Day 2: We woke up early and headed out to the Northern part of the Central Region of Sri Lanka. Say that 3 times fast!
Guess that lump !
Along the way we stopped to see a Hindu temple. It was a neat experience because their temples are so unique, decorated with lots of vibrant colors and fun characters. Take a look:
Everyone in the temple was very friendly. There was a family walking around with different homemade foods and sweets. They told me to hold out my hand, and spooned a healthy heaping of spicy lentil salad into my palm. I looked down at my palm and thought hmm a plate and fork would be nice. But hey when in Rome… I started eating it out of my hand 🙂
Next stop was a spice garden, but we found this little gem along the way… ANOTHER BUDDHA!!!
look at the top of the temple.. the gold sculpture is Buddha.
The Spice Garden!
The spice garden was a neat and informative stop. So many things we take for granted when we go shopping in our modern day groceries. Our tour guide taught us all about how our common household products were made from mother nature 🙂
This is Nutmeg and Mace. When you open the fruit, similar looking to an apricot, you see the nutmeg nut covered in this red stringy thing. That red stringy thing is mace spice. So this plant is a two for one deal!
Julie found herself in heaven as she discovered where Coco powder really come from! She thought it was a papaya fruit. But then when the tour guide cracked it open she realized it was a new health foodie adventure for her to try 🙂 She grabbed the fruit, picked out a section of it and devoured the whole thing. The tour guide then explained to her that your not supposed to eat the seeds, because those seeds are what we make coco from!
The actual coco fruit is really sweet and delicious. Very similar to Mangosteen from Thailand.
Let the seeds dry in the sun then cook them and grind them. Voila coco! All we kept wondering while listening to the origins of some of our favorite products was, “Who in the world was sitting around one day saying hey I’m going to spit my seeds out roast em, grind em, mix it with milk and name it chocolate!” The world is a wonder!
Coco Fruit growing on trees
The Coffee bean. I did learn from working at Starbucks that the coco bean is really just a pit of a cherry. But I had never witnessed it with my own eyes. Behold THE COFFEE BEAN!!!!!
We took a break in our spice market visit to play Karrom with a couple of the local boys in the neighborhood… We are now friends on Facebook, and I now know how to play Carrom.
This is Cardamon, Its a Middle Eastern spice. They are like little pods, and many enjoy them after a meal to cleanse the palate.
Vanilla… kind of cool that it starts out as a green bean looking thing..
mmmm Sandalwood tree.. The Bark smelled soooooo good!!!
Ever wonder where rubber comes from??? Well from a tree of course!!! Don’t worry I never knew it either!!
Green and Red Pineapple
The Red Pineapple is no edible!
This was a holistic doctor who owned the spice garden. He makes up his own concoctions for healing the body. He read my pulse and basically told me that if I have a baby I will have one with many abnormalities. So that was the point where I decided it was time to go. But not before buying some coffee flower oil. Smells similar to jasmine.. very pretty.
Phil and I found all of the characters we met in Sri Lanka pretty funny. Basically after every service or even just a plain simple conversation they all ended by saying, “Okay tip now.” They are very forward about their tips, and believe that everything they do should be rewarded with one. I asked someone where the toilets were in a temple and the guy showed me then said, “Tip now.” It was amusing.
We then headed for some lunch at a Sri Lanka Buffet. This is where I first discovered the Jack Fruit Curry as well as many other curries. Phil ate tomatoes and onions while I feasted on all of the interesting new foods.
Next Sigiriya and Dambulla. Sigiriya, “The Lion Fortress” is the most visited historic site in Sri Lanka. Dambulla is the home of the Cave temple and Golden Buddha. We have many photos to share so keep checking for updates from Day 2!!! Have you tried a Jack Fruit yet???
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