Colombo, Sri Lanka - March 12th

Although there were several excursions available to us that went to the Temple of the Tooth (which purportedly housed the upper canine tooth of Lord Buddha which survived his funeral pyre), city drive, tea factory and plantations, we chose to make a rather long trek to see the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, the only elephant orphanage in the world established in 1975 which was developed to care for abandoned or disabled babies that had been separated from their herd.  It’s also a breeding ground and a conservation and education center.  We hoped to see them bathing at the river’s edge and being fed milk from baby bottles.  Unfortunately, the drive was reported to be 2.25 hours each way. 

 

Our guide, Sarath, told us the name Sri Lanka, meaning Sir Island, was changed to Ceylon by the British until, and, after gaining independence in 1948, the first woman Prime Minister (in the world, I believe he said) established the country as a republic in 1972 and changed the name back to its original name.  It is comprised of nine provinces and has a population of 21 million people.  Colombo is situated a little north of the Equator and has a warm, tropical monsoon climate with average year round temperatures of 80 degrees.   The official languages of SL are Sinhala and Tamil. 

The population is made up of 74% Singhalese, 9% Muslims, 15% Tamils and other minorities and 69% follow Buddhism, 15% Hinduism, 8% Christianity and 9% Islam. 

The country boasts a literacy rate of 93.6% and has 16 universities.  A civil war plagued this country for thirty years ending not too very long ago.  

A very powerful tsunami in 2004, which travelled 3 km in one second, killed 55,000 people and displaced another 100,000. 

One fact I found most interesting was that the number one source of income for SL is “foreign exchange” which means people from SL are living and working elsewhere and sending money home.  Coconut, rubber and tea are its biggest exports with tourism ranking five in their economy.  Average per capita income is $3000 per year or 30,000 rupees (LKR).  A carpenter will earn 1500 LKR a day while a mason will earn 1000 LKR a day.  I didn’t write down the exchange rate because we were told everywhere we went would accept US dollars.

We left the port in a (thankfully) air conditioned not-too-roomy and only slightly comfortable bus for our trip to the orphanage.  After a while on the bus, I sensed a very subtle pleasant smell of either incense or essential oil permeating throughout the bus which I suspected was coming from the air conditioning. 

Even when we got on a “main” road, we still traveled on a two-lane road and the vehicles drove on the left side (a holdover from British rule). 

 

As I say about almost every city/country I’ve been in, there is a unique rhythm.  Our driver, who was most skilled, would probably have an accident in the United States on his first day.  But, here in SL, he was an expert navigating the two-lane road, which, during most of the time turned into a three-lane road with cars constantly passing each other and the outside cars moving further to the left to let the bigger vehicles pass. 

Our destination port lecturer warned us about sitting too close to the front of the bus because that’s where you get to see all this and we did end up sitting in the second row.  Although some would describe the trip as harrowing, I found it most interesting because I knew the driver knew exactly what he was doing.  There is no such thing as “tailgating” being a bad thing here in SL.  Tailgating is the norm and I figured out the basic rule of the road:  big things have priority.  Tour buses, local buses, larger cars, tuk-tuks (3-wheeled motorized cycles that carry a driver and two passengers in the back seat and can be hired as “taxis”), motorcycles, scooters and, finally, pedestrians.  We were warned to look both ways crossing the street because pedestrians do not have the right of way and vehicles will not slow or stop for you. 

There’s also a lot of honking of the horn.  Not indiscriminate honking like in NYC.  The driver will honk the horn when the bus is behind someone on a scooter so the driver of the scooter can move over and let the bus pass.  This also applies to any other vehicle.  This is all happening very up close and personal – there’s no 3-car length rule or even 2- or 1-car rule on the road here.  

We also had an assistant in the bus with us besides the driver and tour guide.  This man sat next to the driver and I will swear that his sole job was to glare.  Yes, glare.  If the bus driver has to honk his horn more than once for a vehicle in front to move over to the left in order for us to pass, the assistant will move forward in his seat, turn his head to the left, and glare towards the driver in the next car.  I never saw him give the driver the “middle finger” but he did sweep his hand in front of his face on occasion to show his displeasure at the discourtesy the smaller vehicle showed to the larger vehicle.  This happened dozens of times on our way to and from the orphanage. 

We were not in the city but drove through several small towns or villages.  There were no sidewalks and there didn’t seem to be any type of zoning or land use planning.  In technical terms, it looked like a mish mash of buildings.  I could see a nice-looking house and then nearby was something with no windows or doors or walls – just a structure.  So much of what I saw looked as if someone started building a house and then gave up.  Some buildings were right on the road while others were set back.  Some of the roofs were made of ceramic, some composite and others with galvanized steel – some of the roofs didn’t even look like they were attached to the building.

