Blogs from Sri Lanka, Asia - page 118

It has been a long while since the previous entry. Looking at these, I realised that I have not set the background to this year very clearly. Maybe it is time to do that now, and in the subsequent two or three blogs. this information comes from the Diocese: "The Diocese of Kurunagala covers the Provinces of Central, North Western, North Central and the Sabaragamuwa and is composed of the Administrative Districts of Kandy, Kurunagala, Matale, Kegalle, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. Six out of the ten ancient kingdoms of the history of Sri Lanka are within this geographical area. Further, a good portion of the Kandyan Kingdom which was the final kingdom of Sri Lanka comes within this area. It is significant to note that the first capital which is Anuradhapura and the last capital which is ... read more

As well as the Temple of the Bhudda's Tooth, which was my planned highlight for the day, I contemplated visiting Sri Lanka's evocatively named Elephant Orphanage. I was very keen to go there - meal times were especially recommended by the American guests I met over breakfast. They ate light, so I assumed they got more pleasure from watching elephants dine. It was not looking easy to get to, however. It would have taken most of the day and involved hiring a taxi for the long journey, so I promised myself another trip one day (hopefully not 19 years later, like my second visit to Sri Lanka took me). Instead I would wander about Kandy and journey again on the mountain-traversing train back to the capital. Entering the Temple of the Sacred Tooth involved being searched ... read more

This next entry comes many days after the last. In this small of town of Unawatuna, life has become very slow - such a contrast from the first week here. The days have been filled with lounging and reading on the beach, eating, walking to other places to eat and sleeping.  We've finally met plenty of travellers to share stories with, which has been great - much needed from my side. On our second night we met some guys who were working at the turtle hatchery in Bentota. Seven weeks of tickling baby turtles' bellies might have been just toooo relaxing for us, but Sean and Anders seemed to be coping with it just fine - they weren't even smoking either!!!  We've also had some good neighbours at our hotel; talking to Markus and Karin the ... read more

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

So long, farewell, auf wierdersehen, goodbye! The boys at the pool planted a fruit tree and called it The Skipper tree at the pool so they could remember me every day. It really was incredible touching and totally unexpected, Chami made me a special lunch packet and bought me a gift! For people with very little money it shows what kind of hearts these guys have! In fact, everyone that made an effort to say goodbye was incredibly generous and overwhelming and there are so many things I will miss. My time in Sri Lanka has been something very special and there are no words to really describe what it meant to me, but I have to say it is great to be home!... read more