Sri Lankan
Vacation!
Here is a brief travelogue of our trip to Sri Lanka. Click
on any image for a larger version
Tired from the demands of teaching (and grading, grading, grading), we
set our sights on some rest and relaxation in a warm, sunny climate. We
decided to return to Sri Lanka, a veritable tropical paradise. So, we left
cool, overcast Beirut on Qatar Airlines, bound for Sri Lanka. After a day
visiting in Colombo, we headed down the southwest coast, along the Galle
Road, in search of sunny weather, gorgeous beaches, and palm trees swaying
in the breeze. This picture shows the beach of the Lighthouse Hotel, along
the Galle Road.
Looking
out from the backside of the hotel, the traditional dwellings of Sri Lankans
are visible across the Galle Road.
We
spent a glorious five days at the Lighthouse Hotel in Galle. We first stayed
there on a visit to Sri Lanka a year and a half ago, and fell in love with
the beautiful rooms, and the open, airy architecture. This is a shot of
the hotel from the beach below. By the way, the weather this time of year
in Sri Lanka is difficult to take: 25-30 degrees Celsius (80-90 degrees
Fahrenheit). So, while some friends braved the cool temperatures in the
Middle East and others slogged through waterlogged Europe, we toughed it
out on the beaches of the Indian Ocean.
The
theme of the Lighthouse Hotel is exploration, especially the exploration
and colonization of this region by the Portuguese. The entryway to the
hotel proper is via this grand staircase which celebrates the exploits
of Bartholomew Diaz 
with
life-size bronze conquistador figures, a close-up of which is shown to
the right. Other explorers are also featured at the Lighthouse. Among them
are Ibn Battuta, who brought Islam and technology to West Africa, and Fa-Hsien,
the Chinese monk who took Buddhism back with him to China, where it became
their most populous religion. My kind of place!
From
the entrance, the hotel opens onto a flat area overlooking the coast. Pictured
here is the open bar area which looks out over the rocks on the coast.
The pounding surf puts up a constant spray! The views here at sunset were
magnificent.
True
to the credo of vacation, we limited our activities to enjoying the sun
and sand, interspersed with some exercise and reading. The beaches of Sri
Lanka are very distinctive. They are sandy, but the sand does not extend
very far into the water. The area is a mixture of rocks and sand. The water
is very shallow for a great distance out into the ocean. This, along with
a very strong rip tide effect, makes swimming virtually impossible. However,
it was a beautiful place to walk along the sand and get your feet wet.
Much
of our time was devoted to lounging in the verdant area adjacent to the
beach. Attended by a staff of sarong clad waiters whose mission in life
was to keep us supplied with drinks and towels, we braved the tropical
weather. Typical teachers, however, Tracy finished reading two novels for
school before allowing herself a "pleasure read," while I finished off
the GSCE 20th Century History. In this setting, who cares?
Another
enticing feature of the Lighthouse was the large pool, located right outside
the balcony of our room. In addition to the bar/restaurant that you can
see in the background, the pool also offered an unfettered view of the
beach area below. Speaking of restaurants, the food here was exquisite,
especially the seafood. Since seafood is so hard to come by in Beirut,
we had a steady diet of prawns, crab, and lobster. Prices for these delicacies
ranged from $3 to $15 for a main course.
The
rooms at the Lighthouse are beautiful, and one of the main reasons for
returning here on holiday. They have a light and almost Caribbean flavor,
with a white bed and couch, brightly colored pillows and shuttered doors
and windows, and beautiful teak floors, bed, and doors. The room also had
a balcony which looks out over the pool toward the Indian Ocean.
Here
is Tracy, styling before we head out to the Cardamon Cafe for dinner. Most
nights we ate in the casual atmosphere of the restaurant that overlooks
the rocks pictured above. For the millennium, however, we dined in the
formal Cinnamon Room, a teak beamed and floored room with panoramic views
of the sea. We rang in the New Year on the connected terrace, watching
the fireworks show.
During
the late afternoon on New Year's day, we were aroused from our lethargy
by the sounds of drums. A young western couple had chosen to stage a Sri
Lankan wedding at the hotel. The dancers and drummers processed floor by
floor of the hotel, eventually escorting the groom (in the back, dressed
in white) to the grassy area by the beach, and then returned to fetch the
bride. All in all a very colorful spectacle, the carefully orchestrated
movements of the dancers was similar to the dancing we witnessed at Kandy
(where the temple containing the tooth of Siddhartha--the Buddha--is found)
two summers ago.
Thanks for taking the tour. We hope that you too had
a wonderful holiday and that, unlike us, you got to spend it with family.
From the both of us. . . .
And
Back to Main Page
Tired from the demands of teaching (and grading, grading, grading), we
set our sights on some rest and relaxation in a warm, sunny climate. We
decided to return to Sri Lanka, a veritable tropical paradise. So, we left
cool, overcast Beirut on Qatar Airlines, bound for Sri Lanka. After a day
visiting in Colombo, we headed down the southwest coast, along the Galle
Road, in search of sunny weather, gorgeous beaches, and palm trees swaying
in the breeze. This picture shows the beach of the Lighthouse Hotel, along
the Galle Road.
