Category Archives: Port posts
Thiladhunmathee Atoll
One of the batches of overwater bungalows
Wednesday 9th March we weighed anchor and left our beautiful island passing the Waldorf Astoria resort on our way out of the Ihavandhippolhu atoll and heading in a southerly direction from now on. They had certainly made good use of the mother island. There were over water bungalows coming out of the north and south sides of the island and jetties coming out of the east and west, it probably depends on the weather on how they land their clients or there’s always the bright red sea plane that was sitting there waiting for passengers. How the other half live!
Our passage across to Thiladhunmathee atoll
We sailed, or motored, back into the deep water and on towards the Thiladhumathee Atoll. The numbers on the chart are depth of water in metres. Once we go over the edge our depth gauge won’t pick up depths much more than 150 metres and just flashes in a ‘computer says no’ sort of way. Coming back into the next atoll is a bit unnerving but the reefs are quite clearly visible as we approach. The straight black lines are our planned route and again the yellow line is the track we took.
The edge of the reef
The islands are just basically sand bars and don’t have any height so you don’t see them until you’re quite close. It would be dangerous to do a night sail around this area.
Our track in
The island just above where we stayed is called Kelaa and was the northern British base during WWII.
Local fishing boat
This local fishing boat had come from there. Unfortunately there’s no way in for a keel boat drawing 2 metres so we continued on to the lagoon in front of Dhapparu. Where we found Inspiration Lady and Tintin. Our position was
06 54.93N
073 13.6E in 10.8 metres sand.
Tintin and Inspiration Lady
Not sure I would recommend this anchorage because the snorkeling wasn’t very good and the beach is full of mosquitoes but Inspiration lady and Tintin had a nice visit at the village on the island of Filladhoo to the south east of the anchorage.
Our passage trough the reef
Thursday 10th we left Dhappura and headed southwest to the Rasfari reef. There was a gentle breeze from the north east so we put the twin headsails out and sailed there. So far we haven’t come across any uncharted reefs and the charted reefs are easy to see with the change in the colour of the water. Some of the islands have been a bit off set according to the radar.
Our track shows us going over the reef
This photo shows our track over the edge of the Rasfari reef, the green area is reef which means we shouldn’t cross it but you can clearly see our track takes us straight across it. I had checked it out on google earth which showed a clear passage through the reef plus we had some waypoints from other cruiser that had already visited. When we arrived I stood on the bow looking out for the deep water. The passage was narrow but there was plenty of room for us. It is a deep anchorage but we managed to find one of the few 18 metre spots there.
Looking across the reef to the nearest island.
We anchored in position
06 43.082N
072 55.422E
It was a stunning spot. We were over two miles from the nearest island but the reefs were giving us protection.
There was a reef to our port and starboard sides and a few hundred metres in front of us. So the dinghy was lowered and off we went.
WOW the snorkeling was amazing. I have so many photos and found it difficult to choose which ones to post on here so I’m just going to post lots of them.
The plate coral was the best we’ve seen since Fiji
Lots of stag coral too. Can you spot the Angel fish.
More hard coral
Beautiful coral
All of these photos were taken at the reef to the east of us.
The next day we went forward to the reef to the south and west of us and the fish life was astounding. Snorkeling along the edge of the dropoff was the best. The fish hang around waiting for the nutrients to float off the reef. So many fish.
Unicorn fish
Bat fish I think
Clown fish or Nemo
A puffer fish
So many fish
Moray eel
Then we spotted this big boy lurking under the rocks – a moray eel.
Quite lucky it see it because it blends in with rocks and it was quite a way down, about 4 or 5 metres. He came out of his hiding place and slithered under the next rock. It was a good metre and a bit long.
Moving on
More coral
Some of the little coral heads are so pretty and colourful. This one was mauve, pink and white.
Then we spotted a big 3 metre nose to tip of tail sting ray. This wasn’t one of those tame ones you can feed in the resorts but a real wild one. A bit scary really.
A large stingray with a long tail.
Bill swimming with 100s of fish following him.
Looking at the reef from the dinghy
Back in the dinghy and motoring to the reef to our south. The colour of the water here is astounding The bommies were further apart in the middle of the reef. While motoring over the lagoon we could see a spot where we could have anchored in 3metres in sand but getting over the reef is the tricky bit. I think we’ll leave Camomile where she is. She’s quite happy watching us have fun.
Camomile across the reef.
Looking over the edge
For the boats coming behind us. From the anchor spot look to the south west you’ll see a red dinghy buoy which the fisherman often use with a white buoy near it (hope it hasn’t gone) when you’ve travelling in your dinghy on the west side of the reef keep those two buoys in line and head directly south. You’ll come across another buoy just before you get to the reef (it’s difficult to see) that reef in front of you is the best. An amazing drop off.
Amazing coral
When you’re swimming along the reef looking over the edge it feels like flying as you look down 10 to 20 metres into the deep blue. It’s a divers paradise.
Beautiful stag coral rising up from the plate coral
Last coral picture. Looks like a sea monster with horns.
