Saturday, April 3, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Aluthgama
Aluthgama is a small town on the river Bentota Ganga. I found a nice guest house on the river at the right edge of this picture. It is very peaceful and as long as the room, without air conditioning, cools down enough to sleep at night, I guess I'll just have to spend a couple of days here and maybe take a boat excursion up the river.
The river Bentota Ganga separates Aluthgama from Bentota and a short walk across a bridge dumps me just a few minutes from the beach. There are a number of tourist hotels along beautiful beaches, a broad strip of clean sand framing turquoise waves of incredibly warm water. In spite of warm weather, a nice breeze and surprisingly warm water good for a range of water sports, there are not a lot of people here.
Some of the quiet is probably that the high season is just passing and some that it is just under a year since the war ended, but I rather appreciate the relative quiet and suspect that it is a brief window that will quickly pass as the war recedes in memory.
The river Bentota Ganga separates Aluthgama from Bentota and a short walk across a bridge dumps me just a few minutes from the beach. There are a number of tourist hotels along beautiful beaches, a broad strip of clean sand framing turquoise waves of incredibly warm water. In spite of warm weather, a nice breeze and surprisingly warm water good for a range of water sports, there are not a lot of people here.
Some of the quiet is probably that the high season is just passing and some that it is just under a year since the war ended, but I rather appreciate the relative quiet and suspect that it is a brief window that will quickly pass as the war recedes in memory.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Colombo and beyond
Life is hard. While I was being much more modest when I got to Colombo, I decided to take a break at a grand ocean-side hotel which has been serving discriminating visitors to Sri Lanka since 1864.
At the center of this picture there are a handful of deluxe rooms with private balconies. These rooms have been remodeled and are deliciously decadent with a huge jacuzzi and enough comfort to make me question whether I really need to leave the room. After all, the view from the balcony, particularly at sunset, is pretty wonderful.
OK, life isn't hard, but getting up the gumption to leave here, for whatever beauty and excitement lies ahead, is just a little hard.
But, I've certainly been in Colombo long enough, so tomorrow I head down the coast to the small beach town of Aluthgama. My plan is to stumble down the coast to Marissa moving slowly enough to keep me until at least April 15. The Sinhala and Tamil New Year is mid-April and since it is a major holiday in Sri Lanka, I decided I should just hide out on a beach somewhere. After the New Year festivities die down, it should be a better time to visit Kandy and Nuwara Eliya areas (both for fewer people and better weather, I'm told), and then migrate further north into the Ancient Cities region. Of course, plans merely keep our minds busy until reality shows up, but at least they help me select a train to board in the morning.
At the center of this picture there are a handful of deluxe rooms with private balconies. These rooms have been remodeled and are deliciously decadent with a huge jacuzzi and enough comfort to make me question whether I really need to leave the room. After all, the view from the balcony, particularly at sunset, is pretty wonderful.
But, I've certainly been in Colombo long enough, so tomorrow I head down the coast to the small beach town of Aluthgama. My plan is to stumble down the coast to Marissa moving slowly enough to keep me until at least April 15. The Sinhala and Tamil New Year is mid-April and since it is a major holiday in Sri Lanka, I decided I should just hide out on a beach somewhere. After the New Year festivities die down, it should be a better time to visit Kandy and Nuwara Eliya areas (both for fewer people and better weather, I'm told), and then migrate further north into the Ancient Cities region. Of course, plans merely keep our minds busy until reality shows up, but at least they help me select a train to board in the morning.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Poya
It's Monday, but most of the stores in Colombo are closed or will close early. Why? Today is Poya, specifically Bak Poya, a public holiday. And, everybody knows why every full moon is a holiday. How very fun to be in a country that derives holidays from Buddhism.
They also observe other holidays, including some from other religions. Looking at their official calendar, they do seem to have a lot of holidays. Well, there's nothing wrong with that!
Hmmm. It looks like Vesak Poya is next and, since there are two full moons in one month this year, there is an extra Poya day. So, April 28 is Adi Vesak Poya (extra Vesak Poya) and May 27 is Vesak Poya (regular Vesak Poya). Well, I may just have to stick around for at least one of those! :)
They also observe other holidays, including some from other religions. Looking at their official calendar, they do seem to have a lot of holidays. Well, there's nothing wrong with that!
Hmmm. It looks like Vesak Poya is next and, since there are two full moons in one month this year, there is an extra Poya day. So, April 28 is Adi Vesak Poya (extra Vesak Poya) and May 27 is Vesak Poya (regular Vesak Poya). Well, I may just have to stick around for at least one of those! :)
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