Trip to Bentota

Diary of a Vagabond

Trip to Bentota,
Saturday 8 November, 2008.

Images link: http://flickr.com/photos/54723740@N00/

Our first outdoor trip in Sri Lanka was arranged by the department colleagues to famous west coast of Sri Lanka. The West Coast of Sri Lanka is most developed and most tourist-oriented. Hundreds of European tourists head for the West Coast to spend the sunny winter in the warm and golden sand beaches. The West Coast from Negombo, North of Colombo to down south at Galle is backed by the rows of palm trees leaning over the golden sands with the fine highway running parallel to it. One can find hotels and guest-houses of all sizes and standards throughout the West Coast.

Our destination was Bentota, a beach resort 70 kms south of Colombo where he have booked the company owned guest-house. All the towns on the West Coast including Colombo are connected by the famous Galle Road. It is therefore, one can find all the major markets along this road which creates heavy traffic during the daytime, specially weekdays.

Although the distance was just 70kms, but it took us nearly two hours to reach there. We passed by some famous towns like Kaluthara, famous for its Gangatilka Temple, the largest temple of Sri Lanka and the river “Kalu Ganga” or “Black River” whose expansive mouth is crossed by a long bridge from where there are tempting views of calm waters and thickets of palm trees inland. Beruwala is another town that we passed by. It is the oldest muslim settlement of Sri Lanka.

Our resort borders the railway line that goes the southest part of Sri Lanka, known as Dandra. Crossing the railway line, and now you are in the rows of palm trees creating a heavenly atmosphere. After passing by the palm trees, now you are at the golden sands beach where the crystal clear waves of water are waiting to embrace you. Our resort was right beside the five-star hotel Taj Exotica, therefore, there were lots of opportunities to cool-off the thirsty eyes :).

We came back to our resort where Cricket was being played. They were playing Cricket with a tennis ball but without tape as here in Sri Lanka there is no concept of playing Cricket with tape-ball. I told them how fast paced tape ball cricket is and I have promised them that next time I ll coach them how to make a tape ball. After Cricket and lunch, we had a little nap and than we were ready for sea bath.

Here in Bentota, the sea waves are quiet high. I watched live surfing for the first time and I can understand why all the western people are so crazy about it. Standing on a one or two metre long board and riding over a craziest wave is a daring experience. The weather was quiet pleasant at the moment as there were thick dark clouds on the sky warning us from the upcoming thunderstorm.

It was just before maghrib that we moved back to our resort and it is the time when I really observed it. The guest-house was full furnished with AC rooms, TV lounge with a dining table and the 26” TV with cable, neat and clean bathrooms with proper lighting facility. The guest-house roofs, walls and floors were made of expensive wood which creates a comfy atmosphere. It has a wide balcony with sofas and chairs where we had dinner and karaoke later on. We were served egg burgers with “halal” chicken drumsticks as my colleagues were unsure about chicken sausages. There were “all” kinds of beverages as well.

After dinner we enjoyed with karaoke. Although most of the songs were in Sinhala which I couldn’t understand but being said that music has its own language, so I enjoyed with them as well. I was asked to sing Indian songs so I chose to sing famous song “Chayyan Chayyan”. They danced on it and later on mix one of their own song after which they sing in chorus “Chayyan Chayyan”.

It was a good experience of having get-together with department colleagues who were there with their families. Every body seems to be taking care of each other kids and families, and everybody enjoying like they are all from one family. It was so successful that now they are planning for a trip to Nuwara Eliya as company has guest houses there as well.

About Sri Lankan Food!

About Sri Lankan Food
I am pretty sure that the best meals in the whole world are from Pakistan and specially from Karachi. If you are used to of Pakistani food, it would be much difficult for you to accept any other food. So what about Sri Lankan food? I won’t say it is similar to Pakistani food, although in some respects, it is. Sri Lankan food is more spicy, less oily, roti less food. Whatever food you order at a restaurant, there must be some bowls of chutneys along with the main course.

Rice is must in lunch. By the way, their rice is also different and it is not like the Basmati one that we use in Biryani. By the way, Basmati Rice is available in super-markets but it is really expensive.

They can make all types of meat but chicken and fish is more common. At most of the places, the meat is halal as most of the butchery business is being run by muslims but it is always recommended to ask before ordering any meal.

The best thing that they make is lentils (daal). Be it any kind of daal, you ll find it according to your taste buds. Their masalas are much better in aroma and in taste and in fact cheaper than Pakistan as well.

