Shopping in Sri Lanka

Despite my London apartment being stuffed to the rafters (minimalist is never going to be my style) I always seem to find myself sitting on top of a suitcase at the end of every trip forcing the zip and praying to the gods of travel that mine will not be the burst bag on the carousel spewing forth knickers for all of Terminal 5 to behold. Sri Lanka was no different and saw me staggering through the green customs channel in a most undignified pack horse fashion. But it was so worth it; there are so many beautiful and very useful things on offer if you shop around.

Shopping in Sri Lanka is a real pleasure since, although haggling is expected in markets and some tourist shops, it is done in a light hearted way unlike many other countries. Whilst there are lots of very touristy shops, a series of more elegant lifestyle/ homeware shops have also sprung up. It's very easy to flag down tuk-tuks to whizz around town between stores (or in my case back to the hotel twice as my arms were full - oops!) 

Tea

One of the great things about Sri Lanka is that all food products have to have a manufacturer's retail price printed on them so you know you are paying the standard price. If you are lucky enough to be travelling up to the highlands you can visit the plantations and buy tea directly from the manufacturers at a decent rate. The downside is that you have to visit each manufacturer to see a spread of products and ranges. 

The Ceylon Tea Board on Galle Road in Colombo is a great place to buy tea from lots of different producers, especially the smaller ones,  but beware it isn't open on Saturdays (as I discovered to my chagrin). The big brands have their own stores in Colombo, Dilmah and Mlesna being the main ones. The main place NOT to buy tea is the airport. A tin of Dilmah loose tea was 500 rupees in the city (about £2.30) but the exact same product was $6 at the airport. In general everything at the airport is about double. 

Textiles

Barefoot is a chain of shops that employ Sri Lankan women who would otherwise be unlikely to have an income. This is no pity party though as the stuff they make is gorgeous and of very high quality. In addition to the Colombo stores there is also a store in Galle Fort that is worth a visit. Definitely buy something you like when you see it though. I left a couple of things behind in Galle assuming I'd find them again at the Colombo branch and ended up kicking myself. 

The Sri Lankans are also big on batik print clothes and textiles - not my thing but there is plenty of choice if it is yours. They also make practical gifts and toys from brightly coloured fabrics- I love souvenirs that have a purpose rather than sitting on a shelf.

I bought beautiful tablecloths and napkins that are already in regular use. The multicoloured make up bags and wash bags were all fallen upon by friends. This shop is a must stop. 

Homeware

Paradise Road truly is a veritable dream of house stuff. Its one of those shops that you walk into and just want to buy the lifestyle in its entirety. Ceramics, tableware, table linen, 

Food

Sri Lanka is pretty self sufficient when it comes to food with a wealth of seafood from the coastal areas, amazing quality fruit and vegetables from the Highlands and spices and cashew nuts from pretty much everywhere else. Whilst you can't bring the jumbo prawns home with you, you can make cooking back at home a whole lot more fun with all the spices.

There's always something fun about walking round foreign supermarkets. Seeing what is the same, what's unrecognisably different or cheaper than home. There are two main chains in Sri Lanka; Cargill's Food City and Keell's Super.  I bought my spices in a small branch of Food City in Hikkaduwa on the east coast. The ground cinnamon was about 40p a pack and from the manufacturing date printed on the pack, had been ground that very morning in a mill less than 5 kilometres away. You can't get fresher than that! A bag of around 20 nutmegs was £1 and cinnamon sticks can be had for around 20p for a bag of 5. It will be at least five times as much if you buy them in fancy packaging in tourist shops or from the spice gardens and the quality will be no better. I also bought a load of sachets of powdered coconut at about 10p a sachet as its much easier than opening a whole can of coconut milk for cooking curries.

Some of the better quality shops like Barefoot also offer spice mixes to recreate curries back at home and they are great value.

Cashews are surprisingly pricey but generally very good quality. Watch out for the devilled ones though; they're hot!

