Desert Explorers in Sri Lanka

By Marian Johns

First of all, I want to say that this was a memorable trip that I am glad I took. I have no real regrets despite a multitude of problems, problems that hounded us from the first to the very last day of our tour. Fifteen of us (seven were people I already knew from our Desert Explorers organization) were traveling with OAT – Overseas Adventure Travel. Our initial problems started because our Air India flight from NYC to Delhi, India was five hours late. This started a domino effect - consequently we missed our connecting “in transit” flight to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka; there wasn’t another for 24 hours. Air India put us up in the Centaur Hotel for the night, but by doing so, we officially entered India. And India just happens to have a very inconvenient restriction – not more than one entry in less than two months. Oops! So, if we go to Sri Lanka first as for our scheduled week there – per our itinerary, how will we reenter India for the rest of our tour?

The domino effect continued and we spent the first day in Sri Lanka chasing around with our guide trying to work out - with the Indian High Commissioner (embassy), how we could circumvent the reentry rule. Thus, we missed the first day’s tour highlights and were late arriving at the elephant orphanage which had just closed. When we left Colombo, we also left our passports with the High Commissioner and crossed our fingers – hoping that when we returned to Colombo at the week’s end we would have the proper documents and stamps in our passports making an exception to the “only one entry in two months” rule that would allow us to reenter India.

Sri Lanka, called Ceylon before 1972, is an exceptionally beautiful country. Even though it rained the first few days, I enjoyed traveling through the lush, tropical countryside, stopping a local markets and seeing wild elephants and water buffalo. Our tour took us up into the mountains where the hillsides are covered with tea plantations, and little streams, rivers and beautiful waterfalls abound.

For me, the highlights of Sri Lanka were the waterfalls and Sigiriya Rock. Sigiriya Rock, now a World Heritage Site, is a 600 ft. high monolith – the remains of an ancient volcanic plug. To reach the top, a strenuous climb up a rather scary stairway clinging to the vertical walls is required.. The climb is worth the effort because of the spectacular views and because here are the remains of a 5th century palace which once graced the summit. About half way up, it is possible to take a breather and inspect frescoes, also from the 5th century, which were painted in protected alcoves

Next month: India!

MARIAN, GEORGE AND ME at SAI BABA’S PLACE IN SRI LANKA by Anne Stoll

Our Fearless Co-leader Marian Johns shared a most enjoyable recount of our January trip to Sri Lanka in the last DE newsletter. Yesterday’s news of the death of Hindu spiritual leader Sathya Sai Baba has inspired me to add on to her tale with mention of her visit to Sai Baba’s ashram on our last day in Colombo. We had been careening by bus for days through the lush Sri Lankan countryside when I learned from our guide, Asanka, that the people of northeastern Sri Lanka (the area where the recently subdued Tamils live) were suffering from the aftermath of horrific flooding. Their fields were wiped out, animals drowned, and houses destroyed. I asked him if there was anything I could do, some way to donate to the relief effort, and he said he thought there might be an opportunity when we returned to the capital, Colombo. I thought this might be a way to see something a little different from the normal tourist fare and passed the word but only Adventuress Marian Johns wanted to join us. So early on our last day in Sri Lanka, we three left with Asanka in tuk-tuks (also called auto-rickshaws) for our first white-knuckle ride through the narrow streets of Colombo. By my request our first stop was St. Anthony’s, the strangest Catholic church I’ve ever been in, an odd mixture of Hindu worship and Christian belief -- very interesting but we were on a mission. We hopped back in the tuk-tuks and headed for an upscale part of town where we were dropped off at the modest compound of Sai Baba’s Colombo ashram. While waiting for the head man to receive us, we took off our shoes and entered what looked like a high school gymnasium, no furniture but a nicely polished wood floor and on the walls, paintings of the world’s great holy men (I recognized Jesus, Mohammed, and Buddha) as revered by all faiths. On the stage was a large framed photo of Sathya Sai Baba with piercing eyes and a very wild Afro hairdo; below were offerings of fruit and flowers. Above him hung a lotus symbol with his tenets written on the petals: peace, love, right conduct, truth and non-violence. That was it – no worshippers present at that time, only mosquitoes who quickly found me, prompting me to want to move along. We looked around, saw notices about their hospitals, schools and missions in various parts of the country and that they were stockpiling rice and canned goods. Marian and I signed a book, made our donation, got a receipt and left. After another high-speed tuk-tuk ride we rejoined our group. A nice way, I thought, to say goodbye to the beautiful country of Sri Lanka.