Around Sri Lanka in 14 days (with apologies Jules Verne)

 

We returned to Jaffna on the 2^nd of May after the most wonderful 14 day tour holiday. Sri Lanka is such a beautiful country and it seemed that every 100km presented such a different experience it is almost as if it is several countries all rolled up into one. I will not bore you with all the holiday details but this post will be a quick snapshot of our trip and show you some pictures of our travels and an idea of the experiences we have had. It is a very edited version but may give you an idea

Our driver Janeka picked us up from the school on the morning of day one of the trip, Friday the 19^th of April. Once out of Jaffna city itself the shocking poor roads gave way to quite reasonable surfaces which stayed that way for most of the trip. The roads were far better than expected.

Our first temple, 2600 years old!!!!

 

the rock temple

Our first night stay was in the city of Anuradpura, the site of one on the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka. Massive collections on temples and palaces were all around the area.

relaxing with a walk at dusk at hotel

 

 after temples all day

Day 2 saw us at more temples and it was very hot. It was soon apparent that the girls were not so impressed with temples (ancient ruins) as Andrew was and they went on a “temple strike”.  He went to most of the sites but the girls were more selective and stayed in the comfort of the air-conditioned van watching monkeys.

The palace at the ancient capital

statue of the dead budda

Day 3 saw us climb Lion Rock and to be honest I have no idea how we made it. An amazing collection of ancient gardens and palaces were sat on this impressive spot. Sarah loved the climb and Emma was luckily carried a fair way up and all the way down by a strong guide.

Lion rock



part of the climb up Lion Rock

Emma "helping" one of the guides up the rock



View from the top

Emma's helper, he carried her almost the whole way up and down the rock!

We travelled on a buffalo drawn cart, three wheeler and boat on a village tour and found how to cook some of the vegetables we see at the markets and how to make roti and pol sambol



great way to travel

A tough life for farmers, they guard their crops in huts like these high in trees from the nightly attacks by elephants

Jacinta making rice flour

my new day job

 

Day 4 saw us travelling to cooler Kandy with a visit to the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage, watching the elephants bathing in the river. Our hotel in Kandy was probably the highlight of the trip for the girls. It was the pathway for a troupe of macaque monkeys from their evening home in the forest to the day time adventures around the lake area. Their route took them right past our windows!!!!!! The girls were totally blown away with the show each morning and evening. We may go back to Kandy for a week just to watch the monkeys and have the monkeys watch us.

Bath time at the elephant orphanage 

We also visited the “temple of the tooth” with the promise to the girls that this was the last temple.

Temple of the Tooth was beautiful

Day 5 saw more monkey watching and a stroll around the Kandy botanic gardens.

They grow the bamboo BIG round here

BETTER than TV.. WATCHING MONKEYS!!!

An appropriate warning!!

View from our hotel room window

We did not know who was watching who...or whom?????

Sarah was just so excited!

Day 6 and a windy drive from Kandy to Nawara Eliyia. We spent some time wandering through a tea plantation, watching the ladies pick tea. It’s a hard job and will not be a career change for us.  Contrary to the usual tourist images the women were mature middle aged not the slim young beauties seen in advertising.  We also visited the Mackwood Labrooke Tea Factory and on a brief tour saw how tea was picked, dried, rolled, fermented, heated and packed.  We had a lovely cup of tea and chocolate cake overlooking mountains covered in tea plantation.

A tough backreaking job

 

Beautiful country

Day 7 was a quiet day with the visit to a “milk farm” as they put it and a really good drive through the country side.

Day 8 was a 4 hour train trip through the tea plantations to Ella and then a drive to Uda walawe. We climbed little Adam's Peak which presented an incredible view. Also the weather change was amazing. It is easy to see how people lose their lives in mountain country. It went from sunny and clear to zero visibility in 10 minutes. We made a good choice to turn around from our climb as we saw the clouds pour in.

Train trip to Ella,

Little Adam's peak

Our great driver Janeka with Emma

The weather changed within minutes

Day 9, amazing with safaris in 2 different national parks, Uda walawe. in the morning  and Yala in the evening. Lots of elephants, buffaloes, monkeys, deer, crocodiles, birds but the absolute highlight was the leopard. We were so excited after quite a long chase to see it three times. It walked just in front of our jeep.  Apparently coming across a leopard is not too common.

