England’s cricketers have just started their tour of Sri Lanka, drawing thousands of fans in their wake. Rosanna de Lisle highlights some of the treats that await the Barmy Army.
Sri Lankans never seem to stop smiling, but when the England cricket team last toured their country, in late 2003, they had genuinely good reason to be cheerful.
England’s tour of Sri Lanka starts on October 1 with a one-day international in Dambulla, followed by two more on the same ground and two in Colombo. Sri Lankans like the excitement of day-night cricket and will bunk off work to watch screens on street corners, but it’s the Test matches in December that are expected to draw thousands of England fans.
So here’s our guide to the three Test venues, along with a few ideas for the companion who’s along for the ride rather than the wickets.
If dialing any of the phone numbers from outside Sri Lanka, replace the initial 0 with 0094.
Kandy: First Test, December 1-5
The hill capital was the last stronghold of the Sinhalese kings and still has a majestic air that is not all to do with its fresher weather. Arrive from hot, heaving Colombo and Kandy’s magnificent Temple of the Tooth, its calm grey-green lake and its steep, wooded hills seem to belong to another country.
The ground
The Asgiriya Stadium is carved into a hillside. England usually play well here, helped by the kinder climate. “Kandy tends to produce nail-biting, adventurous cricket,” says Charlie Austin. “The pitch is quicker and bouncier and the Kandy supporters are very vocal - this is Murali’s home town. They take on the Barmy Army and the camaraderie is very good.”
Where to stay
Much the loveliest place is The Kandy House, but its nine rooms are already booked during the cricket. However, there are plenty of larger hotels, comfortable if slightly staid, perched above the lake and river. The best bets are Amaya Hills, Earl’s Regency, Mahaweli Reach, Hunas Falls, Thilanka; from around £50 double b & b. The scenic Victoria Golf Course has a lodge and chalets.
Where to eat and drink
Kandy is not well endowed with restaurants but the most atmospheric place to eat is Helga’s FollyPub Royal (cocktails and dinner, about £10 per person; book ahead on 081 223 4571). Bamboo Garden (081 447 6099), up the hill from the Temple of the Tooth, is a cheap and cheerful Chinese with a terrace, bar and big screen; main courses from 400 rupees (£1·75). The colonial at the Queens Hotel and first-floor Pub, both on the main drag, Dalada Veediya, will be post-match hangouts.
Diversions from the field
The fantastically gilded Temple of the Tooth draws pilgrims from all over the world. Go at 10am or 6pm to see ceremonies; don’t expect to see the Buddha’s tooth relic, which is in a casket.
The Kandyan Arts Association has dance and drumming every day at 6pm. The British Garrison Cemetery is full of tea planters, whose stories are told by the caretaker. The Botanical Gardens are worth an hour or three. The elephant orphanage at Pinnawela is well known, but you will learn more about elephants, and can ride one, at the Millennium Elephant Foundation up the road.
Senani Silks, near Royal Palace Park, is great for saris. Isini Gems, opposite, is a museum as well as a shop. Waruna Antiques on Peradeniya Road is worth a rummage.
Matale, 14 miles north of Kandy, is famous for its spice gardens and for the renowned batik artist Ena de Silva’s Heritage Centre (066 222 2404). Book three days ahead to have lunch and you’ll be served up to 20 exquisitely slow-cooked curries.
Colombo: Second Test, December 9-13
At first sight, the capital is chaotic and charmless, but beyond the ugly thoroughfares there are pockets of serenity - avenues of rain trees, parks, temples and the odd grand public building.
The ground
The Singhalese Sports Club is Sri Lanka’s Lord’s. There’s no lighting here, so one-day matches happen at Premadasa Stadium. There’s no breeze and the ground can get hot and humid - for spectators as much as players. Leave the grass banks to the locals and find a seat in the shade.
Where to stay
The teams stay at the Taj Samudra. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if you want to wake up in no doubt about where you are in the world, you’d be better off at the Galle Face Hotel. This seafront institution is decidedly worn and the older rooms are probably only for those who wish the empire had never ended, but the Regency wing now has modern bathrooms (double b & b from £47).
For more sophistication, stay at one of Colombo’s new boutique hotels. The Park Street Hotel is a quietly swish conversion of a colonial bungalow (www.taruvillas.com; double b & b from about £140). Casa Colombo packs bold contemporary design into a Moorish palace. The décor is too funky for its shirt, but the MacBook, iPod and personal butler standard to each room make for a cosseting stay (www.casacolombo.com; double b & b from £180).
