Views of Sri lanka

[UK4X4]

Just a few shots of the families recent trip to this lovely verdant green Island

located off the South east corner of India, formally owned by the Brits untill 1948 and called Ceylon during our reign, formal British architecture was seen everywhere, giving it a very colonial feel.

Working elephants still roam the roads with their handlers

Fruit bats the size of small dogs

Gila monsters the size of large dogs

Beautiful beaches and friendly people

Not really on the way to anywhere in particular but a nice destination for a wander around holiday, using Tuk tuks taxis buses and trains.

Ignore the stories of war and bombs, even my trip there ten years ago was as safe as this one.

We mostly travelled in Tuk Tuks and taxis as with the baby and baby stuff we were'nt exactly the most lightly packed travellers.

Its meant to be rainy season now...but we only had spurts of rain and nothing stopped travel plan's, mostly it downpored at night.

 

[UK4X4]

Modern cooking range !

Piniwalla elephant sanctuary, made tourist atraction on the island

High in the tea plantations- I think I would have prefered the original cloud forest before my fellow countrymen chopped them all down

Gila

 

[SWDesertTaco]

What a great trip!

Thanks for the pics, the cloud forest remnants look beautiful.

The last image you took looks like a Water Monitor Lizard, pretty cool animal.

Is there a pretty big tourist based economy in Sri lanka or is it primarily agriculture?

Thanks again for images from a place I haven't seen images from before.

-C

 

[jcbrandon]

Beautiful pictures; thanks for sharing them. Did you get up to Kandy?

I spent a month working in Sri Lanka a few years ago. It is a beautiful place filled with warm, friendly people who can't stop smiling in spite of poverty and war.

Here's a link to a little home video of my trip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LBrJL5pEwQ

 

[ttora4runner]

:victory:

 

[UK4X4]

Yep we spent 5 days in Kandy and the surrounding area, exploring mostly by Tuk Yuk, as its easy to stop and get out a ground level rather than shooting past at 70 in a van or taxi.

Society.....agriculture.......tourism and cheap labour factories for clothes etc

I stand corrected yes you are correct water monitor lizard

Nice video- I wish I had the time to do things like that - shows the roads and traffic perfectly !

Its like a little india without the travel hassels at every stop, cleaner more organised but still with culture dating back BC and beyond.

The wife cancelled my planned trips to the ruined cities, due to the baby and the travel times, I'd been there before on my last visit pre-digital.

So we did more cultural exploring, even spent two days with my maids family in their "house"

( Note in Oman a maid is cheap...I'm not rich)

150Km takes around 5 hrs due to the roads and traffic

here's a few more...

First stop Mirrisa on the south coast - hit by the Tusami but not as bad as other areas...breakfast on the beach anyone..? off season zero tourists

TUK tuks the stable travel vehicle for the average Sri lanken

Queens Hotel in Kandy....dates back over 200 years with some fellow travellers- funnily enough UK but living in Dubai..next door to me in Oman

$6 jumbo prawn dinners

Tooth relic returning to its home in the temple- rumoured to be belonging to Budda

bat man ?

Maids family and my daughter

 

[UK4X4]

Some notes on cost and people

Mirissa beach concrete cabanha 20 ft from beach- $12 per night
Queens hotel Kandy - $40 per night
Negumbo beach hotel - $ 46 per night
Usual back pack places were between $ 10 and $30 per night depending on facillities and location.

Note Kandy- Queens at 40 was better than 20 and 4 tuk tuk rides a day to go back and forth from the center

Lion beer, 750 ml- $ 2.76
Arrak the local coconut spirit - $ 8.00
Main course in restaurant - $ 5 to $10
Rice and curry buffet at local restaurant - $ 2-3 per person
Coke- $1
TUk Tuk per day- $30
Vannette per day with driver $ 50-60
Kandy Colombo by train $2.70 ( then you have to add tuk tuks at either end to get from the stations to where you want to stay
kandy Colombo by Van and driver $ 50

Average dinner cost with booze 20-30 / night for two adults and a baby

No food poisening in 3 weeks !!!!- better than Oman

People really friendly

Religion mainly Buddist with small Christian and Muslim enclaves, the average Sri lanken, lives their lives based on the teachings of Budda, and then attends what ever church or mosque that has a nice atmosphere near their home.

A home would normally have both a buddist altar for incence and a cross elsewhere.

Taxi's and Tuk tuks usually displayed a mixed variety of religious icons

safety......no issues, never felt threatened even in the back streets and markets

usual flim flam artists / peddlers but most move away when requested.

travelling with young kids......mainly means your tied to vans and drivers for long distances and a tuk tuk for shorter journeys, local buses and trains whilst fine for adults, getting on and in with strollers etc makes them more trouble than their worth.

final image of Sri lanka

More here if interested

http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g165/POshaughnessy/sri%20lanka%202009/

 

[gmookher]

Good to see ya paul! Great pics

 

[jeepmedic46]

Beautiful pictures and great write up, India is one of the places that I would love to visit someday.:ylsmoke:

 

[Funrover]

Great pics!