Beruwela Lighthouse. A Photostory.

Most days after school  we went to the beach. In addition to the ladies selling sarongs there,was a group of young men who in addition to chatting offered us various trips to us in the locality, at a price of course.

It was thanks to them we found our way to both Lunuganga and Brief Gardens, though in the end we went with our school tuktuk drivers as they gave us a much better price.

They also suggested that we take the short boat trip to Beruwela Lighthouse on a nearby island. In their estimation the best time would be sunset.

So we arranged to meet them one evening after school.

It was a good if slightly scary trip. There were no life jackets, and it soon became apparent why the lighthouse was necessary.

Barberyn Island complete with lighthouse. Are we heading straight for those rocks.

There were no life jackets and it soon became apparent why the lighthouse was necessary.

The view from the top of the lighthouse was wonderful as was the sunset.

Our tour guides.

The lighthouse was built by the British in 1928 but there may have been an older structure prior to this. It is still fully functional. It was getting a face lift when we arrived.

The road to the lighthouse

It is getting an overhaul.

It is one of four international lighthouses still working in Sri Lanka.  

The lamp .

What is that in the distance?

It is the statue of Buddha, at Kande Viharaya, the higgest statue of Buddha in Sri Lanka

Looking towards  the centuries old Ketchimalai Mosque, the white building in the near distance. 

75% of Barberyn Island is covered by coconut trees.

Coming to rest in the trees for the evening?

Home to five lighthouse keepers.

The sun begins to set

Ship heads into the path of the setting sun.

At the top.

The light is on, photo was impossible to take as the boat was going up and down!

Back at the hotel

Once again the beacon is lighting.

The Temple of the Tooth - Kandy

 According to legend, when Lord Buddha died , his left canine tooth was discovered in the ashes. This tooth is believed to have come from India to Sri Lanka and is now housed in the Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy. Thousands of people flock to the shrine to see the casket housing the tooth  which is put on display three times a day among much fanfare.

Map of the temple complex.

Our driver told us he had a guide organised for us. We were not allowed to delay, we had to go hand in our shoes, and head straight to the door of the main complex. I understood as the guide was waiting but  there were small buildings dotted around the complex just calling out to me to be photographed. Ah well, I would get them on our way back. After all, we had all day..... or so I thought!! Our guide, while knowledgeable, spoke at knots an hour and rushed us through the Temple. He told us it was because we had little time, the showing of the casket would begin in half an hour and our tour must be finished by then. Maggie later found out he was booked to give an English lesson.

The entrance to the main temple

People make their offerings.

I was the holder of the " kitty", our joint funds for paying entrance fees, tuk tuks etc. I was instructed by the others to give a 100 rupee tip. I thought it was very little, about €1.50, but then wages were also very low, tipping should be proportionate, I assumed. As soon as we were finished the tour, the guide asked us for money. I was taken aback. I didn't think normally asked for their tip and he had whizzed us through the temple. However, I handed over the agreed tip and was told in no uncertain terms it was not enough. I was now equally embarrassed at offering too little and annoyed at being asked for more. I wonder was his name Oliver?

I gave him another 100 and he handed me back the two notes and told me he didn't want the money. Boy oh boy. I wished I had done my research first and checked out the going rate! I had obviously mortally insulted him. At the same time, our tour had resembled speed dating. Move to a certain point, get the required information in as short a time as possible and then move on! So I took our money and put it back into kitty as he obviously wasn't going to accept it.

This image did not fit with my traditional image of a monk.
Monks were the only ones I saw using smart phones in Sri Lanka

Notice in the library.

Next came embarrassing moment no. 2. Maggie had seen the Temple before, but Sue and I hadn't. We decided to split up and go our separate ways to explore it at our leisure. We needed to meet again to get our shoes. Maggie had the ticket. The ceremony was about to begin. Maggie said to meet in 30 minutes, Sue wanted an hour. There were words exchanged and a bit of storming off! Heigh ho!

Hall of Worship

Hall of Worship

the Story of  the Sacred Relic is told in pictures around the Hall of Worship

Inner Courtyard.

Inner sanctuary.

I wandered around the main temple area. The flower offerings were beautiful and so many people sitting in the floor praying.

Flower offerings

More offerings. I am not sure what was inside these parcels.

