HeArt of Sri Lanka was the trip I had chosen for my final year of Week Without Walls. The last trip I went to was Down South which tested my endurance greatly, but for this year I wanted a change, so I picked a trip that didn’t test by physical abilities.
Day 1 started with us getting to school early at 5:30 and catching the train to Kandy which was about a 2-hour ride. Before this, I had never been on a train, so this was my first experience. Even though the train ride was very bumpy I was still somehow able to take a nap even if it was just for a small moment. Once we arrived in Kandy we immediately went to the Sri Dalada Maligawa (Tooth Relic Temple) where we got to see where the tooth relic of Buddha is preserved and see the taxidermy of Raja (The Elephant who carried the tooth relic for a long time during the Kandyan Parades). Inside the temple was packed with people left and right, and was a struggle to get around. In the temple to separated into small groups, to find something we could draw in the art journals we had made before the trip. After visiting the temple we stopped at a pizza place to have lunch and our entire group turned into a bunch of starving vultures with everyone trying to reach for the pizza. After we had lunch we took our bus to ‘Helga’s Folly‘ which was the place we were staying. During our stay there we were invited to partake in an Artmaking session with local artist Rudrani Devi Das, where we made a bunch of different art pieces. After dinner, we ended the day with a game of Murder Mystery and closed for the night.
Day 2 we packed our bags departed from Helgas Folly, and left for Matale where we visited a Batik Factory under the name of Baba Batik Factory. During our visit, we learned how they made Batik and also made some of our own, and during the end, we were given 40% off of all their products. We had lunch in Diyabubula at Laki Senanayake’s (Sri Lankan artist) house, where we also explored all his creations at the site and took the time to draw and photograph some of his work. After this, we departed for Back of Beyond, Pidurangala where we would be staying for two nights.
Day 3 started with us departing for the Polonnaruwa Ancient City where we biked to all the ruins and temples in the area, and visited the Uththararamaya (Gal Vihara) which is a rock temple situated within the Ancient City of the Polonnaruwa Kingdom. After visiting Gal Vihara we had Ice Cream to cool ourselves down while there were a bunch of monkeys surrounding our group trying to jump us. We got back from the Ancient City and had lunch at where we were staying (Back of Beyond). Afterward, we did a natural art material workshop where we had to make an art piece based on land materials, which meant we weren’t given paintbrushes, and had to find resources surrounding us like leaves and sticks.
Day 4 we woke up at 4:45 – 5:00 to get ready to hike up Pidurangala Rock which took about 30-40 minutes to get to the top just before the rays of light reached the sky. Once we came back we packed our bags and departed to the Kandalama Heritance Hotel which was designed by Sri Lankan Architect Geoffery Bawa where we had lunch and also made art. Next, we took the bus to Habarana and arrived at The Other Corner for the last night.
Day 5 we packed our bags and did our final activity for the trip which was the Village Cooking Class, where we made a green bean sambol that we later on ate for lunch. Lastly we got our bags and departed from the hotel and were made our journey back to the school.