Our route to Kulhudhuffushi
Saturday 12th we left the Rasfushi reef on our way to Kulhudhuffushi where we were meeting up with Inspiration Lady and Tintin again. After an early morning start we got to the harbour at roughly the same time as Inspiration Lady. It’s possible to tie to the wharf but Bill wasn’t happy doing that so we went in and dropped our anchor. Unfortunately we were drifting too close to the shallow area by the wall. Bill tried to bring the anchor up quick but it jammed and wouldn’t go up or down. Gary was planning to go up against the wall and suggested we tie alongside them which we did so Bill was able to sort out the anchor chain. Tintin came in about an hour later and also tied to the wall.
Camomile alongside Inspiration Lady
Our position
06 36.9N
073 03.9E
More coral houses here
It was only US$12 to go into the harbour which was very reasonable and saved us anchoring in the deep water outside. The town wasn’t very big but had an ATM so we were able to get some local currency. It also had some groceries stores and a couple of places to eat. It was Jackie’s birthday and we all went out to celebrate (camera left behind).
The damage to Inspiration Lady
The tide dropped overnight and unfortunately Inspiration Lady’s rub rail managed to get under the big rubber fender that is permanently attached to the wall of the wharf and as the tide was coming back up it ripped part of it off. The fenders had bounced out of the way. Poor Gary. Bill helped him remove the old wood but he has a serious repair to do.
We stayed there two nights then headed out on 14th March to continue south and into Miladhunmadulu atoll.
One last coral picture.
Ihavandhippolhu Atoll, Maldives
The northern atolls are the least developed regions of the Maldives and are almost unknown to foreigners. The traditional Maldivian life is virtually untouched. The Ihavandhippolhu atoll is generally known as Haa Alifu atoll, possibly because of it’s unpronounceable name. The island of Uligamu, where we checked in, is right at the top of Haa Alifu.
The village mosque
Sunday 6th March was Mother’s day in the UK and I was feeling sad because I couldn’t spend it with our sons so we went for a walk around the island instead. Having walked around the village several times now we knew our way around. This is their lovely mosque on the waterfront that has been recently built. We walked past and through the village to the jungle edge and kept going across the middle of the island to the beach on the other side. It’s only a 20 minute walk. There was quite a small beach but we headed south and started walking around the island.
The beach on the other side of the island
The well
The beach became rocky and difficult to pass so we walked back into the jungle. Bill discovered this well by the path. Most of the islands have a fresh water table running under them and this well had been dug to access the water. Not sure I would drink from it.
The only vehicle on the island
There aren’t any vehicles on the island but we discovered this old truck a bit worse for wear. Needs a new set of tyres to start with.
This crazy hermit crab is using an old aerosol top as a shell.
Hermit crab
Only our foot prints
Eventually we got back onto the beach. The sand was so soft under our feet; our footprints were the only ones on the beach.
Amazing driftwood.
The driftwood was amazing. Thinking of you Claire Fox, you would love this beach.
Watching waves
The waves were mesmerising as they crashed over a hard edge of coral all along the beach. Not so good for swimming but wonderful to watch.
Eventually we came to the southern tip which formed a sand bar. Such beauty.
The sandbar on the southern tip of the island of Uligamu
The beach on the eastern side of the sandbar
The view on the western side looking across to the yachts
Bill’s tree
The western side of the island was calmer being away from the swells coming in from the Indian ocean. Bill managed to find a tree to sit under…….
“I’m in the Maldives”
….. while I played in the beautiful warm azure sea.
A screenshot of our route on the Navionics APP
Monday 7th I did some writing and we stayed on the boats waiting for the grocery delivery from an island further south. I had ordered some bread and wasn’t sure what would turn up but some very nice fresh brown bread arrived in the afternoon. Happy Birthday to my sister Amanda today.
Tuesday 8th was the day we decided to leave Uligamu. After having been there for 5 days it was time to move on.
We didn’t go far just 5 miles south to the island of Govvaafushi.
Our position was
07 00.66N
072 55.11E
The yellow line is our route
We gradually crept in until it was shallow enough to anchor. It was still inside the Ihavandhippolhu atoll.
The yellow line is our track.
This was our view
Camomile anchored off the island
The island belongs to the Waldorf Astoria whose resort, which is the most northerly resort in the Maldives, is on the next island. We went ashore and discovered the most romantic hideaway hidden in the sand dunes. I took a video but failed to take any pictures – how silly of me! Any way there was a little hut with a table and 2 chairs on the patio with an outside shower room behind it. Next to it was a circular outside bed surrounded with mosquito netting. As it’s US$1300 a night on the main island goodness knows how much the ‘Castaway island’ experience would cost but it looked beautiful. I’ll post the video on facebook.
The Waldorf sunloungers
The stunning beach
The island was very small and you could walk around it in about half an hour but what an amazing half hour. The beach was stunning.
Who is this walking around the island?
Billam
The water was like a warm bath
We spent the morning just relaxing and swimming in the warm waters before going back to the boat.
In the afternoon a resort boat turned up with 2 island workers followed by another boat 10 minutes later with 2 resort guests. After serving them with cold drinks on the beach they were left on the island to enjoy lunch and a swim . They only stayed a couple of hours, I wonder how much it cost them.
