page four
PIEDMONITOR
December, 1974
Beautiful beaches are the only borders for the island There are two major national parks on the Resplendent This is one of three exquisite Buddha images carved
nation of Sri Lanka. This one, at Bentota, is on the Isle. These wildlife sanctuaries feature abundant bird- out of living rock. It's found in the 12th century city of
sooth west coast. life as well as elephants, leopards, buffalo, deer and Polonnaruwa, near the center of Ceylon.
wild boar.
Sri Lanka — world's best travel bargain
Sri Lanka.
It’s exotic but not expensive.
It’s exciting but also restful.
It’s fascinatingly foreign but warmly hos
pitable.
But most of all it is a place we want to go
back to.
We wanted to go back even after flying 40
some hours to get home. It is that kind of
place.
Almost half way around the world from
North Carolina this island republic lies in the
Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of India.
Just a little larger than the state of West Vir
ginia the country has been known by many
names. In this part of the world it was called
Ceylon until it became a free, sovereign and
independent republic in 1972.
Sri Lanka — the Resplendent Isle — has
captivated her visitors from the Greeks and
Romans who called it Taprobane to the Arab
sailors in the days of Sinbad who called it
Serendib. It was the British, who developed
most of the country’s agricultural resources,
that settled for the name Ceylon.
The guide books say that agriculture is the
primary occupation of the people. But their
farming is of the most exotic products. Tea,
rubber and coconut are grown most extensively.
But other products of importance are cocoa,
cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and
citronella. The mountain plantations are
beautifully landscaped with herbs growing
among the tea bushes carpeting the hills in
a gorgeous green and filling the cleanest air
with the sweetest smells. It really defies im
agination or worded description.
Even more exotic are the gems of Sri Lanka.
Native to the island are the sapphire, ruby,
cat’s eye, alexandrite, zircon, amethyst, topaz,
tourmaline, moonstone, garnet and many
others. And the gem shops are like the casinos
in Las Vegas, at least one on every corner. To
look costs nothing and to buy is so reasonable
that even the most economical, normally non
shopping-type visitor, like my husband, feels
obligated to invest.
To say that Sri Lanka is not expensive
doesn’t do it justice. The cost of everything is
so reasonable that inflation weary American
reactions vary from amazement to disbelief.
The prices we paid, for everything, would not
have bothered my Scottish grandmother. Added
to the reasonable prices is another plus, visitors
to Sri Lanka are entitled to a premium rate
of exchange on foreign currencies converted
to rupees. American dollars can be exchanged
at a bonus rate of 65 per cent above the offi
cial buying and selling rate. For example, in
December the official rate of exchange or dol
lars was 6.55 rupees per dollar. With the bonus,
dollars were worth 10.72 rupees. And that
is not all. There are airline discounts on hotels
and tours, ranging from 10 to 50 percent. So,
if you haven’t been you can hardly afford not
to go.
As exciting as it is inexpensive Sri Lanka
offers all kinds of adventures. We rode work
ing elephants in Kandy. That was late one
afternoon when the elephants had come to
the river to be bathed. The keeper told us that
if he didn’t bathe the elephants about every
seven hours they wouldn’t work. Each elephant
had three or four men to scrub him down.
Those very large but very gentle creatures
stood at the river’s edge and lifted first one
foot and then another to be scrubbed with a
coconut shell. And after the scrubbers had
worked over their backs the elephants would
lie down and turn over to have their tummies
bathed. The elephants, it seemed, had trained
their keepers well.
Another real adventure was a jeep tour
through the Ruhunu National Park. It is a
jungle-like wildlife preserve that is home to
some intriguing animals. We saw countless
kinds of colorful birds, lots of wild deer, water
buffalo and several wild elephants. Our guide
apologized for being unable to find leopards
for us to see. But we weren’t at all disappoint
ed.
Our days in Sri Lanka were exciting but we
also found it a restful place to visit. The places
we stayed were delightfully varied. The Inter
Continental Hotel in the capital city of Colombo
was as modern and convenient as any in the
world with service that was much better than
at many of the world’s finest hotels. But the
service was beyond comparsion everywhere.
From the charming rest houses in the country
to a private tea grower’s resort, the care and
attention given tourists was a treat money
can’t buy. We wanted to stay, for a long time,
everywhere we stopped. The hurry up way we
normally live is alien to the relaxed way of life
in that part of Asia.
Sri Lanka is very much a man’s country.
The women do most of the work, manual labor
and all. The men are very pampered. We were
■nmimGr*- '■
One of the most enchanting places to stay is the Hill
Club in Nuwara Eliya. Located in the high country, it
used to be a private resort for the tea growers and
continues to be almost more British than Britain.
Something like a Buddist version of the pyramids, this
dagaba is a completely sealed structure containing an
cient religious relics. This Kiri Vehera is among the
ruins at Polonnaruwa.
The plant life everywhere in Sri Lanka is a horticultur
ist's dream. The botanical gardens have plants repre
senting every part of the world, even magnolias and
palmetto palms to make a Southerner feel at home.