Lots of water buffalo

 

Tonnes more photos of lots of animals but don't want to bore you, the Leopard was just so cool though!!!!

 

 

Day 10 saw us travel from Tissa to the far South and a stay at Unawatuna, a beach side resort just east of Galle.  You know the scenes of crystal blue waters with swaying coconut palms, sun lounges on the sand with dining tables on the beach.  That was it, a perfect location.

Traditional fishing on the Southern Coastline

Dinner in style on the beach near Galle

Day 11 Playing on the beach and pool and a trip around Galle to the historic Galle fort.

The Galle Fort overlooking city and famous cricket ground. A really amazing city. We would love to see more of it.

Day 12 On the way to Colombo saw another real highlight with the Madu Lake Boat Safari.  Sarah holding a baby monkey and baby crocodile was just awesome. Seeing that cinnamon sticks are still made by hand was impressive.  Fish nibbling our feet was very ticklish.

On the Mangrove and lake tour

Sarah said she would trade the squirrels in for the baby monkey

Next seasons handbag????

Making cinnimon sticks the hard way

Now we know how the worms feels

Sarah could not contain herself!!!!

Day 13 We had a quiet time in Colombo and did lots of R and R and Jacinta had some retail therapy. It was Labour Day holiday so they only things open were a supermarket, bookstore, and food court and it was so exciting to be in a clean shop with choice.  We were very surprised by our reaction to what we saw as a real western style stores and shopping malls. We had an experience of reverse culture shock. It will be interesting when we return home to see if the same thing happens.

Day 14 was a 9 and a half our drive. We could tell we were getting closer to Jaffna by the increased number of cows on the road, increased poverty and poorer road conditions.  We told the girls they weren’t allow to ask ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ until there the roads where single lane.

Sri Lanka is a very diverse country with jungle, beaches, hill country, ancient ruins cities, modern cities, agricultural areas and the war torn north.  We stayed in fabulous hotels and enjoyed the luxury of being on holidays with others caring for our needs and wants.

Coming back to Jaffna was a hard return to the real world. It is very hot and we are straight back into school work. Already the holiday is starting to be a bit of a blur and it is hard to remember all the experiences but we have 100’s of photos and hope you got an idea from the selection in this post.

Hope you enjoyed a taste of our wonderful adventure in this truely beautiful country. Now its back to the hard work.

HAPPY NEWYEAR...again?????

Happy New Year to everyone…. Tamil and Sinalese New Year that is, which is tomorrow, Sunday 14^th April. Not quite sure what to expect but we are sure there will be lots of fireworks, really loud music and heaven only knows what else. The school is very quiet at the moment with no students or staff around and we are resting and recovering from huge term. Things will get busy again next week with 160 pastors coming for a “reconciliation” service between Tamil and Sinalese on Tuesday to which I have been invited and the family will come to a meal at lunch. On Wed the hordes descend for the youth camp. NO IDEA what chaos that will bring.

The milestone this past week? On Friday 5^th of April, last week, we had been in Sri Lanka 100 days. I think we should be pleased with ourselves as it is certainly an achievement to be proud of. The sheer chaos is starting to feel normal.

The big markets in Jaffna, we really pay "Foreign" prices here

The Jaffna markets..the aroma is amazing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some things we have found amusing and keeps our level of “wonderment and awe” high here. (All the teachers of Hervey Bay High will understand the reference)

·        Saw a three wheeler taxi towing another three wheeler taxi down the main street. The tow rope being used…….?  A single 3 metre length of barbed wire!!!! Wish I had the camera

·        Cleaning floors in the school. Chuck a big bucket of water and push the ensuing flood with a large squeegee out a hole in the side of the room.  It’s quicker than mopping.

·        The sweeping of the school corridors 3 times a day, there is literally a small sand dune swept down the hall way each time. I am not kidding

·        The wonderful lady who sweeps the dirt outside our home each morning to remove the leaves. We don’t know why dirt needs to be bare but it is the accepted practice.



