Our journey around the world continues as we officially
leave Southeast Asia behind with our visits to Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore,
and Thailand now complete. Now we focus
on Sri Lanka, the large teardrop island off the southeast coast of the Indian
subcontinent, and of course India itself.
Never a part of India and with a completely different
culture and tradition, Sri Lanka has always been in the shadow of its larger
neighbor on the continent. Formerly known as Ceylon, Holland America was
paying its first visit to Sri Lanka in many years primarily because of the
political strife that had occurred there for the last few decades. Forty years ago, whoever would have thought
we would visit Vietnam as tourists? The
same applies to Sri Lanka whose civil war ended quite recently with the killing
of the rebel Tamil Tiger leader in 2009.
(One wonders if ever tourists will enjoy the wonders of Baghdad
again. But Vietnam and Sri Lanka give it
some hope.)
Sri Lanka (Ceylon) had long been on the trade route going
back to the days of the Greek, Persians, and Romans. Going back to the 15th century,
the Portuguese had established a foothold.
The Dutch, followed by the British assumed control there until 1948 when
Britain granted independence to Ceylon.
Over the years a mix of Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims populated the
area.
During the recent era of political strife, the city of
Colombo, and other parts of Sri Lanka were no place for tourists. In fact our tablemates, John and Gerda told
us of Gerda’s harrowing experience in Sri Lanka on her last visit in 1983. She was with her two daughters coming back to
their hotel in Colombo when fighting broke out and the streets were awash in
gunfire. Her first husband was elsewhere
in Sri Lanka at the time. Gerda clearly
remembers her young daughters seeing people killed and lying in the
streets. Their trip back to the hotel
was less than pleasant and they left the country as fast as possible. This was her first return visit since that
time and she said her daughter said she would feel much better when she heard
that her mother was on her way from Sri Lanka this time.
But no worries today.
The events that gave rise to the reference to the Teardrop are over and
peace reigned supreme today. Our guide
today said that Sri Lankans are essentially a peaceful people and that people
are thankful that the events that brought on the civil conflict are in the
past.
We had elected an excursion called Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage
by Train and Motorcoach. There was a two
price system for this excursion – one with a 3 hour ride by motorcoach and the
other with a Viceroy train, and old, elegant train car which undoubtedly was
for first class travelers. We had chosen
the less expensive option since it was $100 cheaper to do the visit by bus, but
Holland America offered one complimentary excursion to suite guests who had
booked early and who were doing the entire cruise. This was a change from the past since
previously they had done a special event excusive to suite guests. On our 2009 Grand Voyage, we had gone to an
Air Force Museum on Remembrance Day (Veterans’ Day to Americans) in
Christchurch, New Zealand where there was an outstanding dinner, World War II
vintage entertainment from “the Andrews Sisters”, and more. Last year on the World Cruise there was a
special event at the Celsus Library in Ephesus.
This year, as part of the economic cutbacks at Holland America, we could
pick one shore excursion from an approved list and we had chosen the train
version of the elephant orphanage tour.
As we waited for our tour to be called, my eye began to burn
from the sunscreen I had applied. In the
three minutes I was in the public restroom caring for my eye, our tour was
called. Al went on ahead and was in a
different group from us all day. Barb
and I were in a second group that had to wait until the time the tour was
scheduled to depart in case stragglers arrived just in time. Al’s group boarded the train and we never saw
him again until lunchtime at the hotel near where the elephants were
located. When we got on the train, we
had to scramble for seats. I found a double seat but didn’t realize until the
train was ready to leave that we would face the reverse direction of the train
and our seats were in recline position and they couldn’t be adjusted. Barb’s not a happy camper when she has to
travel facing back. I don’t care for it
but it doesn’t make me sick like it does her.
She leaned back and closed her eyes, missing the interesting sights of
the Sri Lankan countryside – all because the sunscreen had burned my eyes at
exactly the wrong time. We communicated
the problem to the attendant who found her a seat in a small connecting
car. That one wasn’t air conditioned but
at least she could face forward and had some fresh air. Later she moved to a dining car and sat at
one of the tables facing forward with the window open and was able to enjoy
most of the trip. We enjoyed watching
the unique scenery of Sri Lanka which included people in small towns, people in
the fields, cows and water buffaloes, dense and lush foliage and even, at quite
a distance, a mother using a tub of water from a nearby river, to bathe her
small child.