Sunset on the beach
After the guests were taken off the island the resort staff returned and cleared everything away, mattress, mosquito netting, picnic, towels, even the shower gel. The spoil sports even turned the water off because I was going to have a shower. We had our sundowners on the beach and watched the sun go down.
First impressions of Uligamu
One of the first islands
Our last 24 hours at sea was motoring the wind died completely and we took the sails down. It wasn’t so bad because the water maker was on so we could have showers and clean the boat when we arrived. It was exciting seeing the first islands during the day although they are made of sand with jungle covering them and aren’t very high. Some of them have villages on them but a lot of them are uninhabited.
Amazing sunset
The last part of the journey saw an amazing sunset. Not so good because we wanted to be anchored before it got dark. We came into the anchorage as the sun went down. There’s a ‘shelf’ inside the reef to anchor on but as we were approaching I could see coral over the bow. It was far too late to play that game so we anchored in 18 metres further out. Bit exposed but we could move in tomorrow when it was safe with the sun overhead.
Bill raising the Maldives courtesy flag
We were anchored at
07˚ 04.71 north
072˚ 55.13 east
Our journey of 715 nautical miles had taken 5 days 8 hours giving us an average speed of 5.58 knots not bad considering we were travelling at 2 or 3 kts the first few days with the current against us. Our agent Assad brought the customs, immigration, etc out to us to check us in along with a tub of ice cream! How good is that? Check in took about half an hour then it was showers and bed. We were tired. The next day Bill raised our Maldives courtesy flag.
As the next day was Friday we stayed on the boats. The Maldives are 100% Sunni Muslim so Friday is their Sunday. The fact that they are muslims also means there’s no alcohol sold here, only very expensively in resorts!!! Now you can see why we stocked up. Assad came out to the boat to get our sims sorted for the phones and to set it up as a modem. The internet seems quite fast here so that’s a change.
The main road
On Saturday Inspiration Lady, Tintin and Camomile crews went ashore for a tour of the little village. There are only 500 people on the island and they basically belong to one of two families. There aren’t any cars. This is the main road through the village.
This is one of the ladies of the village
Some of the villagers have lived on the island all their life.
A local house
This was her house.
Beautiful banana tree.
The land is mostly sand so not very much grows here but they do have some wonderful trees. This banana tree was laden with fruit. Take a look at the wall, it’s made of dressed coral which means they cut it and shape it before using it to build houses and walls. It’s not allowed any more but there are still some beautiful pieces around.
Mangos beginning to ripen.
Breadfruit tree
A beautiful bread fruit tree with another lovely coral wall.
Another beautiful coral house
The end of the road
This was the end of the village. Just jungle beyond here.
Right next to the end of the road is the generator housing.
Generator housing
Pumping away 24 hours providing power for homes of the people.
Local shop
There are 2 shops on the island, this is the bigger one of the two. It seemed to have a fair sized selection of goods but very little in the way of fresh stuff. I’ve ordered some bread which is coming on the supply ship on Monday. I still have quite a lot of supplies from my Sri Lanka stock up but I could do with some lettuce and apples. Will be interesting to see what else turns up.
So sweet
I found these adorable little girls at Assad’s house the one on the left is his daughter. They were like a pair of dolls. So sweet.
Beautiful school
Assad took us to see the village school although being Saturday no one was there. It was in very good condition but being run like the schools were 50 years ago. Ages 6,7 and 8 in one class room, 9, 10 and 11 year olds in a second classroom and a couple more classrooms for the older children. At 16 they take a Cambridge exam like a GCSE if they pass the government will pay for them to go to Mahe and at 18 they take further exams, A levels, for a place in University. There are also Btec courses for the ones who don’t pass the exam.
School playground
There isn’t much for them to do on the island and I think most of them would probably stay on in Mahe once they had finished their education. That means the island will slowly die out if the young people don’t return but we’ve seen that so much in our travels.
The village harbour
We walked back to the jetty and the dinghies. Assad invited the 6 of us to a meal at his house that evening to try some local food.
Meanwhile Bill and I still hadn’t been in the water and we’ve been here for 2 days so we headed back to Camomile. Two of the other boats had left leaving two spaces on the ‘shelf’ so Camomile and Inspiration Lady took them.
Camomile in the beautiful water
Under the water
We are now anchored in the most stunning aquamarine colour. It’s like being anchored in a swimming pool.
Our position is
07˚ 05.02N
072˚ 55.18 E
take a look on google earth.
More coral
Meanwhile in the water …..
Lots of fish
The coral near Camomile
I tried to get a photo of Camomile with the coral underneath but it didn’t quite work but close.
The keel
This is our keel under the water.
The anchor on the bottom
and the anchor in about 5 metres of water. So clear.
Bill snorkeling
Delicious meal prepared by the ladies of the village
That evening we went back ashore for our wonderful meal.
