3/7: Shocking Buddhist 'Parade' in Matale & Spice Garden Tour

Our B&B in Kandy was located atop a very steep driveway on a hill about ten minutes out of the city. When we'd arrived a couple of days previously, I had put on my heavy backpack, got out of the taxi that had taken us from the train station, and, because of the steepness of the driveway and weight of the backpack, began falling backward down the driveway at a fast pace. It was one of my scariest moments ever and could have resulted in a severe injury if a worker on the property hadn't rushed to my aid and saved my hide!

Sri Lanka's cultural heartland and sacred Buddhist sites were located upcountry from Kandy in the central plains where ancient Sinhalese dynasties set up their first capitals and supported massive artistic and architectural endeavors. When planning the Sri Lankan portion of our itinerary months ago, Steven and I decided to make the city of Dambulla our headquarters as it was fairly close to two of the amazing rock fortresses. 

Here's a map of Sri Lanka to give you a sense of the places we visited. We started in Colombo on the southwest coast before spending the next couple of days in Kandy, located due south of the 'i' in Sri written on the map. Dambulla is located almost dead center in the country above the 'r' on the map. 

Rather than getting a train to Damballa located two hours due north of Kandy, we opted for an Uber as the price was still very reasonable. However, at the last moment, no cars were available so our B&B host suggested we use the local app called pickme which worked the same as Uber. Fortunately, one of their cars was available and a very young driver who turned out to have the day off from his electrical engineering studies arrived to take us to Dambulla.

About a third of the way to Dambulla was the large city of Matale that was going to host its biggest annual festival beginning the next day. Our driver said that many thousands of people come yearly from India to attend the two-day Buddhist festival. Traffic crawled to a snail's pace as we made our way along Matale's main street. We had no idea what we would be seeing a few minutes up ahead as our driver didn't warn us.

If this picture is shocking, let me tell you how horrific it was to pass right beside this man strung up with hooks going through his back! It was impossible to take our eyes off him and wonder who would subject themselves to such unimaginable pain. 

The preceding man was by no means the only one to offer himself up, either. Our driver, a Muslim, stated that as if being strung up like this for five hours at a time, they then walk through fire!

Throngs of people crowded the sidewalks and the street watching the 'parade' if that's the right word for what we were witnessing.

The tiny red vehicles were three-wheeled tuk tuks, one of the most common conveyances in Asia.

Both cranes and very tall palm trees were used to suspend the men. 

I couldn't get over the fact that none of the participants made any sounds that we could hear as they were paraded through Matale.

As upsetting as it was to witness the 'parade,' it was a religious experience we will never likely forget and I think we were extraordinarily fortunate to happen on this as we made our way north to Dambulla. Steven and I were both thankful that we'd decided not to take the train from Kandy and therefore missed this altogether. We would have made it to Dambulla far faster by train but that was of no importance to us as this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Our driver said this Hindu temple in Matale was the tallest in Sri Lanka. 

Our driver had seemed to drive almost painfully slow from the moment he'd picked us up back in Kandy which was certainly a marked change in comparison to some of the crazed drivers we'd hired the last few days to take us around the sites in Kandy. He mentioned the speed limit was 70 kph but only 60 kph with tourists aboard. I don't recall ever hearing about a two-tiered system like that in any other country. Have you?

The driver kindly asked if "we would mind" if he stopped to get gas en route to Dambulla. That sort of thoughtfulness had seemed odd initially when another driver had asked the same question a couple of days before but we knew to take it as a matter of concern for our welfare. When he filled the tank with 7.5 liters and it cost 1000 LKR or Sri Lankan rupees, I found out the price of gas was $2.75 per gallon, basically the same as we paid when we'd left Denver a week earlier. It then made sense then that we had seen relatively so few cars on the road in Sri Lanka as the price of gas was very high relative to the cost of living. 

I was shocked then that the price for his driving us all the way to Dambulla including stopping at a spice garden on the way for about an hour was only 4,000 LKR or about $21 and fully one-quarter of that was for gas alone. Steven and I both assumed that the driver could pick up a ride in Dambulla and therefore he would have a fare all the way back to Kandy. However, you know what 'assume' means - and we learned that the drivers' association in Dambulla prohibited drivers from any other location to pick up fares in Dambulla. On hearing that, we, of course, tipped him well. 

