Blogs from Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 12

In Colombo now and off to find our first Sri Lanka-couchsurfer Got a mobile phone number with Dialog, which I'd heard was supposed to be the best, and also turned out to be the most popular, if you count the number of Dialog shops available - it only cost 110 rupees (100 for the card, 10 for two passport copies), but it wouldn't be activated until the next day. I also bought 200 rupees worth of talking time, and that easily lasted the whole trip. Definitely worth buying! So good to have. But for that moment, the card still wasn't activated, so we had to use a phone box to call Yashasvin, our new host. That was rather cheap too, the call cost about 15 rupees. We had to take two buses, the 103 to Borella, ... read more

Well, now that we've finally got our bags and visa's sorted, we thought it might be about time to write about some of the actual cultural experiences we've had. Chilling out at the guesthouse, and oasis of calm in chaotic Colombo, it's given us a chance to put our heads about the parapet and reflect on the experiences we've had so far and to look forward to some of the things we're going to do in Sri Lanka. We've barely met a Westerner since we've been here! Aside from Tom the sweaty sock who has had similar fun obtaining an Indian visa, we've been surrounded by genuine, down to earth Lankans; Sunil, the Ferrari-driving cabbie with his home-made religion, Somasasa, the enthusiastic chef with his unquestionable desire to seal his new found friendship with an entire ... read more

Today was the last day of our trip to Sri Lanka. Since our Bhante (Buddhist teacher cum organiser of this trip) went to Chennai, India, early in the morning, the rest of us decided to take things slowly today. After waking up at 8am and having a slow breakfast, we packed our luggage and waited for our bus to take us to downtown Colombo for some shopping. However, due to some misunderstanding, the bus arrived very late. (We waited for more than 1 hour...) Nevertheless, we still had a couple of hours to spare, so we went to Manning Market (in the Pettah district, Colombo) for some shopping. Manning Market is basically a huge outdoor market selling all kinds of vegetables, fruits and any organic produces that are edible... Due to the ridiculously low prices, most ... read more

One fine day in May, my mum came back from her weekly Buddhist lecture and asked me whether I was interested to go to Sri Lanka. As a travel-addict, I said "why not?". Sri Lanka is a great travel destination (with plenty of beaches and archeological sites) but not many people go there because of the civil war and the damages caused by the 2004 tsunami. Now that the civil war has just ended and the tsunami is a fading memory, there is no better time than now to visit Sri Lanka (before everyone else realises it and flocks there too). What makes this trip more interesting is that the trip was organised by Mahakaruna Buddhist Society (where my mum has her weekly Buddhist lectures) to celebrate the Poson full moon dansala (a festival to commemorate ... read more

After a very early start we set off for a bumpy return to Colombo - both boys were sick en route so they will take tablets henceforth. We were delighted to find a clean and welcoming hotel in Mount Lavinia. We were all shattered but with only 15 minutes until the wedding (of an old school friend from Stourbridge) just had quick showers and ignored the lure of our beds. We got a 3 wheeler to the truly spectacular Mount Lavinia Hotel only to discover there was no wedding there. Panic was staved off when they were kind enough to let us use the internet there and we retrieved the online invitation and headed off to Mount Lavinia HOUSE. At least the boys were enjoying the Tuk-tuk rides. Nicky was met by Kannan and Sweta who ... read more