Colombo: Although it's the capital with nearly 2 million people living there, it was not really the eppicenter of Sri Lankan Cusine i was hoping to see. I imagined it more like Bangkok with food spewing out of every allyway and onto the streets, not so much. Infact it was a bit difficult to find the good local eats, the main street Galle Rd. which was apparently the Center piece of Colombo was not all that impressive, granted I only gave it two days, but on my next trip to Sri Lanka will consider skiping it all together and head straight to the Mountains. I did how ever have one overly plesent experience where on my last night in Sri Lanka i treated my self to an all you can eat Sri Lanka feast at the Hilton which was fantastic. I happened to mention to the a chef who was assisting customers with Selecting Sea Food that I too cooked for a living and from that point on the Food did not stop. Plates began building up at my table and my stomach began to expand to a point where i thought i was going to pop. Curries, grilled fresh sea food, assorted pickels, grilled bread, fryed bread, salads, ritas, hoppers, and finally desert, Colombo didn't impress me but the Hilton was a fine way to end my trip in Sri Lanka.Sigaria: the Rock Fortouse build ontop of a monsterouse rock in the center of the country, surrounded by plains. It rises straight out of the ground and climbing to the top proved to be a bit tougher than expected (probably more due to the fact that i'm out of shape). It was an impressive piece of acrchitecture to be seen, impressive because it is absolutly baffeling on how people got rocks and stones up to the top of this monstrouse rock. better yet, how the hell did they get up with out metal stair bolted into the side of the cliff. it was a long days drive going from colombo to Sigarya and then back to Kandy. NOt much to do there but climb the rock, but a good experience none the less.
Kandy: a semi lively mountain town which is the center of the Hill country, The Town Center is clearly "lake Kandy," guest houses, homes, all sparcly scattered in the surrounding hills with the majority of the town sitting on the east west side of the lake. My guest house Lake Bungallow, perched on a hill, overlooking the lake and town was a great place to relax and take in this more palatable city. Unlike Colombo, Kady was easy to navagate, cooler in climate, and more relaxed. The owners of my guest house were extremely kind and again upon mentioning that i love to cook they were overly happy to take me into their kitchen and show me how to make some local cusine. String Hoppers, Chicken Curry, Milk Rice, Dahl, Potato Curry and a spicy Coconut Sambal was on the menu and it was fantastic to crank out a meal like this with a couple of old women doing the way they have for years.
Adams Peak and the Surrounding Areas: About 4hours south of Kandy on a crouded bus was the city of Hatton, the approach to Hatton was unreal, somthing out of a fictiouse magaizine advertising fantacy proporties. the homes were modest, straight out of colonial times, but the landscape was somthing i have never seen before. the hills were covered in Tea plants and this was just the begining. the drive from Hatton to Adams peak was even more impressive, the Tea filled hills were absolutel beautiful, and to say that they were delacatly placed would be an understatement. the hills were litteraly carved into perfectly cylidrical shapes, with tea plants spirling around them was a sight to be seen. the Mountains and Resivour with waterfalls spewing into the valley didn't make the view all that Ugly at all, infact it was a breath taking. Even if you are not going to climb adams peak, at least get you self out to Dolhousie for the bus ride and sights alone, really an unbelievably beautiful part of the world.
Adams peak it's self was incased in clouds and i was privlaged to see what the inside of a cloud looks like first hand. not too impressive, but the 2hr hike would have been well worth the view if the clouds parted. i would do it again in a heartbeat.
Train Travel: all though my first trip on the train brought nothing but back pain and minimal view or obstructed views with 5 to 6 children jamming their heads out the window drinking in the sights, i wouldn't say that you should neglect this mode of transportation. infact even with the backpain and long cramped hours it was semi enjoyable in a wierd way. I unfortuantly have been traveling during "school holiday" and all the kids are out thus jammin' up the busses and trains, which have been a cramped nightmare from time to time.
My suggestion would be find the starting point of the train and really for most tourists there are only 4 major points you will use (colombo, Matara, Kandy, and Badula), so get to one of those stations and book a second class ticket and plop your self in a window seat and enjoy the views (long distance, no more than 400rp or $4usd), when i finaly got a seat, i absolutly loved the train.
Haputale: A small mountain town which is about 25min. from the Lipton Tea Factory set up in the 1800's by Sir Thomas Lipton. a 2 hour hike to the top of the mountain was another rigourouse hike which left me with the view of the inside of a cloud, but at least i did the assent in day light unlike adams peak which i began hiking at 2:30am in order to catch a non exisistant sunrise. The climb up through the tea plantations was the highlight of Haputale, the 23 person, 800lbs of vegtables, and a vomitting baby packed in a 12 person minivan on my way back from the plantation took a distant second place to wondering th rough the green tea filled hills.
Ella: Touristy is a wierd way, a nothing town in the middle of know where, all there is to do is hike "little adams peak" which i did and came no where near the stress and exauhtion of climbing it's much larger brother. the views where great since i saw nothing at Adams peak, i spent 3 days here doing... well... nothing. i cooked for a full day with my guest house owner learning some new sri lankan dishes and talking food, for me, this made Ella a amazing place to stay, chill, relaxing, cooler in climate, good tea and coffe, and overly friendly people.
Tangalla: a very quite beach town in the southern part of the island. this area got hit HARD by the Tsunami of 04' and was litterally destroyed, almost everything on the coast was whipped out. even to this day what has been rebuilt looks as it could have been there through out the disastar because the glits and glam that some places put on for tourists just didn't exist. i'm not one who needs ANYTHING fancy, but to me the town was a bit depressing. One night in my damp, mildewy, over priced guest house and i was OUT. on the up side, beautiful beach with NO ONE on it, very quite, but as a solo traveler a bit too quite.
Unawatuna: A touristy area for sure, one that i may not be visiting if it was peak season, but with prices down, tourists at a minimum, and locals all about, the town has a pretty nice vibe to it, i spent 5 days here, between the beach, cooking with a local restaurant, buying fish at a local market and cooking it, cruising around to see the iconic "stilt fisherman"of sri lanka in Koggala, and renting a scooter for the day, i had enough to do to keep myself occupied.Overall i really loved Sri Lanka, if i had to say there was one thing that would bring me back, it's the people and rawness of the country. Still minimaly effected by tourism and true to it's culture, the people there were overly plesant to talk to and share a cup of tea with.
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