While on the road, we saw “strip malls,” snack bars, lots of auto repair places and several road-side shops that sold only car seats – all lined up row after row – and even complete metal car fronts.   Egg centers, fruit and vegetable stands, banks, general stores, electronics stores, restaurants, gas stations, shops that sold only cane works, rugs, bicycles and furniture and even two “Lover’s Choice” stores lined the road as we drove over two hours to the orphanage.  Lots of bridal salons and wedding reception venues as well.  Interesting billboards also.

Average life of the elephant is 65-85 years.  They eat mostly coconut leaves and eat about 150 kilos per day and drink 100 liters of water.  They bath at the river’s edge at 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and are fed at 9:15 a.m., 1:15 and 4:15 p.m.   Unfortunately, the trip took longer than expected and I think our timing was off because we arrived at the hotel where we had lunch on a multi-tiered veranda but only got to see the elephants bathing for a little while.  We did get some photos though. 

After a lunch of rice, lentils and chicken (other dishes of beef, fish and vegetables were available), Michael and I left the hotel and did a little shopping at the local vendors.  We were instructed to return at a certain time to be taken by our guide to the actual site of the orphanage.  We were also told not to take our pictures too close to the elephants, because, after all, they are wild animals even though they’re used to humans. 

Upon arriving at the orphanage, Michael was immediately approached by a man who wanted to take our photo in front of the elephants.  It all happened so fast and we were moved over to the elephant (all contrary to the instructions we were given) when the guy had our camera and took our picture.  I whispered to Michael, “what’s this going to cost us?” knowing this guy wasn’t doing this from the goodness of his heart, to which Michael replied, “don’t worry, it’s worth it.”  When we were ushered away from the elephant, the guy gave us back our camera expecting his payment.  I said, “How much?”  He said $50.00 (yes, that’s $50 US dollars).   I immediately said, “no way, I’m paying you $50!”  He said $20, to which I said, “I’m giving you $5 and that’s all!  I handed him the $5 and he said $5 each pointing to his partner who positioned us in front of the elephant.  I said, “you get $5 for taking the picture; he (pointing to his cohort) didn’t do anything.”  (We later learned that someone paid a guy $10 and never had his picture taken;  he was reported to the police and picked up.)  We, at least, had our picture taken (he actually snapped five photos) and then negotiated the price.  

We then walked around in the sweltering heat and humidity, taking more pictures and made our way to the feeding area we positioned ourselves for a relatively good view.   The area was a corral-type area where the two babies would be brought in and then moved around and fed so that everyone can have a good up-close photo taken.  Unfortunately, a dim bulb decided he was going to sit on the railing unconcerned about blocking everyone else’s view so that he could have a bird’s-eye view of the activities.  Michael was able to snap quite a few good photos and I just bent down and snapped my pictures through the lower railings.  I knew the guy didn’t speak English so I figured why cause a scene but it never ceases to amaze me how some people can be so selfish and clueless to their surroundings.

The babies were fed with, at least quart-size, baby bottles and they were absolutely the cutest.  As I said, the handlers walked the babies around the corral so we could all have a closer look (despite the rail-seated jerk’s behind right in front of my face). 

We bought Michael a really nice-looking batik-styled shirt and, once again, ambled over to the bus for our, this time, over 3-hour return back to the port.  Unbelievable traffic with lots of honking, glaring, passing, tailgating and harrowing near-accident encounters with other vehicles, eventually got us back to the ship where we did a little more shopping at the little stalls lined up on the pier next to our ship.  We had previously arranged with our head waiter to come for the second seating so when we returned, we showered and rested and arrived for dinner at 7:30. 

Not enough time with elephants but a wonderful trip nonetheless.   What topped off the day for me was the school bus filled with children at the entrance of the port when we returned.  Beautiful children with their faces up against the glass, smiling and waving good-bye to us old folks.   What a day!  

Thoughts about Colombo from others:  Our waiter ventured out on his own to the city, Colombo, and returned to the ship in just an hour, sunburned and determined not to visit this place again.  He thought the constant approach by the tuk-tuk drivers smothering and thought the city was dirty.  Our cycling instructor and two friends were convinced by a tuk-tuk driver to go to a “mall” which turned out to be a large room filled with magnets and not much else at a cost of $5 each.  Unfortunately, when they wanted to return to the ship, they had to pay $20 each.  Not good.  On the other hand, one of the singers in the duo on board, thought the city was extremely clean and had a wonderful time in a taxi.  Our destination lecturer warned us about the tuk-tuk drivers who are known to manhandle you in order to get you to take a ride with them.  What does all this mean?  I haven’t a clue.  

Michael’s Observations:  Mass confusion and chaos.  I was not offended or upset about the city being dirty or dusty but it was clear there is absolutely no rule of the road;  it obviously has a rhythm which I do not comprehend.  So, note to self, never drive in this country.