LTI Sinbad Kalutara

... more of a selection than a 7-11) for a few grocery items and I've picked up a few things to have in the room in the evening. Daisy buys dinner every night at the hotel, which really adds up. I did splurge and buy a bottle of Cuban Bacardi, which set me back almost $30, but it's the only rum available. Nearest to it is the local drink called Arrack, made from sugar something, which if you close your eyes and pretend, can pass for rum. It needs help, like ...

... Over The River Kwai" was filmed. I don't think the local restaurants need to show "BOTRK" every night at 7pm, but it would be great for tourism if there was a place along the riverbank where you could pay to fall on a plunger, which would ignite a ton of dynamite, and blowup a nearby train crossing just as the train reaches it! For weeks I'd been talking about riding elephants; it was one of the main incentives to get my son on the trip ...

... city near the center of the island. There was a local guy staying at my guest house going home to Kandy so we travelled together which made things much easier as far as finding the station and the right bus. The bus was pretty old and battered but they're very cheap,maybe $2 for a 4 hour ride.Before we left, a couple of policemen came onboard and checked everyone's ID and searched bags. There's been an ongoing insurgency for 25 years by the LTTE ( the Tamil Tigers),who want a ...

... liked how clean and sanitised the area was......sadly only the airport and the environs. We headed into Colombo proper - good main road with mainly dirt tracks heading off it - lined with the usual Asian shops/houses and tropical lush vegetation. The bit we didn't really take to was the huge number of soldiers standing along the road - either end of bridges, main junctions, etc. Very heavy and visible military presence. We checked into our ...

... of this many-faceted city. The atrocious weather meant I was forced to scale down my plans, so I spent the majority of the day dodging the rain by trawling around Colombo's good range of shops looking to offload surplus rupees. Starting in Majestic City (formerly the city's flagship mall and a popular hangout with wannabe-Western local teenagers), I went to Barefoot, Lanka Hands, Paradise Road, and Odel - the only real department store in Sri Lanka ...

... who im working with) had to wear a Sari and i had to wear a Sarong but it was like a dress! (filth you would have laughed) After lots of dancing we smoked some Shish - all good fun! Ok lunch is over, chat to you soon! Stuart - send me an email about Tanzania! katy - the Sri lankan dancing... memories of Goa and that stage!

... weeks here I stayed with my friend Thivi and met his new wife Kaushi, who will be having her baby this month! (NB Thivi is Binny's cousin/Sanjeeve's brother...who are friends from Australia). Kaushi and Thivi were awesome hosts and staying with them was like staying with a big brother and sister. Thivi, as many people know, loves a bit of a party. He would cope perfectly in Argentina or Spain where nothing starts ...

... running when I'm heading home. It's going to make such a difference to 25/30 children. We arrived in Hambantota around 230pm and once we had food, unpacked and had a look around, headed into explore the town. Thursday - this was my 1st day in the actual school and Ronali advised me just to observe and get to know the kids. Before the class started, the children welcomed Gordon and I with flowers. One of the teachers had to leave early to go to hospital so I had to ...

... wasn't much to eat. At one point, Marini bought steaming hot boiled chickpeas (garbanzos) with chili and coconut for us to snack on. This was sold in a stall alongside salted peanuts (like we have in the Philippines) and corn on the cob. Resting places along the way sold the chickpeas, chapatis (I think that is what the small pancake like bread was), something that looked like a doughnut, toasted slices of loaf bread, and the usual junk ...

... We caught a bus over to their place but they were not there but after a little walk along the beach i herd Mum calling my name from her balcony. It was realy nice to see them again. Davo has kindly paid for us to stay at their place for the next 4 days so im just catching up on the log before we get to the expensive place! We have had a couple of days over their already and it is very nice, we have been getting busses there and ...