The best Sri Lankan food to try is String Hoppers. String hoppers are like namkeen sawayyan that is taken with a curry just like we took roti. Than there is another item to try known as only hoppers. Hoppers are slightly crispy papar like stuff shaped in the form of bowl and have something at base. Most common is the egg hopper where a fried egg could be found at the base of hopper bowl. You have to eat an egg along with its bowl. Hoppers are available in other flavors as well like fish, chicken, spicy, vegetable etc.

Life in Colombo

Diary of a Vagabond

Colombo, Saturday 1 Nov. 2008:
Life in Colombo is slow, not fast like we used to have in Karachi. People tend to wake up early. Normally, I leave home for office at 8 AM, and at this time, except wine stores, all other shops are open. Similarly, it is hard to find any shop that is open after sun-set. Night life is literally not present here. Right now, it is 10:30 PM while I am writing this email and my apartment is on one of busiest roads of Colombo and I could hardly hear the noise of vehicles passing by. I am just thinking about the night life in Karachi, where on the weekend, some roads must have been choked with traffic by now.

People usually respect the time and most of them are on time. I have observed this in my office as well as with others whoever I dealt with. Late sittings are not common here. Load shedding is not a South Asian problem anymore. I asked my office colleagues regarding this and they literally could not understand what I am asking. Than I asked them about the power cuts and they said they used to have it in 90s but not now. Roads although by max in two or three lanes of width, but they are in good condition, and most of the time, I have found people obeying the traffic laws.

Colombo walls are free from all sort of khattati. May be, as there is no Amil baba or Sanyasi bawa present here. Surprisingly, I haven’t found any huge, ugly and life-threatening bill boards here. Bill boards do present here but they are small in size and do not pollute the look of the city. Cigarette and Alcohol marketing is banned here.

Although, inflation is quiet high here, but people still tend to make a smile. In fact, smile is the common gesture throughout Sri Lanka and it shows the friendly nature of them. Begging is not common. The only place you find beggars is the mosque J. Another surprising fact is that Sri Lanka is a country where you can proudly say that you are from Pakistan as they respect Pakistan. This is due to the reason that Pakistan had helped their Army a lot in their fight against the Tamil Tigers.

Rests of the problems are similar like Pakistan. Sri Lanka is also fighting hard to maintain its currency value and foreign exchange reserve. Just on the last trading day, its rupee value depreciated 1.5%. Oil costs are considerably high here and they haven’t brought it down. People blame the government for that whereas the government has their own reasons. By the way their annual budget is due next week.
Indian influence is visible on their media but not in their culture as they have preserved their language and their strong commitment with the Buddhist religion as nearly 69% of Sri Lankans are Buddhists out of which 95% Sinhalese are Buddhists. 95% of Muslims here speak Tamil.

Colombo Diary, Oct. 28, 2008

DIARY OF A VAGABOND

Colombo, 28th October 2008: Today I had a day long meeting at Hotel Cinnamon Grand. Had taken all three meals at the hote,l the food was quiet good there. Except pork, all of the food was halal and quiet tasty. I reached home at 9:30 PM.

I was quiet tired so went to bed early around 10:30 PM or so. We just went into the bed and the light was gone. Oh God, do we have load-shedding problem in Colombo as well? I asked Faiza to open the windows and see whether the whole area is out of light or not. She told me that there is a complete black-out. Suddenly, there is a huge blast nearby and we heard lots of gun shots. There were too many red flares and search lights on the sky. It looked like that there is an air strike on Colombo as I have seen the similar videos of US air strikes on Baghdad. The vehicles that were on the road were stopped and were asked to turn-off their lights. It was a great lightening show but at the same time it was terrifying experience for us as well. I asked Faiza to remain calm and recite whatever she had remembered. I tried calling few people but the phone line was jammed. At last, Yousuf bhai answered the call and he asked us to remain calm and not to leave the apartment. He told us that he is near the Colombo airport and the Sri Lankan fighter jets are now up in the air.

Later on, in the morning we came to know that the Tamil Tigers attacked on some oil depo with light air-crafts. These air-crafts are able to fly at very low height and therefore, they cannot be traced in the radar. Anyways, there wasn’t any serious casualty but the planes were able to escape as well.

On yesterday’s event, I just thought that sometimes, bad decisions made by the leaders made nations suffer for a long time. This beautiful island is suffering with the same as both groups are now burning in the fire of revenge and no one is ready to cool it off.

