Kudla Doctors Enjoy the Goodness of the Magical Wonderland-Sri Lanka (Part-1)
Mangaluru: Every year during this time, a bunch of doctors/physicians of A J Hospital and Research Centre-Mangaluru belonging to AJCA (AJ Consultants Association) along with their doctor friends from other Health Care Institutions lay down their stethoscopes, hang up their doctor coats, inform their clients that they will be on vacation for few days and not to bother them by making phone calls? – take off on a planned tour. And for the last four years I have joined the physicians fraternity on this vacation spree- and it was always destination Goa, but this year it was a few miles away from India, and the destination was the Magical Wonderland- Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon. There are doctors who make money and don’t enjoy life- and there are doctors who also make money and look forward for enjoyment- and for that matter all the doctors on this trip belonged to the latter group?
Among the 35 members on this Sri Lanka tour, 30 were doctors, and the rest were entrepreneurs or just plain human beings- and I was one among them- few referred me as a Nurse or Compounder- whatever. But during the five day trip, all of us were “DOCTORS”, irrespective of our past or present personal profession, and for five days I remained as Dr Alfie D’souza- Psychiatry Specialist and MD of “D’souza Hospital and Research Centre”, Souza Town, Kazakhstan?? My sincere and heartfelt thanks to my chum/buddy Dr Kiran Shetty- Medical Superintendent at Father Muller Hospital-Thumbay who always invites me on this yearly doctors trip- and also thanks to our tour group leader Dr Nagraj Shetty- Physician at AJ Hospital/Past president of AJCA; and to Dr Vishwas Pai- current president of AJCA, and the organizer of this tour, for wholeheartedly accepting me on this tour, without any hesitation. It was one happy and fun loving doctors group- who knew how to party hard, after taking a break from their hectic work.
18 September 2018, all our bags were packed and we were all ready to take off from Mangaluru- Sri Lanka via Bengaluru. Socializing for few hours at Kanara Club- Mangaluru, it was time to head on to Mangalore International Airport to catch our 10 pm Indigo flight to Bengaluru- and after a 45 minutes journey, we were at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru- and since our Srilanka Airlines flight to Colombo was during the wee hours of 3.30 am on 19 Sept, it was once again to socialize at the Airport lounge, where we had to shell out some extra bucks on the exorbitant Airport prices on drinks/food. Boarding the flight on time, it just took 50 minutes to reach Colombo-Sri Lanka from Bengaluru- and from the airport to our hotel, it was a 45 minute drive.
Wow-The charming Ranweli Holiday Village/Resort welcomed us all with a blast, boasting its own Ayurveda facilities, located on picturesque Waikkal Beach near to Negombo. The rooms were cozy and cool, the resort had an outdoor pool, its own restaurant, spa and what not- it was simply a Heaven on Earth! We could enjoy a game of beach volleyball, billiards or squash. Alternatively, activities such as paddle boating, canoeing and kayaking were also available, but when a full stocked state-of-the-art Bar and Lounge was tempting us so much at the Resort, no one cared for these fun activities, other than socializing more- you know what I mean? OMG- but the prices were simply “Kadpiss aka Rip Off’ at the resort, where a domestic beer was Rs 500, and Mexican Corona Beer Rs 1500- and food prices simply exorbitant.
But luckily, just outside the Resort gate was a traditional and authentic “Änthoney Seafood Bar and Restaurant”, managed by Anthoney and his family- and they treated us with love, friendship and extra hospitality- truly a nice Sri Lankan family treating us like their own family members. We feasted on delicacies like Deviled Chicken/Pork/Beef/Prawns; Klassisches Pepper Steak; Seafood platter; Baked/grilled Lobster/Crabs/Jumbo Prawns; and my favorite, Fish Fingers with fried potatoes. 19 September was simply spent at the Resort, taking a dip in the pool, watching the waves hit the shore rocks- and while a few enjoyed a healthy Ayurvedic Massage located at the resort, few others traveled a few miles to try their luck at the casino. It was a day well spent, full of fun and frolic, with lots of food and drinks to satisfy our craving.
