Sir Lanka I Love Herbs Tour - March 2018

	A surprise henna tattoo, beautiful sun set over the Indian Ocean at the iconic Galle Face Hotel, the tunes of bag piper and it's only Day 1.
	The I Love Herbs Sri Lanka excursion hit the yoga jackpot with the mischievous, irreverent and playful Mika de Brito. An indomitable yoga teacher and skilled musician, he relates equally to experts and novices. No doubt this is through an ancient wisdom he has learnt from many years studying with Indian swamis and Brazilian shamans.
	Traditional Healer, Dr Srilal Mudunkothge embodies the spirit of traditional herbal medicine. He is Ulpotha’s resident Ayurveda physician who is carrying on a rare heritage on the tradition of his illustrious teachers. Dr Srilal’s unique practice of indigenous medicine sees him treating not only Ulpotha’s guests but offering a free clinic, where he diagnoses and dispenses free medicines, to more than 100 local villagers each week. This is the way traditional Ayurveda was practised where instead of paying cash patients would make a symbolic offering of betel leaves at the time of consultation and offer their services in kind.
	Therapy - The I Love Herbs Sri Lanka excursioners undertook the five day Ashinsanaya (Benediction) package with Dr Srilal. During our consultation we were told what our body type, or dosha, was (a combination of vata, pitta or kapha). The primary aim of Ayurveda is to balance the body’s energies and thus restore health.
	Sri Lanka’s traditional medical system has more than 3000 years of tested and demonstrated efficacy. It is a way of life and is generally the first approach for disease control by locals. Here tradition is lived. Dr Srilal’s wife, Dr A.H Shirani Gunawardana, is also an Ayurveda doctor who works at the Provincial Ayurveda Hospital of Anuradhapura which, incredibly, is a free service run by the government. It is the largest Ayurveda hospital in the northern province of Sri Lanka.
	After we visited the Ayurveda Hospital in the ancient city of Anuradhapura it would have been remiss of a bouquet of herbalists not to visit Sri Maha Bodhi, the oldest living human planted tree in the world with a known planting date (288 BC). It has been tended by an uninterrupted succession of guardians for more than 2000 years. In the surrounding area is the oldest dagoba (brick stupa) in Sri Lanka, Ruwanwelisaya (the white one built in 140BC and which has been restored), which was considered to be an icon of architectural glory in ancient Sri Lanka. There’s also the Jethawanaramaya dagoba which is the largest stupa in Sri Lanka and the world (originally 122 meters tall) built by a king in 271-303AD.
	Tantilising the taste buds - Ulpotha is first and foremost an “oasis of nature”. It is a self-sustaining, bio-diverse organic farm that works with nature. In order to protect the natural environment water buffaloes are used in place of tractors to plough the fields and thresh the rare varieties of high nutrient heritage red rice. Rice, vegetables, fruit, timber trees and medicinal plants are grown in the garden and no artificial fertilisers or pesticides are used, hence all the butterflies. Instead crops are protected from bugs and pests using traditional and biological methods such as powdered neem seeds and sap from jak fruit. So imagine the delicious feast of food, mostly curries, using recipes handed down by generations
	Elegant Simplicity - Because there is no power or mod cons at Ulpotha you become in tune with the cycles of nature. The soft light of dusk and dawn eases you into the transition of night and day. At night Ulpotha is like it’s own galaxy. Paths and accommodation are illuminated by lamps and lanterns and the meals are eaten communally in this flickering, romantic light. It’s like an intimate dinner party every night where you can lounge and converse with the myriad of spellbinding people from all over the globe.
	Grass Roots - Basking in the afterglow of Ulpotha the I Love Herbs Sri Lanka excursioners headed back to Colombo to visit Seth Medura (Blessing House), an Ayurveda medicine manufacturing facility. Seth Medura has long and humble beginnings having been run by the same distinguished Ayurveda family for four generations. The son of a well known Ayurveda physician, Dr M.M Chandresena is himself a qualified specialist Ayurveda physician. In a similar vein to The Herbal Extract Company, Dr Chandresena has built up the facility over his lifetime with his wife and daughter, Pamodani Marasinghe, who is now heading research and development for the company.
	State of the Art - For the final day of the I Love Herbs Sri Lanka excursion we were given lunch and a grand tour of the recently completed oceanfront property Vingyana at Reefs, a 5-star, integrative medical and wellness centre on the outskirts of Colombo. This impressive facility offers treatment plans for the management of cancer, diabetes and clinical detox combining allopathy, naturopathy, homeopathy, Ayurveda and Chinese medicine.
Here are the intrepid I Love Herbs Sri Lanka excursion crew after a week in the jungle as they depart Ulpotha.