This entry is about my trip to Sri Lanka, February 2007. I started to write it very long time ago, but only now realised that I have to finish it. My memory cannot recall any more all the details, so it will be much shorter than Sri Lanka really deserves.
Possession of any illegal drugs will be punished by death penalty.
This was the first sign that I saw in the Sri Lanka airport.
Before travelling there, I had that exciting feeling – the longing for a travel. Besides all the interesting stuff that I had heard about Sri Lanka, I had a slight paranoia about every 10th mosquito having malaria, about rat fever that you can get drinking form metal cans; still, I had the butterflies in the stomach – the same feeling I had before every travel some time ago, before I started working.
The first surprise exiting the airport was the left-hand traffic. Still, if I have been complaining about traffic in Kuwait (as long as you can can call loud and rude swearing complaining), it was a bit hard to complain about traffic there, as it is a bit hard to call what they have there – traffic. There is just a large number of cars on the street, and every car has its own target destination, thus – its own direction of driving. Strangely enough – everything seems to just be resolving without any major problems.
On our way from the airport we bought Thambili – the local coco nut. It is the best medicine for any disease. When Sri Lanka had war against the colonists, the Thambili juice was used as the liquid to use as a blood substitute for soldiers that had lost too much blood. And it tastes great!
We (me and my sis Emi) stayed at Tim’s place.
I have to really say – I love Sri Lanka. So many cultures have blended together during its rich history, and it really has taken the best of every of them. Of course it has extraordinarily beautiful nature, but in Colombo (the only big city I visited), you will find the art elements from Sri Lankans and Arabs, the precision of the British, the freedom of the Portuguese and Dutch. All mixed together. They really have a great sense of style. It was the first place where I saw a shopping mall that more resembled an exhibition.
And then there is the nature. We went with a taxi all the way down to the very South of Sri Lanka – staying in a small hotel just metres away from the Indian ocean. Mojitos and grilled fish at the sea side, dancing in the sand, making sure not to step on a scorpion.
After the 2 years, I do not remember all the details, but I really liked to party in Colombo, travel around in the tuk-tuks, and the time spent at the Indian Ocean was just fantastic. Let the pictures do the talking!
Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Tags: Sri Lanka