Gregory Lake

Gregory Lake in Nuwara Eliya is about the size of Dows Lake at home.  It even has a similar feel. But some interesting differences too.

There's a path around the lake for walking and cycling.  For a fee. Locals 20 rupees (15 cents CDN), me 200 rupees ($1.50CDN) .

There are a variety of water crafts for rent/rides.  For a fee of course. Which depends on what language you can read.  Swan boat in English 2500 rupees (about 20$CDN).  Swan boat in Sinhala about 3 times less. After we noticed the price differences, we had some fun.

Salesguy..."Wanna go for a ride lady?"  Me/Toby  "I don't know, it's  cold out. Can we build a fire in the boat and make tea?"  Salesguy "No! There's gasoline!"  Me "Great, that will make a bigger fire!!"  I don't think we improved his opinion of foreigners....

Me  "Can I drive the boat?  Salesguy  "No, you're a woman"  Really????

Toby-my apparent paid guide speaking in Sinhala "What's my commission for bringing the white lady?"  Salesguy "1,000 rupees".  Clearly a standard deal...

We didn't go for a boat ride.  But we did go for a horse back ride.  To my surprise, the guy walked in front of me/my horse the whole way, about 1.5 hours!  At first I was disappointed.  I wanted to actually ride.  After riding/walking through traffic, and up/down a steep hill, I was kinda happy to just chill and enjoy the ride and view!

Pictures
1-There was also a small fair at Gregory Lake.  Complete with a merry-go-round.  Toby said this might have been the same one he rode on as a kid.  Lots of years ago. 
2- One of the horses that were available for riding.  This one was especially handsome.
3- They had swan pedal boats. Cute!
4- Why is my t-shirt wet?  Our horse riding guide splashed blessed water on me at the Buddhist temple we visited.  He was very enthusiastic about his religious observances. 
5- It was chilly enough in the afternoon for locals to wear their polar fleece toques.  Such a fun assortment!
6- In the field beside Gregory Lake, several cows lounged.  This one had very fancy horns!
7- The water in this ride at the fair looked very yucky to me.  But this little girl didn't hesitate.  She was having lots of fun paddling like a champ!
8- A pretty view of Gregory Lake.
9- The prices for renting the watercraft in English and Sinhala.  It was interesting to compare the prices. 

PS - You might be thinking....there's a 10x difference in the admission for Gregory Lake and only a 3x difference in price for the boat rides.  So....??   Yes.  I guess I accept that foreigners pay more for government/public facilities.  It lets locals enjoy their own spaces and lets the government collect some funds from people who can mostly afford it.  And, most places are transparent about the price differences.  The local and foreign prices are both listed in English and Sinhala. There was no transparency for the boat rides.  It felt scammy....
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Mirissa's Little Creatures

Mirissa is popular for its long sandy beach, turquoise water, restaurants, and surf/beach bum culture.  All of these are fun and nice of course.  But what has really caught my attention are some of it's little creatures!

Today, while swimming, I saw two turtles!  There's a bay that's famous for them.  But really?  They'll show up on cue??  Yep.  Pretty much!  The first one just swam right into my line of sight.  Surfaced for air.  Hung out near me for a while.  Very cool!

Yesterday, while standing on a breaker made of big rocks I saw a creature I didn't even know existed!  A mudskipper.  Brown/green fish that live in and out of the water. They have front flippers like a mini seal.  They kinda flop/leap around the rocks/waves eating small crabs, insects, snails, and even each other... Apparently, these little guys, that only measure about 3 inches long, can leap up to 2 feet!  

And on Valentines Day, the ocean offered me a little sea heart.  How sweet!  Google says sea hearts come from very big vines called monkey ladders. The vines grow in the tropics, up to 100 feet in 18 months!  They climb up trees then wind through several trees making a highway for critters in the jungle canopy. The vines' brown fruit pods can be up to 2 meters long!  Imagine a huge brown green bean!  That breaks apart into about 15 compartments, each with a shiny brown seed that can float across the ocean.  How cool is that?!


