A group of 14 of us from the Smithsonian’s Gem Collector’s group recently took a two week trip to Sri Lanka, that little island off the tip of India. A couple in our group have known some Sri Lankan gem dealers for several years and had been to Sri Lanka before. They and the dealers, whom we met in Tucson, planned a really nice trip for us. The purpose of the trip was to learn how lovely gems and jewelry make it from underground to the jewelry store, and learn about the governing body overseeing gem mining. We did the gem education and buying the first half of the trip and then explored the beautiful “non-gem” aspects of the island the second week. We traveled in an air-conditioned bus, with 2 seats for each person and plenty of water. By the end of the trip, our group was tight-knit. And, no one got SICK!
Tomoko and our BusA bit of whimsy at one of the resorts
HISTORY OF SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka is an island off the tip of India in South Asia. It has a population of more than 21 million people in an area of 25,000+ square miles. Over the centuries there have been 189 native monarchs. In addition to the surrounding countries, Sri Lanka was invaded by the Portuguese in the 1500’s and then the Dutch in the 1600’s. In the early 1800’s it became a British Crown Colony, renamed Ceylon, and remained so until 1948 when it received its independence. In 1972 it changed its name to Sri Lanka.
We found the local people to be very nice and most speak English. As the pictures will show (below), their stores and homes are rather modest, sometimes living in, or in the back of, their shops. Basically, it is a moderately poor country. Almost all labor is manual, this includes mining gemstones, picking fruit, spices and tea leaves.
The heat and humidity is oppressive, and the traffic relentless. Most people use the city buses, tuk-tuks (3-wheel scooters), or a motorcycle, and we understand it is expensive to own a car. Many roads are just 2 lanes … and they really get bogged down. For example, it took us 4+ hours to go just 60 miles from Kandy to Colombo on a nicely paved 2-lane road, part of it in rural areas. There appeared to be no rules to the road except to honk when you are going to pass someone, and they better get out of your way… this includes people and animals. I think we saw only a couple of traffic lights in the capital city of Colombo, where a few million people live. At rush hour, the police come out and direct traffic in the most highly congested intersections (where there may be 4 lanes).
Sri Lanka is known for its gemstones, sapphire in particular, and is a very big industry for the country. They also have quite the collection of other stones as well: garnets, topaz, spinel, moonstone, alexandrite, zircon, tourmaline, citrine, and amethyst. Even though it is a British name, Sri Lanka is world-famous for their “Ceylon” sapphires. These are amazing blue colors, rivaling Burma blue. Sapphires actually occur in all colors of the rainbow … red (ruby), pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple … and all shades in between. The reason they come in such an array of colors is that the purest chemical composition of sapphire is “clear”. In fact, at one time “clear” sapphires were used as an inexpensive substitute for diamonds. The color occurs when the sapphire crystal grows in an area where there are other chemical elements to impact their chemical composition, and hence their color. So, if there is iron and/or titanium, then you will get blue sapphires; if there is chromium, then you get red sapphire, otherwise known as “ruby”. AND, something easily to relate to are the clear price scanners at the grocery store, which are actually made of synthetic sapphire … that’s because it is inexpensive and can only be scratched by other sapphires and diamonds. Not typically a problem for grocery stores.
And, there were dogs everywhere … sleeping on the side of the road, in parking lots, you name it. There is actually a wild breed of dog that populates the country. Most of the dogs belong to no one and may actually carry rabies.
Indigenous DogLots of those tuk-tuksA HomeYamaha Tiller Business & Convenience Store
ACTIVITIES IN COLOMBO AREA
In the Colombo area, our focus was on the gem industry. We were hosted by a government agency, that oversees mining and the gem trade, and experienced an overwhelming gem market where everyone was all over you trying to sell you gems/rocks. But the most eye-opening part was seeing firsthand how mining of gemstones is done, how they are cut, and then the manufacturing of jewelry. We also had a gem buying opportunity one day, where our Sri Lankan hosts brought in six gem dealers to show us their goods in an unhurried atmosphere, making it possible for us to purchase and pay later, when we returned to the USA.
Hand-dug and -built mine shaft. one of many in close proximity to each other.Washing of stones to find sapphires and other gemstonesGem cutting and faceting operationViolet sapphires I purchasedA natural yellow sapphire I purchasedLunch of rice, chicken, and egg in banana leaves on our gem buying day
BUDDHA
Since we visited a number of Buddhas, I thought I’d review it’s background.
