Faith, Flowers and the Market

Just outside Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy, there are rows and rows of vendors selling beautiful fresh flowers for the faithful to take in as offering to Lord Buddha. I was absolutely captivated by the flowers,the different colors of lotus flowers and the sweet, intoxicating scent of jasmine and frangipani.

It's strange when you visit a place, you go with a goal to see certain specific sights and to tick them off your list. But its often the mundane,the simple things that you encounter on the journey that end up leaving lasting memories. A taste, a smell, a conversation... it's these tiny things that you treasure the most.

I guess that quote, "Its not about the destination, it's about the journey to get there" is true, unless of course you are stuck on a plane of course :) Have a great weekend everyone!

[All Images- Shalini Pereira. Please do not use without prior written permission]

A Spiritual Afternoon Among Monkeys, Men and Lotus Flowers- Damulla Caves, Sri Lanka

One of the day trips we made from Kandy was a visit to Sigiriya and Dambulla. I had heard that Sigriya was an awesome sight and Dambulla was a bit over rated. But to be really honest I much preferred my visit to the Dambulla Caves. 

I'm not exactly a spiritual person and, as I grow older, I find myself leaning more and more towards atheism, but the visit to Dambulla struck a chord in me for some reason. The caves had a quality about them... a sort of stillness and sense of peace that I found comforting. I can understand why it is a place of pilgrimage for so many. 

Dating back to the 1st century BC, and now a World Heritage Site, the complex consists of five caves carved from the base of a 150m high rock. We visited in the afternoon and luckily there wasn't too much of a crowd. I used the chance to click as many pictures as I could... here are a few of my favourites. 

[All Images- Shalini Pereira. Please do not use without prior written permission]

Our Sri Lankan Food Odyssey

Aside from the fact that we had an amazing time in Sri Lanka, our stomachs had an equally amazing time! While there we made it a point to try all kinds of things... street food, bakery food, joints where the locals eat, places highly recommended on tripadvisor and some lesser known, but equally amazing places. 

Food in Sri Lanka is quite similar to the food you would find in Kerala and Goa even, but it's a little spicer... something the hubby really enjoyed. I enjoyed it equally, but was popping antacids after every meal :) Lots of vegetarian options and amazing seafood.  Here is our food journey documented through pictures I clicked along the way...

Curry Rice

You can't visit Sri Lanka and not enjoy some curry rice! It comes with some vegetable side dishes, a meat or fish curry, coconut sambal, popadoms and dal. I loved devilled chicken and devilled potatoes, but i wasn't a fan of the dried fish dishes I tried in Sri Lanka... true to my Goan roots, I think the Goan style dried fish is much much better :)

The best curry rice I had was at a CHC (Ceylon Hotels Corporation) Rest 

House, Sigiriya, just before the Sigiriya site

The second best rice curry I had was at Rockview Restaurant, just outside of Kandy, in pahala Kadugannawa. This restaurant offers amazing views and at around noon you can see the train chugging up the hill... its a great place for lunch.

The incredible view from Rockview Restaurant

EGB

No EGB, No Food! That's the catch line for this delicious ginger beer drink that is EGB. It is a VERY popular soft drink in Sri Lanka and the most refreshing drink I've ever had! The perfect pick me up in the afternoons, when it's hot and energy levels are dropping :) The hubby and I drank so much of it and even had it on the flight back... I wish the Elephant Company, which manufactures EGB would start selling it in India. (hope someone high up in Elephant Co. is reading this)

Paratha Roti 

This one is really bad for you... but like all things that are bad for you, it tastes amazing :) the parata roti is like a cross between a malabar paratha and a maida batura. It's light and fluffy, flakey and greasy and so good with curry.

It's also quite an art form to make it- very difficult and you need to be quite 

skilled... a real theatrical performance 

Roti

Roti is like a stuffed paratha, but its much thicker and in the shape of a triangle. Its a very popular breakfast snack or anytime snack. You get rotis stuffed with chicken, keema, vegetables and egg. I heard that you also get rotis stuffed with banana and nutella, but sadly i never came across any :( The best roti we had was in Kandy Muslim Restaurant in Kandy... it was really spicy and the hubby loved it. The staff there were mostly Tamilian and assumed the hubby was one too... luckily the hubby knows Tamil, so they were happily chatting with him throughout our meal.

Kuttu Roti

Another popular meal is kuttu roti. Like a Sri Lankan hakka noodle except the noodles are replaced with chopped up strips of roti. You get different versions with vegetables, chicken or egg and all are delicious. Kuttu roti is served with two gravy accompaniments - a spicy gravy and a bland gravy. The hubby and I disagree when it comes to the place for the best kuttu roti... the hubby liked the kuttu at Kandy Muslim Restaurant, while I liked the kuttu at Ella Roti Hut in Ella. 

