Golden Buddha at Dambulla

We visited the historic sites of Dambulla, with its amazing cave artistry dedicated to Buddha, Polonnaruwa, which was one of the ancient capitals of the island for 200 years, Sigiriya the outstanding huge rock citadel and its well kept gardens and Anuradhapura where the first ever Buddhist stupa on the island was built. At Sigiriya there are gardens built on top of a huge rock 1500 years ago. I did not have the head for heights or stamina to go all the way up, but half way up gives one a good idea and a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. Anuradhapura was founded in 380 BC and remained Sri Lanka's first capital for more than 1400 years. In 247 BC the son of the Indian Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty helped the Sinhalese king to become a Buddhist and this led to a flurry of building with great stupa and temples being constructed.

Sigiriya Rock Fortress

The sacred Bo Tree, which grew from a sapling of the original Bo Tree of Bodhgaya in India is still flourishing, protected by railings and devout Buddhists like to pour water on its roots to symbolically nourish and cherish it. An elderly pilgrim came up and spoke to me; she was sweet and friendly and we enjoyed the encounter. Most of these sites are well maintained and are World Heritage Sites; being in a semi wild garden setting makes them even more attractive with a profusion of pink coral island creeper or deep blue potato creeper flourishing everywhere and any amount of huge Temple Trees, or frangipani.

Exotic Gloriosa lilies in the wild

Driving to the various destinations one was aware of the abundant bird life and we saw many kingfishers both big and small, bee eaters and other birds like jacanas walking about on the lily pads. The purple water lily is Sri Lanka's national flower. The sides of the jungle roads were also covered in gloriosa superba lilies which look so exotic in their sort of lobster claw shape in red and yellow - these I was told are highly poisonous and sadly Sri Lankans quite often attempt suicide, and sometimes succeed by eating their roots.

We spent two nights at Trincomalee at Nilaveli Beach. This has an unsophisticated appeal of sand and sea with very good sea food available to order. Trincomalee itself is a sombre reflection of nearly 20 years of civil way, with many ruined buildings and a rather forlorn air.

Empty East Coast Beach

In colonial times it must have been beautiful. Sri Lanka should try and invest in the area and improve its appearance to attract foreign visitors, and then the input of wealth would hopefully 'trickle down' to the locals. The other good hotel is Club Oceanic at which we had lunch. Sadly the north east monsoon raged for a day and stopped us going snorkelling off Pigeon Island.

As with India, Sri Lanka has a huge problem of litter and rubbish ruining the appearance of her towns and cities. I despair sometimes with Asian countries; they must realise that this squalor really repulses Western and Japanese eyes. Apart from damaging their environment this is the single most important deterrent to a great many people. Time and time again I hear the refrain 'Yes, India is interesting but the city squalor really appalled me...' and 'we don't think we will return'. I try valiantly to explain that the population pressure is the real reason and add how difficult Western towns and cities would find it to maintain neatness and order with similar population challenges. Tourism is the world's largest industry and people can make choices. For India and Sri Lanka now is their tourist opportunity; it should be grasped and their respective governments must enforce stringent rubbish collection and appropriate disposal thereof. Putting up a few signs in public places exhorting people to say 'No to Plastic' achieves nothing and is cosmetic and irritating.

My favourite hotel The Lodge, Habarana

Our last hotel was lovely and my favourite. It is The Lodge at Habarana, which makes a gracious and comfortable hub from which to visit the ancient cities of the North. There is huge attention to detail and it has elegant tranquil gardens and a lovely pool. The Lodge and its sister property The Village are cleverly built around a huge artificial lake which abounds in bird life and there are a number of hides in trees and by the water side from which to observe this avian splendour. In the space of one hour I saw a Paradise Flycatcher followed by a Golden Oriole, plus of course all the other lovely birds that are perhaps more commonly seen.

Bedroom Suite at The Lodge

The bedrooms are in charming cottages in the grounds and the management are engaging on a refit very soon to provide a fine dining restaurant as well as the normal elegant buffet. We watched a youthful magician after dinner during our brief stay. The hotel has its own farm which I was taken round by the farm supervisor and it was well maintained with healthy livestock. I so enjoyed the young man's enthusiasm and the way he talked with pride about the whole place. Moreover another youngster served me a drink and asked 'Do you like our hotel Ma'am?' The use of the proud possessive pronoun our hotel was significant and indicative that the management are motivating their staff well.

We made the long journey back to Colombo and spent some hours in The Galle Face Hotel and The Taj Samudra. The Galle Face has antiquity on its side and its wonderful position by the sea; much requires to be done to it however to reintroduce it as a premier hotel. I personally do not like living in what I term 'heritage eccentric'. The Taj Samudra has a little book shop with interesting titles and a good jeweller from whom I also bought a lovely jewel.

Sri Lanka's national flower the purple water Lily

My abiding memory of this lovely island is of huge Temple Trees, pink and blue creepers, brilliant abundant birdlife and wild elephants. The people are friendly and welcoming and it is a place to which I shall return happily and recommend to others.

Aline Dobbie

April 2004
Aline Dobbie travels independently.