The A9 Highway between Matale and Dambulla was famous for its spice gardens, with over 30 dotted along the road. Knowing that in advance was one of the main reasons we'd also wanted to hire a driver to Dambulla rather than taking the train after discovering the price was so reasonable. The reason for so many gardens in this one fairly small area was the ideal micro-climate which was not too hot and had the perfect amount of rain.

We knew all offered free tours of their gardens with an English-speaking guide but had heard good reviews of one, the 1,500 hectare Heritage Garden, so we stopped there. 

The entire garden was decorated with a coconut border which looked quite beautiful.

A guide was there to greet us as soon as we stepped from the car. I think he was likely disappointed, though, that it was just the two of us as the guides earn a commission on any sales made in the gift shop after the tour and he'd receive far more from a tour bus full of people! We didn't see the massive gardens, just the sample garden for tourists, which wasn't quite what I was expecting. 

The guide explained that arabica coffee has two seeds inside but robusta coffee had just one seed.

One of my favorite scents was vanilla so I was glad he showed us this vanilla creeper. I didn't know it turned brown when dried. 

We were shown next to the aloe vera plant and, of course, the cream we could buy later in the on-site shop!

These huge fruits were jackfruit which had a pineapple and banana taste, he said.

It was apparent that the spice garden must have had a bumper crop of coconuts over the years judged by all the shells we saw! The guide told us there were three varieties of coconuts: king, good for hair loss; red ones - only for medicine; and green ones for baking.

Next up were two varieties of cinnamon that the guide advised were good for diabetes, stomach aches, and toothaches! He cut off a small part of the branch so we could inhale the unforgettable scent. He mentioned that you can only cut the branch, not the trunk, to get the cinnamon. Also, the older the tree, the better the cinnamon - who knew?!

Sandalwood oil was great for wrinkles and pimples, he assured us. I figured I needed about a gallon of it for my ever-increasing wrinkles, thanks to my dear Mum's English heritage! 

Green peppercorns came from this creeper. Did you know that black pepper occurs after the green peppercorns are dried for four months? That was certainly new to me. If you have sinus issues or migraines, pepper is the thing to use, according to our guide. 

I had never seen a nutmeg tree before. He opened up its fruit for us and said parents should apply nutmeg on the skin mixed with water for babies who have a failure to thrive. 

We had a good whiff of cardamon, which could be used like Vick's vapo rub for headaches when made into a balm!

We learned that cloves are good for a gum powder and to relieve pain.

Was I the first to know that cocoa was good to treat snoring? Our guide said for people with varicose veins, cocoa oil could be used up and down the legs for 21 days and after that the veins would disappear. For me, I would much prefer to mainline cocoa as I do love my chocolate!

He pointed out ginger oil, aka Sri Lankan Viagra!

We then watched as curry powder was made right in front of us with a combination of mustard seeds, cardamom, dill, cloves, cinnamon, and coriander. Chili powder could be added for an extra punch!

The finished product:

It was fun seeing this mimosa tree as, when the leaves were touched, they curled up before unfurling a few seconds later. We learned the leaves were useful for sleeping problems.

Our guide was four years into a seven-year-long program studying to be an ayurvedic doctor. He had been very informative and quite persuasive about the science of what products to use for particular health concerns. Since the drive from Kandy had taken us much longer than we'd anticipated because of the festival in Matale and we still had a long way to reach Dambulla, we didn't have the time to take advantage of the 'free' massage and other amenities. Though billed as a free tour, it was evident that the guide expected a substantial tip for his time. We were promptly directed to the gift shop where there was a huge selection of spices and lotions and potions, some at eye-watering prices!

Next post: Our driver took us the rest of the way to our humble abode in Dambulla where we'd arranged for the owner took us in his tuk tuk to climb the rock at Sigiriya, described as Sri Lanka's single most dramatic sight!

If you've been following recent posts, you know that I have been interspersing the Sri Lankan ones with the last few from our six-week trip to Ireland and the UK last fall. Here's the link to the most recent post on our captivating tour to the Inner Hebrides isles of Mull and Staffa:

https://bergersadventures7.blogspot.com/2020/05/930-inner-hebridess-magical-isles-of.html

Posted on May 4th, 2020, from a lovely spring day in Denver. Please take care of yourself, and, if you can, someone else, too, in these very challenging times.