Blogs from Kandy, Central Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 17

The title of my latest entry refers to the coastal thoroughfare stretching from north of Colombo all the way down to the Dutch fort town of Galle, a run of nearly half the island down the western side of southern Sri Lanka. It also makes mention of what should be an hourly and most noteworthy occurrence on the streets here, given the apparently lunatic tendencies of those behind the wheel of each vehicle; then again perhaps ‘road rage’ is the domain of Western society only. Motorists in Colombo appear to accept most readily each other’s foibles, and indeed are likely to reciprocate such manic and dangerous manoeuvres straight away given half a chance or a car-width’s space. But contrary to what a casual foreign observer might expect, those road-users that have been cut-up, run onto the ... read more

O.K, so I lied. I’m not in Kandy. I’m back in Unawatuna. But you know, I did’nt find myself in the hills (unless you count the fat girl inside me, who was trying to get out)… and other than looking for yourself and eating, there wasn't all that much to do. Having said that, Kandy is a truly beautiful town. After a couple of not so great guest houses I found a Room with a View. Perched up on a hillside, and with a wall of windows, the curtains redundant, I’d open my eyes at 5 am dreamily looking down to the Temple of the Tooth, the early morning sun reflecting on a glistening lake, and the tree covered misty hills rising up on the other side of the valley. Accompanying this was a soundtrack of ... read more

Dupa o zi intreaga petrecuta in tuk-tuk, si dupa o cina tipica cu Rice and Curry (o sa povestesc mai tarziu despre mancare), am mers la un spectacol de dans. Dansul a fost un pic cam copilaresc, dupa parerea mea, dar cica asa e traditia. Desi nu ma asteptam, spectacolul a fost destul de interesant si distractiv. Totul s-a incheiat cu o demonstratie de mers pe carbuni incinsi. ... read more

Every day in my bathroom is a grand exploratory adventure as I slowly discover the ways of the society of kumbi (ants) skittering across the celery green walls. I initially became aware of the existence of the kumbi at what has since become known as the Sink-Window Pass, the most visible and most vulnerable construction of the colony. Stretching from the elevated window above the toilet to the right-hand lip of the pedestal sink, this path happened to be my first point of attack during my early efforts to disperse the colony, efforts that would prove to be completely and totally futile. Nearly a week after the discovery of the Sink-Window Pass, the Grille Bridge was discovered across the security bars of the elevated window. For whatever reason, it seemed the society of kumbi preferred to ... read more

I went to the Royal Garden Mall with my amma today after classes to buy groceries and batteries, where purchased buns for the dreaded hot dog. Devotees of the journal will know the delight I experienced in tasting this particular Sri Lankan culinary delicacy. Today, hoping to persuade my amma at a later date to put tomatoes, chicken, and - in a perfect world - cheese in a hot dog bun, I told my amma to buy the bread but that I preferred different ingredients. I am not sure whether or not she understood my request. Previously a hot dog consisted of sausage, tomatoes, onions, hardboiled eggs, and butter. This time amma replaced the sausage link with ketchup (or sauce, an abbreviation from the British tomato sauce) making the sandwich a tomato, raw onion, hardboiled egg, ... read more