Sri Lanka 2006

After several years of contemplation, the whole family (including two-month old baby Jay) finally took a trip to Sri Lanka - and what an awesome trip it was. Not only did we get to see Ram's parents, aunts and uncles, but also Ananth, Sharee and Shyama, who came all the way from Australia and made this family reunion a special one.

We took the "long" way to Sri Lanka via the Pacific. The shorter way from Cincinnati would have been, Cincinnati - Paris and then Paris-Colombo. Our extended itinerary was: Cincinnati - Los Angeles - Taipei - Kuala Lumpur - Male - Colombo. Since we knew it was going to be an extremely tiresome journey, we decided to break our journey in Kuala Lumpur in both directions. On our outbound journey we were too tired to do anything in Kuala Lumpur, but on the way back to the States we went into the city and spent the day sightseeing.

Although we left Cincinnati on Sunday evening (March 5), as a result of crossing the international date line and due to the day and a half break we took in KL, we didn't get to Colombo until the Wednesday night (March 8). Ananth, Sharee and Shyama flew into Colombo the following night.

We spent the next four days (March 9-12) in Colombo, then spent the next five days (March 13-18) in Galle, and finally spent the rest of the days (March 19-24) back in Colombo.

In Colombo we spent most of out time visiting with Ram's mom and dad and relatives. Everyone was thrilled to see the little ones, especially the latest arrival, Jay. Besides hanging out with family, we hung out at the hotel (Hilton Colombo) pool, went out to several dinners, shopped for kids' clothes and Jewelry, and of course celebrated Ananth's 36th birthday (March 24) at the Mango Tree restaurant.

Unlike several years ago, deals on designer clothes manufactured in Sri Lanka are hard to come by anymore. However, kids' clothing is still a bargain! Clothes from manufactures such as Oshkosh, Gap and Disney are widely available. Two stores that have excellent choices for kids are Thiangra and Vaishi (both in Colombo 05). For adult clothing the flagship store is still Odel (Colombo 07). Other clothing stores worth a visit are Arena and Beverly Street (both in Colombo 03). For traditional Sri Lankan stuff and other neat things at bargain prices, there are two stores that stand out - Barefoot and Paradise Road (both in Colombo 03). Both these shops have excellent cafes, The Barefoot Cafe and The Gallery Cafe respectively. Both cafes have pretty extensive menus from sandwiches to full blown entrees and good wine selection.

Most good restaurants in the city are in the various five-star hotels around the city. Each of the following hotels has several restaurants covering a broad range of cuisine from Italian and French to Thai and Indian: Hilton, Taj Samudra, Colombo Plaza, Trans Asia and Galadari. Outside of these, there is an excellent Indian restaurant that excels both in food and decor - Mango Tree. This place is definitely worth a visit. For traditional Northern Jaffna cooking, the place is to go is Palmyrah.

On Saturday (March 11) Ananth and I went to the Royal-Thominan, a cricket match that has been played between two rival high schools, Royal and Saint Thomas' for the past 127 years without a break! this encounter is the second longest running streak of any cricket match series in the world. The match of course is important, but it seems like the partying that accompanies this three day game takes precedence most of the time. This year our high school Royal kicked some Thomian butt and won the match in style.

On Friday night (March 24), an old friend of ours, Sriram, his lovely wife Nadine and their little son Kiran took all of us out to dinner at the Royal Colombo Golf Club. It was great catching up with Sriram and meeting Nadine and Kiran. Shyama and Maya had a wonderful time playing with Kiran. Thanks guys for showing us a good time.

Our time in Galle was completely relaxing. We stayed at the Light House Hotel, which is part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World network. The hotel has its own private beach and two pools, one of which is an infinity pool. The hotel also has an excellent spa with western treatments as well as traditional Sri Lankan Ayurvedic treatments. In addition, there is a workout facility and a tennis court.

While in Galle we visited the Galle Fort, which was built in 1663 by the Dutch. The 36-hectare area the fort encompasses is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here are a few links to pictures and info about the Galle Fort:
kohomban.net
Virtual Library

We also visited two Hindu temples in Galle. Maya was curiously interested in the service at the temple and participated in the proceedings. Checkout the temple pictures on the left pane.

One of the most memorable dinners we had in Galle was at The Sun House. This is an old colonial era mansion that has been turned into a small luxury boutique hotel that overlooks the Galle harbor. Their menu changes daily and is based on what is available fresh at the market that day. There are only about 6-7 parties that are accommodated each night for dinner, so a reservation in advance is required (before 1pm each day). Dining was on the outer balcony of the house adjecent to the pool centered around the garden. This place offers an excellent atmosphere filled with British charm away from the hustle and bustle of Galle.

We spent one day at the Unawatuna Beach. This is a beautiful stretch of golden sand beach with deep blue water. One section of the beach is lined with restaurants and bars. This is a popular spot for snorkeling and swimming. Checkout the beach pictures on the left pane.

On our way back from Sri Lanka, we stopped in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to take a break from our long journey back to the States. We stayed at the Pan Asia hotel at the airport and took the KLIA express train into the city. The train is a very convenient and fast way to get to the city. The ride took about 35 minutes.

In KL we visited the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) which is a huge office and shopping complex built around the world's second largest building, the Petronas Towers. The base of the towers constitutes a 5 storey shopping mall filled with various ethnic restaurants. We had lunch here and had plans to walk across the sky bridge which connects the two towers at the 41st and 42nd floors. Unfortunately, the tickets for the day were all sold out.

We then visited the tallest communication tower in Kuala Lumpur, Menara Kuala Lumpur. We took an elevator all the way to the top of this tower. The 360 degree observation deck at the top provides a breathtaking view of the entire city, including the Petronas Towers.