This post is part of a series following my friends and I crossing Sri Lanka in a Tuktuk. You can find the intro post here and the previous one here.
Haputale is a small city in the mountains with not much to visit, but our host Naleef made our stay memorable.
We told him we wanted to experience as much as possible the local food with the genuine level of spice (they tend to reduce it for foreigners), and he cooked us two feasts, for dinner and breakfast. It was delicious, spicy and included some dishes we hadn't tried yet such as green banana curry.
He also talked a lot about his the Sri Lankan culture and its economic situation. We went on to talk about religion and he told us that the Buddhist majority and the Muslims, Hinduists and Christians minorities live in harmony most of the time, except when it's election time and the politicians use the old Divide and Conquer technique.
After a last selfie with Naleef and the promise of an 11/10 on Booking, we continued our journey and stopped by Ella and its famous nine arches bridge.
After 4 days in the mountain area of central Sri Lanka, we made our way to the lowland and went straight south to Yala National Park. We decided to take the B53 as it is known to have accustomed (but not tamed) elephants roaming around the road.
Locals told us to prepare some fruits to distract them as we pass by. I'm not big on feeding wild animals but as I mentioned they are already accustomed to getting food for safe passage.
And well, it's good we were prepared. First encounter was amazing, he was only blocking half of the road so I felt confident enough to drive by his left.
The second one was acting like a tollbooth and wouldn't let us pass without getting his bananas. We made it through but not without a small scare.
We finally made it to Tissa just in time for a few cold ones in the swimming pool before getting some rest before the next day safari.
All the rewards of this post will go to CoolEarth NGO.
Love to read Amazing series stoodkev. And thou I am an Indian and a curry lover myself, I never heard of Banana curry in my life, maybe it’s a pure Sri Lankan dish but it does sound delicious and I hope you liked all those dishes 😋
I really like the part where elephants were blocking roads to snatch foods from humans, especially the ‘tollbooth’ one that you mentioned above. Here in India also, we also have a lot pf elephants and often they come out of forest and attack nearby villages for food. But if we think otherwise, the way we are reducing forests and poisoning mother nature for the sake of development is really harming the wildlife and we are the only one who can change this scenario. Great series ❤️💖
Yeah it was delicious. It's green banana and actually if he didn't mention it I could have thought it was potatoe because the texture was quite firm.
And about the elephants, i totally agree, as far as I'm concerned were the ones trespassing.
More animals coming soon, we did a safari the next day :)
Awesome post @stoodkev
The food looks amazing. I am happy you enjoyed it and didn't burn your stomach with all the spice. 🤭
Elephant as a tollbooth is new to me, never heard that one before. 😂 It's good that you came prepared and brought some yummy bribes. 👏👏
Stay safe and enjoy the rest of your trip in Sri Lanka.
The three of us love eating spicy and it did taste great! :D
Seriously, without the treats there was no way we would have made it the second time XD
Thanks! The adventure is coming to an end soon but we're having a blast !
Enjoy it while it lasts, even if it's only for a bit longer. 😊👍
Thanks for sharing this wonderful journey there and the look looks so yummy and that railway bridge so impressive. I hope to see more post from you.
It is delicious! Actually I'm already making plans and buying ingredients to cook some for my girlfriend and friends when I get back to Taiwan.
That's a variety of Food...looks delicious!
In most of south Asian countries we've Good spices in food that made it tasty for us and Glad you tried it with genuine level spice.
Great to see you're enjoying visit there... looks so much fun to explore and roam around such place! Enjoy the rest of your trip!
Yeah it's really delicious!
The "real" level of spice was still manageable compared to Thai food though. One of my friends speaks Thai pretty well and I remember eating and crying in a restaurant somewhere around Krabi XD
Yeah it's super fun, I definitely recommend it
Looks like a very nice place and seems to have enjoyed the food. Here all types of people live in harmony which is a really good aspect.
Yeah it's a great place to visit
My friend! Aren't you scared haha? It takes real courage to walk past these elephants. Personally, I got excited watching it lol.
The first one (when I was driving) was not really scary because we had enough space to pass safely. The second one is another story. When it moved its leg and trunk we really thought he was about to push us :p
It seems you are enjoying tuktuk journey very much.👌👌 Yeah, in Srilanka people from culture and religion live peacefully. You are right politician always use divide and rule to satisfy their vested interest. Btw I am from India and we have a lot of similarity in culture but I never visited Srilanka.😂😂 Thank for sharing your experience.
You should if you get the chance, they are very welcoming and the country is beautiful!
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amazing... part elephant 😯😯
That "setting" in the clouds where you shared a meal looks amazing. Almost otherworldly. I saw a post on Hive the other day about what you would do if you had $10K a month in passive income. My first thought was to do a ton of traveling... it's so enriching in so many ways!
omg elphant in the road? ww have dogs here in venezuela >:[
That looks awesome! I've never made to Sri Lanka but it looks amazing. And running into an elephant... That's something you'll never forget. Thanks for sharing that looks like a beautiful place!
!CTP
It's a great country and they need the money from tourism after their crisis, I definitely recommend it
I've never been to Asia buy have been just about everywhere else except Antarctica. It's been on the bucket list for a few years and Sri Lanka sure looks a lot more greener and warmer than the ice down south! It might be a nice starting point for an Asian adventure!
Now you make me want to visit sri-lanka , thanks for sharing the amazing trip with us.
You should it's an amazing country!
Alright , thanks