11
Dubai - Columbo Finally about to board our plane to our final destination: Columbo, Sri Lanka! And what a great way to start the trip with Sri Lankan egg curry served on the plane. But unfortunately due to the lack of sleep, my stomach wasn’t feeling too well, but luckily this “After Meal Digestive” included in the meal worked quite well!
Our driver met us at the airport and drove us to our 1st hotel which was just beautiful. It’s a pity we couldn’t stay here longer but had some time to relax for a nice buffet dinner.
Isurumuni Temple in Anuradhapura As I walked into this small building, I was greeted by this massive reclining Buddha. Very colorful and very well maintained. Inside was super hot and the security person looked quite wiped out - I don’t blame him!
15
16
Ruwanwelisaya Dagoba Life sized elephant sculptures decorated the surrounding walls.
Sigiria Rock
24
We were excited to make it to the top, but at the same time were slightly disappointed with the scene since the ruins were not as well maintained as the scenes on the ground level. But it was still mind boggling to think of how people were able to create such a place to bring water up into these pools. Walking down the stairs was much easier with fewer people.
37
The 1st cave I entered was a small cave with a lying Buddha about the same size as the cave! The corridor was narrow about the width of 2 people to walk by, but I was able to find a small corner to sketch. The cave was dark and I was able to barely see what I was doing.
42
Rice & Curry Lunch For lunch our driver would show us nice lunch spots serving Rice & Curry. Each location had a different taste but everything was excellent. The only problem is that I didn’t know what I was eating since there were no descriptions for the dishes. Our driver told us that they called every dish ‘Rice & Curry’!
Pinnawala Elephant orphanage Twice a day, a herd of wild elephants are walked across a street and down a small road with gift shops to a river nearby to bathe. Staff members stood around with a long stick watching over them but the elephants were calm and obeyed orders. It was a relaxing scene to watch.
Afterwards, I bought a coconut drink from a vendor across the street and he even posed for me for this sketch. He must have been the best model I have ever sketched since he would not move at all and seemed like he didn’t even blink! The 2nd vendor in the background also posed for me too! The coconut drink was excellent too!
Photo Gallery Dambulla - Pinnawala - Kandy
50
Dambulla Cave Temple built under a large boulder.
Golden Temple Museum. The locals didn’t seem to care about this building but I loved how whimsical it looked!
Elephants, elephants, elephants!! All wild elephants too.
Portrait sketching the coconut vendor.
Elephant bathing time.
51
Friendly animals!
Sketching the Dambulla Architecture.
Standing near the cave entrance to use outdoor lighting to sketch. This monk in Kandy showed us this closed room and explained the story behind the murals. What a friendly person!
My sketch made people happy, which made me happy! Kandy Dance - elegant and powerful!
Tea Picking At the hotel we signed up for a tea picking experience. Here’s my wife, Kana dressed in the traditional clothing that they let her wear picking the soft small tea leaves. I was busy sketching her and the landscape and probably only picked 3 leaves! Afterwards they took the tea we picked and started drying them to be made into tea. The next morning at checkout, they gave us a small bag of tea which contained the tea leaves we picked!
63
Aljamiul Alfar Masjid AKA Red Masjid Walking around the city, this red and white mosque just jumped out at us since it was so distinct. The inside was quiet with a few people praying and some looked like they were sleeping too. Out on the street, I took on the challenge of trying to capture this building and was starting to see flashing red and white stripes afterwards!
64
Seema Malaka Temple This original temple structure slowly sank into the water and in 1976, the famous architect Geoffrey Bawa was brought in to redesign and construct this current temple. The place is used mainly for meditation and rest rather than for worship.
#
Route
Transportation Places Visited
Hotels
01 Boston - Dubai
Copthorne Airport Hotel
02 Dubai - Columbo - Negombo
Heritance Negombo
03 Negombo - Anuradhabura Dambulla
05 Dambulla - Kandy 06 Kandy - Pinnawala - Kandy 07 Kandy - Nuwara Eliya 08 Nuwara Eliya - Columbo 19 Columbo
Sri Maha Bohi Tree Isurumuni Temple Ruwanweliseya Dagoba Abhayagiri Dagoba Royal Court Gal Vihara Quadrangle Rock Temple Museum The Rock Temple Elephant orphanage Kandy Dance Tea Picking Hotel Train Restaurant St Clairs Falls Columbo Lotus tower Light Tower Aljamiul Alfar Masjid Seema Malaka Temple
10 Columbo - Dubai
Heritance Kandalama
Cinnamon Citadel Kandy
Heritance Tea Factory Galle Face Hotel
Five Palm Jumeirah Dubai
11 Boston
Plane
Car
Train
Tuk Tuk
Full Trip Itinerary
04 Sigiriya - Polonnaruwa
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •