India 2023

Day One – Flying into Kolkata

Wed 17-May-2023 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

15 May 2023

It seemed like a long journey from Sydney. Departed Sydney at 11 am for a 7.5-hour SIA flight to Singapore. Had a 2-hour and 20-minute layover before the 3.5-hour flight to Kolkata (formerly known by the anglicized name Calcutta). As usual, SIA service was great and the food was plentiful. I could not have dinner on the flight to Calcutta as I felt rather bloated already.

I was dreading the worst at immigration and customs at Kolkata Airport. Fortunately, the flight landed at 9:40 pm and there was only one other flight from Dhaka that landed around the same time. There was very little queueing. As I had an e-Visa, I had to show the paper email version of the visa approval. So much for the ‘e’. My passport from promptly stamped after being photographed and fingerprinted. I took the green lane at customs and just breezed through without checks.

When I landed in Kolkata, I got a message from the hotel that they had sent a driver to pick me up from the airport and gave me his details. I had previously enquired about this and I thought they had forgotten. So this was a pleasant surprise. I got out through Gate 4 exit and the driver was waiting for me holding a sign with my name.

The trip to the hotel was about 40 minutes. This was was my first real Kolkata experience. There were all sorts of vehicles going everywhere. There is no real road rule observation. Everyone wants to get to their destination whichever way. Honking is the norm. In mean, incessant honking. I am convinced some of them have one of the hands taped to their car horns. Really unnerving ride but I got used to it.

The night sights were lively and contrasting. This is a city that hardly sleeps. There were old derelict buildings and slum areas that are contrasted with modern well-lit office towers and new hotels built in keeping with old Indian architectural features.

I am really looking forward to exploring the city tomorrow. My guide sent me a message while on my drive to the hotel, “Welcome to your own city”. That was nice of him. I mentioned to him before that my father was in Kolkata about 80 years ago as a young university student and also the ‘mischief’ he got up to. I was looking forward to a good rest. The hotel, Kenilworth was great and staff were welcoming. The added bonus was that the hotel is reasonably well located and major attractions are close-by.

India 2023

Sun 23-Apr-2023 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

I am venturing on my first trip to India. This will mainly be a historical tour. India’s history is quite extensive. It dates back to the Indus Valley Civilisation from BCE 3300. Sites of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro bear testament to this. However, my tour covers more recent history.

I will be going to Kolkata initially, some 80 years after my father was there in his early 20s. He had come from the then Malaya to study engineering at the University of Calcutta. I am fascinated by the culture and history of Kolkata. This was the seat of administration for the British East India Company. As my pre-arranged tour guide had pointed out to me, a lot has changed in 80 years though many historical buildings and structures are still in place. I will also make a 2-day trip to Murshidabad, the old capital of Bengal (pre-colonial period) and where the Nawab of Bengal resided. On the way to Murshidabad, I will visit the place where the Battle of Plassey was fought. This battle was a critical turning point in Indian history and the defeat of Nawab’s army by the British led to the British remaining in India for the next 200 years.

I will fly into Delhi after 6 days in Kolkata to go on another tour. This time it is the First Indian War of Independence tour or what the British term the Indian Mutiny of 1857. This tour will take me to Meerut, Kanpur and Lucknow to visit various sites involved in this rebellion. Aside from this, I will tour Delhi which is rich in Mughal history. I will also visit Agra (Taj Mahal) and Amritsar (Golden Temple). From Amritsar I will make a trip to Wagah Border (the main land border crossing between India and Pakistan) to watch the Beating Retreat Ceremony at sunset.

I will fly back from Delhi via Singapore for a few days, where, in addition to recovering from India, I will visit friends and relatives.

SL 2019, Sri Lanka

Day Ten – Last Day In Galle & Sri Lanka

Sat 7-Sep-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

29 August 2019

This is our last day in Galle and Sri Lanka. Our flight to Singapore departs at 12:50am tomorrow morning. We hope to be at the airport around 10pm tonight. We have plenty of time to kill.

The hotel at Galle, Fort Printers, were kind enough to give us a late checkout. They have arranged another room for us down the road. We were allowed to stay for as long as we like. We moved to this room after breakfast. We had packed our bags the previous night.

Although the room that we moved to was smaller, we were just happy that we got a clean air conditioned room where we could clean up before we departed.

We decided to do bit more of a wander in Galle and some shopping. Our guide was coming from Colombo to pick us up at 3:30pm. We were going to his house for dinner and also to meet his family. I last met them in 2013. It is a 2 hour drive/ from Colombo

We were picked up by our guide, Jagath punctually and were driven back to Colombo. At his place, we were given a tour of the house he was building nearby for the family. He lives currently in a rental apartment and never owned a home since he got married. The whole family is looking forward to their new home which will be completed in May next year. Just out of interest, mortgage rates (and general loan rates) are around 17% in Sri Lanka. Spare a thought for these people.

Jagath’s wife had cooked us a huge Sri Lankan meal. I thoroughly enjoyed the food. I last had a meal here with a friend of mine more than 6 years ago on my first trip to Sri Lanka. They are such warm and hospitable people.

SL 2019, Sri Lanka

Day Nine – Exploring Galle

Sun 1-Sep-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

28 August 2019

I got up early today to explore Galle in the morning. I left the room just before 6 am to catch the sunrise. Unfortunately, the sky was overcast and there was no proper sunrise. It looked like it was going to rain today.

Galle Fort is a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site. There are many old Dutch built buildings here. Many are older than modern Australia itself.

I walked within the fort and took some random pictures of buildings. It will give a good feeling of the the city within the fort.

SL 2019, Sri Lanka

Day Eight – Road Trip To Galle

Thu 29-Aug-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan 2 Comments

27 August 2019

Today we leave picturesque and wet Nuwara Eliya for Galle. We are effectively starting from almost the highest point in Sri Lanka and going down to sea level. On the way, we will be stopping at Bandarawela to see my only surviving grandaunt who is down from Jaffna to attend a wedding.

After an hours drive, we reached Bandarawela. My cousin in Canada sent me a Google map pinpoint of the address as I have never been here before. We were quite spot on in getting to the right address.

My grandaunt was so excited to see me. I last saw her in 2016 in Jaffna. Her late husband was my late maternal grandfather’s younger brother. She met Dianne for the first time. We had tea and nibbles and chatted for a while. She was staying at her daughter’s house and they all appreciated the effort we made in coming to see them.

Soon we bid farewell and were on the road again.

View half way down from Nuwara Eliya to Galle

After a few hours with a couple of stops, we arrived at Galle. This is the home town of my good friend Faizer, with whom we had lunch in Colombo. Dianne needed a shopping fix and so we stopped at a departmental store. After that, our guide gave us a brief tour of the city within the fort before taking us to our hotel.

I have been to Galle before on day trips. This is the first time I staying here. The Portuguese in the 16th century used Galle as a major trading port and built some fortifications. The Dutch fortified the city extensively in the 17th century.

We are staying at a boutique hotel named Fort Printers. It was an 18th century Dutch built mansion. It was later used as a printing press until 2002. After extensive and sympathetic renovations, it became a private hotel. In addition to the mansion, two other heritage villas were added to the hotel; one across the street from the mansion and one down the road. We were staying in a room in the villa across the street from the mansion. The mansion serves as the central area for the hotel and also has some rooms.

Our room in the villa was spacious with full of old charm. It had many period features and was very comfortable.

After settling in, we decided to head to the rampart to view the sunset. There were plenty of people at the rampart. This included many couples who are about to wed or newly wed with their photographers putting together a fairytale story to their impending marriage or the marriage that had taken place. They were everywhere. Galle had the perfect setting.

SL 2019, Sri Lanka

Day Seven – Quiet Day In Nuwara Eliya

Tue 27-Aug-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

26 August 2019

There was a good downpour in Nuwara Eliya overnight. It was still raining when we got up. We were planning to go to a lookout and some waterfalls this morning. We had to cancel it due to the weather. We decided on a trip to a Tea Factory and then to have a quiet day in town and at the hotel.

We were taken to the Pedro Tea Factory. This tea factory was established in 1885. The plantation around the factory is extensive. The factory sells tea to others like Dilmah, Twinnings and the like. Blending and pretty packaging are done by buying businesses. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed within the factory.

The machinery used within the factory is from the 19th century. There is a certain charm about all the equipment. All signs within the factory are hand painted.

As yesterday was Sunday and there was no tea picking and therefore there was no tea to process today. However, besides the initial drying and final grading, most of the processing is done at night. This is because the tea produced here is of a light variety and during the day some amount of fermenting takes place with light.

All drying here takes place with heat generated by wood burning. The wood burnt comes from the rubber tree. Other forms of drying like gas or other sorts of wood have been found to introduce a certain smell into the tea and therefore changes the taste.

I noticed that all workers here are Tamils. Our guide was a Tamil girl. The Tamils were brought to Sri Lanka from South India by the British in the 19th century to work in the tea plantations. Some still live in quarters provided by the estate which by today’s standards are quite appalling living conditions. These Tamils are called Hill Country Tamils and are distinct from the Tamils in the Jaffna area and elsewhere who have been in Sri Lanka for over 2000 years.

Our tour of the tea factory was concluded with a cuppa. Dianne was let loose in the tea shop.

After the factory tour we were driven around Lake Gregory and then we headed back into town to have a lazy day. We went to a shopping arcade attached to a hotel next to ours. It also had a food court. We came back here for lunch.

The Grand Hotel was originally a single story building built in 1828. It serviced as the holiday residence for the Governor of Ceylon. It became a proper hotel in its own right in 1892. The period features in this hotel are extensive. Many period items are on display. Staff are plentiful at this hotel and we were assigned a butler for our stay. Restaurants and living area had music from the 30s and 40s playing. It almost felt like that there was a gramaphone playing in the background.

Food selection was extensive. It was unbelievable. Every taste was catered for at breakfast. On the first night we had dinner at the hotel’s Thai restaurant. It was really good Thai food.

I know many people are familiar with Singapore’s Raffles Hotel but if you want the real authentic colonial experience, the Grand Hotel is a must. Besides, it is heaps cheaper than Raffles and the scenery here is to die for.

SL 2019, Sri Lanka

Day Six – Trip To Nuwara Eliya

Mon 26-Aug-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan 4 Comments

25 August 2019

We leave Kandy today for Nuwara Eliya. For this leg, we are catching a train from Kandy to Nanu Oya which is the closest station to Nuwara Eliya. Our guide will be dropping us off at the station in Kandy and will meet us at Nanu Oya.

We had a hearty breakfast at the hotel. I asked for a Sri Lankan meal for breakfast and they brought out a good spread. I had Sri Lankan milk rice called Kiribath. It is prepared by cooking rice in coconut milk. I also had roti, hoppers and string hoppers which were accompanied by various curries and sambols.

We left the hotel at about 10:15am to catch the 11:10am train.

One of several small train stations along the way

The train arrived late at Kandy and left about 30 mins after scheduled departure time. There was a train that got derailed the previous day and crews have been repairing the track. This made all trains on that line run late. We arrived 90 mins late at Nanu Oya. However, we made it in time for high tea at the Grand Hotel. This was the highlight of the entire trip for Dianne. It was damn good tea too. We had unlimited servings of cinnamon tea which was delicious. We were also served in a three plate tier of hot savory, cold snacks and dessert of a few varieties. All this came with a princely price of about A$12.35 per person.

SL 2019, Sri Lanka

Day Five – Trip To Kandy

Sun 25-Aug-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

24 August 2019

We were greeted this morning by macaques feeding just off our balcony. It seems that one of the occupants of our neighbouring room has been handing out fruit.

We leave Dambulla for Kandy this morning. It will be a 2 1/2 hour drive. The hotel we stayed in here, Heritance Kandalama is quite spectacular. We will make a couple of stops along the way to check out wood carving towns and also the town of Matale. It is clear and sunny day today.

SL 2019, Sri Lanka

Day Four – Ancient City Of Polonnaruwa And Elephant Sanctuary

Sat 24-Aug-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

23 August 2019

There was much needed overnight rain here. We were woken up at about 6 am by the noise of monkeys (Gray Langur) outside our balcony. They were in the trees foraging for berries. They were playing and it was quite interesting to watch.

We checked and Sigiriya Rock was still there. Today we will be going to the ancient city of Polonnaruwa and followed by an elephant sanctuary. It will be a long day. I have done both before and happy to see these places again.

Polonnaruwa is especially interesting for history buffs. I spent some time there on my previous visit. Our trip today to Polonnaruwa will take us past Sigiriya Rock.

On the road trip, we came across someone feeding an Asian Water Monitor with discarded fish heads. These animals are scavengers and play an important role in the river eco system. They clean the river of dead animals and other edible items. This keeps the river clean.

We reach Polonnaruwa before noon. We visit the museum to get an idea of the immenseness of this area.

Polonnaruwa was established in the 11th century after the first capital , Anuradhapura was invaded by the South Indian armies of the Cholas. The Chola influence spread right across to East Asia and as far as Bali.

Polonnaruwa is an extensive and well organised city. The Kings at the time had a lot of forethought and built large reservoirs for irrigation of crop fields. These reservoirs are still actively being used and benefitting farmers today.

Elephant carving on Nissanga Malla Audience Hall

Polannaruwa contained a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu structures. There were Hindu influences following the conquest of South Indian armies into Polannaruwa.

Ancient inscription on inside wall of Hatadage

I visited the Shiva Devale No 2. The Hindu priest present invited me and performed a prayer in my name and blessed me. I felt really touched standing in front of a temple that is over a 1000 years old.

After Polonnaruwa, we made our way to a Safari 4WD outfit to get a guide and a 4WD for at trip into the Kaudulla National Park. There are 3 interconnecting parks in this area. A large number of the elephants are currently in Kaudulla.

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Elephants at Kaudulla National Park

SL 2019, Sri Lanka

Day Three – Road Trip To Dambulla

Fri 23-Aug-2019 Kulendran Anaimugan Leave a comment

22 August 2019

We left a rainy Colombo today for Dambulla. It is about 160km and took us about 3 hrs 30 mins. We passed through mostly rural countryside. Most small towns along the way were made farming communities. Farming is quite prolific in this fertile country.

We have booked to stay at the Heritance Kandalama in Dambulla. The last few kilometres to the hotel is dirt road. The hotel is set in lush tropical forest and is bounded by the Kandalama Reservoir to the front.

Heritance Kandalama was designed by the reknowned Sri Lankan architect, the late Geoffrey Bawa. This hotel was built in the 90s.

Geoffrey Bawa was a prolific architect and there are many examples of his buildings in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. His design concepts tries to incorporate nature with living spaces. The Heritance Kandalama is a prime example of this. The facade of the hotel is covered in plants and vines and blends in well with the surroundings.