Sri Lanka

We took our last Middle East-based holiday to Sri Lanka. We had planned to go to Nepal, but political unrest delayed our trip. We were never able to get the itinerary to work and prices skyrocketed in April and May - probably because of climbing season.

We had a terrific time. Sri Lanka - like so many other places we visited - was filled with wonderful people and beautiful sites. Sadly, Sri Lanka is poor and the family was once again left try to reconcile the vast difference between the "haves" and the "have nots". We brought a duffle bag of blankets, school supplies and toys for an orphanage in Colombo, but were unable to stop due to dense traffic around Colombo. Rajepakse, our faithful driver (pictured above with his brand new tuc-tuc), agreed to drop-off the items after we left.

Our itinerary centered on cultural sites. Sri Lanka has wonderful beaches and beach-side resorts. Since we live on one of those now, we wanted to see the remains of ancient societies and Buddhist temples.

Our first stop was Sigiriya, an ancient rock fortress and palace ruin. It is impressive and must have been a marvel during its day. Even more unbelievable is that this massive palace ground took only 7 years to construct and was only used for 18 years before being given to Buddhist monks. Following Sigiriya, we visited Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka's second oldest kingdom and home of King Vijayabahu, a uniter of Sri Lankan kingdoms and defender of island against invasion. It is a vast, walled complex of temples (Buddhist and Hindu).

Last on the itinerary was Kandy and its temples, tea factories, and local art shops. The largest temple in Kandy is The Temple of the Tooth, which houses the Relic of the tooth of the Buddha. The importance of the relic (yes, the relic is a tooth) cannot be downplayed - it was believed that whoever holds the relic should rule the country. The tooth is only displayed on certain occasions and draws thousands (if not millions) of pilgrims for each viewing. After the visit to the temple we learned how Ceylon tea is made (we bought some) and then visited a local Batik shop where the family purchased local made art.

The last night in Sri Lanka was at Mt. Lavinia hotel - a classic, British colonial period hotel. The views from our room were stunning. We took a swim in the Indian Ocean which was refreshing, but warm. Overall, it was a wonderful trip. It was the girls' first exposure to a Buddhist country and served as another reminder that God's people are warm and friendly regardless of where they live and how they worship.