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Blogs from Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 4
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June 7th 2006
The next day we headed to Kandy - the centre of the island, which used to be the capital. It is home to a lot of Sri Lanka's cultural history, and also the Temple of the Tooth (Dalada Maligawa). On the way to Kandy, we stopped at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. Elsie absolutely adores elephants, so she was loving it. We watched the elephants bathing and playing. This orphanage has about 70 or so elephants. ... read more
SINHALA & TAMIL NEW YEAR
Published: May 27th 2006Asia » Sri Lanka » Sabaragamuwa Province » Adam's Peak
May 27th 2006
SINHALA & TAMIL NEW YEAR Religious festivals in Sri Lanka converge around the full moon period in April. Christians celebrate Easter, Muslims celebrate the Holy Prophet’s Birthday, Buddhists celebrate Bak Full Moon Poya Day, together with Sinhala and Tamil New Year Day celebrations. The country slows down and the temperature heats up as the nation enters the summer holiday period. Things don’t really kick back into life until after May Day and Wesak festival of light celebrations in mid May. Children’s Sinhalese New Years Celebrations. Activities include a pillow fight on a high beam, a slicked up coconut tree climb, clay pot bashing while blind folded, and a marathon (which saw many children collapsing - very dramatically). Other interesting traditions were milk boiling; sweet making and swinging while singing folk tunes (see pictures). Miriam got to ... read more
Dalhouse to Adams Peak
Published: June 18th 2006Asia » Sri Lanka » Sabaragamuwa Province » Adam's Peak
April 27th 2006
Beep Beep - Beep Beep - it's 3am, only about 2 and half hours after getting to bed, BEEP BEEP - BEEP BEEP, ouch. The reason for the ludicrously early rise from our slumber is of course Adams Peak - the holiest mountain and largest pilgrimage in Sri Lanka - this is apparently where Adam (as in Adam and Eve), first stepped when he left heaven and they have a footprint to prove it - although it's always covered up so who knows...? Regardless how could we say no so we dragged ourselves out of bed and headed off under the moon and stars to the summit - up some 5200+ steps no less. The start of the trek is surrounded by stalls 24 hours a day selling supplies, mainly cookies and other energy biscuits and ... read more
Stairway to Heaven !!!
Published: February 11th 2006Asia » Sri Lanka » Sabaragamuwa Province » Adam's Peak
January 24th 2006
So…Adam’s peak. The guide books describe it as a stunning climb up a pilgrims mountain (apparently it’s the place where Buddha first stepped on earth). We decided to give it a go…sounded like fun. Oh boy ! Talk about hard work !! It turns out Adam’s peak is a 2,500 meter tall perfect 45 degree mountain peak. The nice people of Sri Lanka have built steps all the way up…but that basically means a stiff climb up over a vertical kilometer…stairway to hell more like !! Oh..and just to cap it, it turns out the best thing is to see sunrise - so that means a 3am start. Perfect. Anyway…it was great fun (once complete) and the sunrise and views are simply stunning.. hopefully from the pictures you can see how cone perfect the peak is ... read more
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January 9th 2006
THE ELEPHANT ORPHANAGE AT PINNAWELA Although January 9 was technically a free day, everyone chose to go to this popular tourist attraction, and the bus and driver were provided for us to make the long trip there and back. Nice. The Elephant Orphanage is much more than just a tourist attraction; it is also a living example of the Buddhist reverence for life to provide life-long care for orphaned and disabled elephants. And the care they receive is fantastic. Fresh food, browsing areas, mahouts to care for them, and twice a day a trip to the river for a nice water bath and a roll in the mud. It is the daily walk and river bath that is mostly appealing to tourists. The procession that we saw had about 70 elephants: bulls, cows, and many babies. ... read more
Sinharaja rainforest, Sri Lanka
Published: September 6th 2008Asia » Sri Lanka » Sabaragamuwa Province » Sinharaja Forest Reserve
December 4th 2005
In a moment I was racing away from Unawatuna and the south coast, very soon into country roads passing by quaint homes with flowering gardens surrounded on either side of the road by dense, fresh green. Plants, palms and trees grow everywhere. After 20km or so, perhaps less, our path began to rise and the views changed as we passed by tea plantations. I didn’t think this area was known as the tea country. Where there was not hills of rising, layered pruned tea there were flat areas of rice fields but mainly just tea growing wild everywhere. The landscape was incredibly green, abundant, lush and tropical. I was so excited and felt so carefree watching a new world whiz by. It was a great way to travel being so close to the landscape I was ... read more
