Blogs from Sri Lanka, Asia - page 7

The next day we moved onto Sigiriya, with a stop to visit the cave temples at Dambulla on the way. It's a bit of a slog going up, especially because it was so hot, but the view from the top was well worth the trip even before going into the rock caves. There are a huge number of buddhas in these five caves, and garishly bright cave paintings still cover most of the walls. A king was dethroned and took refuge here, and when he returned to power he decorated teh caves and made them into a sacred place. It is quite spectacular, and there were goats. I don't know why, but I think goats are really cool animals. On the way down, Ashley wanted to get a picture of me and a monkey, and trying ... read more

After spending a day recovering in Mount Lavinia, just south of Colombo, we ventured back into town to catch a train to Galle. Whatever train schedule I had looked up was wrong, and we decided to take a train to Anuradapura instead. It was the most rickety train I have ever been on, but it gave us a sense of people's agriculturally-focused lives outside the city. Most farms appear to be small and family-owned, and there are a lot of different crops (at least in this area). Unlike in most developing countries, Sri Lanka's populations have not flocked to the city; only 25% of the population lives in major urban centres. We arrived in Anuradapura at 9pm or so, and managed to find a decent hotel a little beyond our price range, but haggled them down ... read more

It hasn't taken long to slip back into tropical mode. Our three days in Negombo, a popular seaside town 30km north of Colombo, has provided our introduction to Sri Lanka. Our accommodation has great ambience - a 200 year old Dutch-style colonial villa set right on the beach front in a tropical garden with lots of interesting corners. The Swiss owner, Jerry, has a local reputation as a foodie and we have enjoyed some great meals. The locals are overwhelmingly friendly, particularly when they realise we are Australian. Cricket is the passion here and there are two regular matches of primary age children and teenagers on the beach right outside our guesthouse, every morning and afternoon. We spent Friday in Colombo, joining with the Aussie cricket tragics at the opening day of the 3rd Test. A ... read more

You want to have a beach vacation. It must coincide with the New Year s Eve. It must also be cheap. Heaped with such constraints, I set out to plan a trip for us – Maya and me. Usually, when I have such difficult constraints to satisfy, I usually bank on a customized trip organizer to tide me through the mess. So far I have found www.nivalink.com to be the most reliable when you are planning something on a tight budget, yet keen on not missing out on any of the fun. Initial discussion brought up several popular names, like Thailand, Malaysia, Goa, Maldives. But end of December is the worst time to plan a trip to any of these places because of their popularity. Then it struck us why not Srilanka. Till 2009, Srilanka was ... read more

Our last week absolutely flew by, especially as we only had 3 days of volunteering to do! We spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday doing the usual but we didn’t have to tank clean as the sea was too rough to pump the water from. Saying goodby to our classes was sad as it has been fun to teach them even if they have been a bit mischievious at times. We started the weekend early as Thursday was a poya day which meant we had the day off. On Thursday we headed to Mirissa beach for 2 nights which was idyllic and beautiful however the weather was not on our side as it rained most of the time we were there. On the way there we stopped at Hikkaduwa to do some souvenir shopping however everything was ... read more

Edellispäivänä Nuwara Eliyassa tosiaan kuultiin, että koneet Perthiin on ihan täynnä eikä tulla pääsemään. Harmittaa ihan sikana, kun oltiin ihan valmistauduttu siihen, että tämän rypemisen jälkeen pääsee oikeaan kaupunkiin. Haluais olla muutaman päivän yhdessä sellaisessa paikassa, jossa on tarpeeksi tekemistä ilman että pitää koko ajan olla menossa johonkin suuntaan, muttei pitkästy totaalisesti. Tuntuu, että koko ajan on joku tuputtamassa jotain ostettavaksi tai jonnekin lähtemistä. Voisko ihan vaan olla omassa rauhassa, hiljaa paikallaan ja katsella?!?!?Eikä olis pahitteeksi nähdä vaihteeksi jotain kaunista ja puhdasta... On tullut toivottua jopa Starbucksia paikalle, pelottavaa!(tämä siis vain ilmastoinnin ja wifin takia) On tämä maa tainnut sitten aika voimille ottaa. Ensimmäinen S:n paniikkireaktio tuli eilen lauantaina Nanu Oyan juna-asemall... read more