Sri Lanka - home of tea, tuk tuk's, temples and turmoil

Off the southeast coast of India lies the island nation of Sri Lanka.  Lanka means island and Sri means fabulous.  This fabulous island is a land of recent turmoil and unrest that is living in the past and striving for the future.  Sri Lanka, formally known as Ceylon until 1972, has obvious close cultural, social, and economic ties with India which date back even earlier than the times of Portuguese, Dutch and British control of and influences in the area.   All of these influences still exist and you can see it in the ancient architectures, the languages, the religions, as well as the people.  

Welcome to Sri Lanka

I mentioned turmoil in my heading because Sri Lanka has come into some recent unrest.  From the civil war in 1983 to it's anti-Muslim rioting in 2018 to the political unrest when the Prime Minister fired the President, and the Parliament was suspended in 2018.  This move was and is still to be fought in court as the question of who has the authority to do what is still being argued.  All of this has left Sri Lanka with a question mark as to how safe it is for tourism but I must state that at no time did we feel any threat or fear of any type.  The people are very friendly and they are trying to do back flips to bring tourism back because the people know the benefit of it.  As usual, it's the political questions that are creating the problem, not the people.  One thing we have in the good ole USA that is almost not seen anywhere else is the peaceful exchange of power.   I know we have our political problems but there are a lot of places where bloodshed follows elections and the change of power.  Get off the soapbox, LeRoy.
Ok.

We sailed into Colombo which is the name of the port area and is right next door to the administrative capital of Sri Lanka called Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte.   This is where I will let you, the reader, figure out the correct pronunciation of said capital.   Good luck.  I will be the first to admit that I had much trouble reading, listening and trying to figure out what was supposedly English names of places, things, etc.

Coca-Cola, one of the few things recognizable in every language!

Our planned tour today takes us through the city and out into the outlying area called Galle.  Here we explored a working tea museum/plantation that dates back to the times of the British rule.  I am, of course, speaking of the Handunugoda Tea Estate which is known for the production and processing of their Virgin White Tea.  The history of this tea is very interesting.   This is the exact recipe that came over from China where it created the only tea that the emperor would drink, and it was made only for him.   This tea was grown and when ready, was harvested by virgins.   Only virgins, wearing gloves, using scissors made of gold could cut the delicate stem which would fall into a bowl also made of gold.  No human hand would touch this tea until it reached the lips of the emperor.   Today though, while it is still carefully cut and collected by hand, it is not by virgins nor gold scissors.  Still, the women do wear masks and gloves and keep the process free of human touch until it arrives in your teacup.   This plantation grows and processes over 40 different teas here.   


Vialula sampled several, (her favorite was cinnamon tea) and our bags will be a bit more full when we arrive home.  I never knew there were that many teas to choose from.  Their teas are still being processed by machines that are over 150 years old and date back to when Britain was in control.  The machinery looks and operates perfectly.   Amazing.   I can't even get an appliance to last a day after the warranty expires.  

Guys stripping and shredding cinnamon bark for the tea!

Tea leaves getting ready for processing

Reliable as Maytag, but for drying the tea leaves before they go to sifter

Galle is known as a fortified city along the coast.  This was a strategic fortress that was built  by the Portuguese, then fell to the Dutch and finally the British.  Each time the fortress was changed or added to or redeveloped to suit the tenant's needs.   Old churches where the Portuguese worshiped would become old churches where the Dutch would worship and then old churches where the British came.  

Dutch Reformed Church in Fort Galle

As we drove along the coast, we saw the way some of the locals fish.  This is not really an ancient thing but dates back to World War II when the natural docks disappeared after a tsunami.  To get to the really good fishing, they developed this system of putting stilt-like poles out into the ocean where they would perch on a cross bar.  Those poles look as if they would snap the minute LeRoy was to climb up on one.  I could just see me catching a fish and it pulling me, the pole and everything down into the water!  Tourists would really pay to see that!

No matter where we were, one thing was ever present...the tuk tuks.   Absolutely everywhere! Tuk tuks are the three wheeled motorized rickshaws of yesteryear.   This vehicle is the basic taxi system here.  It is also the mode of transportation of choice by the local person on the street.  They fly by you on both sides, down very narrow streets with horns honking and no concern that the bus coming at you is going to miss you by about 3 inches.  Lines in the street have absolutely no purpose what so ever.   Lanes are determined by how many tuk tuks can be side by side as you come up on them.  Scooters, tuk tuks, cars, trucks and buses "share" the road.   I have no idea how anyone grows old here given the risks of driving but I guess it works for them.   I wouldn't last 45 minutes on the road driving a scooter or tuk tuk.   Not a chance.

Trying to see the whole of Sri Lanka is one day is difficult - though our guide tried.  We had some friends on board that went other places that I'd like to share.  The marketplace in any foreign country is always fascinating, exotic and something special.   Our friends, David & Susan, went there.  Incredible selection of meats, fish, fruits and vegetables!

Another friend, Dianna, went 3 hours away to see the incredible Asian elephants.  She shared some of her pictures, too, and they are awesome in the truest since of the word, awesome.

Bali, the oldest elephant, at 84 years old!

A mahout is a caretaker for the elephants

Elephants love the water!

Did I mention that Sri Lanka is hot?  Hot and humid.  Seeing how we are still only a few degrees north of the equator, I guess that is to expected.  Right now we are lazily working our way over to Cochin, India, our next stop.   I say lazily because we are only making about 9 knots right now.  We don't have far to go so we are taking our time.  The sea days right after a port day are very valuable to us to recharge our batteries, do a little blogging, etc.  Vialula does some work depending on our internet signal and LeRoy usually throws in a load or two of laundry to help keep up.  Of course we have several activities to do on board should we choose so.  We get in a little swimming, go to Bible study, see a show or a movie, etc.   Life on board is pretty darn good.  We are over half way on our journey and I still owe y'all a post about this ship and all it's offerings.   I will try to get to that if I can pull away from all the fun stuff we have been doing.   

Y'all take care,  and thank you again to all those who are following along and helping us get the things done that need doing.  We appreciate it much.

LeRoy and Vialula

Wish someone would carry us to this ship!