Blogs from Matara, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, Asia

I feel well rested today; I have had a good nights sleep! I got up at about 8am to have a coffee and a catch up with Ella. I was going to say, before the start of the day, but that’s not quite true. It is before the start of my day, but Ella was up and about at 5:30, doing jobs! The first person I actually saw this morning was Creshanta, she is one of the cooks at Basecamp. She brought Ella and I white lotus flowers. The white lotus flowers are said to represent a state of spiritual perfection and total mental purification. Ella explained to me that it is considered an honour to be given the flowers. The only other time that she would normally give flowers is when she takes them to ... read more

I had a really good nights sleep last night, which really helps to set you up for a good day ahead. I was up, however and sorted by 9:15! Although I should point out, everyone else at Basecamp was at the morning yoga class at 8:30! I may consider joining in the early evening class at some point. That is a Yin Yoga class. It is a slower, pre relaxing form of yoga. …. Maybe! At 9:30, the class was completed, and the breakfast table was laid. The menu is a vegan menu. I’m enjoying the food, but I rarely know exactly what I am eating! The variations of hummus, the peanut butter, and the chocolate spread are also nice. They are all homemade, and taste much better than their mass produced counterparts! Breakfast is always ... read more

Nase flakani v Mirisse shrnu uz do jediného clanku, vic si to stejne nezaslouzi. Hlavnim poznatkem bylo, ze Mirissa automaticky neznamena dobre počasí. Z tech 5 dni jsme videli slunicko asi 3 hodiny, jinak bylo pod mrakem a relativne často sprchlo nejake to stesticko. Me to tak uplne nevadilo, protože jako spravny Cech jsem do more každý den vlezl, more bylo krasne teple, takze jsem byl vlastne spokojeny, ze nemusim resit nejake mazani a pripalovani. Jeli jsme se podivat na velryby (za 6000 rupii i s odvozem), coz bylo trochu zklamani. Je to totiž docela loterie, na kterem miste se pan Vel Ryba rozhodne nadechnout. Mozna to urcuje podle toho, kdo mu kolik zaplati planktonu, ale mozna nam to delal naschval. Standardni prubeh je totiž takovy, ze clovek 5 minut kouka na prazdne more, pak se ... read more

Geo: 5.94354, 80.4589... read more

So left Ella early morning thinking there would be less people on the bus. At least 30 people waiting and only one bus an hour out of there! Most people go in via train but not really an ample outlet. So standing on the bus for an hour, whizzing round crazy bends until finally we reached the plateau. Got off at Thanamalwela Junction, onto another bus heading towards Colombo cross-country, to the entrance to Uda Walawe National Park. Were aiming to get there midday-ish so we could go into the park up until dusk, but arrived before 11am so just had a snack and decided to go in, leaving plenty of time to reach the coast afterwards. 3500 rs for a jeep plus driver and just under 6000 rs to both enter the park. Compared to ... read more