Inspiration Lady, Camomile and Tintin in the evening sunset
We’ve arrived in the Maldives
Sitting on the bathing platform with my feet in warm, clear, azure blue sea overlooking white sand beach eating my breakfast of fresh sweet pineapple, yoghurt and museli with a pod of at least 40 harbour porpoises (about half the size of dolphins) swimming in the water not 50 metres from the boat with one juvenile who had obviously just learnt to jump and pirouette in the air (wonder if his name is James) with them. We have arrived safely in the Maldives. Can it get any better than this?
Sri Lanka to the Maldives day 5
Position at 10.00 Thursday 3rd March
0658.27N
07350.53E
24 hour run from 10.00 2nd to 10.00 3rd 145 miles average 6.04 kph 54 miles to go
Fishing boat coming really close, not the fisherman right up on the bow.
It was a really good sail yesterday 15kts of wind on the beam. It means we were heeling quite a bit but we made good progress. The ships have stopped passing us finally, as they go further north, and no more fisher men asking for booze and cigarettes. They were quite harmless but when you see a fishing boat motoring directly at you it’s very worrying. It happened twice and each time we put the engine on and motored away from them as fast as we could, they soon gave up.
The wind died completely at 7.45pm and we were down to 3kts. We’ve sailed that slow before but it would have meant we wouldn’t have arrived until the middle of the night which isn’t wise so the engine went on and we’ve motored since. At first, as there wasn’t any wind at all, the sails came down because they flog badly which doesn’t do them any good but this morning the wind picked up a little and we decided to raise the sails again. That’s when we noticed the boom vang was broken.
The boom vang with broken gas strut inside
The boom vang or kicking strap holds the boom in position and is essential for sailing. Without it the boom can’t be pulled down and the sail flattened when necessary. It also holds the boom up and stops it crashing down on our heads or the bimini cover because it has a gas strut inside it. Yesterday I had noticed some black stuff on the deck at the bottom of the mast and had blamed the Tanna volcano dust again (we still find traces of that even though it’s almost 4 years since we were there). Bill managed to disassemble it and bring it in. When he took it apart he found the gas had escaped from the gas strut because the seals have failed on one end. So for the time being the boom vane will be a passenger and Bill has rigged up a rope kicking strap temporarily. The black stuff on the deck must have been bits of the seal.
Bill rigging a kicking strap temporarily.
We continue to motor sail and should be in the anchorage this evening. Tintin are ahead of us so they’ll have to buy the ice creams again!
Sri Lanka to Maldives day 3 & 4
Position at 10.00 Wednesday 2nd March
0637.70N
07612.37E
24 hour run from 10.00 29th to 10.00 1st 137 miles average 5.7 kph 24 hour run from 10.00 1st to 10.00 2nd 152 miles average 6.33 kph 198 miles to go
Firstly apologies for not writing my report yesterday. I only get about 2 or 3 hours spare during the day when I’m not on watch or sleeping and it was write a report or make a banana loaf – the banana loaf won, and it was yummy!
Tintin sailing around southern tip of Sri Lanka
Going back to the 29th there was great excitement as we passed the southern tip of Sri Lanka and got a signal albeit for about 15 minutes. I was able to read my lovely messages from everyone – Thank you.
The southern tip of Sri Lanka also had a lot of shipping, it reminded us of Singapore although not so many ships anchored. However there were a few ships anchored or hovering by the port of Galle and we watched several of them being loaded with personnel and goods. Then we realised what they were doing, they were loading mercenaries and weapons onto the ships that were going up the Red Sea. We have friends heading that way this year because they think it’s safe, if it’s safe why were these big ships going to the trouble and expense of taking guards on board? It also reminded us that we are heading into troubled waters and even fishing boats are looking suspicious. The Maldives have been taken out of the HRA (high risk area) so should be safe.
Beautiful sunrise
Once clear of Sri Lanka the wind started building and we were able to sail properly with 15kts of wind from behind so the twizzle was up again but this also built the sea up and there were 2 metre seas following us.
The night of the 29th saw lots of lightening flashes but none near us thank goodness. We sailed through the night with the twizzle rigged but by morning the wind dropped and we had to motor for 2 1/2 hours while the wind filled in from the north east giving us a beam reach. Deep joy every time I want to go to the loo now!
As I said I made a banana loaf on the morning of the 1st which isn’t easy wedged into my little galley but I seem to have got used to the movement of sailing again. Tintin and Inspiration Lady are ok and reporting their positions to me each day on the net. Inspiration Lady had a lot of trouble when the wind was building off the coast of Sri Lanka and managed to shred their code zero (big sail) getting it tangled with their genny halyard in the process. All is sorted now but Jackie will have some sewing to do when they get in. Tintin is about 14 miles away from us but Inspiration Lady is now about 80 miles behind us as they slowed down trying to sort out their rigging problems. They are sailing now so should be only a day behind us.
We’re making good progress and might be in tomorrow afternoon but the wind is forecast to drop later today which will slow us down. If we arrive after dark we’ll have to wait outside over night. We won’t go through the reef in the dark it would be very foolish to try.
We sail on.
Sri Lanka to Maldives day 2
Position at 10.00 Monday 29th February
0552.80N
08055.63E
24 hour run from 10.00 28th to 10.00 29th 127 miles average 5.29 kph 483 miles to go
Did anyone spot my mistake in yesterday’s report? I said it was Tuesday instead of Sunday. Haha we never know which day of the week it is.