Colombo Diary

DIARY OF A VAGABOND

Colombo Day 1: Our flight was an hour late and we took-off at 2:00 AM and landed in Colombo 6:45 AM via brief stopover at Mumbai. As we were landing on the Colombo airport the only thing we could see is trees and water. There was a heavy rainfall two or three days ago so its impact could be easily seen. My company had already sent a car so it took us almost an hour to reach our apartment. I was so tired that I could not remember what passed by during this one hour drive. I just woke up when the driver was parking the car in the building’s garage. I thought I have been taken to a hotel as the building’s (Ascon Towers) entrance was just like that. There was a huge hexagonal lobby, the apartment buildings forms a hexagon. Prasantha, Writer’s consultant was there to welcome us. We went into a capsule and went straight away to the 9th floor where our apartment is.

The apartment is a 3 bedroom with a lounge and kitchen. Bedroom has a master bed with a wooden cupboard and a dressing table with an attached bathroom. Another bedroom is just at right while the third bedroom with a single bed is at the other end of the lounge. Bathroom is a bit small where there is square glass based section for taking bath. This is the common practice throughout Sri Lanka as they used to have separated glass based sections for bath so that the rest of the bathroom remains dry. The whole apartment is recently painted with white colour. The bedroom windows and the lounge’s lobby are west open so the cool breeze circulates the whole apartment, so we don’t need to use AC although it is there in every room. The apartment is situated at the busy Dr. Danister De Silve Mawatha road and the hustling and the bustling noise of Colombo can be heard anytime specially if you open the windows.

Prasantha showed us the apartment but actually there was no light at that time. Moreover, the kitchen was absent with any basic cooking utensils. Only the pair of plates and spoons was present. I asked Prasantha how am I going to make breakfast as I was really hungry at that moment. He also has no answer but he said that the apartment owner is coming in half an hour and he must be able to answer all of my queries. He took us down at the first floor in the shop to buy some necessary breakfast material. In the meantime the owner of apartment arrived Mr. A. K. Rizvi. It was the pleasant surprise to know that he was a Sri Lankan muslim. I told him that I would be unable to cook anything as the kitchen is absent with basic utilities and my shipment will take atleast three t o four days to arrive.

He said he ll arrange the lunch for us and he also invited us at the dinner at his home and from there Faiza could pick the cooking stuff that we require. I was quiet amazed by her generosity and was really thankful to him as well. Meanwhile I called my Sri Lankan colleague and asked her to send me a car so that I can buy some necessary stuff but I got a cold response from her that since the office is closed on weekends so she ll not be able to help us until Monday. Here again Rizvi came like an angel. He first sent breakfast (daal, roti and fish curry) and tea through his worker and than he asked me whether I need to go to buy any food item like beef or chicken and other home stuff.

So he took us first to the muslim beef market where we bought beef and chicken. He introduced us to the local shop-owners and asked them to facilitate us anytime we go there. Than he took us to the super-market in his Land Cruiser. There we came to know that our landlord is not an ordinary man as he owns the garments factory and his the big exporter of Sri Lankan garment. He has purchased this apartment along with few other apartments and a 500 square yard newly constructed home that he rented out. He is also the general secretary of Moors (Muslims) Sports Club.

He left us there at Richard Peires Super Market and told us that he will pick us after half an hour. The market is just like Naheed in Karachi with all the items of need at one place. But the price of every item was quiet high than what we used to pay in Pakistan. Faiza had a great shock while looking at the prices of any item. He said that since Rizvi is a rich man, he would have no problem in buying the stuff from the expensive market but I had a fair idea that the grocery would be at the same rate even in the open market. So the first shopping where we bought only the basic stuff cost us nearly 10,000 Sri Lankan Rs. SLR J. The basic stuff includes:

Basmati Rice: 167 Rs. Per kg
Flour: 100 rs kg.
Small Lux: 32 rs.
Apple juice: 298 rs a litre.
Garam masalas and some plastic items.

After the shopping, he took us to the KFC shop to have lunch which is also a bit expensive. Most of the food restaurants have Halal food here as Muslims here are quiet wealthy and they have good spendable income.

A brief rest in the evening and the Rizvi was again there to take us for the dinner. We first went to the Prasantha’s house. The house is artistically constructed with the granite stairs at the entrance. A small balcony with numerous articrafts hanging on the walls that leads us to a lounge. The lounge flooring was done by a granite with black granite on its borders. Windows and doors are of expensive wood with the small garden at the back of the lounge. We spent a good time there talking about food, politics local traditions etc. Prasantha was a nice fellow and he and his wife ll be sending us to Maldives. I have asked them to search for any reasonable and cost effective tour operator. We had a tea over there and than we left for Rizvi’s house.

