Sri Lanka – A Fun Trip to the Village

By far the village trip was my favourite; Zudhi (our guide) joined us because we needed a translator.

Below are the highlights of our Village Trip:

  • It started with a carriage ride which was dragged by a bull that took us to a wooden boat which of course led us to the village (those were and still are the actual forms of transportation in Sri Lanka).
  • We had proper Sri Lankan food prepared by the village people (not the band) and they prepared the meal mild spicy for the tourists to be able to eat and the sweet lady who was very hospitable taught us how to prepare coconut chilli paste.
  • After our meal with the villagers, we went on a Tuk Tuk (another form of transportation) and drove through the farmers’ field to get to our car.

The village trip was the highlight of our honeymoon, we had so much fun experiencing the culture, meeting villagers and eating proper Sri Lankan food using our hands.

This trip is a must, if you ever visit the beautiful Sri Lanka.

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Sri Lanka – Wood Carving & Silk Saris

Sri Lanka is well known for mainly Tea, Silk and Carved Wood. Zudhi took us to a workshop to learn on how they carve wood and colour it with natural dyes.

The sales guy at the store spoke 9 languages and among the languages, he spoke Tagalog (Filipino language) and Arabic. It was really impressive. So we were just conversing in my languages and I managed to get discount.

On separate day, Zudhi then took us to a silk workshop where we learnt on how the saris are made. Tim and I tried on traditional Sri Lankan outfits and eventually bought them.

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Sri Lanka- Safari

Well it was an experience but would I recommend it to anyone? NO!!!

It was not worth the $50 we paid. It was a 2 hours jeep safari. We drove into a forest with monkeys, umm cows, birds and peacocks but mainly elephants.

We managed to take awesome pictures. If you haven’t seen elephants and you were just visiting Habrana, then I recommend the safari but otherwise not really.

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Sri Lanka – A Trip to Mini England

Our guide Zudhi took us to a cold place called Nuwara Eliya. It’s where people from the cities, mainly Colombo visit because of the cool weather and change of scenery.

The location was discovered by an English Governor in 1800’s. He built a Governor Hotel which looks very much like an old English town. Zudhi later took us to a very British restaurant near the lake where we had lunch and drank tea. We were embracing the British culture in Sri Lanka LOL.

Tim and I walked in the little town and visited a garden of wonderland. I recommend you visit the place because it feels like visiting Europe and but in Asia. 🙂

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Sri Lanka – “It’s Always Tea Time” – Mad Hatter

Zudhi took us to one of the best tea factories in Sri Lanka called the Bluefield Tea Factory. Here is what I roughly remember from our trip in the factory. I can’t remember exact details as I was busy taking photos and barely paying attention.

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Bluefield Tea Factory

Well at the main door of the factory, we were greeted by a very cute Sri Lankan lady who was a newlywed at that time and didn’t want children. She explained that there are different kinds of tea; green, white, black and gold. The most expensive one was the gold one. LIKE DUH!!!!

Here is what I can recall, first they pluck the leaves then either they keep the leaves under the sun or in a cool area and eventually the leaves become dry. Also they had another way where they place the plucked leaves in a machine that crushes them in order for the ‘leaf juice’ to come out. Finally, they are kept in a temperature control room where each machine is set on a different temperature and that’s how you get different kinds of colours of tea leaves.

For more information, please google lol or visit the Bluefield Tea Factory. I’m the worst person to talk to about tea. At the end of the tour, the lady took us to the store and we bought packs and tried various types of tea. It was a Mad Hatters Tea Party LOL

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Sri Lanka -Yes! I officially Love Tea

My brother Mohammad travelled to Sri Lanka weeks before we did and when he got back, he bought lots of tea and asked us to buy him some more when we visit.

I teased him by asking ‘what’s so special about their tea,  you British wannabe?’. He replies ‘well….. you think what you are drinking in Dubai is tea?’ Me: Ummmm Yes, whats the difference? Anyway doesn’t matter, I’m more of a coffee person. Mohammad’s reply was ‘You will regret saying that *Ate’.

*Ate: [pronounced Ah-Teh] which is a Filipino word to address the older sister/female with respect. 

Weeks passed and I had my first morning tea in Sri Lanka and DAMN!! my little brother was right. Tim bullied me the whole entire holiday because I constantly kept drinking tea. We also went to a tea factory which I will blog about separately and I managed to buy 4 packs of Sri Lankan tea.

Yeah!! Yeah!!! I’m officially a tea lover.

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Sri Lanka – Buddha’s Tooth

Tim and I spent our honeymoon in Sri Lanka. Our tour guide Zudhi, the friendliest and sweetest person we’ve met planned to take us to attend Esala Peraher in Kandy. It is a massive parade which lasts 10 days. Tim and I were fortunate to attend the first day, where the parade lasts for 3 hours. Oh you think that’s long? Hell No! Zudhi told us that on the 5th day, the parade lasts for 5 hours.

The main event of the parade was to wait patiently for Buddha’s tooth which is kept in a golden box. It is a very important event in Kandy and all around Sri Lanka but we were lucky to attend the biggest one and which happens to be in Kandy. I have to admit, I didn’t have the patience. We watched the parade for an hour and decided to leave.

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Sri Lanka – Sigiriya Rock

I’m not really a good story teller but here goes….

Once upon a time, there was a King who ruled the lands of Sri Lanka. He had 2 sons; the eldest, a ‘bastard’ an illegitimate child from the mistress who was neglected by society. And there was the King’s second son, a royal breed whose mother was the Queen of Sri Lanka.

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Years passed and the King declared that his legitimate son is the heir to the throne because he is born from a royal family. The announcement made the first son furious which led him to kill the King. The young prince knew that his bastard brother will go after him and kill him so he escaped to India. The eldest son then decided to change the ruling and wanted to build a new kingdom.

He then decided to build his palace on the Sigiriya Rock.

10 years later the second son formed an army in India and made a grand return to Sri Lanka. He fought against his brother and won the battle. The bastard king killed himself because he couldn’t defeat his younger brother. So the kingdom was restored to its actual location and the rock was used by Buddhist monks which is now a tourist attraction.

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….and everyone lived Happily Ever After

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