Ulpotha

As part of Britta's research into rural electrification she had to visit a remote village which has a solar water pump. There wasn't anywhere in the village for us to stay (hotels/guesthouses etc) but a few kilometers away from the village was an exclusive yoga retreat called Ulpotha. One of the people who helped supply the solar pump for the village happened to be friends with one of the owners of Ulpotha, so we were fortunate enough to be able to stay there for a week while Britta did her research. The usual price to stay there would be in the region of $180 a day...

As far as I understand it, Ulpotha was bought by three friends about 15 years ago (two Sri Lankans and and Englishman) when it was an abandoned coconut plantation. They turned it into what it is today; a sort of traditional Sri Lankan village. It's surrounded by steep rocky hills and has it's own lake for irrigating the  rice paddy fields, where they grow all their own (extremely healthy) red rice. There are local people who live there all year round (it is their home) but for several months a year there are also (predominantly) westerners who come to stay and do Yoga/receive Ayurvedic treatments/massages etc. Accommodation is in traditional houses made from mud and cow poo, with thatched palm roofs. No walls or doors, just a mosquito net to protect you from the jungle at night, so if you're not big on insects, or snakes, or iguanas, or monkeys...probably not the place for you. 

There's no electricity at Ulpotha, which means no internet or cold drinks, but actually adds to its charm. Oil lanterns line the paths around the place and your hut at night. We arrived for the last week in the season. It was the last week in the season because as of now it's just too hot for most westerners to be sitting around in the jungle with out any air conditioning. And it was indeed really hot! 

Not being particularly into Yoga, or Ayurvedic treatments for that matter, and with lack of internet or phone signal I was concerned I might run out of things to occupy myself over the course of a week, but after a few days your brain seems to re-program itself to life at Ulpotha; lots of lounging around interspersed with lots of ambling around to find another spot to do some more lounging... 

I did take a few pictures though, and me and Noah went on lots of bike rides (with him sitting on the handle bars). The bike rides were great as it was harvesting time for in the rice fields which meant photo fodder for me and the occasional tractor and stuff for Noah to get all excited about. We also found a shop with a fridge...oh heaven! 

Here's some of the pictures I took; 

Our house....

Our cupboard, complete with resident bat.

Noah's new fiend Roshan

The view from our hut, over the Rice paddy fields

The main path through the village, leading to the main house, where food is served.

Irrigation stream running through the village

Jungle

Courtyard with well, at the main house. 

Morning Yoga class, lead by yoga master Christoph. 

Evening meal...rice and curry (very nice, very healthy)

Bandara; in his kitchen, with about 5 wood burning stoves behind him

Nalaka's tea and snack house.

Two kettles boiling with morning tea. (No coffee though!)

The shower...cold (which is just what you need in that heat)

Hot water for a hot 'bucket bath, if you need it. 

One evening everyone in the village arrived to take part in a 'Puja'; a celebration/ritual to mark the first  rice harvest. Although Sri Lanka is predominantly Buddhist and Hindu this traditional village ritual predates all that. It's more shamanic in it's nature, rather than religious, with lots of drumming and singing.  

As the main man makes an offering he is shaking, and his legs keep giving up under his weight; he has to be held up by the man behind.  For a while he went into a trance...It went on until about 2 or 3 in the morning. I couldn't stay up for it all, but could hear it in a kind of half sleep from my hut, mixing with the night sounds of the jungle...all quite primal! 

Laying a new floor in one of the huts, using the traditional method of mixing mud/cow poo and water. 

Two km away, on one of our bike rides, me and Noah discovered a shop with a fridge...cold coca cola/chocolate milk!  So I did their family portrait while I was there...

Also while on bike rides, I did some portraits of the men and women working in the paddy fields.  I took Noah along with me as my assistant...he was not particularly helpful to be honest, but a 3 yr old holding the flash while I took pictures was something of an ice breaker. I felt a bit like PH Emerson in the Norfolk broads (though I bet he didn't have a 3yr old assistant!)

All around Ulpotha...flower arrangements, Sri Lankan style! 

Britta doing some well earned lounging after a day doing interviews with people.