He first took us to the newly constructed house which he rented out to a Pakistani family. The house is situated at the posh area of Colombo and its about 2200 square feet with a garden and the garage on the front. Most of the flooring is of expensive granite and marble tiles where as the wooden work was being done of the most expensive teak wood. He told us that he had a purchase a teak tree and all the wood has been obtained from that tree. He spent nearly 275 lacs on its construction with the similar amount to purchase the land.

After than, he took us to the his nearby house where we had a dinner of spring hoppers with chicken and potato curry. It was so tasty and has a south Indian taste as his forefathers and wife were also from there. Spring hoppers are like namkeen sawayyan that is taken with a curry just like we took roti. Faiza collected the necessary cooking stuff from her wife’s kitchen that we ll be using until we get our shipment.

He told me that his brother has the garment factory at Ratnapura (the famous gem mining site in Sri Lanka) and he ll be taking us along with his family on the holidays. He also promised to help me with the up-coming qurbani.

So this is what I need to tell you about our first day in Sri Lanka. I am thankful to Allah that he helped us by sending such a nice people who had taken care of us just like we are their family members. Both Rizvi and Prsantha are very good in nature although they belong to higher status but they are quiet simple in nature.

This is Sunday 2:40 here while I sign-off as Rizvi had just just arrived with a lunch and the invitation of Zikr (Darse Quran) mehfil at his parent’s house after Asr. Please keep remember in your prayers.

Best Regards,
Umair Ahmed Shaikh

Gorakh Hill Expedition, August 2006

Ever wondered to have an environment, atmosphere and the weather like Murree in Sindh? You would be thinking that I have gone nuts but no, it is like that. If you can reach to Gorakh Hill you will agree to what I have written above.

Gorakh Hill lies in the Kirthar range that spreads along the border of Sindh and Baluchistan and perhaps it is one of the highest peaks in that range. The mountain range has provided the natural geographical distribution for the two provinces. Gorakh hill is situated in the Johi tehsil of the Dadu district where as the Wudh town of Baluchistan lies on its other end. It has an altitude of about 5,500 feet. The weather conditions at the hill in summer are cooler at night whereas it remains moderate at daytime. In winter the temperature goes down to almost -8 to -12 degree centigrade. Being the highest peak in a region, one can have a beautiful view of a valley from the top. The area is surrounded by arid mountains with small green pastures at certain points. During rainy season one can see various streams of water flowing throughout the area.

One can reach Gorakh hill by either coming into the Dadu town or from Sehwan Shareef. If someone is coming from Karachi than he should reach Johi through Sehwan Shareef via Bhan Saeedabad as it is shorter than that of Dadu. Johi is situated at a distance of 40 kms from Sehwan Shareef whereas Sehwan Shareef is about 137 kms from Jamshoro. The Indus highway from Jamshoro to Sehwan Shareef is in very good condition and one can enjoy the pleasant drive while enjoying the scenic beauty as the Indus river flows at the right of highway while having the view of barren mountains at its left. The road condition from Sehwan Shareef onwards is not good and one can only reach to the top by either through double cabin or by jeep. It is recommended to hire a double cabin from Hyderabad as we had faced problem in arranging the vehicle from Sehwan.

Our experience of exploring Gorakh Hill was full of excitement and adventures. We started our journey from Karachi on the early morning hours of 13th August 2006 at about 7:30 AM. We reached Sehwan Shareef through Indus Highway at about 12 PM. There we transferred our bags in two double cabins and started our journey towards Johi town. We reached Johi town at about 1:15 PM, had a lunch there at Shadabad Welfare Organization (SWO), a local community development NGO that had made all the arrangements for our trip.

From Johi we again started our journey towards the Wahi Pandi, the union council of Johi and the base camp for Gorakh Hill. It is a small village with a population of about 20,000. If someone in interested to have a look at the rural Sindh than Wahi Pandi is a perfect place to visit. It is among the few villages of Pakistan which have a clean and clear atmosphere and where one can find all the basic facilities of life. The outskirts of the village contains a good number of trees called “Beej” in Sindhi. I have seen them for the first time. The jharnas of water coming from the top form a considerable wider stream that flows side by side of the village. These trees and the stream made a good view from the top.

We had a tea break here at the local community library while our double cabin was filled by all the supplies that we needed for the night stay. The people here are mostly Baluchis but they mostly speak Siraiki and Sindhi language. They are very cooperative and friendly in nature. One can hire the services of guide from here as well.