Anthoney and Family of ‘Anthoney Sea Food Restaurant’
Sri Lanka is a place filled with golden sun kissed beaches, picturesque locations, lush greenery, an island compact with all the gifts of nature and an ancient culture and heritage going back to 2500 years, amazing and an exotic wildlife to experience our adventurous side, spicy cuisine to liven up our taste buds, what more could we want or asked for? And we found all these here in Sri Lanka, the magical wonderland, so clean (Swachh Sri Lanka), with warmth and hospitality which we got from the inhabitants, made us to want to explore this island even more. And with its romantic locations and story book sceneries, Sri Lanka is sought after as a preferred destination for holding wedding ceremonies- and one Mangaluru parents Jossie and Quinee Rego-Kadri are having their daughter’s “Destination Wedding” in Sri Lanka next month.
20th September- it was time for a sight seeing tour, where we headed to Sigiriya, Dambulla, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura and Kandy. Dambulla Cave Temple aka as the Golden Temple of Dambulla is a World Heritage Site (1991) in Sri Lanka, situated in the central part of the country, and it is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka. The rock towers 160 m over the surrounding plains, has more than 80 documented caves in the surrounding area. Major attractions are spread over five caves, which contain statues and paintings- and these paintings and statues are related to Gautama Buddha and his life. There were a total of 153 Buddha statues, three statues of Sri Lankan kings and four statues of gods and goddesses. The latter include Vishnu and the Ganesha. The murals cover an area of 2,100 square metres (23,000 sq ft). Depictions on the walls of the caves include the temptation by the demon Mara, and Buddha’s first sermon. (See Photos). Prehistoric Sri Lankans would have lived in these cave complexes before the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka as there are burial sites with human skeletons about 2700 years old in this area, at Ibbankatuwa near the Dambulla cave complexes.
And talk about discrimination towards European tourists, including those having US Passports, get screwed big time when you visit the Sigiriya Rock- while the locals (Srilankans) pay only Rs 60 entry fee, foreigners from SAARC countries (including Indians) pay Rs 2460, while a person like me, born Indian but naturalized US Citizen now, having a US passport had to pay Rs 4920 (See ticket image in the report)- Bah Humbug and total rip-off! No doubt Sigiriya Rock is very scenic and beautiful place but surely not worth the ticket cost ( 30 USD for foreigners, 15 USD for SAARC). I feel in India we have places better than this which we can visit free of cost. Apart from that lot of stairs (1200) to climb and people who are afraid of height will find it difficult to climb as stairs near top provides drop down view of valley with heavy winds blowing whole day.
Surely this place is not friendly to old people and they should avoid it. Don’t plan to visit in noon time as it will be very hot. There are 1200 steps to climb the Sigiriya Rock, and its foolishness to pay to climb- they should pay us for daring to climb, and not the visitors. And in my case, I didn’t want to take a risk in climbing all those steps, and later see an orthodontist for sore knees and hip- instead I climbed only 15 steps and returned back- simply waste of my hard earned money. Seemed like I payed Rs 330 to climb each step against the entry fee of Rs 4920 paid. But I commend the doctors who dared to climb and returned safely after burning their calories climbing all those 1200 steps. But surely not for me- and when it came to pay a different price, that is total discrimination. Because visit any sight seeing places in Europe or America destinations, the entry fee is the same for everyone, irrespective of their color or nationality. Two years ago, I paid Rs 2000 to see Taj Mahal-India, while locals (Indians) paid only Rs 20- that’s what you get for having a US passport!
