Blogs from Western Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 11

Returning to Colombo at the end of our holiday gave us a chance to catch up with friends who were themselves away on holiday when we arrived! The luxurious air conditioned coach from Galle had sped along an empty highway before dropping us off at the southern end of the city where a tuk tuk completed the journey to the Cricket Club bar where we had arranged to meet everyone. It was great to see Kaithe, Ted, Jenna and Lucy again after such a long time. After a great meal we went back to Lucy's flat which was to be our base for the rest of the trip. We were there to relax more than to explore, but with a short trip out to the southern suburb of Mount Lavinia, we were able to do both. ... read more

Day 2 Sri Lanka Having had breakfast with views through the coconut trees and over the beach, we are greeted by our trusty guide Pradreep, and we drove to the Pinnawela elephant orphanage, home to 60 elephants. This has been operating for over 30 years nurturing calves and rehabilitating the injured. We saw about 30 elephants frolicing in the river. The environment at whipsnade seems so much better! Health & Safety at its best!!! We then travelled to the Central Province, but we encountered road works, well what can you say! The work force both male and female have to wear hard hats, and in some cases 2, some wear high viz, (tracey?) and some don't wear shoes, even though they are using a wacker plate to flatten the ground!! There's no organised traffic control timing, ... read more

It was a long journey from Alicante to Colombo. We spent the best part of 24 hours on planes and in airports, changing in both Madrid and Doha (Qatar), before we emerged bleary eyed in to the humid heat of Sri Lanka's capital. We then pre-paid for a taxi to our hotel which avoided so much hassle. We had chosen the Best Western in Colombo for our first three nights simply because they had a great deal on offer and we needed somewhere comfortable to recover from the journey! $50 a night turned out to be a bargain looking at other options and we even got a free breakfast on arrival as we had a few hours to wait for our room to be ready. The rooftop bar where breakfast is served has wonderful views over ... read more

Geo: 6.91845, 79.8489Time Check: 0642 Local: Up and poking about organising coffee. Status: Both coughing and spluttering! What appeared at first to be a mild cold seems to have mutated into Bird Flu. Were OK but "popping" cold capsules and pretending that we are shaking it off! Recap: Yesterday (Tuesday) we arrived early into Columbo and after a 2 hour snooze we head out and get stuck into local life. Unlike India, we are at once struck by a clean, gentle and friendly City. Columbo is undergoing a transition. Old Sri Lanka is rapidly being replaced by upscale hotel developments such as The Shangri La and expensive seafront condos! Since the civil war ended in 2009 the Country is undergoing a transformation. It still has a 1970's feel with remnants of the British Raj era woven ... read more

Ayubowan everybody! This is the first word of Sinhala I learnt and its the polite way of greeting people. Often accompanied by putting your hands together and bowing your head. So this is my second blog post. Not going to ramble on too much because I'm in an internet cafe and I'm not sure how much its costing me! Its my fourth day in Sri Lanka and I've been craaaazy busy! I'm not allowed to say much about the places I'm working so this blog will be mostly about my life outside of work. I can say that I'm working at 8 placements that involve working with people with special needs or mental health problems or I'm teaching English. This week has been training and observing but next week I will be thrown in the deep ... read more