Blogs from Kandy, Central Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 3

Day 7 of my Sri Lankan holidaydidn’t quite match the previous days in terms of excitement, although this may be because I’m much more interested in visiting the historic sites in Sri Lanka and learning about its history. We first visited the elephant orphanage in Pinnewala which looks after a few dozen orphaned wild elephants. Some may find this enjoyable, but seeing some of the elephants with chains around their ankles and how some of the keepers wanted tips for people to touch the animals made me think twice. I’d much prefer to see animals in the wild and leave what are meant to be sanctuaries behind closed doors so there’s not a possibly perceived conflict between animal welfare and profit. Maybe I’m being unfair, but personally this didn’t sit right for me. After making our ... read more

Quelle chaleur ! A 16h, nous attendons pour monter dans le bus que le chauffeur arrive. Nous avons déposé nos sacs en soute, et sommes montés nous asseoir mais la chaleur est telle à l’intérieur que nous préférons descendre et poireauter dehors entre 2 bus. Nous transpirons à grosses gouttes. Au final, nous n’attendrons pas plus de 10 minutes et ce sera le cas tout au long de notre voyage autour du Sri Lanka. Les bus partent et arrivent tous les quarts d’heure et nous n’aurons jamais à patienter très longtemps. Les routes sont bonnes, les chauffeurs plutôt calmes, et les passagers remarquablement silencieux et posés malgré la chaleur accablante et le fait que beaucoup doivent rester debout coude à coude, serrés comme des sardines dans l’allée. Quant à la sécurité, je n’ai pas trouvé que ... read more

HE SAID... Today we were travelling north-east from Colombo to Kandy– Ren’s birth place. We woke early at 4:30am, as our train to Kandy was leaving from the Colombo Fort Railway Station at 7am. We’d slept well and felt refreshed – our jet lag was gradually disappearing, thanks in part to our incredibly relaxing hotel (Taru Villas Lake Lodge) in Kollupitiya. We checked out around 6am, and Saman (the affable and ever reliable three-wheeler driver we’d used in Colombo) was waiting for us. Armed with fresh breakfast parcels (egg sandwiches and bananas) from the hotel kitchen, we headed to the railway station. It was disappointing to see a betting shop open at such an early hour, but I imagine if you have nothing, the prospect of winning something must be very alluring. We arrived at the ... read more

Owing to rubbish WiFi only just able to blog again. So the last few days involved travelling to Kandy in the rain via a spice plantation, where the guide gave me a hard stare when talking about the merits of red pineapple for weight loss. Then an unexpected stop at Aluvihara Rock Cave temple where we once more paddled in the rain, climbed a million slippery wet steps and got drenched. This place was slightly different though in addition to all the Buddha's were also lots of graphic paintings of demons doing an assortment of horrendous things to the people who end up in hell. Not only that but there was also a cave full of nearly life size models demonstrating the various torture methods and punishments meted out by the King of the time. No ... read more

Bonjour, pour ceux qui ne le savent pas, j’ai dû faire un petit détour par l’hôpital hier. En m’assoyant dans un hamac, le billot de bois sur lequel était attaché l’un des côtés a lâché (pourri à l’intérieur) et je l’ai reçu en plein sur la caboche. Il y avait tellement de sang (on parle niveau « film d’horreur ») qu’on aurait pu croire que j’avais le crâne fendu en deux. Ça a tout de même rapidement cessé de saigner. La mère et le fils de la famille propriétaire de l’hôtel où on restait m’ont rapidement conduit à l’hôpital local. Ils ont été extrêmement aidant, mais c’était un peu leur responsabilité (équipement fautif). Le service à l’hôpital a été pas mal plus rapide que par chez nous. Cinq minutes pour voir le médecin, quinze minutes pour ... read more