http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Sri Lanka , Hikkaduwa en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:27:45 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:27:45 UTC Ok so this update is overdue and as my father keeps reminding me I have a mother to worry Mum and Heather will be sufficiently delighted to know that not only do I now eat with my fingers but I also drink tap water and take regular bus journeys. Can't be all that bad I mean I've only been slightly ill and who would want to bomb Hikkaduwa anyway If anything it'd make the guidebook entry a l http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-346926.html A lot has been going on since the last update Got dropped off by Heather Stuart and Scott Ritchie Greig was busy on Saturday morning. The Galle road is the main artery for all traffic to the south making its way down the west coast and it was this road that we drove down on. The roads here never cease to amaze or terrify The psycotic bus drivers going at insane speeds are bad enough but http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-341644.html At the preschool for the past couple of weeks they have been practising for their end of term concert. They practice all morning everyday. Its good to practice but the concert isnrsquot until the first week of December They practice from 912 sometimes they stay later until 2.30pm Thatrsquos an immense amount of practice The songs are stuck in my head all day and donrsquot even kno http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-335135.html Claire arrived on Mondayhellipshe was supposed to get here at lunchtime but didnrsquot arrive until nearly midnight Her flight was delayed about four times and she was stuck in KuwaitOn Monday at the preschool we had an ldquoEnglish Dayrdquo. We did some activities typical to an English pre school and made cucumber sandwiches The little ones didnrsquot really like them that much A http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-331430.html I had to go to Colombo Sri Lankarsquos capital city on Thursday. My tourist visa was nearing the end so I had to go to the Department of Immigration for it renewing.Another expat Danny who lives in Hikka too also had to renew his so we went together. I met Danny outside Neelarsquos at 7am and we got the bus to Colombo. It takes about 2.53 hours no timetables here they just turn up w http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-328426.html Well I know itrsquos been longer than a week since my last update but Irsquom so busy with work and exploring Irsquove not got round to it Here it is though Irsquom learning more and more about the Singhalese people. They are so different to English people They seem so relaxed about everything itrsquos very much a Manana culture I suppose it has to be in hot countries or are th http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-324304.html Well my first week in Sri Lanka has been great its a great placegot here no problems with no delays which apparently is very rare when traveling to Sri Lanka so i was very lucky I met a random Indian man on the plane he got on at Male where the plane had stopped to refuel and to drop all the honeymooners off his name was Siddhartha and he said he was an investment banker. After about a f http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-320044.html Alright. Here I am in Hikkadewa finaly over my latest injury. It was my first day back in the water and we were havin a good session on some small waves that were slowly pickin up on the lazy leftin midigama when this french guy let go of his board in the white wash. Long story short I was duck divin the wave he was 3m ahead of me and 2m to the right when suddenly eyes closed under the wat http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-247104.html Hello from Sri Lanka Local news... Well I arrived on the afternoon of Sunday 3rd to discover that there had been a bomb blast just an hour before at the main Colombo train station killing 10 and injuring 100 as well as a smaller blast at a zoo in Colombo that day. That followed a bomb on a local bus in Dambulla on Saturday 2nd that I read about just before I left home and an incident near Yala http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-244067.html Hey...hello again Just checking the last time I wrote so I knew where I left off. I was in Hapitale last time I wrote. It's a beautiful place up there....scenery like you wouldn't believe and tea as far as the eye can see That is when it's not raining Luckily the day after I wrote teh skies cleared and it was a different place I think when I wrote the last entry you couldn't see 10 ft http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-243534.html So ya since new years I've not really done anything to exciting. Well I just mean the routine has been the same for the last month now. Shortly after new years I went to the south coast of srilanka visiting the villages of Midigama Weligama and Mirrissa on a 10day trip with a crew of us. Then soon after returning to Hikkadewa I relocated to Midigama where I stayed for the final two weeks of http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-241642.html The last most of you had heard from me was that I was planning on staying in Hikkadewa for xmas and new years. However after bein on the beach for a week I got restless and a few of us decided that we'd head inland for xmas instead and have an adventurous one rather then a beachstyle xmas. So the italians left before me to kandy while I waited around till my 45 custom made board bag was being http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-233000.html So it's been about twothree weeks since I last updated everyone but thats not always a bad thing. As this time I've just been really busy and havin a great time since I last wrote. After leaving Hampi I slowly started to feel better as my boddymind recovered from the exhausting india trip I put myself throughI was way way to ambitious and ended up nearly destroying the india section of the t http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-227782.html So my second time in Sri Lanka comes an end and I wonder what I have achieved and what the result will be. We had 3 students for computer class today and 2 of them were waiting for their English class afterwards. I hope that the 3 new computers will attract back the better students and that the teacher can start offering Web Page development as a new subject. I was unable to establish the internet http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-222832.html Once again I have been plagued by a problem in Sri Lanka. This time it is the squits and sickness and being ill in this climate sapped my energy and almost killed my enthusiasm. Thankfully the antibiotics are now working but the prescription I got from the hospital in Galle needed scrutiny and I finally followed the Lonely Planet guidebook recommendations on medication.The Rosie May charity grou http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-221213.html So almost exactly one year after my first adventure into voluntary work I have returned to the Child and Youth Development Centre as promised to see what effect my work had and what needs to be done next. I was hoping to return to a new computer classroom so that I could help fit it out. Unfortunately work on the new building stopped due to a dispute with the builder I believe that he spent a l http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-218507.html Well i have left India and feel all together very strange about it. I definantly did not have enough time to do and see everything that i wanted to see and even on my last night when i was in Madrass i was walking arounf this huge crazy city and was in some kind of amazment about the whole thingplace...then a tuk tuk nearly ran me over and i had to jump back into reality... i was watching the I http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-168711.html My time at the Child and Youth Development Centre came to an end with a fitting climax the end of year Preschool concert. The little ones had been practicing since I had started at the centre so it was nice to finally see them in their costumes. The stage preparations had gone on long into the night but it was great to see everybody turn out for this big event including the founders Dr Jayas http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-108372.html I took my first full English lesson last Friday and just about kept the little darlingrsquos engaged for the full hour. We tried to learn a song although they are trained to shout in a Victorian style and then we played bingo on cards I made from a cutup calendar. I plan to take them for a final lesson next Friday and hopefully they will see that learning can actually be fun. After my first f http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-106716.html With Colombo done and dusted I decided to head down the south west coast to Hikkaduwa a beach town known for its white beaches surfing and chilled back lifestyle and surely enough it has not disappointed. Therersquos not to much to do here other than swim drink and eat. Not bad really I actually feel like Irsquom no holiday and with beer prices of 11050 rupees 1.50 for a litre bottle http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Sri-Lanka/Hikkaduwa/blog-106075.html