Beauty

There are lots of spice gardens littering the route from Kandy to Colombo. Someone will guide you round extolling the virtues and purported benefits of various herb and spice combinations before sitting you down for a massage to ease you in the most relaxing way into looking at a price list. The alleged restorative and curative qualities of various tonics and balms are explained. Each to their own, some of the group I was with thought they were fantastic but to me it was a very lengthy sales pitch peddling snake oil. 

If you are interested in good quality Ayurvedic products using the same local ingredients then look out for a range called Spa Ceylon which, although not super cheap, is beautifully packaged and definitely less costly than its nearest equivalent back home. They have several spas where you can get treatments as well as products in Colombo although their products are also stocked in Barefoot and Paradise Road if you're running short on time.  They deliver globally via their website but the prices are about double those charged in Sri Lanka (cardamom rose nail and cuticle balm is $16 online but was around $7 locally).

Gems

Finding somewhere to buy gems that you can trust is a total minefield. I'm told that some of the big touristy gem places pay up to 40% commission to drivers and tour guides for bringing punters through the door. Therefore although it might feel safer buying from a big shop you will be paying through the nose for it.

I went into my hotel jewellery shop (a branch of Zam) to get a ballpark figure for a pair of small sapphire studs and was loosely quoted "not more than $1000". With a mere raise of the eyebrows and a quiet snort the price had come down to under $350 within seconds. The price I finally paid from an independent gem dealer was considerably less than that again. Moral of the story is avoid hotels shops and try to get recommendations from someone you trust; not your driver/ tour guide. 

I went to Sena Gems on the corner of Marine Drive and Ridgeway Place. It doesnt have a glossy shop front and you have to go through two security gates to get in but they were recommended by people I know with family in Sri Lanka who I trust and I was happy with both the price and the quality of the final product ( I picked stones and designed the settings). 

Wooden carvings

Quality of wood carving is extremely variable and they are less practical as presents but if you find a good one it makes a pretty and good value souvenir.

I challenge anyone to go to Sri Lanka and not come back with a suitcase at least a third bigger than when you arrived. Hopefully the above will help direct you to some lovely things.

Eating out in Colombo, Sri Lanka (or "How to Eat Your Own Bodyweight in Seafood")

Colombo feels as though its a city on the cusp of change. For years it has had a reputation as somewhere that you don't stop for long before heading to one of the coasts and, similarly to the much maligned Bangkok, is as a grubby portal to the beaches. I loved Colombo despite the dirt and hustle and bustle. Various areas are in the process of regeneration but its fair to see there are plenty of places in the city that have already up and come and where you can have an excellent meal and a good night out.

Lagoon at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel is a glass box of a restaurant  with a terrace overlooking a small man made lagoon.  The premise is essentially that you visit the fishmonger's counter, pick your weapon and it can then be cooked one of a multitude of ways. Seer is a fish that you see lots on menus in Sri Lanka - its a member of the mackerel family but is much bigger and essentially more similar to tuna in terms of size of steak and meaty texture. 

We ordered an array of food cooked in different styles to share. Cuttlefish in white curry sauce (a delicate creamy sauce - the Sri Lankan version of a korma you might say) was particularly good, fried crab claw cakes had a ginger tang were one of my favourites too. 

Giant river prawns were covered in a spicy crumb and grilled before being drizzled in butter. 
King prawns were in a spiced tomato and onion garlic sauce and fair blew my head off.

It is very much a hotel restaurant and ensures there is something for everyone. You can have your seafood with sweet and sour sauce or breaded with ketchup if you prefer- we just tried to go for the more local options. 

At the other end of the price spectrum is Beach Wadiya.  A 10 minute tuk tuk drive out of town it lies on Marine Drive opposite KFC but is well worth the journey. Sitting right on the beach front with the waves lapping the shore you feel instantaneously a world away from the humid hustle and bustle of Colombo town. 

