DESTINATION : SRI LANKA
I stepped onto the Sri Lankan soil for the first won
from 16th Feb 2012 to 22nd Feb 2012. It had two parts to it , one was to do the
Half Iron Man 70.3 at Colombo and other was to visit the island nation.
Ayubowan!
Colombo : I stayed very close to Majestic Centre, a very happening place of
Colombo. i.e Llife there is very much like in any Indian city. There are good
restaurants and shopping arcades all along this long street parallel to the coast.
The Fort area of Colombo has got a modern feel to it with the twin towers
of the World Trade Center and a colonial style of buildings around it. The other place where I spent
most of my time in Colombo was Galle Face Green, this has a large green lawn as
big as 4 to 5 football fields, on one side is the ocean and on the other is Taj Samudra . Close to the
Taj Samudra is the Galle Face Hotel, this is another premium and classy hotel.On 20th Feb, the day after the event (Half Iron Man) at 6 am in the morning I left for Sigiriya. Enroute I visited the Pinnawala Elephant orphanage - this orphanage is one of the best places in Sri Lanka where one can have a very satisfying Elephant observing experience. I had my breakfast here at one of the restaurants which had a lovely view of the river.The Pinnawala elephant orphanage is a treat for the non-Asian who rarely sees Asian elephants, and a great place for kids. Kids here have a chance to feed and interact with the elephants and their mahouts.
Sigiriya |
Temple at Kandy |
I later on went for a cultural show at one the art theaters of Kandy and for some reason my expectations were low, but to my surprise it was a marvelous one and my had my jaws dropping! The walk on the fire was the climax and it was kind of befitting the show and headed back to Hotel Thailanka where I had beautiful view of Kandy. The dinner was awesome; lipsmacking! The day had panned out quite well despite the heat, I hit the bed into a dreamless slumber.
Had a fulfilling breakfast and headed to the railway station and took a train from Kandy to Nuwari lya(exact stops : Peradeniya to Nanu Oya) , this route is considered one the 10 best train journeys in the world, the entire journey was fantastic and the view was absolutely captivating! There were pine trees, jungles, tea gardens, tunnels, waterfalls, bridges, rivers , name it and they all were there. It is a 3 ½ hour journey , time just fleeted by! The train is very clean, well maintained with an attached pantry. This was the most enjoyable journey amongst all the trips I took within Srilanka.
At about 12.30 I reached Nuwara- ilya and stayed in a hotel called Tea Bush.Nuwara-ilya reminds me of Munnar in Kerala, India. It is at an altitude of 6000 ft above Msl and one can feel the chill even at 12 noon. There is a beautiful lake at the center of Nuwara-ilya and has a lovely golf course. The area close to the town is dotted with large vegetable farms and there are a lot of vegetable vendors selling their wares.
There is a temple called Sita-ilya and the main idols are about 5000 years old and dates back to Ramayana period and there are holes in the rocks just behind the temple . The mythical story goes that the of foot prints of lord Hanuman are found here.
lake in nuwara-ilya |
foot steps of hanuman |
It was a good trip – a combo of both fitness, i.e 70.3 iron-man event and discovering a destination - Srilanka My next visit for sure would be to a more pristine beach and unexplored east coast of Srilanka. Ayubowan! This is Srilankan means goodbye!
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