We started to move towards the final destination i.e. Gorakh Hill at about 4 PM. The road to Gorakh Hill from Wahi Pandi is about 54 kms which is under construction. The journey starts from the plane valley of Wahi Pandi that gradually ends into the mountain range. The mountains gradually increase their height so it is a beautiful example of transformation of plane valley to the hard and rigid mountainous region. The area is mostly barren with no sign of a tree. One can only see the wild bushes on the mountains. The mountains have different shapes and figures here. Some of the mountains look similar to the mountain range of Utah in United States.

Due to bad road condition we covered the 54 kms distance in about 5 hours. The track is not dangerous but has few sharp turns at some places. We got trapped at one such turn where the work was going on to expand the turn. For this purpose the mountain was bifurcated through dynamites due to which huge number of small stones on the track made impossible for the tyre to have a firm grip. Anyways, we managed to overcome this turn with the help of Pathan driver who was the worker of contractor there.

We reached the top after sunset when it was an absolute darkness all around the valley. Since it was the rainy season we saw a cool lightening show arranged by the Creator. The climate at the top was cool and we have to wear the sweaters or jackets to keep ourselves warm.

There is only one so-called rest house at the top. Rest house is consisted of two rooms with only one room that could be used for rest as the other one is being used as a store room. Electricity line is there but we hardly found any lighten bulb there as due to heavy rains. Rest house has one generator in working condition. There is no water at the top so it is recommended to take good amount of water with you.

The sunrise is definitely worth viewing here. As the early sun rays hits the top, one can have a look at the beautiful valley of Wahi Pandi at east, whereas the Sindh-Baluchistan border lies at its west. It’s also a good tracking place for trekking lovers as one can explore the valley in almost every direction. The hiking here is relatively easy as the rocks are hard with the gentle slope. One natural track of about 5 days goes from the Gorakh to the Wadh town of Baluchistan which lies in the Khuzdar district.

There were some unforgettable events that happened in this trip that I wanted to share. It is related to the selfless and kind support that was provided by almost everyone we met there. While we were driving back to Wahi Pandi next day, one of the double cabin’s tyre got punctured just a 100 meters below the top. The rest of the group members including me were on the double cabin that had already moved ahead. Our vehicle’s engine and axle condition was also poor and we had to stop the vehicle just before the sharp turn where we had been trapped yesterday. The track was also blocked as some jeep got stucked there last night in heavy rain. We waited for the other double cabin to come but it showed no sign. Our driver was able to contact SWO people at Sehwan through V-PTCL Wireless Phone (at the labour camp near the sharp turn). Thanks to V-PTCL. We also tried contacting the rest house but the wireless signals have not reached there at that time. We cannot do anything but to wait for a support from base camp.

After three hours we saw three men walking down from the top. I was able to recognize one of them as our cook who had travelled almost 12 kms to inform us the calamity that had befallen on the other double cabin. Now the problem was to send the tyre to the top. Our double cabin was already short of tyre as its two tyres got punctured last night. At the labour camp we saw another double cabin which had been waiting there for the road to get opened. We asked them and they provided us the tyre without any hesitation. Now again the problem was how to send that tyre to the top. For this purpose the people at the labour camp arranged some Baloch natives that knew the short routes to the top. They put the tyre on their head and started the journey to the top. They would have covered the strenuous 12 kms distance on foot with a heavy tyre on head, but fortunately a jeep came up later that gave us the good news that road has been opened and was also agreed to catch the Baloch from the track and make it reach to the top.

The other unselfish support was given by the contractor there who was about to explode the mountain (through dynamites) that day and he asked us to come down by 10 AM max. But since one of the vehicle was punctured he waited us till 4 PM.

Last but not the least, I could not forget the hospitality of the people there, whoever we met, wherever we go. The people welcomed us with their open hearts. They served us the delicious meals that we would not have thought of, and have given us the respect that even we do not see in the blood relations here in the cosmopolitan. They tried to provide us as much comfort as they can and they had given us the new concept of selfless life that we the Karachiites had somewhat forgotten.

In last, some suggestion for the visitors. Although we were the first family that had visited the place with women and children, I would still not recommend it as a family resort until the proper road is developed. The area is free from dacoits so there is no security issue. The only issue is the lack of proper road track and the supply system. There is neither any phone line at the top nor any mobile network is working there but it is heartening to see V-PTCL Wireless Phone service working there. But again I would suggest the readers not to rely on the outside help, instead they should take all precautionary and safety measures themselves.