Where to eat and drink
England fans congregate at Clancy’s, the bar of the Colombo Cricket Club. Bayleaf, an Italian restaurant with a large garden, is also within walking distance of the SSC (79 Gregory’s Road; 011 535 9653). The Cricket Club Café (34 Queens Road; 011 250 1384) is highly themed, with Bradman’s burger and lots of memorabilia on the menu.
The Gallery Café (2 Alfred House Road, 011 258 2162) has great fusion food and, as the former office of the celebrated architect Geoffrey Bawa, even better style; dinner and drinks from £20 a head.
Beach Wadiya serves simple seafood right on the sands. It’s barefoot-relaxed, but you need to book (2 Station Avenue, 011 258 8568).
Diversions
Cricket widows should be consoled by Colombo’s shops. Paradise Road (next to the Gallery Café) sells chic contemporary homewares at prices so tempting you may want to ask about shipping; at Barefoot (706 Galle Road), vibrant, hand-loomed textiles are fashioned into everything from clothes to toys; and Odel (5 Alexandra Place) sells clothes made locally for Western labels, but without Western price-labels.
Galle: Third Test, December 18-22
Dangling into the Indian Ocean like a chunky jewel, Galle Fort is both historic and increasingly hip, as more and more of its 17th-century Dutch merchants’ houses are turned into hotels, villas and shops. Happily, it remains a living, working town and hasn’t become a museum.
The ground
The stadium should be rebuilt in time for the Test, but it’s really only the pitch that is vital: the game can be seen from the ramparts. “It’s like the carnival comes to town - it’s fabulous,” says Olivia Richli, manager of Amangalla, the Fort’s most sumptuous hotel. “There’s a party atmosphere on the ramparts and everyone gets very, very red.” Hats and sunscreen essential.
Where to stay
The teams stay at the Lighthouse, a late Bawa masterpiece that stands dramatically on a headland a mile from the Fort. Two freshwater pools and a superb spa draw non-residents, as does the sunset over the ocean (www.jetwinghotels.com; double b & b from £85).
Galle’s clutch of boutique hotels - Amangalla and the Galle Fort Hotel inside the ramparts, the Sun House and Dutch House in the new town - are fully booked during the cricket, but will be open to diners and drinkers. Tamarind Hill, a colonial mansion near the Lighthouse, should be open by December (www.taruvillas.com, double b & b from about £110).
There are plenty of cheaper options along the coast, such as Sun and Sand and Thambapanni Retreat in Unawatuna, and Amaya Reef and Cinnamon Gardens in Hikkaduwa.
Where to eat and drink
The best spots for sundowners are the Lighthouse, the Rampart Hotel in the Fort and the Ladyhill (Upper Dickson Road). Dine at the Galle Fort Hotel (091 223 2870), which has terrific pan-Asian food, or the Sun House (091 438 0275), where there’ll be a barbecue for up to 40 in the courtyard and a plasma screen in Dick’s Bar (free tuk-tuk shuttle from the ground). The bars - and beaches - of Unawatuna and Hikkaduwa will reliably rock into the night.
Diversions
There’s so much to see and do around Galle that even a cricket tragic could be tempted to miss a few overs. Wander round the Fort, taking in the Dutch church, temple, mosque, bastions and some surprisingly good shopping (find Barefoot, Elephant Walk, Mimimango and several jewellers on and around Church Street).
Surf at Hikkaduwa, dive at Unawatuna or head into the hinterland to Sinharaja rainforest, Samakanda, a visionary ecological project (www.samakanda.org), or Handunugoda Tea Estate (091 228 6364) which produces some of the world’s finest white tea.
# Red Dot Tours (0113 815 0864 or 01937 842846, www.reddottours.com) is the official agent for the England cricket tour. The company can book all the hotels mentioned above. Its packages are especially good value: Kandy Test, including return flights, eight nights’ b & b, airport and stadium transfers, tickets to all five days of the Test, from £905 per person, based on two sharing. Colombo and Galle Tests, with flights, transfers, match tickets and 16 nights’ b & b, from £940pp. Red Dot is also putting on events for supporters during each Test.
Narigama, Hikkaduwa is one of the most popular beach destinations in the world. Since the tourism boom in the seventies, Hikkaduwa leads its way from the front to attract a major portion of Lanka’s tourist arrivals. After almost three decades, the popularity for this place never changed.
