{"id":5159,"date":"2012-05-14T09:50:23","date_gmt":"2012-05-14T01:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/le-mckernan.com\/?p=5159"},"modified":"2015-07-05T02:49:10","modified_gmt":"2015-07-04T18:49:10","slug":"travel-blog-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/le-mckernan.com\/?p=5159","title":{"rendered":"Travel Blog – Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The seeds for the short weekend break to Sri Lanka were actually first sown in Uzbekistan during our 21-days travel along the Silk Road in 2010. \u00a0Central Asia proved to be exhilarating but exhausting and during this trip, both Bruce and I decided that our next trip would be \u2026 more luxurious.<\/p>\n

The criterion for the trip were: \u00a0(1) it had to be close to Hong Kong because this was planned as a long weekend break during Easter and we didn’t want to waste time with long travels; (2) it had to be a place that was\u00a0culturally interesting; (3) and it had to be somewhere we’ve never been to before. \u00a0After many hours of internet research, I’d narrowed the options\u00a0to either Sri Lanka or\u00a0Bali, Indonesia. \u00a0In truth, we almost decided on Bali because logistically it was easier (lots of direct flights) whereas with Sri Lanka, we had to transfer at Singapore. \u00a0But the vote swung over to Sri Lanka once I started looking at the country in more depth. \u00a0We wanted a luxury holiday as an\u00a0antidote to the Silk Road trip and luxury was absolutely possible in Sri Lanka — especially in the Hill Country.<\/p>\n

We stayed in a converted hotel bungalow with a magnificent view of the surrounding tea plantations and pristine lakes. \u00a0Our goals during the\u00a03.5 days stay were quite simple: \u00a0to read books, to take short strolls along the tea trails, to eat well, and most importantly, to relax. \u00a0Eating well was easily achieved as the hotel had a private chef who catered to all of our wishes (prior to arriving, I’d contacted the hotel to advise them that I would like a chocolate birthday cake to celebrate Bruce’s\u00a0upcoming special day \u2026 and the chef produced the most amazing creation!) and relaxing was unavoidable as we had butler service and the staff looked after us very well.<\/p>\n

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And of course, interspersed amongst the eating, relaxing and reading, we took advantage of our location to do short photography walks. \u00a0Unfortunately, it rained often when we were there, however and thankfully, the downpour\u00a0came in short bursts. \u00a0More importantly, the rain cooled the afternoon\u00a0heat and the moisture in the air enhanced the glorious landscape colours.<\/p>\n

Sadly, the enjoyable weekend break ended rather quickly but both Bruce and I\u00a0vowed that we would return again. \u00a0Little did we know then that we would return to Sri Lanka just four months later! \u00a0We typically don’t like to return to places because we like to find new travel experiences. \u00a0That said, our short hop into the Hill Country was merely a quick introduction into one small facet of the country. \u00a0As such, we felt no guilt returning again so soon thereafter.<\/p>\n

On the advice of a friend who is a professional photographer and world traveler, we returned in August 2011 specifically for the Esala Perahera festival<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 Our friend predicted that the very nature of the popular festival would change in response to the surge in tourism following the end of the civil war.\u00a0 As such, it was her advice that if we wanted to see this festival, the time to do it was NOW <\/em>before mass tourism spoiled it.<\/p>\n

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The night time festival spanned 10 days\u00a0during\u00a0which a procession of dancers, elephants, singers, musicians, etc. followed a route around Kandy. \u00a0The highlight of the procession was the viewing of one of country’s holiest relics\u00a0(the Tooth of the Buddha). \u00a0The locals crammed along the procession route during the heat of the day to secure their viewing spot. \u00a0For us (the tourists), we were there to see the festival; but for the locals, they were there to participate in a religious experience. As such, it was heartbreaking to see the devotees (particularly, the elderly) faint during the intense heat and be rushed away by the medical teams because it meant that they had lost their viewing position.<\/p>\n

We timed our visit so that we would see the final three days. \u00a0For the first two nights, we used the hotel seats because our hotel had the best viewing platform. \u00a0On the third night, however, we decided to strike out on our own. \u00a0It was a risk because we were not guaranteed a\u00a0better location to photograph. \u00a0But, we felt that we’ve exhausted the perspectives from the hotel seats and we wanted to capture the festival from a different angle. Unfortunately, all the seats along the festival processions were sold out and at one point we looked into purchasing a spot on someone’s balcony. \u00a0Somehow, fortune bestowed a smile and we found a shopkeeper who had 2 seats directly on the street to sell. \u00a0Needless to say it was costly. \u00a0But, we managed to secure a great spot. \u00a0(Word of caution: when we returned later that day to take our seats, the shopkeeper showed us seats six rows back from the street level; as a result, we protested and demanded a full refund. \u00a0Given that we paid X times over the ‘official’ price, the shopkeeper relented and gave us the seats that he’d earlier promised.)<\/p>\n

In short, the Esala Perahera was simply magical and I’m delighted that we followed our friend’s advice to go see it. \u00a0Although I would love to go back and see the festival again, there is a part of me that is afraid to do a repeat. \u00a0I fear that somehow a repeat won’t meet expectations — i.e. it would be hard to recreate that powerful magical first impression. \u00a0That said, there is plenty more to Sri Lanka that Bruce and I have yet to visit. \u00a0I understand that northern Sri Lanka is very different from southern Sri Lanka; likewise, central Sri Lanka (where we’ve been to) is vastly different from the other regions. \u00a0As such, we have plenty of scope to make more (new)\u00a0first impressions . . . . \u00a0Succinctly, we’ll be back!<\/p>\n

Videos:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/le-mckernan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Esala-Perahera-fire-procession.m4v<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

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https:\/\/le-mckernan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Esala-Perahera-1.0.m4v<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

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https:\/\/le-mckernan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Esala-Perahera-3.0.m4v<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

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https:\/\/le-mckernan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Esala-Perahera-4.0.m4v<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

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https:\/\/le-mckernan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Esala-Perahera-2.0.m4v<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

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Festival Tips:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n