 Drums and flutes, all kinds of fanfare heralded the Tooth going on display.

Do you think they have done this once too often? None of them look very enthusiastic!

No chance we were going to miss the fanfare.

So approximately 45 minutes later we all met up again, the shoes were retrieved, Maggie shot off for an Anglican church she had spotted just outside the grounds.

The Anglican Church

Sue and I wandered. I wanted to photograph those buildings I had seen on the way in but we were soon rounded up by the driver. We had to get on the road for the return trip! What happened to having all day? It looked like the driver too had somewhere else he needed to be.

The Temple Grounds

Ancient Bodhi Tree

Once we were back in the van, the mystery of the our guides huff was quickly revealed It turned out that Saga had not paid the guide. We had understood it was included. The guide had been looking for his fee for his tour. We had not understood. He did not explain, the driver had not told us. Our entrance to the Botanic Garden had been paid so we assumed when we were told a guide was waiting for us it was the same thing. Our guide, failing to "extract" money from us had gone to the driver, who paid him. We in turn reimbursed the driver. What a mix up.

Once more our return journey was 5½ hours and this time the driver planned on non-stop. We hadn't eaten since 07.30 and had been rushing around the place like lunatics..  Eventually we managed to persuade him we needed to stop for lunch. He found a restaurant, we took one look, decided hunger pangs were better than food poisoning and moved on. We were back on the road. An hour later he stopped at a tea house and said this was all that was open on a Sunday. So it was a cup of coffee, there was no food. It was a long uncomfortable journey after a very frustrating morning.We were glad to reach our hotel, collect our bags and  move into our new rooms.

What a waste of a weekend, we spent all our time on the road, approximately 11 hours for 2 hours sightseeing. I decided no more trying to please others.I had passed on the elephant farm, tried to mediate between Maggie and Sue at the temple. Enough! I have not been to Sri Lanka before or will I be touring again after volunteering. Saga might have organised my hotel for the next weekend but I will make my own travel plans and actually see what I would like to see.

Being nice is overrated!

Or maybe I should take the advice of all Buddhas?

Kandy

 As I mentioned in a previous post, Saga messed up our booking and on our second and third weekend we had to leave our hotel as there was literally no room at the inn!

To be honest, this didn't bother me too much, apart from the fact that each weekend I had to pack up my bags and leave in the hotel storeroom. It was a constant reminder I had brought way too much luggage and I had a lot more travelling to do. The need to pack lightly was constantly being reinforced. There was a definite plus side to the deal though.

 In compensation for the inconvenience, Saga offered us a trip to Kandy the first weekend. I was now quite pleased they had messed up, The Temple of the Tooth in Kandy was on my "to see" list. Instead of having to make my way by public transport, Saga was sending us a car and driver, had booked our hotel and would include a visit to an elephant orphanage and to the famous Temple of the Tooth. Looked like I was on a winner here.

Maggie had been to the elephant orphanage before and was not impressed, Sue was due to visit it on a tour of the island she had booked post volunteering. I didn't mind if we skipped it as I planned to "play" with elephants in either India or Nepal. I thought it would give us more time to wander around Kandy at our leisure. Dohhh! I forgot I was dealing with Saga and organised tours.

We were picked up early. According to Google the distance between Beruwela and Kandy is 174.1 km and would take 2hr 36m to drive.....don't you just love an optimistic soul.  The reality.......5½hrs on crowded scary roads. We passed one collision between a tuk tuk and a mini bus. It was a miracle there were not more. I was bemused to see a lot of "motor factors", shops selling car parts. All they seemed to sell were front bumpers and car bonnets. In such numbers, it did not inspire confidence in road safety. I thanked God for the fact Maggie was a bad traveller and needed to sit in the front. I am not a great passenger, I don't get travel sick, I get scared witless! At least in the back, I don't always see what is on the road in front of me.

On the journey we were given one short break for coffee and the loo. Luckily, I like sugar in my coffee, as there was no choice. Coffee comes out of the machine ready mixed with milk and sugar and even for me it was very sweet.

