Sri Lanka... land of my ancestors.

My grandmother moved to Sri Lanka, the island country just below the southern tip of India right after she got married and returned to India a few years before I was born, hence I have always heard of this country and its magic and mystery, but to experience it was something completely different.

The journey to this land of my ancestors started off by taking my grandmother back to the country she spent 25 years in so she could meet old friends and distant family and relive all those memories.

My knowledge of Sri Lanka was riddled between bedtime stories, architectural and historical research and tourist information. My experiences of Sri Lanka in those 11 days felt exactly like I relived every bedtime story, every piece of research and every tourist guidebook on this country!


No, we didn't fly Sri Lankan, we flew Air India, which was absolutely pleasant as the flight took off mid-morning and flew so far below the clouds we got the best view of the eastern coastline of India, the historical Rama's Bridge or rather Rameswaram Island and were welcomed by the absolutely greenery of a tropical Island. 

I write this blog for Nana, to capture some of the special things that mum, K and me were able to do thanks to her.

And then we landed - at Colombo 

12 Retreat Rd, Bambalapitiya - A house that looked so similar to my grandparent’s house in Bangalore; it could only be the house they lived in. Everything around this one house seemed to have changed; the multi story apartment complex next door, the small lane at the end of the road (the very popular Marine drive) but this house seemed to have stopped in time.

Chinese Dragon Cafe, on Milagiriya Ave - So the story I've always heard was when my grandmother was expecting my mother, she'd be craving Chinese food and would wait for my grandfather to get back home so they could go to Chinese Dragon Cafe. (But then they stopped going cause someone claimed they served cat meat!! Really!!!)

Well, we went there and this has to be one of my all time favorite Chinese restaurants ever. The decor may not be great, but the food was just excellent.

Green Cabin

Hmmm Chocolate cake... no wait, not just chocolate cake.. they have a whole garden at the back laid out and lit with candles and there's hoppers, lamprais, kottu roti; food that can never be described. They have to be eaten to be believed.

Christ Church, Galle Face

"Play tennis at Church?" seems very unusual but I suppose if your tennis courts were at the back of the church, it might explain why you were playing tennis at church!

 Elephant House - Necto, Ice Cream Soda, Ginger Beer, Orange Crush... why don't they have elephant house in other parts of this world? *Sigh*


P&S - Perera and Sons was a small bakery down the road; No Nana, I've seen really large Perera and Sons all over the country or should I say P&S.

Kandos Chocolates – Once upon a time, a gentleman walked up the road and asked my grandfather if he could taste some chocolate samples for his new business. These turned out to be Kandos, Sri Lanka’s No. 1 chocolate brand. What a coincidence?

Noritake Factory - Who goes to Sri Lanka and doesn't leave without a piece of Noritake? Well definitely not a connosieur of fine dining...

Hikkaduwa - Glass bottom boats and colorful coral reefs... I never could quite imagine what a glass bottom boat was, but the truth is the boats do have a part of their bottom made out of glass and as you cruise along you see the not so colorful coral reefs and the exotic fish that life in this area. Without falling out of the boat or getting sea sick with the tossing and turning, we made it through the adventure ride; adventure yes, not a gentle glamorous boat ride that nana made it out to be.

I completely understand the lack of color tho; once a sanctuary rich in corals, flora, fauna and vibrant marine life, today the Hikkaduwa Coral Sanctuary is not as colourful and abundant as it used to be due to coral bleaching and man-made destruction. While there are many restrictions and efforts at conservation, I know this place will never be the same and to me I will always remember Hikkaduwa, its colors and its vibrancy with my eyes closed, the way my grandmother described it to me.

Sigiria – Or, the Lion’s rock; a picture of which I’d seen years ago in a travel magazine and always aspired to climb. The climb itself isn’t hard and doesn’t take more than 45 minutes. If I lived in Sri Lanka, like Nana I too would have always gone here for picnics, dog and everything else included!

 

Though I have to say, all the terrifying stories I heard about how hard it is to climb are totally untrue; but then again evolving times and tourism, they now have a metal staircase attached to the rock so you can slide right up, no need to ensure your foot’s firmly on every foothold carved onto the rock while you grab onto the metal poles and pray you reach the top! :-)

Marine Drive - The lane at the end of the street , the one that runs along the sea, the one that has a train track between the lane and the sea... Expanded and modernized today but still a road with a train track that runs along the sea. Yes, if I lived here I would go for walks down this road everyday......

...... Nothing, not time, not people, not economic improvement can change the beauty of this "lane". This is how I imagined Colombo to be and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

Curiouser and curiouser!

Growing up, Alice in Wonderland was by far one of the most influential characters in my life. Her adventures down the rabbit hole while far from reality made me want to believe that a fascinating world did exist some where.

And as I grew older and left my front porch, I realized that the world we live in is just as fascinating if not more. I might have just fallen down a rabbit hole for every person I meet in this world has a story, every city a special charm and every day brings with it a new adventure.

As the grinning Cheshire Cat said to Alice, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there"; and sometimes I think that's the best advise anyone could give you... I never quite know exactly where I'm going but I'm certain which ever path I choose its bound to be action packed with lots to learn and lots to discover.

Lets hope that I will always stay Curiouser and curiouser....