Hiriwadunne Village Tour

Next we went on a village tour in Hiriwadunne. It is a small village that has a lot of traditions and culture of rural Sri Lanka. First, we went on a bullock cart ride through the rice paddies. We also so the tree houses that the farmer sleeps in to help keep animals out of the crops. The male cows have a big hump on their back that helps yoke them together to pull the cart. The driver walks beside them giving them calls and commands. Next we went on a catamaran boat ride through the lake. There were saw fish (and villagers fishing with their stick poles), lots of birds, and beautiful views of Sigiriya and Pidurangala rocks. Our boatmen made us hats out of lily pads! Then we had lunch at a villagers house. We ate rice and curry on banana leaves with our hands. Then she showed us how she to make a roof out of coconut leaves and how to use kulla and mirisgala to separate rice seeds from the husks and straw. This was a true farm to table culinary experience. We heard music as we were finishing up that sounded like an ice cream truck, but it actually was a tuk tuk selling bread! We got to take our first tuk tuk ride to our next stop.