It has an unparalleled reputation and the walls are plastered in photos of the great and the good with manager Olwyn.  Despite being well into his seventies, he sits there day and night surveying his territory and its guests. Princess Anne is reported to have deemed it her favourite place in Sri Lanka and amongst her favourite restaurants ever.

This was by far and away my favourite place in Colombo and a must visit as far as I am concerned. A large plate of king prawns grilled with garlic is around £3. The cuttlefish come in at around the same price and are cooked to order from the fishcounter

I ate there twice and never left with a bill over about £12 for everything including beers. Watch out getting back to the mainroad for a tuk tuk home after all that beer though!

Curry Leaf at the HIlton turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I'm always a bit dubious of hotel restaurants especially ones that offer buffets. For a fixed price of 2750 rupees (£13) you get to select all the fish and seafood you like to be cooked to your preference and delivered to your table. Outside are various little streetfood stalls offering made to order portions of kottu, stringhoppers and roti. It was a briliant way to get a crash course into Sri Lankan cuisine before ordering the things I liked best at other restaurants during the trip.

One of the most popular places around is the fantastically named  "Ministry of Crab". Co-owned by two international Sri Lankan cricket players, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara (which makes them Gods in these parts where the first question any taxi driver asks you is "do you like cricket?") the price tags are designed to match. The smallest crab size starts at 3000 rupees (around £15) which is megabucks by Sri Lankan standards. Mainly for that reason I decided to give it a miss. It is located in the Dutch Courtyard though which is a renovated colonial area with shops and bars etc in it and the heartland of an up and coming modern Sri Lankan scene and worth a visit even if you don't eat at Ministry. 

I wish I had been able to spend more time in the city to explore its burgeoning street food scene but the rest of the country awaited me. Hopefully this whistlestop tour gives you a taste of Sri Lanka though.

Hikkaduwa, East Coast Sri Lanka

Hikkaduwa sits in the centre of the region worst hit by the Tsunami on boxing day back in 2004 (its hard to believe that it was already a decade ago). You might recall reports of a train that was swept off its tracks along with all its passengers, well that was here. In some ways it is a very restful place, sleepy at this time of year as most tourists are over on the West side of Sri Lanka. That's one of the great things about visiting Sri Lanka; there is always a part of the island that is in season. That restfulness also feels as though it has a sadness to it too though. Graves of various religions line the side of the road along the coast commemorating those taken by the same waves.  Fading photographs glued to telegraph poles and the sides of buildings. The shell of the fateful train sits unmoved from its last port of call.  Life gradually moves on though and whilst noone in the area will ever forget, new business have sprung up and the area is making a new name for itself pinning its hopes on a new dawn of tourists drawn to the teardrop isle of Sri Lanka. 

After the heat and bustle of Colombo I couldn't wait to leap out of the car and feel the sand between my toes and a sea breeze in my hair. Although a swim was exactly what I wanted the waves were choppy with a ratty red flag warning against the warm water's temptations. 

Meandering along the beach I came across hardly another soul other than the occasional fisherman. That is until I reached a sign swinging in the breeze.

Shhhh! I'm going to tell you something but only if you can keep it to yourself, in fact its Top Secret. Top Secret only because that's the name of the restaurant. Under the sign a sea of hammocks and brightly coloured sun loungers entice you in. Wander inside and travellers of all nationalities are sat sipping cold beers, making full use of the wifi and nibbling on local delicacies. Our stumbling across Top Secret was a happy coincidence due to the deep rumbling sound, partly from my stomach and partly due to the darkening clouds rolling in across the horizon from the sea.  

Sure enough, no sooner than I had ordered a drink at the bar than the heavens opened sending a flurry of gap year students who had been sleeping off hangovers on the sand scurrying for cover into the shadowy depths of the bar. 

We grabbed a table in the restaurant and ordered plates of seafood and rice. My favourites were these squid rings in a piquant and peppery sauce. 