We struggled yesterday with the adverse current and the lack of wind. We put the cruising chute up at midday, always a fun occupation, and turned the engine off. Sadly it was only out for 2 hours before we saw squalls building behind up including a water spout. We could see disturbance in the sea where it was hitting it, scary, so the cruising chute had to come down. Fortunately it dissipated quickly and didn’t come near us. By 20.00 we started losing the current and making a bit of headway as we entered the curve of the land at the south eastern corner. The wind was coming round behind us and Bill put the twizzle rig up, turned the engine off and we sailed all night with really good speeds. As we turned in a more westerly direction Bill took the twizzle down and sailed with just the main up. We’ve now got about 2 kts of current with us which is giving us a good speed.
I ran a net this morning. I’ve moved it to 05.00 utc which is 10.00 in the Maldives, 10.30 in Sri Lanka, 12.00 in Thailand and 13.00 in Malaysia. Starting on 4036 and moving to 8110. Managed to speak to Inspiration Lady with a good signal and also Tintin. Tintin is very close but Inspiration Lady is about 30 miles behind us. It seems like a better time for propagation so I’ll go with that time for a while. Anyone welcome.
Sri Lanka to Maldives day 1
The navy came to see us off. Tintin on right of picture
Position at 10.00 Tuesday 28th February
0719.69N
08203.73E
23 hour run from 11.00 27th to 10.00 28th 97 miles average 4.22 kph 613 miles to go
We were on the dock at 7.30 yesterday but there wasn’t any one around. Eventually Ravi, our agent, arrived at 8.15 with our clearance papers and to collect the money but we had to wait for the immigration officers to arrive to stamp our passports. At about 9.00 they turned up to stamp the 6 passports. Inspiration Lady, Tintin and Camomile were good to go. We weighed anchor at 11.00 and headed out to sea with Tintin, Inspiration Lady followed on about an hour later.
Trincomalee harbour is very protected without any swell so it was a bit of a shock coming back out into the rolly sea after over 3 weeks in calm conditions. We motored for a couple of hours to get clear of the harbour entrance then turned south to sail around the island. The sails were up in 15kts of wind and all was well except for the sloppy sea. As we gradually got into deeper water the sea calmed down a bit. The first thing we noticed was that we had at least 2kts of current against us which really slowed us down as you can see from our stats. We sailed slowly through the night but by 7.00 this morning the wind died so the engine went back on. It’s going to be a long passage at this speed.
The excitement this morning was being intercepted by a Sri Lankan navy vessel. They came so close we were worried they were going to hit us and signaled to them to move away. There were boys on the bow with life jackets on and I think they thought they were going to board us but there was no way they could come along side us. They were twice as big as us and with the swell they with have seriously damaged us. Bill tried calling on the radio but they didn’t answer. They wrote down our boats name then pulled away. Tintin are about a mile away from us so they headed in their direction and did the same to them then left. The navy are still very suspicious of vessels off shore after the war that only ended in 2006.
Second week in Trinco with our first land trip.
The first couple of days of our second week were spent doing domestic jobs. Washing was top of the list and we had heard it was possible to take it to the Villa hotel across the bay. So I changed our sheets, bundled all our washing into my large washing bag and we jumped in a tuk tuk to take it there. It was agreed I would pick it up the next day.
Jackie and I having our coffee
Tuesday morning Jacqui, Jackie and I sat in the Dutch Bank cafe for coffee and started to organise our trips. It was agreed that to preserve the batteries our trips would be divided into 3 to allow us to come back to the boats and charge our batteries for a few days before setting off again. Collective booking can be a bit drawn out but we agreed on our first trip and it was booked. It was decided we would leave for Polonnaruwa on Thursday, go to Sigiriya rock on Friday and a safari on the Saturday staying 2 nights in Sigiriya. Wednesday was spent on board with Bill running the portable generator most of the day charging the batteries right up. Later in the afternoon we went to pick up our washing – not good. Over 1800 rupees about £9 twice as much as we had agreed plus the two tuk tuk rides to drop it off and pick it up bringing the total cost to about £14 for one reasonably sized bag of washing! Need to find a different option. (Bill won’t let me use the water on board to wash it by hand.)
We stopped by the road to have a look at what they were selling
Thursday morning at 7am Gary and Jackie off of Inspiration Lady, Kevin and Jacqui off of Tintin and Bill and I met on the jetty to start our trip. We had agreed to go with Yoosef, a local guy who had a 6 seater mini van. It was a bit beaten up but then they all are here. Yoosuf was very good stopping whenever we asked him too. These road side shops are selling a type of curd that looks and tastes like a creamy yoghurt. Delicious.
Little house among the paddy fields
Green scenery passing by
The scenery outside of Trinco was beautiful. Not in a British rolling green fields way but in a Sri Lankan padi fields with palm trees dotted across the land sort of way. The different shades of green are astounding; rice fields, lily ponds, palm trees. So many wonderful scenes around every corner. People seemed very poor living in mud huts but happy to wave as we pass. Although Yoosuf stopped quite a few times to take photos we couldn’t keep stopping but the views are locked in my memory.