Seafood

Food is quite cheap in Sri Lanka, especially when you compare it to Gurgaon or Delhi, especially when it comes to seafood. So if you love your seafood, eat as much of it as you can while you are in Sri Lanka. The seafood is so fresh! We really enjoyed our seafood once we got to the coast of Sri Lanka. In Tangalle, Galle and Colombo. I ate a lot of crab! I think I shocked the hubby when he saw me eat a whole crab :)

Some nice grilled prawns that we really delicious. We had this at our hotel 

in Tangalle, Serein Beach Hotel

Crab I devoured at Reef Edge Restaurant on polhena Beach Road, polhena, 

Matara... amazing seafood... not so great vegetarian options... 

so the hubby was not impressed

And food always tastes better in a setting like this... you can taste the salt in 

the air, smell the sea and it felt we were floating on the ocean... one of the 

most stunning settings to enjoy a meal.

On our last day in Colombo, we made a pilgrimage to the very Famous Beach Wadiya... This is a totally unpretentious restaurant that has some really famous clientele. The food here is awesome for both vegetarians as well as seafood lovers. Sit outside and look out at the beach and the waves, but you will have to beware of the crows that swoop down and attempt to steal food off your plate :) 

We ate baked chilli crab (this place is famous for it), devilled potatoes, stir fry spinach and egg fried rice. We washed all this down with some beer and we paid around Rs 1500/-!!! Can you imagine! 

Drink lots of Lion Beer!

I know as a proud Indian I shouldn't say this... but I love Lion Beer... I think it puts Kingfisher to shame... go ahead and hate me now :)

Enjoy Sri Lankan Tea

The tea in Sri Lanka is really good. And we had a lot of it and brought a lot of it back as well :) One of the nicest places where we really enjoyed afternoon tea was Mlesna Tea Center. Its a small, quaint little shop in Kandy, on Dalada Vidiya Street. Downstairs you can buy different varieties of tea and if you go up to the first floor, they offer tea and cakes.  We went there twice while we were in Kandy.

The best eclair I have ever tasted was here

Avocado Juice

Avocado juice is another popular juice here. I've not really seen avocado juice anywhere before... smoothies yes, but not juice. We finally got a chance to try some in Galle. Word of advice...if you have a craving for avocado juice in Galle, keep in mind that everything inside Galle Fort is very, very expensive. Take a short walk to the city centre, outside the fort and enjoy juices at unbelievable prices!

This was a place near the fruit market in Galle. Cost of juice inside the fort is 

SLR 250-300... SLR 40 outside :)

Have a meal at The Gallery Cafe, Colombo

If you are in Colombo for a day stop of here for a meal or tea or even a cocktail. The Gallery Cafe is located in what used to be Geoffrey Bawa's office. It's a beautiful setting and a must visit if you a designer, architect or if you love courtyard architecture. The Gallery Cafe is located in quite a posh, up-market area so be on the look out for celebrities... we ran into Arvinda DeSilva here:) The food and cocktails here are really good too. Unfortunately we visited for dinner and the lighting was too low to take any decent pictures. Whatever you eat here, make sure you leave room for dessert. I recommend the vanilla panna cotta and if you are a chocolate lover like me... the chocolate nemesis, which is a baked chocolate mousse, is a thing of beauty!  

[All Images- Shalini Pereira. Please do not reproduce without prior written permission]

A Train Ride to Ella

I love train journeys. I think its because it reminds me of family holidays to Goa- we always went by train and it was always a great adventure that involved food, great scenery and bonding with fellow passengers. So when, while planning our Sri Lankan holiday, I noticed a lot of people recommending taking a train ride to Ella, I didn't need much convincing. 

We took the train from Kandy to Ella. It's quite convenient since it departs Kandy at 8.45 and we are in Kandy by around 2.30 pm. We went 2nd class reserved (there is also an unreserved 2nd class which makes things a little confusing). Along the way we enjoyed some spectacular scenery, bonded with our fellow passengers & were entertained by a group of young Sri Lankan girls who were enjoying a game of antakshari. I also noticed that, like in India, it is customary to scream/howl out of the window as the train passes through a tunnel. It was also incredibly amusing to see a few German tourists, who had befriended these girls, try their hand at it as well. These are the things I enjoy about train journeys... people bond, they talk to one another, share food and for some reason are just a lot more open and friendly. There is a certain romance, an atmosphere, to train journeys that you just can compare to speeding from one place to another in an air-conditioned car :)

A lot of people take the train from Kandy to Ella, some take a car from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya and then hop on the train to Ella from Nuwara Eliya, while others deboard at Nuwara Eliya, explore this town and then go on to Ella by car. The scenery throughout is pretty awesome, although it gets a little cloudy and rainy after you cross Nuwara Eliya, and the landscape becomes a little more wild and rugged. 

I couldn't stopping taking pictures the entire journey! The train winds its way through and around the hills, by numerous tea plantations, so close you can wave out the the women who are picking the leaves,  and offers beautiful views of valleys and waterfalls. In my opinion this train ride is a must do, so if make a trip to Sri Lanka, and plan to visit Ella, take the train!

Here a a few of the many, many images I captured.

[All images- Shalin Pereira. Please do not use without prior written permission]