Blogs from Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 16

One of those 'Sri Lanka' stories... Wandering around in a buddhist monastery, in the middle of the woods somewhere between Ambalangoda and Kandy... an old monk calls me to come over to him. His teeth had already found their way out of his mouth, his face was full of wrinkles and his orange clothes could have needed some washing... He asks me to send him a razor knive from Germany as soon as I am back ("German quality is the best"). I try to explain that I don't go back to Germany, I will head towards India. He doesn't understand (doesn't want to) and keeps on chewing on whatever it is (later on I found out that it's a kind of root that old people in Sri Lanka love to chew, for whatever reason). Suddenly, he ... read more

The departure from London Heathrow to Colombo was made all the more pleasurable in the company of another independent traveller, Ilona, latterly of Oxford but hailing originally from Poland. Her own stay in Sri Lanka was to be remarkably brief - just three hours, enough time to see a couple of palm trees near the airport and feel the intense local heat until boarding her onward flight to Delhi and beyond. Her convivial company removed from my mind almost completely the discomfort thrust upon me, a tall gentleman, who had requested from the airline two months prior an exit seat with sufficient legroom for both journeys, but who’d been let down and squashed unceremoniously between two solid armrests and with legs hunched, in the middle of the plane somewhere. A bit like a grasshopper folding himself ... read more

Ok, so the first half of the flight to KL. was easy I pretty much slept the entire trip mind you a few beers at the airport is bound to help. Now I had a 7 hour stop over at KL before my next flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and after wandering around the airport for an hour or so I was getting a little restless, so what do you do…….buy your way into one of the travel lounges, brilliant. So after parting with a little rigit I found myself sipping on endless supplies of beer, food, tv and the internet.- not really roughing it by any means. So the Flight to Sri Lanka. I think I shit myself before even hitting Asia. Not because of bad food or anything, literally because the flight was that ... read more

Unfortunately I was delayed a week from starting at the resource centre, due to falling victim to a scam and numerous trips to Colombo to ensure I got my money back. The police were very supportive (even refusing a bribe to drop my case) and they all know me up there now. I finally got to visit the centre last Friday and attended the foundation laying ceremony for the building of a new two storey facility last Sunday. It was blessed by a couple of monks and attended by the founder Dr Jayasena and his wife (his daughter is a doctor currently working in Hartlepool!). I’ve discovered they have lots of problems with the PCs used for computer studies due to the humidity, sea-salt and the sheer age of this rag-bag of donated machines. I’m going ... read more

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 ... read more