Ratnapura, locally known as the city of gems, is based at the foot of Adam’s Peak, a conical mountain located in central Sri Lanka. It was nearing the end of our 10 day tour of the island and a visit to a gem mine was on the schedule. I was determined to leave Sri Lanka with an exotic Ceylon jewel so awoke filled with excitement at the prospect.
The guidebook promoted Sri Lanka as one of the top five gem-bearing nations with Ratnapura being the traditional centre for the country’s trade. The deep blue sapphire of Princess Diana’s engagement ring which was reputed to come from Ratnapura, was an added attraction.
More than just coming away with an ancient gem though, I was hoping to see, and maybe climb into, one of the pits themselves which were fascinatingly simple works of construction up to 100ft deep.
As our guide drove across a field, a sparsely clad, grimy looking group of men glanced over at us. They swarmed around keen to show off their hand-dug mine and rustic-looking gems. They happily allowed me to enter from the top of the mine and climb down into the depth of the earth. The bamboo-stick steps that I placed my feet on to descend felt strong, and the rubbery flexible carved wood with which the mine was built felt stable. However, it looked like a very long way down. Not far in and I just posed for a photo before clambering out of the hot, wet and dirty mine onto the earth’s bright surface, feeling sweaty and grubby. How did these men do this all day, every day? Yet, they looked so cheerful.
As I clambered over and out of the pit entrance, the team of miners gathered again hoping to sell their rough, undressed, uncut and unpolished gems. The jewels looked sadly unimpressive. What was impressive though was that, in Ratnapura, all the mining work is done in teams and everyone gets a share of the value of their finds.
Buying stones here is said to be a risky business unless you have expert knowledge or advice. I therefore decided to make my purchase of a blue sapphire pendant set in 22k gold at the gem factory in Ratnapura town. It had been cut, dressed and beautifully polished and I was then a proud owner of an ancient Sri Lankan gem!
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[…] revisit and show Gill a working gem mine as I’d had such a memorable visit to one in 2013. Click here for link to previous gem mine blog. On the way to our next resting place we were lucky to see the […]
[…] So, having completed Leg 1, (in my head, and now electronically), it may be time for a little rest! Leg 1 in real life will have been a challenge with lots of jungle trekking including probably several very unpleasant experiences, like leeches and snakes, amongst all the fabulous happenings too. I’ll hopefully have seen the purple-faced langur monkey, the elusive leopard and maybe even an elephant. I also like to think I’ll be the owner of a Sri Lankan gem, personally hand-mined by me this time, down a Ratnapura mine. This is to replace the sapphire I bought back in 2013 which had been mined in Ratnapura but which I regrettably lost down a plug hole! This is what happened on my last gem mine experience. […]
[…] gem mines. I visited one of these seven years ago on my first trip to Sri Lanka and wrote about it: http://www.marciatrekssrilanka.com/2020/10/13/a-memorable-trip-to-a-gem-mine-in-sri-lanka-from-grott… I look forward to descending one of those mines again and this time finding a real gem […]