Sri Lanka - Galle and the south

We spent quite a bit of time in a semi-rural area near Galle. The 10 of us had hired a house, complete with an infinity pool overlooking rice paddies, a Danish couple who were the hosts and a cook, housekeeper, gardener, maintenance man and security guard! The house overlooked a paddy field and we were lucky to see the rice being harvested. In the mornings and the evenings the purple faced silver monkeys passed through the garden. Very special! We travelled into Galle a few days via tuktuk and travelled up the coast another day. Everywhere there were reminders of the 2004 tsunami - ruined houses, memorials and monuments.

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Sri Lanka - Yala

Yala national park was another part of the trip I was looking forward to. It is the main reason I spent a huge amount of money on a new lens for my Olympus OM-D. Not only had the view finder failed meaning I was shooting blind, but on the way to Yala the lens hood fell apart. If I could, I would be tempted to waltz into Olympus and dump all my gear on their counter and demand a refund. However I made do.
We went on a safari the morning after we arrived and saw crocodiles, monkeys, peacocks, solitary elephants,water buffalo and nmerous birds. Brendan was keen to go on an evening safari too in the hope of seeing some of the other a animals - particularly a leopard. Allan and I went with him. As luck would have it we did see a leopard, well... we spied some leopard spots in the undergrowth, but it caused huge excitement and a major jeep traffic jam!


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Sri Lanka - The Highlands

I have fallen way behind on my blogging! The Highlands were a highlight of the trip. The market gardens are amazing. All sorts of colorful vegetables are produced there. The tea pickers are paid a pitiful amount of money so they make do with what they have. Meanwhile we swanned around in the hotel treated like royalty. Allan even had a massage. We stayed at two hotels in the area and both were lovely. One was full of history. The other was new with the most magnificent view of the plantations and valley. One highlight was our walk though Horton Plains which meant a 5am departure. We were sad to leave.


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Sri Lanka - Kandy

The trip to Kandy was interesting. We passed a number of Hindu processions. I've seen these things in photos but it is extraordinary to pass one in progress and hear all the trumpets and shouting.
Kandy was going to be a highlight of the tour. The Perahara is a 10 week festival and each night the most amazing parade takes place, getting bigger each night. We were there for the second last night and luckily had seats. The sad part about all of this is that my camera failed just before we left for Kandy. The Electronic View Finder has malfunctioned which means that although the camera still takes photos I can't tell in advance what I am taking a photo of! Many of the photos of the parade you see below were simply good guesses and a little cropping afterwards. I am very lucky that we also have a photographer on the tour and he has lent me his "spare" Nikon 7000D when I've needed a camera.




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Sri Lanka - Dambulla

Since leaving Colombo we have visited one World Heritage Site after another! Sri Lanka has so much history. Anything since the 1600s is simply recent! The people are wonderful. They are so open and friendly, reminding me a little of the Thai but with the added comfort of more English influence so that many speak English and their towns seem to have more infrastructure such as the management of rubbish than I saw in Thailand and Malaysia.
They don't have much in the way of OH&S, though, causing us much amusement. The roads are very much a work in progress and we seem to spend much more time in our bus bumping up and down and dodging cyclists and tuktuks and weaving in and out of busses in a hairy fashion.
Almost all of us (me included) have had a dose of "Bali belly" (or should that be "Sri Lanka belly"?!) but hopefully all recovered now. On the last day in this area my camera died. The Electronic View Finder failed. I can still take photos but I cannot see that I'm pointing the camera at to compose the shot or set the focus point. This is disappointing to say the least. Luckily I still have my little Olympus tough camera so I can still take photos. It is just not the same.
We have just spent the last three days in Kandy and will post photos from that asap.



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Sri Lanka - Colombo

Our first few days in Sri Lanka were very busy. We were up and on the go very early each morning. Outside our historic hotel is the Galle Face Green where people gather in extraordinary numbers in the evening, flying kites and playing cricket and soccer and paddling in the ocean on the non-existent beach. We could not help but wander through the mele and try to absorb it all. Here is a jumble of photos from the first few days.




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Off to Sri Lanka

It is just over a day until we leave; ten of us in a minivan with a guide. It is going to be such great fun. According to travel brochures

Sri Lanka offers travellers palm-studded beaches, rolling plantations and sacred sights steeped in spirituality. With charming people, mysterious ruins and some of the best cuisine in the world, Sri Lanka’s hypnotic essence will remain with you long after you come home.

A few of our troupe have been before and promise that we will love it!

Kuala Lumpur

Five days seeing the sights in the busy city of Kuala Lumpur
I didn't get this uploaded at the time, so this is a very belated post.

View the photos on flickr