Blogs from Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 3

3 avril Mon séjour chez les Tamouls se termine aujourd'hui. J'ai mon billet de train de nuit en main pour la grande descente vers Colombo. "Sleeperett" style. Je m'attend à une couchette, du Mozart et un major d'homme qui tamisera la lumière en me demandant: "Should i ask for a lady for foot massage môôôôsieur?" Et non. Rien de tout ça finalement. J'entre en réalité dans un wagon pourri, en prenant place sur un banc plastifié de cellophane qui se crinque et se décrinque légèrement, en claquant saccadé comme une chaise longue de secours qu'on laisse au chalet. Alors que je suis assis, on me chatouille soudainement les orteils. Arg. Une belle blatte nomade bien grasse m'a frôlé le pied. Elle se faufile maintenant sous le banc devant moi. Arg. Je prend alors un de mes ... read more

In Pinnawala, on the outskirts of the town of Kegalla, Sri Lanka, there are moments along the day when it is better to be careful going out to walk on the streets. No problems with crime or the sun burns. No more than elsewhere. Traffic is not particularly aggressive. But it is the time when the elephants go to bathe in the nearby Maya Oya River. In 1975, the Sinhalese Wildlife Department decided to open a space where orphan baby elephants, coming from the jungle and from the Natural Parks of Yala, Bundala and Udawalawe were welcomed and carefully breed. Just on the first year six small proboscis, the two males Vijaya and Neela and females Kumari, Anusha, Mathali and Komali, already lived in the newly established orphanage. Initially the orphanage had several locations, including the ... read more

Hello dear readers, Well it's another day in paradise for me lol. Im had a restful nights sleep drifting off in my camp bed to the to the sounds of crickets, frogs chatting to each other and other local wildlife noises. All vet peaceful and not a car horn to be heard ahhhhhh! So I got up had a shower in the shower block with the sun shining down and then had brekkie. Garlic sausage and fried eggs and toast. A lovely cup,of Sri Lankan tea and a plate of fruit. The sweetest small bananas inhave ever tasted and juicy fresh pineapple. Not so keen on the water melon and guava though. So after breakfast I took to the water to go kayaking. We, me and my two companions from the Boarderlands team, were taken by ... read more

I arrive in Tissamaharama (shortened to Tissa henceforth for obvious reasons) after two stinky, crammed local bus rides. A few tuk tuks and guesthouse touts are already waiting for me. While I try my best to ignore them, one is particularly persistent. He follows me on a motorcycle, trying to steer me towards his (or his family's) guesthouse. "Where you stay, sir?" -"Oh, I can't tell you. It's a secret." "Why you say that? I'm honest." -"Well, you have a guesthouse as well, so you're competition." "Yes, but I just ask you, no problem. Which guesthouse?" -"*blah*" "Oh, ok. Actually, I know the place. The father of the owner died last week. They have funeral there tonight. My family and me, we're going to pay our respects. I don't think it's open for business at the ... read more

Against the doctors orders, I headed out on the road for Tangalle on Saturday morning. My energy level was good, but I just had this cough that just wouldn't not go away... At least, I had a good rest day behind me and a good cocktail of drugs to try and put this to rest. :-) On our way out of Galle, we stopped at an HSBC ATM to get some cash and to my pleasure the bills came out in 2,000 Rs (around $16 CAD) notes rather than the usual 5,000 Rs notes. This is an issue, because no one in this country has change! It is so bad I have to hide my small dollar bills (100s and 50s) when I pay for something, as the person I am transacting with will always ask ... read more