Adam & Upekala Married in Sri Lanka v.1.2

SRI LANKA
Mount Lavinia Hotel - Colombo

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In a traditional Singhalese wedding ceremony, the drummers and dancers proceed the wedding party. The procession started in the courtyard of Mount Lavinia Hotel. The wedding was on Dec. 22, 2007.


Adam and Upekala.




Adam makes room for the "wedding necklace."



Dominic, Dan, Adam, Pek, Dave, and Darron... At the Mount Lavinia Hotel before the wedding.


The wedding party in the courtyard.


Adam and Pek, post wedding. Pek looks beautiful her traditional "homecoming saree". Adam sports Grampa Dyer's stylin' hat.


Upekala, Adam, I.D., and Romani - Pek's parents.


The Nilsson side if things.


Sara looked awesome in her saree. Thanks Melanie!



The Corvallis (and Vegas) crew. "Come on party people, put your hands in the air..."



View of Mount Lavinia Hotel from the beach. This was the private beach... at least down to the fishing village. There were two restaurants on this beach serving up some of the best seafood I have ever eaten, including my new favorite, Seer Fish... which makes sense, as it is related to Wahoo Fish, my other favorite.




Around 7 AM, looking the other way, a ship wreck on the Indian Ocean. Further down the beach is the fishing village where we met David and Rogers, local fishermen. David's dog looked cool with his face paint. On this morning, we enjoyed sharing fresh green coconut milk, hand picked and out of the shell.

Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage


Watching the elephants go by at Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage. many of the elephants here had been orphaned due to the conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government. There are still hundreds, if not thousands of land mines buried in the jungles along the "border". There was an elephant with a missing foot, and one with no ears. Other elephants had been orphaned as a result of farmers protecting their crops.



The elephants, coming back from bathing in the river, headed for lunch. They walked right up the road from the river, across the road, and into their orphanage grounds.





Sigiriya - Lion's Rock




Sigiriya, or Lion's Rock, built during the reign of King Kasyapa (477 – 495 AD). This was one the capital of Ceylon (pre-Sri Lanka). The rock, which stands over 370 meters, is said to have first been inhabited by Buddhist monks, then the king of Ceylon who built a fortress on the top to protect him from his brother who was trying to defeat him. The rock is filled with caves with fresco paintings in them from over 1,500 years ago. The rock, and the gardens surrounding it, are again considered a sacred place for Buddhist monks. Best to be quiet.




Over 1,200 steps to the top. The king never had to walk these stairs... He was carried.




Here are some blessed examples of the many fresco paintings in the caves of Sigiriya. Curiously, all of the paintings were of topless maidens, and it is said that the king had over 500 concubines. Many of the the lower cave paintings were covered up by early monks, who obviously found them to be distracting.


The entrance to the fortress was a giant lion. The rest of the lion is no longer around, but again this is from 1,500 years ago.


Still Climbing stairs.


Darron and I on top of Sigiriya.


A view of the gardens below, once again maintained by Buddhist monks. Look closely and notice the straight line to Buddha, who stands over 200 ft high.



I loved seeing the monkeys all over the place, along with all types of wild life. We even watched as a very large moniter lizard snagged a salamander from one of the moats surrounding this giant rock fortress.




On the way down we ran into an actual snake charmer. I always wanted to see one of these guys in action.


Dambulla


These are the caves of Dambulla. The area is thought to be inhabited from as early as the 3rd Century BC. Statues and paintings in these caves date back to the 1st Century BC.



Buddhist monks meditating in the caves of Dambulla at that time provided the exiled king protection from his enemies. When King Valagamba returned to the throne at Anuradapura kingdom in the 1st century BC, he had a magnificent rock temple built at Dambulla as a gratitude to the monks in Dambulla.




Sunset at Dambulla.

Kandy City - Sri Dalada Maligawa Temple.




The holy city of Kandy, was also one of the previous capital cities of Ceylon. This is the Temple of the Tooth Relic. It is said that one of the teeth of Buddha is enshrined in this temple, making it particularly sacred for today's Buddhists.


A Lotus offering.


Here, people say prayers and make offerings to Buddha's tooth relic.

Kandalama

Kandalama Hotel. This is one the most amazing, if not the most amazing hotels I have ever been to. Kandalama has received many awards for it's "green" design, and currently is recognized as one the most eco-friendly buildings in the world. Not to mention it was beautiful!



The infinity pool over looking the lake. We could see two different types of monkeys, trees filled with butterflies, giant (I mean really, really big) bats, and all types of birds flying and fishing around the lake. There were also
wild elephants, civet cats, and some sort of deer roaming around. I can only image what else was out there that could not be seen from the comforts of the hotel grounds.







The view from the toilet. Talk about sanctuaries of reflection.
Often one could watch the monkeys right outside your window.

Renwali Spice Gardens


We were able to stop by a spice garden for a tour and educational experience. We learned about health and wellness through alternative methods as well as good cookin'.
As lovers of Curry, Sara and I enjoyed this very much.




Sri Lankan spices are said to be some of the best in the world. It is not just the Curry spices either. Try Cocoa, Vanilla, and Cinniman!
Highly Recommended Curry Dishes: Just add Coconut Milk to a some Curry Powder. Add a little Fish Sauce and Brown Sugar... Don't forget your Chili Powder for the heat! Add anything you want to this and enjoy for days.




Nuware Eliya - The Grand Hotel


Our last stop before heading back to Colombo was The Grand Hotel in Nuware Eliya, located 6800 ft above sea level. This area, high in the mountains of Sri Lanka is surrounded by tea plantations. Here we enjoyed true Ceylon Tea, where it is grown. We learned the difference between highland tea and lowland tea, as well as what the "silver tips" are. Silvertips are, of course, the premium tea leaves.


In the gardens of the Grand Hotel. I was out of breath just walking around (due to the elevation, of course).



Tea plantations covered the hills and mountains.


Waterfalls could be seen around every corner it seemed. These waterfalls were huge, and beautiful, as the terrain was very steep. At 7,000 ft above sea level in late December, the temperature was still perfect, and the water warm.