Buddha was born Gautama Buddha over 2,500 years ago and is also known by the family name of Siddhartha, the “enlightened one”. He was revered as a teacher and his teachings continue today. Of the Sri Lankans, 70 percent are adherents to his teachings. (The remaining are either Hindu, Muslim, or Christian). Thus, there are many Buddha statues and Buddhist temples, both ancient and new. As the photos reveal, we saw many statues, both in temples and erected right along the road. I’m only giving you a sampling of all we saw. When visiting Buddha, one must remove both shoes and hats, and have shoulders and knees covered, even men. Socks may be worn to protect your feet from the searing heat of the ground. Photos are not to be taken of people standing in front of Buddha; to the side is OK.
Golden Buddha TempleAncient RuinsOther Ancient CarvingsThis sign refers to the three Buddhas below, all carved in the same stone hillMeditating BuddhaSleeping BuddhaStanding Buddha
HEADING OUT OF COLUMBO
After Colombo, the coastal capital city, we headed toward the north and the interior of the island. We stayed at three different beautiful resorts but our days were so filled with activities, we only spent time there having breakfast, dinner, beers, and sleeping. We were always exhausted. The heat and humidity sapped our energy. In this area we visited the ruins of five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, went on a couple of safaris, visited a gorgeous botanical garden (felt like home), a spice garden, and a tea manufacturer.
The UNESCO sites were ruins of ancient capitals, the Lion Rock, and the Golden temple of Dambulla. All of these hold historical and archeological significance. The Lion Rock was amazing. It is 600 foot high, 1250 step climb (I only went a third of the way). Several people did go to the top but it was late afternoon at the peak of the heat and I was just wiped out. The pictures people took showed the remnants of a truly amazing ancient palace. I was a bit disappointed this old body couldn’t make it.
Another site was the Golden Temple of Dambulla, where you are greeted by a giant golden Buddha and walk up a hill to a series of five caves which contain carved Buddhas and paintings of Buddha all over the walls and ceilings. At another site we climbed up to a series of 3 massive Buddhas carved right out of the stone hill side. There was a meditating Buddha, one standing, and one reclining (sleeping). These were impressive. Here the guards yelled at you if you tried to take a photo in front of the Buddhas. Which reminds me that at one of the museums I took a photo of beads and I was immediately ordered to delete the photo from my camera (oops).
We did a few jeep safaris in national parks, which had more birds than any other type of animals. One park did have a herd of elephants and we saw land monitors (big lizards) and spotted deer. Not quite as dramatic in those parks as elsewhere in the country.
The Royal Botanical Gardens were gorgeous. It covers 147 acres with over 4,000 species growing, including greenhouses of cacti and orchids, tall palms, and very odd coconuts. And the natural flowers of jasmine, rose, lotus, and frangipani smelled absolutely soothing. In addition to the beautiful plants, there are trees in which fruit bats live and they had plenty of them (bats).
We also visited a spice garden, where the species growing there are picked from bushes, trees, and even the bark of a tree (cinnamon). There were vanilla beans, cloves, and cardoman just to name a few. All these spices are picked by hand (that’s a lot of work). Everything smelled so wonderful and fresh.
After the spice garden, we visited a tea manufacturing plant. All tea leaves are picked by hand and the more delicate inner leaves go into making the better tea, with the more mature leaves being less tasty. We watched it being picked, dried, sorted, and the associated machines, some dating back to the beginning of the tea plant, around the mid-1800’s. The best tea is the Pekoe. The bins (below) show the various types of tea, all the way from the finest “gold tea” on the left to the “Refused” on the right.
Finally, what about the food? We ate quite a well balanced diet while on our trip. Most places had buffets and they were absolutely delicious, which included curries, fresh fruit, salads, rice, and lots of desserts. There even was an Italian buffet at one of the restaurants … all the dishes were miniature, appetizer size. But, the main food of Sri Lanka is curry, of all varieties, and rice. They even had red rice as a common everyday rice. As we traveled, our bus would stop at roadside fruit stands. We tried jack fruit, drank coconut milk straight from the coconut, ate cashews and red bananas. We all ate a variety of foods and none of us got sick. And the beer of choice was Lion’s Head. Tasted great after a hot sweaty day.
Double Coconut – InedibleCatalina OrchidTrees full of batsLion’s Rock – 600 Feet – 1250 StepsOn SafariGreen Bee Eater BirdMacaques giving us the eyeDifferent teas from the harvest: Expensive Golden Tea on the left; Refused on the right.Red bananas (Tasted like yellow bananas)Coconut and Watermelon
Our trip is drawing to a close and we will be leaving for the airport in a few hours. For dinner, the ladies were gifted sarees to don (as best we could) and wear to dinner. The sarees are long swaths of material and need to be wrapped and folded. They came with instructions but they weren’t very good. Elyse got creative and found a demonstration on YouTube. Hers pretty much resembles the real folds. Thanks to all who made this an enjoyable trip, including our fearless Smithsonian leader, Loretta (in blue).
Elyse & MomLorettaPart of our group at gem dealer’s jewelry store
