Sri Lanka - Animals and mountains
Sri Lanka seems to be one of those rare countries that has everything in a small territory. In two short weeks, I walked from the mountains to the sea. Here is part 1.
First part of my itinerary, motorized this time.
Make no mistake, Sri Lanka is far from perfect. The north of this island located in the south-east of India is just beginning to calm down from a civil war that will have lasted for decades. Still today, human rights are commonly violated and tensions remain between the Sinhalese and the Tamils, the two main peoples of the country, mainly Buddhist and Hindu respectively.
Historically, we do not really know which of these two peoples settled first on the island first. Still, many others have followed one another. From the Romans to the various colonial powers, passing by tourists from all over today.
Arab traders who roam between the Mediterranean and the Indian world know the island as "Serendip". This is where the term " serendipity », Meaning happy discovery made by chance, will come.
It is also a bit by chance that I will land there last February. I was then still settled in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka was calling me. On the other side of the gulf that bathes the Malaysian peninsula, the beautiful island was only a few hours away by plane.
Sigiriya
Leaving from the airport, located near the capital of Colombo, I head northeast towards Sigiriya and its lion rock. The huge 200-meter-high rock seems to rise from the surrounding plain. The site was chosen in the 5th century to become a royal fortress, before turning into a Buddhist monastery for almost a millennium.
Today, the UNESCO heritage site is worth visiting, but you won't miss your life if you miss it. Besides, none of my photos on site really satisfied me. That said, I spent more time exchanging glances with macaques than playing amateur archaeologist!
I never get tired of taking pictures of macaque looks.
Ella She has
After Sigiriya, I climbed in altitude towards Kandy, then towards the village of Ella. It is in this last region of the center of the country that we find the famous tea plantations famous worldwide under the old name of Sri Lanka, Ceylon, or Ceylon in English version. I take great pleasure in walking in the forest and in the mountains, and enjoying the fresher air from the heights. It's a nice break from the daily sauna that is Malaysia!
The popular Nine Arch Bridge.
Ravana Falls, much more interesting framed in photo than in reality.
The generally poor life of the local inhabitants, having to do their laundry in the rivers.
The Safari Park
A huge crocodile glides through the water at our feet.
A visit to Sri Lanka wouldn't have been complete without visiting at least one of the huge national parks filled with wildlife. It is that ofUda Walawe, in the south of the country, which I choose.
With an estimated elephant population of over 250, it was more than easy to spot them.
The tour was done by truck in the huge park of more than 300 square km. Despite the abundance of trucks and tourists, I found the visit respectful. The trucks go slowly, giving everyone time to pass by and enjoy the view, and we usually stay quite a distance from the animals that live here in a quite wild way.
The park also contains much more than elephants. There are crocodiles, large buffaloes, and a variety of birds of different colors and sizes. Sometimes we even thought we were in Africa!
Faced with all this fauna and these beauties, I certainly swim in this fabulous serendipity, the happy discovery made by chance !
The rising sun makes the park look like an African safari.
Sri Lanka seems to be one of those rare countries that has everything in a small territory. In two short weeks, I walked from the mountains to the sea. Here is part 2.