Goldi Sands Hotel Negombo

... br>I guess it was a bit of a lame ending to such a good trip really! I had such a good time in the Indian subcontinent, it was scary to think of leaving. I was looking forward to seeing somewhere completely different though and people I'd met spoke so highly of South East Asia. I hope I can go back there some time (especially to India) I think there's soooo much more to see, it's such a diverse and interesting place.

... today we hadn't left the hotel. we have spent our time staggering from the pool to the sunlounger to the restaurant and back again!!!!! today we went to the elephant orphanage at pinawhalla. it was amazing, the first bit was not so good, where you see a few elephants standing around, mostly chained up, although chris did get to bottle feed one, the best bit was when they took them to ...

... Pastry is also good with a whole genre of eats covered in a mix like that we sue for Scotch eggs except it's not made from sausage meat. These are filled with eggs, fish, beef or vegetable and again delicious. On our last visit to a Baker we were presented with the ultimate choice. Usually you are given a tray of ten and pay for what you eat, this time we were presented with three trays; one with savouries, one with sweet buns and "jam bread" and one with cakes, in total a ...

... stink. We took a wander through the north end of the island before dinner and bought a couple of coffees. No two and a half rupee coffee here its a dollar a cup and you get a bottle of mineral water with your order, no need to ask, it comes anyway and its charged separately. The local kids certainly enjoy the free swimming pool, a couple of floating ponds behind a seriously large rock bund near the handkerchief size public beach. We were surprised how many of the shops ...

... ruling as a cynical attempt to steal valuable land from impoverished villagers in order to hand it over to hotel developers at a later date. Whatever the government's motives, the practical consequence was that those with money - mainly meaning those involved in the tourist trade - were able to get around the ruling and rebuild their properties. Meanwhile, the hundreds of thousands of villagers without access to funds found themselves deprived not only of their ...

... t discuss it too much, bit of a sore subject. But here in the South, your as safe as houses!!!! On a happier note, each full moon, the turtles come from the sea onto the bay of Unawatuna and lay and bury their eggs, so the next full moon is the 28th, so we're gonna stay up and look out for them, and maybe a few of the locals may too!!!!! it'll be good, locals said 100k turtles come up!!!!! If anyone fancies a trip to Unawatuna, the food and welcome in Lucky Tuna Restaurant is ...

... church all the staff goes to so you get to see them "outside of work". The first thing you notice about Victor is that he's about 5ft nothing! He's very good as he'll translate into English, or at least paraphrase it. The song book is translated into English as well and they are usually ones that we know so we are able to sing along. Today the district Archbishop was visiting. Apparently he comes about every 3months. He ...

... the surrounding jungle & plains. Me & Danny Boy decided to climb it with Jan, Ted & Mr Richmond wisely stayed below. It was hard going but we made it, at 3pm in the barbaric heat of the afternoon & sweltering humidity, but the views from the top made it worthwhile. We ...

... Silence is also important. We need time alone for this to happen among us. Evelyn: This is typical of women. Astrid: I found no difference between the plenaries and the workshops. Workshops should be hands-on, where we draw on resources to go through the process. We need to start with exposure programs, meeting women. I know it's superficial, but it makes you feel with the heart. We need more time. Virginia: This is something we do in India. What is going on in our ...

... how to make was actually awake (and not hungover, as we were told by their colleague). So we had some tea, instead. The one place we managed to find that always brought us what we'd ordered and who made a pretty decent job of making it taste good was Hot Rock. We ended up going there so often over the last couple of days that this morning, as we walked out of our guest-house (just opposite), the owners gave us a little wave. And we waved back. (T)