Family, Food, Sunsets and the brilliant Mr Samantha
A reflection on my trip to Sri Lanka in late April 2022
It is with immense hesitancy that I write about my trip to Sri Lanka in late April 2022. Currently, the country is in the grips of the worst economic and political crisis in its history. I acknowledge my privilege of being able to travel not just to this country but to travel in general. I am grateful for this opportunity, and reading the news makes me hope for the people of Sri Lanka. I write this post purely as a reflection of my trip and do not intend to cause any offence. I am fully aware of the crisis happening in the country. I encourage people to read more about what is happening in the country just to understand the situation. In the meantime, I encourage you, if you can, to donate to the links down below to help the people try to navigate this crisis.
https://give2asia.org/sri-lanka-economic-crisis-fund/
I returned from this trip with a positive impression of the country, particularly the people I interacted with, the stunning scenery and the fantastic Sri Lankan food. While my trip was short and barely scratched the surface, I eagerly await the opportunity to revisit the country. For now, I bring you a reflection on a journey to a country that, in recent years, has been through its fair share of eventful history, but one that I know can survive anything.
Growing up, whenever I heard of the country Sri Lanka, the only things that came to mind were the Civil War and the devastation caused by the boxing day tsunami of 2004. Both are not exactly the most positive images when conjuring up a country. However, my curiosity about the country peaked as I became older and (arguably) wiser. It started after some friends visited and showed me photos of their trip, and I was in awe of the seaside and hilltop vistas.
Watching a program made by one of my all-time travel idols, the late Anthony Bourdain, I learnt more about Sri Lankan cuisine. While there are some shared dishes with South Indian cuisine, or as I call it, familiar territory, there was a whole world of spice blends and fragrances waiting to be explored. For lack of a better phrase, I was hooked. With this newfound interest, I started a discussion about travelling to this country with my family, leading to the mutual decision to plan a trip and travel to the island nation.
The three of us (myself, mum and my brother) decided to capitalise on a long weekend in late April 2022 and focused our trip on the capital Colombo and the historic city of Galle for a short getaway. We noted in the news that conditions in the country were rapidly changing due to protests against the government, mainly against the arguably poor policies implemented before and during the pandemic. Regarding safety, we consulted many of our friends who visited around the time of our trip. The consensus from our friends was that their trip was delightful, and they felt safe throughout the journey. We made our decision. It was time to travel.
My uncle from my London trip recommended we hire a guide to take us from Colombo to Galle and show us around. My uncle had met our guide, Mr Samantha, on a previous trip he took just a few weeks before ours. My uncle had grown up in Sri Lanka and studied medicine there; he was excited that we would be visiting. He highly recommended Mr Samantha, and I was thankful that he introduced us to him because he was indeed an excellent guide. Soon we were ready to fly out on not only our first family trip since the start of the pandemic but to a brand-new country.
Trip highlights:
Similar to my previous trip reports, a top highlight was easily the food, though, in the context of Sri Lanka, it won’t come as a surprise. Since Sri Lankan cuisine is a relatively unknown variable in my family’s cooking repertoire, we decided to do a vegetarian cooking class together. We went to the Elita Restaurant in historic Galle Fort, where we learnt from a husband-and-wife team who organised a cooking class in their outdoor kitchen. All the cooking was done in clay pots which we enjoyed using so much that we purchased two to bring back to Singapore. They guided us through making serval Sri Lankan dishes, all vegetarian and all using a similar combination of spices. Our recipes used beetroot, mushrooms, squash, and copious amounts of chilli powder paired with a tomato and coconut-based chutney. I was not expecting all the dishes to use coconut oil, something I am not accustomed to in my daily cooking, but it added a flavourful colour to the dish that I was not expecting. I can use only so many words to describe the food, but mere words cannot do it justice. Instead, I’ll let these photos do the talking.
Another highlight was, quite frankly, the views because, my lord, Sri Lanka is a beautiful country. We were blessed with good weather during our trip. There was still a certain beauty to be appreciated at the various sites, even when greeted by the occasional rainstorm. The coastline at Galle Fort offered jaw-dropping sunset views. Still, one of my favourite views was from the Yatagala temple in the hills near Galle. While visiting the various sites in and around Galle, I was thankful we had our excellent guide, Mr Samantha. He was kind enough to bring us to some stunning lookout points and even provided brief history lessons on some of the temples and locations we visited. It is one of the many reasons I recommend hiring a guide like Mr Samantha since you’ll learn more about a place than initially expected. Despite travelling over a weekend, many of the locales visited were peaceful, with stunning views being the prominent feature. My words can only paint so much of a visual image. Instead, I prefer to let some photos do the talking.
A final highlight would have to be some of my interactions with the people there. Before I elaborate further, I acknowledge that I am writing this from the perspective of a tourist with the privilege of being able to travel easily. My general interactions with the people I met were mostly positive, particularly with the husband-and-wife team at the cooking school and our excellent guide, Mr Samantha. They shared the struggles many in Sri Lanka faced, which was shocking. One of the struggles we noticed firsthand was the effects of inflation within the country, where the cost of a bottle of water increased by some 200% in a few weeks; it was staggering. Despite all this, they are demonstrating some intense resilience against the odds. I hope their future is bright and this crisis can soon end.
Final thoughts:
This trip report was challenging to write as I knew I could not do justice to this amazing place and not acknowledge the political situation. I encourage people to visit the country once it is feasible. I also urge visitors to the country to exercise a degree of sensitivity, particularly concerning the cost of various items in Sri Lanka. While it might be cheap in your currency, for the local people, it is a significant portion of their salary. One day I hope to return as there is a whole treasure trove waiting to be discovered, and I am keen to set out and explore it. Until then, all I can hope is that the country can bounce back from the crisis and emerge stronger than before.