Blogs from Western Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 21

Well, now that we've finally got our bags and visa's sorted, we thought it might be about time to write about some of the actual cultural experiences we've had. Chilling out at the guesthouse, and oasis of calm in chaotic Colombo, it's given us a chance to put our heads about the parapet and reflect on the experiences we've had so far and to look forward to some of the things we're going to do in Sri Lanka. We've barely met a Westerner since we've been here! Aside from Tom the sweaty sock who has had similar fun obtaining an Indian visa, we've been surrounded by genuine, down to earth Lankans; Sunil, the Ferrari-driving cabbie with his home-made religion, Somasasa, the enthusiastic chef with his unquestionable desire to seal his new found friendship with an entire ... read more

Today was the last day of our trip to Sri Lanka. Since our Bhante (Buddhist teacher cum organiser of this trip) went to Chennai, India, early in the morning, the rest of us decided to take things slowly today. After waking up at 8am and having a slow breakfast, we packed our luggage and waited for our bus to take us to downtown Colombo for some shopping. However, due to some misunderstanding, the bus arrived very late. (We waited for more than 1 hour...) Nevertheless, we still had a couple of hours to spare, so we went to Manning Market (in the Pettah district, Colombo) for some shopping. Manning Market is basically a huge outdoor market selling all kinds of vegetables, fruits and any organic produces that are edible... Due to the ridiculously low prices, most ... read more

One fine day in May, my mum came back from her weekly Buddhist lecture and asked me whether I was interested to go to Sri Lanka. As a travel-addict, I said "why not?". Sri Lanka is a great travel destination (with plenty of beaches and archeological sites) but not many people go there because of the civil war and the damages caused by the 2004 tsunami. Now that the civil war has just ended and the tsunami is a fading memory, there is no better time than now to visit Sri Lanka (before everyone else realises it and flocks there too). What makes this trip more interesting is that the trip was organised by Mahakaruna Buddhist Society (where my mum has her weekly Buddhist lectures) to celebrate the Poson full moon dansala (a festival to commemorate ... read more

We jetted out of London on the ‘worlds 5* airline’ Qatar Air (if their ads are to believed) and it was pretty good with on demand movies and TV. Doha was a bit horrid. We arrived in the middle of a sand storm, but the turnaround was fast and we were soon on our way to Sir Lanka. Given the recent outbreak of swine flu we arrived to a health check. Even though Scott was exhibiting all the signs due to a cold; sneezing, red nose, watery eyes we were waved through. Our host was standing waiting for us and we were soon on our way to Negombo. The country was very lush and tropical and boy was it humid. The guesthouse was simple, clean and only 1min walk to the beach. The beach was full ... read more

Just set up my Travel Blog, Sitting at home. Tomorrow train to London at 6.15am. Tube to Terminal 5. Flight to Mumbai at 10.30am. Arrives 12.40am on the 19th - meet Josh and Tom in airport. Flight to Columbo on the 20th at 3.40am. Arrives 6am. Keep you posted... read more