The drumming beat of rain on the roof began to slow in rhythm and finally subsided leaving us free to carry on our wander along the shoreline and walk off lunch, spotting a few bits of nature thrown by the waves onto the beach as we went. 

No swimming for us today though, the lifeguard's flags made sure of that. 

Colombo: Galle Face Green

I don't know about you but I am an expert people watcher. I get it from my mother. My brother calls it just plain nosey but I'd like to think I'm just super observant and good at taking in my surroundings. At least that's what I call it.  Galle Face Green in Colombo is an excellent place to sharpen those well-honed people watching skills and is a fascinating snapshot into leisure time in Sri Lanka.

Dusk begins to fall and the Green gets busier and busier as parents finish work and bring their children to the shore.  The skyline becomes dotted with kites dancing in the breeze as people weave in and out, dodging competing kite strings and chasing their aerial toys.

Whole families kick off their shoes and paddle in the foamy waves crashing onto the sand.

Even soggy monks get in on the action

Lovebird couples stroll along the waterfront or steal kisses hidden under umbrellas unfurled in the pretence of blocking out the sun.

Small green huts dotted along the promenade offer various types of street food usually involving prawns in every incarnation you can think of...

Street vendors call out offering all kinds of mystery goods...

Brightly coloured inflatables and windmills draw admiring glances from awestruck toddlers

Most of all though, it feels like a very happy carefree place to be.

If you're thirsty or just need some time away from the hustle and bustle head next door to the Galle Face Hotel for a pot of Ceylon tea or an early evening cocktail. First constructed in 1864 it has managed to retain a lot of its old world charm. It was under renovation when I visited (and will be until the end of 2014) but despite the builders you can still see hints of the beautiful colonial architecture.  If you sit in the garden there is a fair chance you will be visited by one of these inquisitive chaps….

Tokyo: Ueno Park



I hold my hands up and admit that I am a nightmare to travel with.  Half the fun is in the advance planning for me and several months can be spent researching locations, restaurants, transport, weather. You name it and there is a fair chance I have researched it. So when it came to planning a trip to Japan one of the major criterion was weather and more specifically blossom or sakura. I consulted various websites detailing the bloom dates in various towns over the preceding five years to try and ensure guaranteed blossom.  So we arrived. No blossom. Not a problem, still two and a half weeks of the trip to go and quite a journey south. Two weeks on and down in Kyoto there is still no blossom. Back to Tokyo and our last full day in Japan having left Ueno Park to the last possible moment, perhaps most famous for its blossom and the hanami parties- essentially picnics- held under the trees.  There were odd patches of blossom so I didn't go completely without...

Spot the bird.

In summary a grey, windy and rather chilly day was not how I had hoped my Ueno Park experience would pan out....

We started in the north of the park from Ueno station on the JR train line. At least nine  museums are located within close proximity including the National Museum of Science and Nature , the Ueno Royal Museum, and the National Museum of Western Art. as well as Tokyo zoo. Wading through the hordes of overexcited groups of Japanese schoolchildren we headed towards our target for the morning, Tokyo National Museum.

 

Tokyo National Museum is worth a visit if you are interested in better understanding some of the historic Japanese periods throughout the ages and seeing artefacts from each era.The building it is housed in is also quite beautiful. Just like the British Museum or the Met in New York, you could spend an entire day there and only scratch the surface but for me it was more interesting to dip in and see a few of the highlights to get some context to what I was seeing elsewhere.  The park is far from being only about museums, it also holds several shrines including the Toshogu Shrine (close to the zoo) and Bentendo Temple in the middle of Shinobazu Lake.

Bentendo Templev

Some of the lonely businessmen and my favourite of the Ema Shinto shrine plaques.

I had heard stories of how lower ranking businessmen are sent by their bosses to sit all day and guard the best sakura spots but had never quite believed it to be true until I saw it with my own eyes. Junior accountants, lawyers, management consultants all suited and booted just sat, all day, on a blue tarpaulin awaiting the arrival of their colleagues after hours.