A never ending job, but she always does it with a smile and a "Good moring sir" in broken english as I walk to school each day

·        Constant blackouts!! No one bats an eye. It is amazing, the teachers continue teaching, the students continue working, those walking down the hall continue walking down the hall, all in near darkness.  It’s just like they don’t even notice the lights and fans have stopped.  Of course our girls think it’s hilarious to be plunged into darkness.

·        Mowing the grass…with a machete, I have to try that at home. No such thing as a lawn mower (except the 4 leg variety), maybe that’s why they don’t have much grass.



·        Bank Transfers. I am too use to the paperless commercial world I’m afraid. When I went to the bank to transfer funds to an account in another bank, Bunny (the assistant manager who looks after us very well, if I go into the bank and it is full, I always get ushered into his office to do banking there, and yes that is his name) organised it all for me. I assumed it would be transferred electronically. But no, the cash (well more than a teacher’s yearly wage here) was handed over to another employee who got onto his bike and travelled the 3 km to the other bank to deposit the amount. I sat in the air-conditioned comfort till he returned with the stamped deposit slip!

·        The love and respect we get from the staff. At times we have said “let’s go home, we’ve had enough”. We then remember why we came and the staff and students are so worth the effort.

·        Finally, me driving into Jaffna city and having the car overheat and stop dead in the middle one of the busiest intersections. With girls and Jacinta in car, I have to get out and push (have to remind Jacinta car doesn’t roll too well when gear is in park!) and to the blasts of a variety of horns I push the car round the corner. 37 degree heat and 80% humidity did not help. A nice shop keeper gave me a chair to sit on while waiting for lift.

I am learning to really love the way they do things here, nothing is too big or too much trouble. They think grand and do things we would normally put in the too hard basket.  They work with a smile.

 Life is so different here and we feel we are operating here well individually and as a family. We also seem to be having an effect on the staff. Last week a hand made card arrived for us in the “suggestion box” we have set up in the staff devotion room. I won’t go into the whole card, but it started off on the outside “Open with a smile” and went to start inside addressed “To our beloved Mr and Mrs Garty…” with some personal messages of support and thanks. Another staff member, in a very nervous way came up with a small package containing two items, one she gave to me. It was like a small trophy which had “Dear Teacher” on the top and a short verse about me as a teacher, the other was for Jacinta, who all the staff call “Mrs Andrew” or “Dear Miss!!” was a trophy like item with a verse on teachers.  I often get referred to as  “my sir”.   Some of the primary teachers have really taken our ideas on board and have positively changed the way they teach.  Even Emma has taught her teacher a lot on how to teach children who are different.  The people we are working with are so accepting of us and appreciate what we are trying to do. We are making a difference. It is a very humbling experience.

Making our own entertainment, ten pin bowling on the basketall courts!!!

It was an incredibly busy week but it was all involving school. We have finally finished a huge term that started on 6^th of January and “officially” ended on the 10^th of April. Exams have occurred all this week and I do mean ALL. The students (and staff unfortunately) had to turn up on Saturday to do exam sessions and the 6 day week certainly had taken its toll on me, I feel so sorry for the poor students. I am going to see if we can change accepted practice and avoid this happening in the future.

Emma had finished school (and therefore so had Jacinta) for the term and gets a wonderful 4 week break, and Sarah had her last exam last Monday. I was involved with the senior Chemistry class in tutorials all this week in preparation for the Cambridge exams. The week after this there is to be a huge Christian youth camp (600 13-35year olds) at the school for 4 days in the second week of the holidays and I am involved in presenting a session during the week. I have no idea what to present.

We finally get a break as a whole family on 19^th of April and that is when the fun starts. Last week we booked a tour with a company called BlueLanka (sounds like a naughty website, but they have had very good reviews in Trip Advisor, a travel website). We will be travelling for two weeks and getting a really good look at this beautiful country. We get picked up in Jaffna and are taken by driver / tour guide in a private vehicle and the company takes care of the whole lot. We need the break and are going to enjoy having someone else do all our worrying for us.

We will fill you in on some the wonders we get to see as we travel. The girls are in seventh heaven as almost all accommodation has a pool!