Pictures
1- My new little sea heart, with some other of my treasures from/on this trip.  A new necklace from Colombo. A new lime green dog shaped pencil sharpener! My super handy purple spoon from home. A yellow pocket knife we bought in Negombo for 100 rupees I think.  Great value at 5 times the price!  And a fun coloured tea sock!
2- Tadah!  Mudskippers!  Notice their little bulging eyes...
3- One surf school has a fun sense of humour.  They made trees from lost/found flip flops and garbage from the sea.
4- This hotel has a fun decor.  It's where I found my sea heart.Theere are no monkey vines at the hotel.  It must have washed up onto shore from???
5- Mirissa beach.  Pretty!
6- A lot of the beach front restaurants set up big tables with sea food.  Customers can choose exactly which creature to eat.
7- This dog is not sad.  She just rolled around in the wet sand.  It looked like it was so yummy!
8- Yep.  I've been knitting at the beach!  A new toque for Toby!
9- Happy Valentines!  The nice lady who serves breakfast at the Peacock Wing Hotel in Mirissa, where I'm staying.  She was all dressed up in a blue velvet dress for Valentines Day.  She is so pleasant!  I just wish I could remember her name....
10- Fishermen set out in their little catamarans just before sunset.  they're really neat to watch.  Kinda sad to think that some of the beautiful fish I saw while swimming might end up on their hooks...

Hindu Temples

Before I came to Sri Lanka, I knew almost nothing about Hinduism.  I still don’t know a lot.  But visiting some temples have made me very curious.

Google says….To some, Hinduism is a religion.  To others, it’s a way of life, religious tradition, or dharma.  Whatever name you give it, Hinduism is the oldest and 3^rd largest faith in the world.  Practiced by over 1 billion people!

It has no founder, holy book, or particular god.  It’s a fusion of many traditions, linked by shared values – honesty, patience, self-restraint, and compassion.  Shared goals for human life such as Dharma - ethics/duties, Artha – work/prosperity, Kama- desires/passion, Karma – intent/action/consequences.  And shared rituals like worship, meditation, and family oriented rites of passage like marriage, pregnancy, baby’s first hair cut.  These rituals can be done in a temple or at home. 

Hindus can worship one deity, many deities, or none.  Deities are often considered to be different manifestations of one single impersonal absolute.

 

One of the most interesting concepts, to me, is that Hindus are meant to question authority/rules, to find a deeper understanding of truths.  

There is no dogma.  And!!!  The temples and depiction of their deities are so cheery and creative. It’s inspiring!

Pictures

1- 3- At a Hindu temple near Nuwara Eliya.Even the monkeys are impressed at the sculptures!
4-The outside of this little temple near the Kalpitiya train station, shows that one of the deities is supported by rats. Very interesting!
5-9 The inside of the temple in Chilaw,one of the biggest temples in Sri Lanka.
 

Day Trip To Badulla

Badulla is a one hour train ride from Ella.  So, while we were in Ella, we went for a day trip!
I'm so glad we did!  The day had so many little delights! 

On our way to Badulla, we stopped at Demadora.  There's a famous train tunnel there.  Built around the mountain so the track would not surpass a 14 degree grade.  Seeing the tunnel was fine.  But what was special, was having a little snack at a brand new food stand out side the station.  The owner, a lovely lady, had decorated her stand with balloons and streamers.  She was so proud to have us sit and eat.  Charming!

Badulla is a bustling busy city.  On our way to nowhere in particular, we stopped at a little fruit/ice cream stand.  Again, we were charmed by the pride the lady took in preparing and serving our fruit cup.  Delightful!

In the middle of Badulla there is a large Buddhist temple with several buildings and a pleasant amount of green space. On the way into the temple, there are lotus flower vendors.  Many visitors buy lotus flowers to present to the many Buddha statues at the temple.  Lotus flowers are significant in the Buddhist faith.  They represent purity of the body, speech and mind. And, according to legend, when Gautama Buddha (the first Buddha) first walked, lotus flowers bloomed under his feet at each step.

Pictures
1-How fun!!!  A goat eating in the streets of Badulla!
2- The new food stand at the Demadora train station. So festive!
3- A cute dog watching us eat our treats at the food stand.
4-5 - There are shelves with books to borrow at the train stations!  We first noticed it at Demadora.
6- Our fruit cups, made with such pride, in Badulla
7-The lotus flower vendor showed me how to open the lotus flowers.  When you buy them, they are closed.  Who knew?!
8- Me, showing off my lotus flowers at the entrance to the temple. 
9- This is my only picture inside the temple.  No pictures allowed.

