Sri Lanka with my mum

Sri Lanka... This was a big point on my itinerary, I'd go as far to say the most important visit of all, as it was the one that would give me a better understanding of my heritage, something I was aware that I had been missing all my life, having not visited my mother's country before.

Having grown up in a small, very white town in England as a half Irish, he Sri Lankan child, I was considered different for my colour, which I got from my mum. Someone even tried to run me over once, shouting "f*cking paki" out of their window when I jumped out of the way of their van. So I'll admit that it made me feel like a bit of an outsider to be non-white, and I sometimes I wished I was the same as everyone else as most kids do. 

This may sound odd, as most of my friends don't really consider me to be 'ethnic', but it took me a long time to not only be OK, but proud of my difference, as again it does with most people. 

The thing is I knew nothing about my difference, my heritage. My Irish side was easy to connect to, but the Sri Lankan side was just too alien and far to understand. So it simply got pushe to the wayside, I'm English and that's all that really matters. Though as I've grown up that has seemed less and less true.  Which, getting to the crux of my previous statement, is why this was the most important part of my trip.

I'm sitting in the airport now waiting for my flight to the Maldives, having just said goodbye to my mum as she boarded her plane to the UK, and it's a lot to process.

It seems like ages since I landed, dejected and defeated by my experiences in India, but relieved and excited by the prospect of spending over two weeks with my mum. 

As you may have surmised I very much love my mum and if you've met her you'll know why. If you haven't met my mum you should because she is quite simply the best! 

Seeing my mum instantly made me feel better and after an excited hug we made our way to our hotel room. We shared twin rooms to keep costs down. The first week was to be an organized tour of Sri Lanka taking in the historical and cultural sights, including a visit to Kandy where my mum is from and Galle where she attended a Catholic boarding school. After that we had a week or R&R. 

I've learned a lot about Sri Lanka, which has made me very proud of coming in part from the country. 

Firstly I'm proud of the culture. This is largely due to the island's Buddhist background. The best way to explain this is through the many temples. Man do they live a temple, Buddha statue and stupa in Sri Lanka. 

Walking into the temples and around huge statues is impressive, but finding depictions of deities from other belief systems was a surprise. This goes back to the days when Sri Lankan kings would marry Indian women. Rather than make their brides convert, the kings  would provide them with a place to worship their own gods within their own temples. It blew mind a bit. I can't imagine a church with a Buddha statue or depiction of Shiva. This is how people should address belief in my opinion, none of this 'you must believe what I believe' nonsense.

The most impressive Buddha was at dumbula. As you can see from the picture this statue is HUGE!! There's also a mouth creature underneath it which reminds me of something from Spirited Away. I wish I had asked about its origin and meaning! If anyone knows please tell me.

We also saw an array of stupas which encase Buddha relics such as teeth and bone, as well as valuable offerings. It's because of the latter that many have been looted and desecrated. This is a common theme with Sri Lankan historical sites. a lot are now ruins, either due to the reclamation of land by nature, or theft by invading countries. 

It's a shame that so many of the relics are gone and buildings left to rot, as the Sri Lankans had built amazing temples with sophisticated water purification systems, plumbing, ventilation and structure, with some being over six stories tall. Not bad considering this was hundreds of years before the birth or Christ. 

Sigiria, a temple complex set on and around a large mountain was particularly impressive. Just the fact that people were able to get there without cranes and machinery to create a palace and walkways that wound around the mountain side was mind boggling. The mountain was also decorated with images of hundreds of the king's concubines. Getting to the last landing on the way to the top revealed a huge pair of lion's feet around a set of stairs, which in their time would have lead up into the lion's mouth and on to the palace. The view from the top was just jaw dropping and made the temple easy to defend against the Kings enemies, including his own brother who wanted vengeance for the death of their father who had been murder by the current king.

Another aspect of Sri Lanka I enjoyed were the people. They are much friendlier and genuinely want to help. Yes they still try to overcharge you for things, but that's not even in every store. It's just so much more honest and chilled out. 

Though the best part of meeting Sri Lankan people was when my mum and I joined some of her school friends for lunch, it is already such a fond memory. While I was of course running my mouth as per my M.O. I did take time to see my mum chatting to her friends and catching up. It was so nice to see my mum in talking like we'd been there last week joking and having fun. Call me sentimental, but it's something that makes me smile to think of. 

We also met up with one of my mum's friend's nephews who took a day out from running his own company and studying for his masters to show us around Galle, where my mum went to school.

If you are ever in Sri Lanka do yourself a favour and visit a turtle sanctuary. We went to one in Kosgoda where they buy turtle eggs from fishermen and ensure the babies are returned safely to the ocean. Those that can't be released, perhaps because of lost limbs or birth defects are kept on site. 

I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but day old turtles are CUTE! Just crazy cute. I also held an adult female who weighed a tonne! Though I think we should all take a moment to notice in the below picture how gangster she looks, like I never know what to do with my hands in photos, but she looks like she's throwing gang signs everywhere and some serious shade too. Also the lower half of a turtle looks like a plucked chicken to me. Make of that what you will.

On the animal front, we also visited a elephant sanctuary where we fed milk to the baby elephants. This wasn't well executed by the organisers and taking photos in the crush of people was challenging, hence the photo of me which looks like someone drew creepily realistic facial features on a thumb. 

I also ate a whole bunch of new foods, from Sri Lankan style curry, sambal, raw cinnamon bark, rose apple, soursop and much more. They were all great, but I must confess that I ate far too much food at the many buffets offered by our hotels and imagine that when I get to the beach people will start throwing buckets of water over me to keep me alive. Sigh... Back to working out in hotel rooms and non-gluttonous dining for me!

So that a broad strokes version of our time in Sri Lanka. I've not put in everything, so some of the pics below might not make too much sense, but just go with it :). 

I've loved seeing Sri Lanka and learning about my heritage. Including finding out that I am related to D.S. the Sri Lankan prime minister who secured independence from the British, as well as his son who went on to become prime minister himself. 

What I'm going to take away from this is a lot of pride in my heritage. Not because seeing it has changed me, but because I have seen so many parallels between my beliefs and those of the Sri Lankan people. Apparently it took going to Sri Lanka to show me not what I have been missing, but how much of my heritage has been a part of me all along, for that I thank my mum.

I miss you already!