As we neared Kandy, we stopped to see a spice plantation, I found it quite interesting to see the spices growing and to learn about their different uses. But of course then came the hard sell. Buy this and it will make you thin, buy that and after 9 applications you will never have to shave your legs again. Sue wondered how anybody was ever sick in Sri Lanka as there were so many natural  wonder cures available. As Spring approaches now I regret not investing in large quantities of the hair removal cream. Imagine never having to shave my legs again.

Peppercorns

Next came the Botanic gardens. We had a sandwich and our, by now, must have drink, a  cooling fresh lime soda. They are so good and a lot easier to ask for than our favourite "mocktail," Beach Blanket Bingo.....now that is a mouthful even before you swallow.  We then split up and agreed to meet at the appointed time at the in-house store "Laksala" It is government run and offers fair prices
and no hassle!

View from the restaurant in the Botanic Gardens.

Time Out.

I wandered into the Orchid house and was in photography heaven. The next thing I heard was Turkish being spoken! I couldn't resist and I approached the men and asked them in Turkish were they on holidays. They were not over-inclined to chat but one offered the information that he was living in Sri Lanka and the others were his guests.

In the Orchid House

All in all, we had only an hour plus a little shopping time. Here I bought the first thing on my purchase list, a traditional hand painted wooden mask. Now all I had to do was to figure how to squeeze it into my hand luggage. I feel a major cull coming on.

He now resides on my sitting room wall. Luckily for me his ears detached and he did manage to squeeze into my hand luggage.

Back to the car again and we were dropped to our hotel, the Cinnamon Citadel, part of the same chain as our hotel in Beruwela. Sue and I had to get our rooms changed. We were on the ground floor and the smell of damp was overwhelming. After a short argument we were moved upstairs beside Maggie. The rooms were lovely, big and spacious and without the damp smell. The hotel was lovely, situated on the river, but in the middle of nowhere.  There was no going out for a wander around town.

The Cinnamon Citadel

My room

I love this wall hanging , I can feel a shopping trip coming on. 

 So we relaxed, had a swim, dinner and an early night. We were being picked up at 08.30 to go to the Temple of the Tooth, for me the highlight of our trip I hoped.

Spring is in the Air.

In the past week, Spring has been in the air, and with it the feelings of a fresh start, new beginnings. As I sat at my computer this morning my blog sprang to mind. I haven't touched it for over a year. I remembered blog posts I had written from my "big adventure" last year but had not published.  I had not added photographs to them. While travelling, it was too hard to sort through the thousands of pictures I had taken,  to edit and upload them using only my iPad.  Travelling through India and Nepal in particular, I had very limited access to the internet due to frequent power cuts. For me, photographs are an intrinsic part of my blog,  so even though I had several posts written, I didn't publish them.

Once I returned from my trip, life became very busy,  I had  only three weeks when I didn't have visitors from June to November. That does not include the Easter period, the trip back to Ireland and the one to Northern Cyprus.

This year has begun more sedately, I have managed to be in the one place now for over two months and no plans to travel until a trip back to Ireland in May. It has helped me restore balance in my life. This, combined with the lovely warm Spring weather last week has caused a stirring, a rumbling urge within me. It is no longer itchy feet, searching for a road I have not yet explored. It is urge to do, to create. 

People have always told me I am creative. I don't think I ever really believed them. I think it is because I associated being creative with being super talented. I have a brother a sculptor, another a talented chef, who can also build houses, a niece who has won a young Designer of the Year award...and the list could go on. These I considered creative.

With me it is different.  I now accept I am creative. My creativity takes many different forms. While working, I loved to plan school concerts, or a new European schools project. I have rediscovered knitting, I love to try out new recipes, found, as my fingers wander through the wonderland of Pinterest. Many of these are now in a folder, marked and annotated, with my own adjustments, discovered after trying them out, instead of languishing in my Pinterest folders. 

Most of all I have rediscovered my passion for photography. When I retired, my school community made me a presentation. I bought a new camera as I planned to travel. But since my trip to Sri Lanka the camera has been languishing in it's nice leather case. However,  last November, the  H3A group to which I belong began a Photography Workshop. The dust has been blown off my camera. It is now an itchy trigger finger on the camera button that has me out and about, full of excitement and enthusiasm, full of the joys of Spring.

I have decided to dust off my previous blog posts, written but not published and to add in the missing photographs. After that we will see!