One thing that cannot be disputed is that the Japanese truly do LOVE blossom. Gaggles of people were crowded around the few trees already in bloom taking pictures on everything and anything from top of the range Canon SLRs to the most basic of mobile phones. Much posing and peace finger signs ensue.

Wandering down along the long, straight lane of over 1000 cherry blossom trees, around a quarter were about to bloom and many early sakura hunters were out in force.  Restaurants and shops all release special sakura themed dishes or products, even international companies get on the bandwagon, I came home with a limited edition Le Creuset blossom shaped tea set and Lanvin, Celine and Dior sakura handkerchiefs all at much lower prices than the non limited edition would be at home.

Reaching the Southern end of the park I took a detour towards the lake. During sakura season numerous street food sellers line the bridge that crosses to a small islet set out into Shinobazu Pond. 

All kinds of weird and wonderful sweet and savoury finger foods are on offer and stalls are busy with passing trade.   I ordered a barbecued chicken yakitori stick. In all honesty it was a bit disappointing, too much overly sweet sauce but it was a bit early in the day for salted sardine or chilled octopus kebabs.

Baby octopus anyone?

Locals and tourists weren't the only ones eyeing up the seafood....

You can't go to Tokyo and not visit Ueno Park no matter the time of year- it is such a melting pot of Japanese culture and a relaxing spot in an otherwise non-stop city.



Miyajima Island, Japan

Itsukishima Island is just an hour away from Hiroshima and easily accessible by train and a short ferry ride. Better known by the descriptive name of 'Miyajima Island' or 'Shrine Island', it is unlike anywhere else that I saw on my trip to Japan and was one of my favourite stopovers. It is perhaps most famous for the giant Torii gate out at sea, accessible on foot when the tide is out and appearing to float when the sea is in. At just under 12 square miles it is navigable by foot and has very little traffic.

The island gets awashed with Japanese tourists arriving on the regular passenger ferries, especially at the weekend, so if you can stay at a ryokan overnight you really get to see a different and much more peaceful side to the community once the last ferry disappears onto the horizon and the chatter melts away. 

Like Nara, the island is home to lots of small, wild but very friendly Sika deer who trot up and down the streets occasionally begging for food but generally ignoring the alien invaders many of whom treat them with a great deal of respect as they are considered to be sacred under Shinto religion.

Most towns and areas of Japan have their own special, local sweet delicacy to be taken back to friends and colleagues as a token from your trip. On Miyajima this comes in the form of the Momiji manju, a maple leaf shaped cake that can either be served plain or with various fillings. We tried custard, jam, cinnamon, red bean paste, chocolate, apple and pistachio, some were better than others (hold the bean paste for me please.....)

Lunch consisted of a selection of random street foods. "Meat sticks" were a lot more tasty than they sound, we devoured various shapes, colours and sizes including crab, asparagus & bacon and octopus amongst others. Nothing gourmet but they were good and filled a gap keeping us warm from the biting wind on the seafront.

One of the other island specialities is charcoal grilled oysters with numerous vendors out on the street calling at you to attract you to their wares. I'm never going to be an oyster fan unfortunately so the sales patter fell on deaf ears.

Although the island is small and easily negotiable on foot, the other option for getting about is in a manpowered rickshaw which plenty of the Japanese tourists were taking advantage of. It seemed like the epitome of laziness whilst I was walking along the flat town roads, when I got a further up the hill in the ten minute walk to the cable car I was starting to be a little envious.  Crowning over the island is Mount Misen at around 500m which may not seem enormous but is very prominent on such a tiny island. Although you can climb all the way to the top of the mountain if you're so inclined, we caught the two staged, kilometre long cable cars up to the top and then had a bit of a wander, visiting the small temple but unfortunately didn't see any of the wild monkeys that the signs warn you about. On a clear day you do, however get a 360 degree view out over the ocean and back to Hiroshima.

