Blogs from Sri Lanka, Asia - page 21

French only, sorry :) Nous avons pris le bus de Kandy à Dambulla. Nous sommes arrivés à notre auberge de jeunesse vers 13h. Un autre jeune est arrivé à la même heure donc nous avons commencé à discuter. Il nous propose de le rejoindre à 14h pour aller voir le coucher de soleil sur le Sigiriya rock (un immense rocher). Il nous dit qu'au lieu de monter sur le Sigiriya rock (dont l'entrée coûte 25 euros), il va escalader le rocher d'en face (dont l'entrée coûte 3 euros !). Après une heure à discuter avec les autres jeunes qui restent à l'auberge, nous partons donc avec notre nouvel ami Sam et allons en Tuk-Tuk jusqu'au rocher. Lorsque nous payons pour l'entrée, on nous donne un flyer explicatif et nous comprenons pourquoi l'entrée de ce rocher est ... read more

Pour être juste, cet article sur nos premières impressions sur le Sri Lanka ne sera disponible qu'en anglais mais ne vous en faites pas, je suis sûre que Google translate peut produire un résultat compréhensible ! J'essaierai de l'écrire en français plus tard ! To make up for the last article which was in French only, this article will only be available in English! (I'm lazy but fair!) Sri Lanka is hot and rainy in this season. On the road, crammed streets with long rows of tiny shops alternate with miles of wilderness. Monkeys, cows, dogs and people share the same space. Some people wear very 'westernized' clothes while others wear their traditional outfits. I love the colourful sarees women wear. People are relaxed, even if it doesn't seem so on the roads, where everyone constantly ... read more

After leaving Ella we headed for our first taste of the beaches that Sri Lanka has to offer! We headed for Arugam Bay which is on the East coast rather than heading south where everyone had told us it had been raining solidly! Gillian and Ross, a couple we met on the platform at Kandy from Glasgow, had made their way down the previous evening and assured us the sun was shining so we jumped in a taxi from Ella with another couple Charlotte and Dave, from Cardiff who were staying in the same hotel as us. When we woke up the following morning we weren't disappointed to see the sun shining and the waves were only a stones throw away from our front door! After a lazy day on the beach the six of us ... read more

Staying in a lovely guest house (The Spice House) here in Marissa. We would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who is coming here, probably about six or eight rooms and a lovely pool with quiet gardens all around. A nice respite from the hustle and bustle outside. This is a beach part of the holiday so a fair bit of r&r and so not so much activity to report on. Hence bi-daily blogs. We did on the first morning suffer the inevitable navigational issue, this time,however, with Marie and Donna in tow. Decided to walk down to the fishing harbour and after getting there hot and tired decided to get tuk tuks to take us back to the beach. The tuk tuks dropped us of on a corner and we headed off up a road that ... read more

Day 14: Sunday 17 September - Colombo After breakfast, we began our journey back to Colombo. Our guide, Fernando showed us many, many buildings that were destroyed by the Tsunami and have never been rebuilt. We saw a Japanese-style Buddha which the Japanese built as a memorial. We also saw another memorial on the beach side with its concrete carved mural depicting the tsunami tragedy. This was where 100s of villages crowded in the train thinking that his would be a safe place. Most were washed out to sea and drowned. The whole experience of seeing these memorials was very moving and surrreal, and hard to imagine what it was like. I hope I never find out. After, we continue to Colombo. On arrival, we embark on a city tour of Colombo. We explored the Fort ... read more