After about 3 hours we arrived at Polonnaruwa and went into the excellent archaeological museum first. There were some wonderful models of how the site once looked and amazing before and after photos of the many sites to see in the area. After spending a couple of hours wandering around the many exhibits Yoosef took us to a great restaurant to get some lunch before we started exploring the ruins.
Our motley bunch
Kings ruled the central plains of Sri Lanka from Polonnaruwa over 800 years ago when it was a thriving commercial and religious centre. For three centuries Polonnaruwa was a royal capital of both the Chola and Sinhalese kingdoms. It was abandoned by the early 13th century and in 1982 UNESCO added it to it’s World Heritage list.
The remains of the Royal palace
Inside the building
We started our visit at the Royal palace which was built during the 12th century. It is said to have had 7 storeys but today it’s crumbling remains look like giant cavity ravaged molars. The 3m thick walls have holes to receive floor beams for two higher floors, the other four levels would have been made of wood.
Part of the decorations
In a few corners there was evidence of what the decorations would have looked like.
We were freely allowed to walk around the ruins, they were simply amazing but then I love archeological sites.
Jacqui, Sue and Jackie with the elephant frieze behind us.
The elephant frieze
We continued onto the Audience hall which has a wonderful frieze of elephants, all different in varying position.
The raised platform of the Audience hall
Gary, Jackie and Bill having their own ‘audience’.
The Bathing Pool
In a corner of the palace grounds was the bathing pool which has been superbly renovated. I could just picture the king and his entourage descending the steps into the water.
The central Vatadage
Beautiful guardstones at the entrance … and me!
We moved onto the Quadrangle a compact group of fascinating ruins. The most impressive was the Vatadage or circular relic house. It’s outermost terrace is 18m in diameter and the second terrace has four entrances leading to the central dagoba with it’s four Buddhas. Each entrance has impressive guard stones. The columns once supported a grand roof structure.
One of the four central Buddhas
A view inside the Vatadage
The moonstone
At the base of each of the guard stones was a moonstone . This is a ‘door step’ carved out of granite. It was amazing to us that we were allowed to walk on these fabulous carvings. Even though we had to take our shoes off at the entrance to the quadrangle bare feet will wear it away eventually.
Pillars receding into the distance
Just across from the Vatadage was the Hatadage monument said to have been built in 60 hours. It was originally a two-storey building. The symmetry of pillars receding into the distance is always an impressive sight even if I did have to wait for ages for all the tourists to move out of the way. We spent about an hour wandering between all the buildings in the quadrangle area. It would get a bit boring if I listed them all. You’ll have to come here to see for yourself.
The Hatadage
Gal Vihara
The last area we visited on the sight was Gal Vihara. A group of beautiful Buddha images cut from one long slab of granite. This reclining Buddha measures 14m long. The standing Buddha to the left of the photo is 7m tall. Quite impressive.
Three wise monkeys ….
There were lots of Langur monkeys around.
……three not so wise monkeys!
Breakfast at the hotel
After a wonderful day visiting the sites Yoosuf drove us to our hotel. We stayed at the Sigiri Holiday Inn. Firstly it was NOT part of the Holiday Inn chain and looked different to the photos on the website. Secondly it was a long way from the town so we had to eat there. The menu consisted of ‘western style’ food, always a mistake in this area, and we all ordered chicken and chips. The chicken was cooked within an inch of it’s life and the chips weren’t much better. The breakfast consisted of bananas, lots and lots of toast plus a scrambled egg or omelette washed down with the most disgusting coffee. It only cost about £20 a night, it was clean and the bed was reasonably comfy but I don’t think I would recommend it.
The lower terraced gardens
On to our second day we got up early so we could get to Sigiriya rock to beat the tourists……hahaha, so did everyone else. There’s a set of beautifully landscaped water gardens at the entrance to the complex then as you approach the rock it’s base has been landscaped to produce terraced gardens.
The beginning of the steps
The rock rises straight up from the jungle and a series of steps leads up through the lower boulders. The ascent is a steep climb which is mostly steps.
Queue of people with spiral staircase in the back ground.
Halfway up the rock there’s an open-air spiral stairway leading up from the main route to a sheltered galley in the sheer rock face. In this niche is a series of paintings of buxom women. They are protected from the sun and photos aren’t allowed so in remarkable good condition. There are various theories of why they are there and how old they are but I think it was a monks naughty boys corner! These two doggies had followed everyone up the stairs. but they were a real pair of mutts.
Looking down on the queue.
This photo was taken from the spiral staircase looking back down on the queue that was building up with Kevin and Jackie, Gary and Jackie standing in the line. So much for getting up early to beat the crowds.
Bill beside one of the paws
The final staircase with the lion’s paws just raising above the people’s heads.
