Blogs from Sri Lanka, Asia - page 114

Yay! Got up early in the morning, ready for a Sri Lankan family reunion in Ratnapura. Before we left Kandy, our couchsurfer-friend Ajith took us around to the Botanical Gardens in Kandy. Again, the prices there were a bit of a rip-off, 650 rupees for foreigners and 100 rupees for locals. Anyways, in we went. No more than 200 metres from the entrance we were suddenly met by two monkeys, sitting peacefully on the path. They looked a bit like the vicious monkeys in Bako national park on Borneo, so we didn't want to get too close. Cute they were though. The first thing of note in the garden was the orchid house. So many different kinds of orchids, some looking like ballerinas, some like butterflies, some like stars - and all different beautiful colours. I ... read more

For more of my photos, or to buy my book, please visit www.nickkembel.com The importance of the role of the mystical isle of Lanka in the Buddhist world cannot be under emphasized. Buddhism arrived here some 2200 years ago, and later when the religion died out in India, it survived intact for centuries in Sri Lanka before being carried on to Thailand and South East Asia, where it still exists in it’s original form to this day. This most ancient form of Buddhism is referred to as ‘Theravada’, the ‘teachings of the elders’ or the ‘ancient teachings’, and is demarcated by the classic beggar monks in their bright orange robes, enormous pagodas (referred to in Sri Lanka as Dagobas) housing relics of the Buddha’s body, and an emphasis on the individual and solitary pursuit for ... read more

We were so sad to leave Indo, it is the most amazing place but it was time to move on to KL for a night before flying to the Indian Subcontinent for the first time. First stop, Sri Lanka which we had never really thought about going to until I bought Rich a surf atlas of the world and he looked through it and saw the waves in Sri Lanka! We spent the first 2 nights in Negombo in a crappy hotel but our balcony overlooked the beach which more than made up for it and began getting into a Sri Lankan routine of sweating, eating curry twice a day and drinking tea at least twice a day which we did pretty much everyday for the whole month we spent here!!! We were hoping to hire ... read more

Woke up this morning, looked in the mirror (always have one in bed with me) and said to myself" Sam, my man, you are looking' good". Said in a Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Richard Prior kind of black sounding way. I don't know why, that's just the voice I use when I talk to myself sometimes. Then I realized that lot of people probably never experience that feeling, of really liking how they look, happy with who they are, feeling good(almost as important as looking good.) I think I have my mother to thank for that. Although I later had cause to doubt her-Jesus is God, playing with myself is a sin, and so on- when she told me how handsome I was, and how intelligent, I believed her, and never doubted it. Of course it ... read more

Well hello again ! Colombo airport welcomed me with an ocean of fibs. My hotel had apparently sent several taxi drivers to meet me, which was strange as I hadn't booked a hotel. I consulted my lonely planet to check prices for a three wheeler to Negombo, the nearest resort and somehow read a much lower figure,meaning I stood bargaining with a driver over 50 pence for half an hour. When i got to my hotel i realised i had demanded a much lower price than was the going rate and refused to budge. And so i continued to endear my self to the locals. I chose Negombo as everyone says Colombo is horrible and Negombo was much closer. It was also a bit minging. I made an effort to tourist my self about, hired a ... read more