A Gem in the Ocean

Horton Plains.

Eager to find string hoppers, katta sambol, coconut sambol and potato curry dunked in coconut milk or a traditional meal with some of these items, we made our way to De Silva Food Center. We didn't find exactly what we were looking for, but the food was good value for money. Post lunch, we shortly explored the area by foot and stumbled across a little street selling knockoffs of brands like The North Face! Our guide upon returning to pick us up, found us curiously checking out these American labels and urged us to continue with further site seeing!

Chameleon, Horton Plains.

He drove us to the Sita Temple. Having seen live Ramayana performances in Phnom Penh and Yogyakarta, we were excited to finally view the place where the goddess had been imprisoned after her abduction 10,000 years ago. The temple was rather small and stood beside a narrow stream, which is where she bathed everyday, the keeper informed us. Ravana kept Sita imprisoned in different areas of Sri Lanka during the period of her abduction. The Sita Temple where we stood was the first place where the goddess saw light, and hence the place was named 'Nuwara Eliya', 'Eliya' meaning 'opening'. He pointed to a distant mountain resembling the shape of Hanuman and proceeded to explain how Hanuman set the area ablaze when his tail was put on fire. We took snaps of the charred and black forest behind the temple.

We retired early. The following day was going to be an early one!

Our morning started at 5am. The drive was about an hour long. The temperature was perfect for the nine kilometer trek across the Horton Plains, the protected area in the central highlands of Sri Lanka! The walk took us across beaten tracks and we passed at least half a dozen small waterfalls, undulating planes encased in greenery, misty mountain tops and hundreds of species of flora and fauna. Along the way, we viewed the Baker's Fall, relentlessly gushing water against the backdrop of large black stones. World's End, a cliff with a 4,000ft drop offered a breathtaking view and made the trek across the rough terrains totally worthwhile!

We were a couple of hour's drive away from Adam's peak, the mountain that has significance to four of the world's major religions – Islam, Hinduism, Christianity and Buddhism. The footprint belonged to Adam (AS) as goes the Islamic line of thought while Hinduism believe that it was left by god Shiva during a dance. Buddhists venerate the footprint believing it to be Buddha's while Christianity ascribe the footprint to St. Thomas. Unfortunately the place is not reachable during August and we had to make do with a distant view of the peak only.

Upon returning from the hike, we spent the day strolling across the roads along the race course and wandering along Lake Gregory, watching children fly colourful kites. We settled for dinner at our hotel and topped off the delicious meal with a very yummy serving of curd with treacle.

Beach along the Galle Road.

The next day we started our four hour long drive to Bentota. As we drove south-west the mist was replaced by the sun, and our jackets came off. Hola, beach! Taprospa Footprint Hotel gave us a room with a view of the ocean peeking through coconut trees. A brief walk from the hotel across a sandy yard led us directly to the waves and we happily indulged in sea water therapy till sunset. Incidentally, during dinner we discovered that Taprospa Footprint is owned by a company owning 27,000 acres of tea, rubber and oil palm plantations and goes by the name of Mackwoods Labookellie! We had seen plenty of their placards dotting the plantation areas while traveling across the serpentine highways of Nuwara Eliya.

The following day we drove northwards along the beach for an hour and a half to reach Colombo, our last leg of the trip. Our guide checked us in at the Ocean, a new hotel, which was yet to be inaugurated. We were somewhat skeptical. If the toilet leaked, we'd have to raise the flag. But that also meant the toilet (and everything else for that matter) was unused. With mixed feelings we exited the elevator at the ninth floor and walked into our room. The bell boy placed our luggage in the corner and left. We moved to the windows and pulled the curtains aside to let the sun in… and gawked. And gawked. And gawked. We had the most mesmerizing view possible. A gorgeous blue Indian Ocean spread across the horizon while white surfs crashed onto rocks directly beneath us, stretching in both directions for as far as the eyes could see. If we were to spend an entire day just sitting at the hotel, we would gladly do so!

And we did just that. Save for a few hours at the National Museum of Colombo and Laksala's Flagship store, we spent every daylight hour simply ogling at the ocean that lapped seductively at the rocks nine floors below.