At the northern end of the rock, after more steps, the narrow path opens out onto a large platform from which the rock gained it’s name – the Lion rock. During the 1898 excavations two enormous lion paws were found. At one time a gigantic brick lion sat at this end of the rock and the final ascent to the top commenced with a stairway that led between the lion’s paws and into his mouth. It must have been quite spectacular. The 5th century lion has since disappeared, apart from his paws, and to reach the top now it was up more stairs, more narrow and more steep. These last set of steps were too much for Gary’s fear of heights and he stayed by the lion’s paws but the rest of us managed to get to the top. It was hard work. Once at the top we were told there were 1208 steps not that I was counting. The view from the top was spectacular, well worth the climb.
Panoramic shot of the view
We made it to the top
The terraced summit of the rock covers 1.6 hectares and is thought to be the site chosen by King Kassapa for is fortified capital. Today only the low foundations of structures exist and one can only imagine how grand the original structures would have been. The astonishing views across a sea of green forest is captivating.
The terraced summit
Bill found a shady spot under a tree
The amazing water tank
This looks like it might have been a swimming pool but the 27m by 21m tank was more likely to have been used for water storage. The acid leeching out of the rock around the tank looked like it had been painted on. The colours were amazing.
Fantastic place.
After spending over an hour exploring and admiring the magnificent views we made our descent. Fortunately there are a second set of steps for descending alongside the ones to go up. By the time we got to the bottom our knees were like jelly but we were all pleased with our achievements.
More amazing green fields
A visit to the superb museum alongside the gardens was very enlightening about the theory of Sigiriya and it’s past uses. It also had a computer generated programme of what the building might have looked like. It must have been spectacular when it was originally built which could have been several thousand years ago.
Yoosuf took us to another great restaurant for a buffet lunch. In the tourist area there are lots of these type of places offering fairly good food at reasonable prices. After lunch he drove us south to visit one of the famous spice gardens of Matale.
Listening to our guide
The Heritage Spice and Herbs garden is an attractive shady spot that runs informative tours about the herbs and spices they are growing.
It was very interesting learning what the different herbs can be used for.
Our tour guide was got very excited when he realised we were yachties and offered us free massages by his trainees. I won’t embarrass everyone with the photos. There was a bit of hard sell at the end but I resisted. Everything was very overpriced but it had been an interesting afternoon.
They were growing cocoa
These little seeds are peppercorns.
Traffic on the way back to the hotel
Then it was back to the Sigiri Holiday Inn for a second night with equally inedible food. Why did we do that again?
Superb view
The next morning after breakfast we headed out to the safari park area. Yoosuf had a friend of his cousins that knew the best park to go to for elephants. Your choice is in the lap of the gods at the end of the day because these elephants are completely wild and free and wander where they want. There’s no feeding stations and they are free to roam where they want although a lot of the local villages had electrified fences erected to keep them out because they can be quite destructive. We swopped Yoosuf’s van for a safari jeep.
A local woman
The entrance was by a wonderfully scenic watering hole.
This lady was washing herself and her clothes by the water’s edge.
We drove on into the park. The park is made up of a series of dusty tracks and our driver drove around the circuit.
Dusty tracks
A lone male
It was possible to stand up in the jeep and we took it in turns in spotting an elephant. I was the first to see a lone male with big tusks standing under some trees. When he saw us he disappeared into the undergrowth. Our driver edged forward and then luckily the elephant decided to come back out again and sautered across about 50 metres in front of us. We followed him for about 10 minutes then he disappeared again.
Beautiful peacock
We carried on driving and saw lots of peacocks but no elephants. We were just thinking we weren’t going to see any more when Kevin spotted a group right next to the road.
A big Mummy Jumbo
We were so lucky because there in front of us were 3 big females each with little babies and quite a few juvenile sized ones.
Managed to get a shot of one of the babies
We watched them walking around on one side of the road when suddenly one of the big females came charging out of the undergrowth towards us, quite scary. Our driver drove forward very quickly and she stopped. We can only assume she thought we were too close to her babies. After that they crossed to the other side of the track and were happy for us to watch. They were then joined by about 3 or 4 more also with babies. It was the most amazing experience there was just the six of us watching these wonderful sedate creatures going about their daily lives.
We had a fantastic view
A group of the herd munching on the grass
As they moved around our driver was able to reverse back into a little side track to give us a grandstand view for about an hour. The Mummy Jumbo seemed to be ok with us watching but the adults were always in between us and the babies. I could have watched them for ever. I’ve got some video clips and I’ll try and put one on facebook.
Our group on the lookout
The driver took us to a lookout on top of a small hill for a better view of the area but no more sightings. We had been very lucky to have seen our little family of elephants.
A 360 degree view
Past the green fields
It was time to head back to the boats for a couple of days before our next trip.
and the big reservoir
First week in Trincomalee
Colourful houses
I wanted to post this blog before the one about our trip.
We arrived safely on Wednesday 3rd February. After checking in Bill and I walked into the town which is very close to the town jetty. First impressions were that it was a bit shabby but not as dirty as some of the towns in Indonesia. The streets aren’t covered in rubbish which is an improvement. There are three wheeled tuk tuks everywhere. The people look quite poor but seemed happy to see us and very friendly and welcoming. Some of the buildings are painted in bright colours. Most of the shops are quite small. This guy has a lot of bananas to sell.
