A Gem of an Island

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Hello all,

Sorry it's been a while since my last posting, I've been too preoccupied with Sri Lanka to sit still long enough to write a blog!

First off, Sri Lanka is hands down superior to India. The people are friendly, the food is superb, and the country as a whole actually values it's image as a tourist friendly land. Just sitting in a restaurant or passing time in a train station, people will just come by and start up a conversation............with no hidden agenda..........to just see who you are and find out whether you are enjoying your holiday. This is mind-boggling compared to the touts in India that are always trying to make a buck off of a tourist.
AND THE FOOD IS GREAT! It is like ingesting a fire-ball. Everything comes coated in chilies and spices. The seafood is so sooooo good that I have a hard time ordering anything else!

Next time I'll spend a month in Sri Lanka and skip India all together!


So, for the geologist contingent that may or may not be following these blogs, here is the cream of the crop. I've spent half of my time on this island in various gem shops and have nearly bought the whole island's supply of friggin stones! Just kidding......I have bought a lot though. Let's see......I've got a couple cornflower blue sapphires, a couple blood-red rubies, a bi-color sapphire (yellow and blue), a emerald-cut sapphire pair, a beautiful 8 carat hessonite garnet and several smaller ones to boot, a pretty green tsavorite, a lovely color change garnet (green and yellow), 8 or 9 star sapphires, a star spinel, a cat's eye chyrsoberyl, some totally awesome cat's eye sillimanites, and about 200 carat's worth of corundum crystal specimens! If I could own land in Sri Lanka I'd stay and buy a couple mining claims!

Enjoy the pic's, I'll see everyone next week.

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