Blogs from Galle, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 4

Note: if you double click on any of the pictures you will be transferred to the picture gallery where they will be enlarged to half page size. Sunday 8th December: we checked out of the Laya Safari at 10am for the 100 mile, 3-4 hour, journey to Galle. The roads were again well surfaced and not too busy, except in the towns we passed through. One section of the road had been upgraded to a 6 lane dual carriageway but this only extended for 2/3 miles past a very large modern building that Diya told us was a new conference centre – basically in the middle of nowhere. The reason for this was obvious once we realised that this was the President’s home territory – and he was due to arrive the same day as evidenced ... read more

Went to Galle today - a place I couldn't wait to go to. I was not disappointed, it is so beautiful. Galle Fort is a grid of streets consisting of beautiful old buildings. The Dutch, the Portuguese and the British were all here and the influence is very apparent. The huge walls around the town protected it when the tsunami hit. Lots of Art Deco buildings - most of which have faded and are almost derelict. I like it the way it is, but I doubt it will stay this way. I spent a happy afternoon here taking photos of the buildings and chatting to the people. One old lady insisted I took her photo and send it to her, then scuttled off without giving me her details. Another old guy seemed to be the local ... read more

We made it! First ride and 60Km out of the gate…. We started at 5:30am, using our headlamps and headed out for Bentota… Luckily for us, we were going against traffic… it was crazy, especially the busses,,, they don't stop for anything! Oh… and the cows… can't forget about the cows… Like India, cows have free reign and are EVERYWHERE! Randomly roaming the highway… I am thankful however, that we weren't riding INTO Colombo - that would have made me drink. The thing is, you just have to go in a straight line and everything will just go around you.. except for busses, these things are just insane. It really wasn't that bad, especially after about 25km or so south of Colombo - we still had to keep out heads up, but it was nothing that ... read more

Remembrance of things past: Sri Lanka has just emerged from decades of civil war, causing the deaths of 100,000 or more citizens. On top of that, the 2004 tsunami killed over 30,000 in one day. Wherever you look, there are reminders of the past and efforts underway for reconstruction. Near the sea end of Rumasalla Peninsula, where we have been staying in the Glass House, there is a large statue of Hanuman, the Hindu Monkey God, erected during the civil war and dedicated to the hope for ethnic harmony in Sri Lanka. Hanuman is connected to Rumasalla in the Hindu epic the Ramayana. Many different versions exist about what Hanuman did, but one is that when Lakshman is severely wounded in the battle of Lanka, Hanuman is asked to get the medicinal herbs to cure him. ... read more

Well, as the title might suggest, the past week has been all about the wonderfully beautiful and varied wildlife of Sri Lanka. After ever so reluctantly leaving the absolute loveliness of Ella, we eventually did move down out of the cool and refreshing hills and onto the hot and muggy plains of southern Sri Lanka. Our first stop was the little lakeside town of Tissa where we booked into our room nestled among the rice paddies and immediately headed out for a late afternoon safari at nearby Bundalla National Park. We were pretty well the only visitors and we spent a lovely afternoon, bouncing around in the back of a jeep, taking in the beautiful and varied landscapes and the huge variety of the most stunning bird and monkey life. It was the start of what ... read more