Page 37 - Explore Magazine Spring 2017

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One of our happy and always smiling. Nuwara Eliya Dutch who used the city as a port and
is 1868 metres above sea level so in one
naval base for 150 years. By the time Galle
most unusual day we went from 34 degrees C to 14 C. passed into British hands in 1796 most of
– a good thing the jackets were packed!
the commercial shipping had moved to
encounters was an The cool highlands were popular during Colombo. Galle is now home to more than
400 historic churches, mosques, homes
colonial times and that is evident from the
unexpected visit in building styles and surroundings. and government buildings.
Speaking of things left behind, there is
Next it was time to head southeast to
the early hours of the coast via the small hill country town still evidence along the coast of the 2004
of Ella. The road goes past many tea
tsunami which took 37,000 lives in Sri
the morning by a plantations and the scenery was stunning. Lanka. You pass many properties that
At one point we drove past some tea
look abandoned and Silva explained that
wild elephant. pickers and stopped to take a photo. You because houses are passed down through
family generations in Sri Lanka the houses
always have to pay 100 rupees (about
$NZ1) to the person you ask for a photo but have been left empty because there was
Another highlight of our time in Kandy many hands come out to collect it! no one left in the family to come back and
was attending an authentic cooking class claim the land.
at a family home. In Sri Lanka homes are Ninety kilometres on at Yala National
passed down from one generation to the Park we had one of our most unusual Most of Silva’s comments and
next and this particular property had been encounters when we were upgraded to a commentaries – on politics and life in
in the family for several centuries. Before tented villa overnight – and received an Sri Lanka and roadside sights – were on
we watched our lunch being cooked we unexpected visit in the early hours of the much happier things though and I highly
went to the local markets to buy the fresh morning by a wild elephant. recommend a car and driver as the way to
produce for it. The kitchen in the home The last part of our journey took us along get around. It lent a real personal touch to
was the original one – over 300 years the coast to Galle, whose 16th-century all that we saw and learned and enjoyed in
old – and the cooking was done over an Portuguese fort was taken over by the this spectacular destination.
open fire.
From Kandy we went by tourist train to
Nuwara Eliya, a city in the tea country hills
of central Sri Lanka, with Silva following by
road with our luggage and meeting us off
the train.

The journey to Nuwara Eliya through very
diverse countryside was really beautiful,
and the tourist-class cabins in the train
were considerably more comfortable
than the ones the locals were travelling
in behind. You do see a lot of absolute
poverty in Sri Lanka but the locals seem

HELLOWORLD : EXPLORE : SPRING EDITION