When we arrived at the station nearest the Elephant
Orphanage, we were told to gather all our belongings as we would be taking a
motor coach back to the ship in Colombo.
That came as quite a surprise as our tour description clearly state that
we would take the train in BOTH directions!
Very interesting …
When we arrived at the Elephant Orphanage, we were walking
to see where the elephants bathed and also to the restaurant overlooking that
area where we would have our buffet lunch.
We were asked to step out of the path of several elephants that came
lumbering down the street from their bath.
As we walked, it behooved us to watch carefully to avoid stepping in a
few piles of football sized elephant droppings!
We had the opportunity to watch the elephants of various sizes including
a few baby and adolescent elephants in the stream. There had to have been more than a couple
dozen in the water, enjoying spraying the water on their backs on a hot sunny
day. It was fun watching the mother
elephants watching out for their babies.
I should comment that the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage was
established in 1975 to care for seven orphan elephants. It grew and elephants were sent from all over
the world. It’s the only program of its
kind in the world and has grown to become a conservation and educational site
which fosters the breeding of the gentle, intelligent Asian elephants. The Asian elephants are smaller and more
trainable than their African counterparts.
The elephants found on Sri Lanka are the largest of the Asian elephants.
The first baby was born at Pinnawela in 1984 and elephants are free to find
mates.
After some time for the requisite shopping, we walked a
short distance to view the elephant feeding.
Several elephants, with the assistance of some willing guests and the
elephant handlers, fed bananas, watermelon and other items. They drank water from some bottles as
well. There was one elderly elephant
that was virtually blind but quite obviously was beloved at the orphanage. We were told as well that the elephant had
been shot several times but survived. Another
appeared to have lost its front right foot but we never learned how that
occurred. Without the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, certainly several of these
elephants would never survive in the wild.
After several delightful hours there, we boarded our buses
for the three hour return to Colombo. That
was the part of the excursion that had been unexpected since we had been told
through the excursion description that it would be by train both ways. The drive through small busy towns was interesting
with many people out on the streets on a sunny Saturday afternoon. What we all noted was that vendors seemed to
be selling the same things in each particular village. In one place we saw all kinds of places
selling car seats (not children’s but front or back seats of cars) with many of
them on display in front of stores.
Another place was selling plastic children’s toys, yet another had lots
of fresh pineapples, and another with toilets for sale. Some were just the bowls, some had tanks as
well but they came in various bright colors.
How can there be a market for so many of the same product in such a
small locality?
Back to the ship, I saw a group of young girls from an
orphanage that performed for those on the ship before we returned. Holland America always chooses a charity in a
particular place and this year they chose this cause in Sri Lanka. Some fundraisers were held including a silent
auction of watercolor paintings by guests and a dunking of ship celebrities
like Cruise Director Scudder, Port Lecturer Haenni, and Captain Mercer. A generous cash donation of about $5000
(about half of which was raised by passengers that was matched by Holland
America Line) and supplies were made to the orphanage.
We did inquire at the Shore Excursions office about the bus
ride versus the train trip back to Colombo and they had been made aware of the
situation. There was a possibility that
something might be done for the people who paid for the tour but not for those
who received it as the complimentary excursion and who based choosing this one
on the description as written. Later we
heard that Holland America was caught unawares too and that it had been a
decision by the excursion provider without Holland America’s knowledge. But there has been no explanation to us so we
are left to wonder where the real truth resides. If there is any change, we will note it in a
further blog.
It was a great excursion and we enjoyed our time seeing a
country that neither of us knew much about.
Our day ended with one of our favorite groups that had performed on the
2009 Grand Voyage, “The Unexpected Boys” who sing many of the songs of the Four
Seasons. They are very energetic and
always do a great job.
And next … three ports and four days in India!
CT
(PS: We miss our
proofreader, Pam! It was one month ago
tomorrow that she flew home from Sydney.)
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