Lots of bananas
Bill buying sim cards for the phone
One of the first things we have to sort out when we arrive in a new country is sim cards for the phones. Most countries have access to mobile phones and the network varies but is usually at least 3G now. Bill bought a sim card and some credit which, once loaded, can be for data or the phone. For the sim card and 2 1/2 gigs of data we paid the princely sum of £2.50! While standing on this corner I watched the tuk tuks wizzing across the crossroads along with the motorbikes and pedal bikes. There didn’t seem to be any road rules so hopefully no one gets hurt but it looked scary driving. I took a video and will post it on facebook when I’ve posted this blog. We had a nice meal in the Dutch Bank cafe later that afternoon.
Bill sewing on his ‘thimble’
The next day was a celebration for Sri Lanka having fully gained their independence from the British in 1947. There wasn’t very much planned in Trinco except that every where was shut so we spent the day sorting out the boat. Bill discovered more problems with the twizzle rig. The central ring had been bent out of shape and the downhaul needed some work. Bill had kept the metal ring from the clew of the old sail which was good enough for the job, he then sewed a ‘thimble’ onto the end of the downhaul so that sorted that out. One of the big shackles had also broken although not from the damage, just general wear and tear but Bill managed to borrow one from Gary when they arrived on Inspiration Lady later that day.
Inspiration Lady arrived
Washing the boat down by hand
The boat was covered in salt. In the past I haven’t worried about it but now with our new deck and Camomile looking so beautiful I decided it needed to be washed off. I had already washed the cockpit down and the windows of the new cockpit cover so today was the turn of the deck. We don’t have enough water to hose it down so I painstakingly hand washed the whole of the decks, coachroof and metal work starting from the bow. Think about washing a very muddy car by hand and times that by at least three and you’ll appreciate how much work it was. Took me all day. She looked beautiful and gleaming when I had finished.
Beautiful clean girlie.
Kandasamy Kovil
Friday 5th February with all jobs completed we all decided to have a day out. Gary and Jackie went in early to check in then we all met at 11.00 for coffee in the Dutch bank cafe. After catching up on our trip over delicious coffees we all decided to jump in some tuk tuks and go up to Kandasamy Kovil. This revered temple at the summit of a rocky outcrop is one of five historical Hindu temples dedicated to Shiva and established to protect the island from natural disaster. It’s an ancient place of worship but this structure only dates back to 1952. The site has been a place of worship for at least two millennia.
Kevin, Gary and Bill in discussion
Kevin, Gary and Bill weren’t really interested although they did walk round the inside of the temple with us but no photos allowed inside. Here they were looking over Swami rock, a 130m – high cliff nicknamed Lovers Leap.
An unusual tree
Not really sure what these boxes were hanging in the tree but they looked unusual.
We were on a peninsula looking across to the Uppuveli beaches. The view was amazing.
Stunning view
We walked back down the hill to find a tuk tuk to take us to the Uppuveli beach. The winds that had blown us here were still blowing quite strongly out at sea. This is Uppuveli beach, which faces to the east, where we had come from, looking toward the cliffs where we had been standing not more that half an hour ago. Wonderful surf but no swim today.
A little chipmunk
The six of us enjoyed a lovely lunch together and this little chap thought he would join us. It was very difficult to capture it in a photo. I have so many with a blur in it. Bill kept feeding it chips so I could get my photograph.
Our tuk tuk ride
Our ride back to the jetty in another tuk tuk was pretty hair raising. The driving here can only be described in one word, ‘chaotic’. Tuk tuk’s are definitely way down in the pecking order on the road, how we didn’t get squished I’ll never know.
Saturday was another quiet day on the boat. I gave the inside a clean and Bill was busy doing various jobs. We had a great game of cards on Inspiration Lady in the evening with Dave and Katrina from Laragh, the other yacht in the anchorage.
On Sunday Bill and I went ashore for my favourite coffee at the cafe and then went for a little wander. This is Dutch bay which is the beach on the other side of the peninsular to the temple. Beautiful beach and the sea was calmer today.
Beautiful beach at Dutch bay.
Kali Kovil
We treated ourselves to a nice lunch in one of the hotels that looked out over Dutch bay before continuing our exploration. This is Kali Kovil which has the impressive and eye catching gopuram of the many temples here.
A close up of the gopuram (gateway tower)
The impressive decorations inside
Tasty veggies
We continued onto the market which we assumed would be closed but there were several stalls open with very good quality fruit and vegetables on display. Not quite like the displays in Sainsbury’s although equal in quality but only a fraction of the price.
Note the scales.
Tuk tuks at the back of the market
Shiny new bins
When we got back to the jetty we noticed the police had put out beautifully painted new bins. The jetty where we come ashore is part of the police compound so our dinghies are very safe here plus there’s a little toothless old guy who watches them all day.
Inspiration Lady, Camomile, Laragh and Tin Tin lying peacefully at anchor.
So at the end of our first week here are the 4 boats with others on their way or preparing to leave. Our first impressions of Trinco are good but next week the six of us are planning to see more of Sri Lanka.
The view from the jetty
Camomile 