Meeting Channa

Channa Ekanayake is an artist in Colombo.  He also runs an Air B&B.  I'm so happy we got to stay there!

Channa is a quiet gentle man.  His art depicts Sri Lankan history and culture,  and tells stories.  In a gentle and interesting way.  During our stay at his Air B&B, we got to visit his studio and get insight into his painting process.

He's also a nature lover.  On his small property, he has grown a jungle.  With coconut trees, climbing vines, a frog pond, a fish pond, and a visiting monkey and 3 foot lizard!  In his notes, he reminds guests that the night creepy crawlers don't bite and asks that we just let them continue on their way.  Even the cockroaches! 

So when I saw a large spider in the shower, I named him George and let him hang out.  Happily, he was a perfect gentleman.  Stayed in his corner of the shower.  Made no unwelcome advances!

Pictures
1-Channa in his studio.  A small but really pleasant space.
2- Toby and Sudda, Channa's dog.  He agreed to care for this stray, but made sure she felt free.  On her first days at his house, he kept the gate open.  She left and came back a few times. Then decided it was a good home. 
3- 4 - In this painting, Channa tells the story of a bird that asks a girl to protect the unborn egg/chick from the onlooking cat.  Over time, the girl and bird become friends.  Eventually, the cat does too.  Sweet.
5 - Channa's sketchbook.
6- Toby looking kinda royal on a chaise in Channa's Air B&B
7-9- Some of Channa's paintings.
10-A painting in Channa's house.  Which has some very neat old furniture  It was his father's house.  Which he opened up for great light and ventilation.

Fresh Milk!!!!

What a treat!  On a few occasions now, I've had the pleasure of drinking milk almost straight from the cow!

In Sri Lankan stores, you can buy milk in several formats.  Dry powdered seems to be a favourite for many people.  Maybe because it keeps well, without refrigeration?  Refrigerators are very expensive here in comparison to income. I think the dry milk is fine in tea.  I haven't had it on its own.  I don't know if anybody just drinks it.

You can also get UHT (ultra high treatment / ultra high temperature) milk in tetrapak boxes. UHT milk is heated to 138C-150C for 2-4
seconds to kill microbes and deactivate enzymes that spoil milk.  It can be stored un-refrigerated for up to 9 months if unopened.  Once opened, it needs to be kept cold like normal (pasteurized in Canada) milk. It tastes a little different from normal milk, but I like it. Google says it's slightly poorer nutritionally.  It has 1/3 less iodine and the proteins degrade during storage.

You can also buy fresh milk in bottles.  The labels say it's sterilized.  I'm assuming that means pasteurized. 

But!!!!  A few times now, I've had the pleasure of drinking milk almost straight from the cow!  Three  restaurants in Haputale offered warm fresh milk.  A delight on a cool night!  The film of yellow cream seems so decadent!  One restaurant in Haputale offered ice cream made with fresh milk.  It definitely had a distinctive farm taste.  And!  In Nuwara Eliya, we even met the cow who's milk we drank!  What treat!

Pictures
1-Rajini milking her cow with her nephew watching.  The cow is a friesian. She makes about 16 litres /day.  She spends her evenings/nights in this little barn.  During the day, she sometimes wanders the local roads/fields.  Sometimes she is tied in a field to keep her from eating the neighbours gardens.
2-Rajini, Toby, and Ajith (one of the caretakers at the Montfort Hotel) in the barn. 
3- Rajini's 3 year old niece. We had a great time saying animal names and making animal sounds.  Adorable!!!
4- This man biked/walked past our hotel everyday to bring his milk to the transfer point down our street.
5- Sithi (Suddu), the other very kind caretaker at our hotel, helping us get fresh milk at the transfer station.
6- The milk testing equipment, and certification at the milk transfer station.
7- Rajini's chickens. 

8- Rajini's house felt dark and run down to me, but her garden was super well organized and immaculate!!! She seemed very proud of her work

9- One of the many many amazing views in Nuwara Eliya, near Rajini's house.

10- The cutest little red truck carrying a milk can at the Kellibeddatea factory in Haputale.
11- The Golden Hills restaurant in Haputale.  An old tea factory that was converted into a beautiful creative space.  This is one of the places we could get fresh warm milk.  And fresh milk ice cream!!! 

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