After a scenic hilly ride towards Kandy, we stopped at the Elephant Orphanage, and along the way to the Orphanage, there were numerous spice gardens and lots of handicraft shops selling leather goods and souvenirs. The orphanage is government run and was initially created to protect abandoned or orphaned elephants. It was set up in 1975 to rescue four orphaned baby elephants-today it has become the home to the largest captive group of elephants in the world and is one of Sri Lanka’s most popular attractions, both among tourists and locals. There are about 80 elephants of all ages and sizes, walking around a fairly large territory. For some extra rupees you can feed the elephants fruits, like bananas and pineapples. The elephants are controlled by their mahouts (keepers), who feed them and watch out so they don`t endanger anyone. They do however walk freely around the area and among the visitors most of the time. The orphanage also houses baby elephants, which are really cute! Apparently, it is possible for visitors to bottle-feed a baby elephant if you paid extra. Everything cost extra in Sri Lanka! But still, it`s safe to say that nowhere else in Sri Lanka are you likely to see that many elephants so close up.
In this area, there are a lot of sellers! One Srilankan man came suddenly over to me, grabbed my hand and started to read my palm. He held my hand so tight that I really had to struggle to free it from his grip. And of course, he wanted a lot of money for it! Very annoying, but he went on to say good things about my fortune- but it’s hard to believe these people. There are a lot of souvenir shops along the road that the elephants and the tourists walk to get to the river. A very popular souvenir are paper made out of elephant poo. Yep, poo! We went into a shop where they showed us the whole process. The poo is dried in the sun and boiled, and the resulting pulp is then used to make high-quality paper. The texture and color of the paper varies according to the elephant’s diet, while other ingredients like tea and onion peel are also added in order to get the required finish. They make really nice things out of this elephant poo paper, like note books, cards, photo frames, photo albums and so on. Notebooks and cards made out of elephant poo! Seems like elephant poo is worth the money?
But I had mixed feelings about the Elephant Orphanage- This government-owned elephant orphanage is both loved and hated by people. Some think it is a nice opportunity to get up close with elephants, while others think it is a rip-off with no conservational value whatsoever. We had a mixed feeling about the place. It did not seem like the elephants were suffering, but we are no elephant experts. Visiting the orphanage is of course far from the same nice experience as spotting a wild elephant in the jungle or in the national parks, like I did few years ago in Bandipur National Park, near Mysuru. This felt a bit like a zoo, though a fairly nice one with open spaces and areas for the elephants to walk freely about. There is also no denying that this is a money making tourist machine, and I am honestly very divided in my opinion on this place.
After mingling with the elephants it was time to mingle with the Monks, at the the golden-roofed Temple, Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist relic – a tooth of the Buddha. During puja (offerings or prayers), the heavily guarded room housing the tooth is open to devotees and tourists. However, you don’t actually see the tooth. It’s kept in a gold casket shaped like a dagoba (stupa), which contains a series of six dagoba caskets of diminishing size. As well as the revered main temple, the complex includes a series of smaller temples, shrines and museums. Once again I landed up paying Rs 1500, while my doctor friends paid only Rs 1000 as entry fee. Lot of hassles while entering the temple- since I was wearing shorts which was few inches above knee level, I had to lower my shorts a little bit down so that it covered my knee- I was worried that my shorts may come down? Our guide was not allowed to enter the temple, since he wore stone-washed jeans, which had two holes right over the knee- how nice to take the temple tour without a guide! But the best part is that, the security police women were seen wearing skirts which were few inches above their knee level- seems like the saying “We never practice what we preach?” Next time you visit this temple, wear clothes that cover your legs and your shoulders, and remove your shoes.
That was a long and hectic day out after traveling quite a few miles, and heading back to the resort, had a hot shower and once again it was time for socializing at the resort room, and then heading to Anthoney’s Seafood shack for more “Bangude, Jenji, Anjal and Yetti” delicacies meticulously prepared by Anthoney’s wife and siblings. Vinoden Kanna! Bon Apetit! Once again that night, few of us patronized the Ayurvedic massage parlour, while few others took off to the casino. So we had a jolly good time for the first two days at the Ranweli Holiday Resort, after which the next three days were spent in Colombo- the commercial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka.
Watch out for the second part of our Sri Lanka tour featuring the Banquet Night Out, Downtown Colombo Sight-Seeing, Shopping Spree, at the House of Fashion, Casino Blast, .. and much more, to be published tomorrow, 27 September. Until then, “āyubōvan”, that’s “goodbye” in Sinhalese!