Take care everyone and please keep in touch

Happy Easter to everyone back home

Happy Easter to you all!

The latest milestone that was passed this week ………3 months last Tuesday! Jacinta hates that I am "ticking off days" as she puts it but I find it helpful so, we agree to disagree on that one. It is amazing to think we arrived here on the 26^th of December last year. Easter here for us was very quiet with a public holiday on Friday and church on Sunday. After the service we went to Green Grass Hotel for lunch and a swim. No Easter eggs for the girls this year as the Easter bunny does not get to Sri Lanka due to visa difficulties. We have heard there may be an Easter Squirrel but frankly I have my doubts.

On the topic of squirrels, Sarah is continuing her efforts at squirrel training in the hope of bringing a trained one back to Australia with us (sorry Sarah..not going to happen). Her recent efforts have involved leaving out some bananas that are waaaaaaaaaay past their best-by date, on the disused shipping container next door. She then watches movement over the next couple of days. We have not seen the squirrels indulging yet but they did disappear over the 2 days.

Presenting the PD session.. those legs arghhhhh, oh the horror!!!!!

We had a busy week. On Tuesday we presented a professional development day on behaviour management. Jacinta spent weeks in preparation and research, I had the easy job as front man and presenter. We have ruffled a few feathers and challenged a lot of beliefs and cultural norms but we are very pleased to say that the cane is now no longer an option for punishment at the school. Either is hitting the kids on the head with a book, or making them kneel for the lesson if they didn’t bring their homework.  If nothing else we feel this is a big achievement and helps justify our time here, to us, at least. We spent a lot of time introducing a large variety of alternate strategies and there is still a lot of work to do. It was great to see how willing most of the staff were to embrace new ideas and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. We think the majority of staff were ready for this move and just needed a little push. What was also interesting is that on the PD day staff were told they could wear casual dress. I think something was lost in the translation as their idea of casual was waaaaay different to ours. The ladies mostly arrived in the wedding saris. There was such a rich display of fabrics and colours and patterns and bling. It was amazing.

On Tuesday evening we went to Udivil Girls College, a girls boarding school about 5 km from Manipay. It is steeped in tradition, being the oldest boarding school in Asia.

Udivil Girls College

They had an Easter themed concert with traditional Tamil dances throughout. The costumes were incredible and the girls danced beautifully. We have to say however that possibly the highlight of the evening was when the huge floral centrepiece caught fire. Possibly unplanned, certainly memorable. On Thursday the AIS had its own Easter concert. Some special items were presented. We have some really talented students here.

AIS choir at Easter concert

We are finding the going a little hard at the moment. The weather is starting to be a problem, with temps of 35 degrees C max dropping to 28 at night and 80% humidity. What we find most draining is that the locals tell us as kindly as possible that it will get far worse and stay so for approximately 3 more months. Even coming from a sub-tropical area as Queensland that has its fair share of hot weather, we are questioning our ability to cope over the long haul. Only time will see. Jacinta has coped with the heat by wearing a sarong when at home, the girls don’t wear that much at all.

Jacinta has been missing home over the last couple of days. Over the Easter period she has been thinking of how we normally would spend our time. Easter egg hunts, rabbit foot prints all over the floor and so on…she is missing her family and home and feels deeply for the Sarah and Emma who are missing their Grandparents and beloved cousins Ella, Hazel and Kate. We are planning a holiday and this may help with the “blues” a little.

School is on the wind down to exams for end of semester. They do 2 hours exam sessions from year 2 classes. (That’s 7 year olds! Got to get something done about that one.)   We finish on 9^th of April (the students even turn up on Saturday this week for their exams) for 4 weeks but in the first week I will be working with senior students and tutorials preparing them for the Cambridge A level exams due in early May. In the second week, the school will be hosting 400 to 500 young people for a youth camp and I will be presenting a session (should be interesting as they speak little English and I don’t speak Tamil or Sinhala). If you have any ideas sent them over.  In the last two weeks we hope to tour central and Southern Sri Lanka and spoil ourselves as tourists for a while.

Take care everyone and please keep in touch, we really love it when people post comments on the blog or send emails. Your time in keeping in touch is greatly appreciated.

A,J S and E