Blogs from Sri Lanka, Asia - page 163

It is the end of our trip. We had a great end! We stayed in a real hotel, with hot water and comfortable beds and air conditioning! That was a really nice treat. And we were able to stay there for 2 nights! While we were in Colombo, we met a Sri Lankan lady who was actually of dutch decent but she spoke full Sinhalese. She talked us into going out in the town and she recommended a great place to eat! This place was really chic, I believe it was called The Gallery. It was a place straight out of Santana Row, very chic, very sophisticated, and expensive (like $7-10 a meal) but very worth it! Nora and Allegra ordered a banana milkshake, and I wanted to go back to get one but we never ... read more

WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES AND ECOTOURISM The next day, we left Colombo and drove north along the coast. We stopped at Negumbo, a polluted fishing village. We walked along the bridge, and looked down into the rather foul water below. It was afternoon when we toured the fish market, so most of the fish had been sold, and most of the 2,000 people who were there in the early morning were gone. Some venders were still hopeful about selling their catch, as they waved the numerous buzzing flies away, and poured warm seawater over the fish to keep it wet and shining. Many other venders were spreading the unsold stock out on the ground to dry. This goes on day after day, and I have to say that the smell was incredible. Not good. Very bad. Fresh fish ... read more

Our Last Day in Sri Lanka Our bus took us on our way to the Ranweli Resort and our final day in Sri Lanka. This day was a microcosm or our trip. The morning started with a ceremonial lighting of the brass lamp to drive out darkness and ignorance. This was followed by lectures on Eco-tourism and Sri Lanka's environmental future. We then had a tour of the grounds and a nature walk by one of the guides. Lunch was a large buffet in an open air restaurant next to the pool. After lunch we bought a few last minute gifts and then headed for a boat tour to do a little bird watching. We figured it might last a half-hour. To our surprise and delight it was over two hours long. Our motor boat cruised ... read more

SINHARAJAH TO COLOMBO As we descended the mountain and left the tranquil forests behind, we traveled through rural areas for several kilometers. But all too soon the road got wider, the buildings got denser, and we reached the Gaul Highway. Wow! Many lanes of traffic. What's this? A traffic light! Soon we began to notice piles of garbage in front of many buildings. Apparently this isn't normal; there seems to be some dispute about municipal garbage pickup, with the result that the garbage is not collected too often. On the way to Colombo, we stopped at a Buddhist Temple which is unique because of the hollow stupa (domed building). Most stupas enclose relics. Inside of this one, the walls are covered with a series of paintings depicting important events in the life of Buddha. It took ... read more

Sigiriya and Dambulla were AMAZING. Our professor(Indiana Jones) took us to a few of his sites. Right now he is in the process of restoring the largest brick structure/ stupa in the world. We got to see it being restored. Pretty amazing. I also saw my three legged monkey there. Dad, you should be proud. I took an awesome picture of that monkey, you'll see. Our professor took us to many archaeological sites. It's hard to fathom the idea that you're standing where an ancient civilization once existed. He also took us to drip caves where forest dwelling monks used to live. I touched some ancient writing. I think it was from the 3rd century BC. Pretty cool!!! We went to Sigiriya. It's this huge rock/mountain that one of the king's sons made into a resort. ... read more