Blogs from Uva Province, Sri Lanka, Asia

Tuesday 18 February, 2020, cont'd We had a quiet afternoon and went outside at 6.50 pm for our dinner. Pat had steamed rice and I had a fried rice with chicken in a local style. After, we got to try buffalo curd, a local delicacy, with pineapple honey. Lights out 9.40 pm. Wednesday 19 February, 2020. Visit to Yala National Park. Pick up from the rooms was 4.20 am, so alarms were set for 4.00 am. As always we were awake before the alarm! Indika said he would come to unlock the gate to the property, prepare a boxed breakfast and see us off safely. Our vehicle arrived on time. They use modified single cabs, which have six seats set in three pairs, tiered in a frame stuck up on the back. This gives additional height ... read more

HE SAID... Today we were travelling south-west from Batticaloa to Mahiyangana. We woke at 6am, organised our packs and then wandered around the outer perimeter of our hotel, which jutted out into the Batticaloa lagoon. We watched fishermen in wooden outriggers cast their nets and slowly draw in their catch, while other fishermen walked through the lagoon with smaller nets. We then headed to breakfast and enjoyed thosai (thin lacy crepes made of lightly-fermented black lentils and rice / called dosa in India), fish curry, sambar (a lentil based vegetable stew), pol sambol (shredded coconut with onions, chilli and lime), coconut chutney (a thick mixture of ground coconut, tamarind and chilli), toast, jam, juice and tea. The fish curry was excellent (especially with the thosai), and the sambar was fiery. The breakfast was impres... read more

From the plane I could see Mother Ganges winding through the landscape. On our arrival in Varanasi, we found a taxi to take us into the city. The closer we got the smaller the streets and more crowded until we could go no further, as the driver said it wasn't possible as no traffic allowed. We put our back packs on and began to walk through streets, shops selling everything from food to house hold goods, silk shops and vegetables stalls etc..... We walked down the narrow back streets with sewerage flowing down the gutters, cows and people jammed the tiny streets along with more food stalls. We followed the route with our google map to our hotel. We were over come by the stench of human waste and everyday life. "Our hotel" our refuge, down ... read more

Mit dem „Rock Side Inn“ sind wir in einem kleinen Guesthouse einer sehr netten Familie untergekommen. Wir haben ein recht großes Zimmer mit Fensterfront, Veranda und direktem Blick auf den 1350m hohen Ella Rock. Gegen 8 Uhr gibt es Frühstück, wir sind inzwischen endgültig auf Tee umgeschwenkt. Selbst Aaron macht erste Versuche mit Tee und Milch zum Frühstück, bleibt aber dann bei seinem Lime-Juice. Es gibt wieder String-Hoppers und Toast mit Marmelade. Nach dem Frühstück nehmen wir die Abkürzung zur Straße und besorgen uns ein Tuk-Tuk zur Uva Halpewatte-Teeplantage. Die Teefabrik liegt etwa 7km außerhalb von Ella und die Fahrt führt durch die umliegenden Plantagen. Es geht kräftig bergauf, unterwegs machen wir einen Zwischenstopp, um die Teepflückerinnen zu fotografieren. Die Frauen pflücken etwa 15kg Teeblätter am Tag, die sie mit am Kopf befestigten Tragekörben transportieren. Damit ... read more

Good evening readers, Some I have said a fond farewell to India and I'm now in Sri Lanka. My flight was at 18.40 so I left the hotel at 1pm to make sure I got there on time, I didn't want a repeat of the great rock and roll Heathrow incident lol. Of course it was the usual crazy taxi ride to the airport and at one point I thought I would be joining the taxi driver in the front seat as he slowed down to go over a speed bump after racing up,to it, at the airport! This was after narrowly avoiding a random pedestrian taking his life in his hands trying to cross the raid on a busy and fast stretch of road near the airport. No seat belts in the back seat! I ... read more