Sri Lanka – Colorful Hot and Humid

A side trip from India was planned a few months back.  Our best friends were traveling with us to Sri Lanka. When I stepped out for the first time in the morning I could only admire this beautiful King Coconut tree in front of our hotel with lush green leaves and the bright golden yellow coconuts in bunches.  So colorful.

A short flight of 2 and half hours from Mumbai brought us into Colombo late evening.  We had arranged for a car and driver and as expected, the driver was waiting with our name card.  We greeted him and after loading our luggage into the Toyota Minivan, we started towards our hotel.  The driver informed us that it would take an hour to get to the hotel.  I was surprised that the airport is really far away from Colombo city.  It was night so we were really not able to get an idea of the landscape.  An hour later we arrived at our hotel, only to be informed that the hotel was overbooked and we were going to be sent to another property.  Our arrival in Sri Lanka did not start off on the right foot.  We transferred to the other hotel and got our rooms.  We were tired, having traveled all day, at 11 pm we finally retired.

We woke up to a beautiful morning in Colombo.  Parting the curtains I was presented with the most amazing view of the Indian ocean and the Marine road that spread before us.  Our excitement had started building up as we were due to head off for Kandy, a hill-station.  The moment we got out of our air-conditioned hotel to board our minivan, the heat and humidity hit us.  We had packed all cotton clothing for the tropics but were not mentally prepared for the weather.  But we had to deal with it now that we were spending 7 days in this island nation.

Our first stop en route to Kandy was The elephant orphanage.  Here orphaned elephants are given shelter and cared for all their lives as they are not capable of fending for themselves in the wild.  We saw approximately 20-25 elephants in this orphanage, including baby elephants.  We fed them small tree branches that disappeared in a few seconds in their mouths and they would come back for more.  The orphanage keepers feed the little baby elephants with bottles of milk.   It was funny to see the milk bottles getting empty in a short time.  The elephants then were taken to the local river for a bath.  It was interesting to see how the elephants actually step in the water and then lie down on their sides and sleep in the water while spraying their bodies with the river water and silt.  This was quite a scene, well worth a stop or a few hours.

Going for their daily bath at the river stepping slowly in the water immersing

Lying down blowing water over themselves with their trunks

They enjoy the water sleeping in the water for more than half hour

So lucky to have seen and clicked this photo! Nature at its best.

Our last halt was once again Colombo.  I saw an amazing view from my hotel window.  Heavy rain falling on one side of the ocean and clear on the other.  We loved Colombo. It is a very clean city.  Rich in history and building that are well preserved till this day.  Our friends did some souvenir shopping.  We watched them shop as you all know we do not collect things anymore.  Our memories our are treasures.  Our Sri Lanka trip was, even more, memorable as we had our best friends travel with us.  Their company, with lots of fun and laughter, will remain with us forever.

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