Whilst the whole island is designated as a World Heritage Site it is at the top of Misen that one of the most important sites is located. Reikado Hall is home to a cauldron that has an eternally burning flame tended by resident monks who glide serenely around the plaza outside the Hall and ensuring that The sacred flame in the cauldron was the one used to light the flame at the peace monument in Hiroshima.

Our ryokan, Ryoso Kawaguchi,  was quite a small one set back on a street parallel to the main sea front tourist thrust. The day that we arrived we were the only non Japanese guests which meant quite an audience at dinner intrigued as to how we would react to ryokan food. Kawaguchi had two onsen bathing rooms, one with a very large onsen that would have fitted at least six to sit  (or just me wallowing about like a hippo in the steam) It really is a very relaxing way to spend the early evening floating around in gloriously warm water before retiring to your room to put on your yukata coat and slippers ready for dinner. Unlike many ryokan where dinner is served in your room at low table on the tatami mat, dinner at Kawaguchi was served in a main dining room downstairs. The meal was served kaiseki style as a series of small courses although scaled down slightly from the traditional full 14 dish offering.

The opening course of seared salmon sashimi was delicate but beautifully flavoured, quite literally melting in the mouth, orange juice giving it a contrasting citrus tang.

Unagi- the evil bony eel!

Unagi was cooked well with a sweet teriyake style coating and served with wasabi broccoli but the tiny bones in the eel and the accompanying skin put me off too much. It is however, considered to be a valuable delicacy so in it went with a smile on my face. 

The Mukōzuke was sashimi of sea bream and mackerel. Tasty and prettily served on a tiny dish.  
The Shiizakana course is usually the most substantial of the meal and in this case was a pork hot pot. 


The ingredients are served chilled and fresh on a tray and you then cook them in the broth as you like it. The broth was unusually creamy but quite delicious based on clams and the slices of raw pork loin cooked in only a couple of minutes. Additions of enoki mushrooms and a pak choi/ cabbage like vegetable added crunch. Small chinks of silken tofu added yet another textural dimension.

Another course of seared beef served with spring onion and yuzu was excellent and I could quite merrily have just eaten a large plate of the beef with some rice and been more than happy. I can't quite find a course within the traditional kaiseki meal that fits the beef so I think we were probably winging it a bit. The next course of tamago and snow peas was a delicate end to the savoury part of the meal.

\

Sake very much....

The Mizumono conclusion to the meal was  an orange sorbet acting as an effective palate cleanser.

The ryokan was also the location of our first taste of sake during the trip. I had tried sake in England but only ever had it served hot which I didn't like and rather short sightedly it had put me off. I don't know why it had never occurred to me just how varied sake can be, after all if wine can be broad in its styles and appeal then there is no reason why sake can't be either. This one had a very delicate, slightly sweet flavour and was served ice cold.

Although after a relaxing onsen and slow paced dinner it is very tempting to retire for the night in a happy glow, but if you visit Miyajima please, please do make the effort to drag yourself back outside and go for a walk at night. The knee high stone lanterns along the sea front are lit and provide the only light by which to navigate the island as by nightfall all the shops are shut and boarded up for the night. A quiet peace falls broken only by the wind whispering through the lanes. The entire island is a very different place to the brightly lit, gaudy rows thronging with crowds souvenir hunting during the day. 

Personally I couldn't go to Japan and do an entire trip purely of ryokan stays. Whatever any die hard purists will tell you to the contrary, tatami mats are not comfortable and despite layering up the mats a la princess and the pea, it is still not a good night's sleep.  Doing everything at floor level is also kind of touch on the knees. I hate old that makes me sound and feel but sadly its true! It's a great experience and lots of fun to dress up in a yukata etc but you do find yourself thinking about mattresses and duvets in a much more obsessed and yearning way than seems entirely right. 

Ryoso Kawaguchi

739-0500 469 Miyajima-cho Saeki-gun,