Into the hills

So we left Arugambay and headed into them there hills. First stop Ella, famous for a gap! And the view from there down to the plains. Stayed in a nice place but sadly owned by a nut job, who seemed to hate everything and everyone in Lanka, give Ravana guest house a wide birth, don't think he's in 'the book' anymore....he hates that too.



Ella and half its gap, shrouded in rain cloud.
We then decided to treat ourselves to a few days in the Tea Factory, as the name implies, an old tea factory converted to a luxury hotel. It was nice to be cold for once in Lanka, but it did rain consistently.



Not a great pic, but the only one I have from around Nuwara Eliya, where the tea factory is.
We then headed back to Colombo, which was a hideous 7 hr drive along some of the worst roads in SL, which is crazy as it's the No. 1 tourist destination for the locals.
What follows are some just for fun shots I took on the trip, a bit random, but pics I like anyway.













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Last trip round Lanka.

I took over 300 pics so selecting just 5 is going to be hard. We started in Dambulla, famous for its rock cave temples. Photographically not that interesting, but worth a visit. We took in Sigiriya on our way to Polunaruwa, which features in some old Duran Duran vids, and has some very old rock paintings, which they claim are not restored, but I have my doubts.






We moved onto Polunaruwa once an ancient and important city, but now a sprawling mass of fascinating ruins, built over many hundreds of years, containing both buddhist and Hindu temples and architecture.



I've just realised that this is the only pic I have on the iPhone and you don't really get an impression, but I like the pic anyway. We headed up to the east coast and Trinconamalee next and spent some time chilling on the beach. Easily the best beach in Sri Lanka for many reasons, sadly I caught a cold the day we arrived, so the first opportunity to dive on the east coast in 25yrs due to civil war, was lost to me :-(



We then took a lovely drive down the east coast to the south and Arugam bay, and spent some more time chilling, also a beautiful and deserted beach, apart from hardcore surfers.



Cathy and Laura blending in with the sunset.

And now...the end is near

So after nearly three years in Sri Lanka, it's time to leave.

No real plans, just handed in my notice and will work my last day for the British Council Sri Lanka on 1st July.
I have mixed feelings about going. This has been a great place for me, I've had a very comfortable life here, not having to worry about money for the 1st time in my life has been very nice. I've spent the last year or so as a senior teacher, so my career has progressed somewhat, which is nice.
The country itself is beautiful and sometimes when I'm sat on the beach with a beer, looking out at the amazing coastline, palm fringed beaches, deep blue green of the sea, I realise and remember how lucky I am to live in such a place. The plants and the trees here are stunning, and under-appreciated by the tourists and locals alike.

Things I haven't enjoyed: Traffic. Buddhism.
When faced with the decision; slow down / wait a few seconds or potentially kill at least one other person, it seems that 95% of drivers here will choose the latter not the former, which is why the second of the two things I haven't enjoyed is there.  Respect for all life and compassion for others are central Buddhist tenets, but not here. Here the monks will cry and salivate for war and the death of a whole race of people, they will gather outside a TV station and throw rocks and petrol bombs because a pop star has a girl in a bikini dancing near a statue of the Buddha! in his video. Lots of things wrong with that obviously, 'a mob of angry, rock throwing monks' is not a lexical chunk I usually teach. The Buddha said that the worship of idols and statues was stupid, that rituals and ceremonies were stupid, that we should stop listening to others who think themselves wiser and in a position to tell others what to do, and start listening to ourselves and thinking for ourselves. None of that happens here. So they get angry because of semi-naked girl, without realising that the Buddha would probably laugh at the situation and them; why is there a statue of him (Buddha) in the first place? and why do you think its sacred? when he specifically told people not to do exactly that! Bonkers. Buddhists that do the exact opposite of what the Buddha believed and advised people to do!
Basically I'm sick to death of people trying to kill me too, with buses, landcruisers, tuc-tucs, trucks, cars etc on a daily basis, I'm ready to drag someone out of their vehicle and beat them to death, so it's time to leave.

Tangalle and around

Tangalle is on the South coast of Sri Lanka, quite remote and very quiet. The beaches are almost deserted (especially during the monsoon period), we did very little except go and visit one of the local temples. It was Wesak festival at the time so there were only about another 1 million people there. It's the location of the largest Buddha statue in Sri Lanka. There was also a perehera happening just as we got there. You'll also see some mangrove seeds before they fall, and then once they've dropped and stuck in the mud and started sprouting, very clever. A frog that decided to come and say hello one evening in the shower. Wesak Full moon is here somewhere too. Follow this link to see the full album and my other albums

Galle road

In a Car on the way back from Hikka, and got the driver to turn off the a/c and we wound the windows down and took pictures from our moving vehicle as we went. He'd turned up 1.5 hrs late, and then proceeded to drive like a crazy fool for the whole journey back. Difficult to take pictures when the cars moving in this bizarre jerky-brakey-acceleratory kind of way. Plus the added joy of all the other suicidal maniacs that so make the Galle road a pleasure to travel along.

Here're some of the things we saw. .

Should call this bikes of Galle Road really.

Here's some other stuff that isn't bicycles.

The things that are missing: drug crazed bus drivers overtaking another bus that is already trying to overtake yet another bus, all with hands glued to horns and a refusal to stop even though there's nowhere for you to go to avoid death. Trucks doing exactly the same thing, potholes the size of the grand canyon and traffic police.

Hipstamatic shots

This is an iPhone app called 'Hipstamatic', turns your phone into a retro camera, whereby you can choose the film type, lens and flash. The results are wonderful, here's a sample. These were taken on a weekend away in Unawatuna in the south of Sri Lanka.

Street scene, black and white, high contrast

Waves splashing on the rocks at the blow-hole in Unawatuna, Sunset.

Shop front on Galle road

Hikkaduwa beach scene, taken at speed out of the car window.

lunch at the UBR.

see the rest of these shots here in my Picassa web albums

Around Colombo

So, went out with the new camera and took some pics around my environs, I like architecture pics so....if you don't, sorry.

Some of them have been played about with in Photoshop, experiments at trying to recreate some styles I've seen used on various iPhone apps.

Orange Seller in Pettah,
messed about with in PS to try out Lomo effect.











The mosque near Lipton Circus round about, Colombo 07, been wanting to take this picture for some time, took lots, but this is one of my faves.

The amazing eye hospital on the corner of De Sarem Place, Colombo 07. That's a papaya tree in the foreground, if you care :)

Details of a Hindu temple in Pettah







Tuc-Tucs, Three-wheelers, Trishaws, call them what you will, basking in the mid day sun in Pettah.

Rubbish piles in Pettah fruit & veg market and someone picking over the good bits for edible food. As you can imagine, the stench of rot, the flies, the crows etc, don't make this a pleasant walk.

no reason just, for me, a nice pic.