows of Buddhas, seated in neat lines, walking towards the spire. We explored the large grounds and admired the statutes and artifacts, including a sculpture of the Buddha on a grain of rice, visible only with a magnifying glass. Next we visited Seema Malaka which rests on a floating platform on a nearby lake. Although close, the two temples could not have been more different in terms of style and ambiance. While Gangaramay was crowded, Seema Malaka was serene, minimalist and open, lending a charm to the water body.

Crabs and clandestine meetings

Two of the more intrepid of our five trooped to the Ministry of Crab, a renowned Sri Lankan dining experience famous for the delicate preparation of the enormous crabs it serves. While our two guests relished the experience, the rest of us happily had crab legs, excellent fish preparations, and enjoyed many other types of seafood throughout the trip.

Before leaving Colombo, we visited the Mount Lavinia Hotel, built in 1806 as the governor’s residence. We heard about the romance between the British governor, Sir Thomas Maitland, and a local woman, Lovina. We entered the tunnel he built between a disused well near Lovina’s house and the wine cellar at the governor’s mansion. I’m sure their clandestine trysts made their affair even more attractive.

Dambulla Cave Temple and Geoffrey Bawa Masterpieces

The next day we went to Dambulla, as one of my friends and I wanted to see the Buddhist caves which developed from the first century BC until the 18th century. Although I had visited the caves before to experience their quiet majesty, intricate paintings, and multitudes of Buddhist statues, they once again took my breath away. The caves are some of the most impressive sites I have ever seen and I have traveled extensively around the world.

From this spiritual and historical site, we headed to the very contemporary Kandilama Hotel designed by the incredibly famous Geoffrey Bawa. This hotel, nestled in the middle of a forest with a view of a huge lake which borders the property, is a masterpiece of design. Bawa, brings together nature and stone in a monumental and inspiring communion, to create a truly sublime space for visitors.

After discovering Kandilama, we visited his estate – Lunuganga – which is an exclusive getaway in Bentota. We took a tour of his garden which was once a rubber and cinnamon plantation and which also sits on the edge of a lake which flows into a river. On this property, he not only built beautiful interior spaces, but also “designed” several of the massive trees on his property. He built walls around the towering mahogany tree so the roots formed what looked like a curtain above the ground. He used and transformed found objects to blend into the landscape with exquisite environmental sensitivity.

A Temple of the Sacred Tooth and a Kingdom of Kandy

In Kandy, we particularly enjoyed our visit to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth as it was a day when the shrine was open and devotees flocked there to offer flower garlands, artistically arranged flower-filled trays and boxes of straw flowers to the deity.

From Kandy we traveled a long distance to Anuradhapura, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Anuradhapura. Although there is much to see, Thuparamay Temple, the oldest Buddhist temple founded in the third century BC, was of great historical significance, and the massive gardens and impressive stupa at Ruwanwelisaya were truly impressive. The level of engineering required to construct the stupa is mind-boggling.

Boat rides and beach time

We spent our last few days exploring Galle, taking a boat ride on the Madu River where we visited a small cinnamon island and relaxing on the beach. Even our swim at the beach near Bentota was amazing. I spotted a number of small turtles sharing the waves with me. They seemed as joyful as I was in the warm water gliding with the gentle waves.

Before our trip ended, we stopped at a roadside stall where we bought some Sri Lankan souvenirs, did some shopping in Colombo and managed to have tea at the very elegant Galle Face Hotel, one of the oldest hotels east of Suez. It was established in 1864. We sipped tea while the waves crashed against the hotel’s boundary wall, enjoyed the vast ocean view, and felt the foam spray over us.

Our vacation went off without a hitch and even the weather surprised us. Even though it was monsoon, we didn’t have a single rainy day, but we enjoyed clear skies which made our visit perfect.

Thank you Flying Squirrel for organizing our trip and taking care of every detail for us. Sri Lanka, although small, is truly a gem with something for everyone. We certainly appreciated its sparkle.

Jael Silliman is an author, painter, academic and women’s rights activist.