Palace Hotel Negombo

... expositions we published may well have served to precipitate the downfall of that government. Neither should our distaste for the war be interpreted to mean that we support the Tamil Tigers. The LTTE is among the most ruthless and bloodthirsty organisations to have infested the planet. There is no gainsaying that it must be eradicated. But to do so by violating the rights of Tamil citizens, bombing and shooting mercilessly, is not only wrong ...

... on the Buddha's head as looking like a huge dollop of icecream. It is actually a very good description and because of the bright colours used - all I could see was a Mr Whippy cone . Hoo-Maniya Blowhole About 7km from Tangalle there is a blowhole - Hoo-Maniya which is named after the "hoo" boom noise it makes just before it sprouts water. The blowhole is about 20m deep and a metre wide underneath the rock so when the sea is a bit ...

... A perfect right hand point break and I had it all to myself. I spent 5 days surfing and safari-ing. The birds there are amazing but what I liked best was the elephant. ON my last day I snapped two leashes so I decided it was a sign to go. Next I went into the Hill Country and did some hikes. Ella Rock and Adam's Peak. Both were beautiful. Adam's Peak is Sri Lanka's most sacred site, supposedly where Buddah left his footprint but ...

... of a Hospitality Club member who had told us he had a beach bungalow there we could use for a couple of days and then come to an arrangement if we liked it. He didn't mention that it was part of his travel business and he'd be using the driver's quarters. Neither did he mention that he would be arranging our whole trip for us. Ah well, one lives and learns - over and over and over again. We also had a night in Colombo at his home before we managed to shake him, sounds awful but that's how it felt.

First the doggie update I promised Mango (the Temple dog hit by a bus) is continuing to do really well, Bindu (with the amputated toe) is also doing really well and we will probably continue to see h** for anoth** week, temple pups are all doing well (although I believe we may have had more dumped this week that I need to check on) On Thursday I got a call saying we could staff a clinic on Saturday which was fantastic as we had postponed our ...

... a 14 hour night-time stopover in Colombo without getting a hotel from the airline. We don't really fancy spending the night at the airport though, so we decide to leave the airport and find our own hotel. Right after we left customs there's a whole bunch of travel agents jumping us as soon as they spot us, and one of them arranges a pretty good deal for a hotel close to the airport and a taxi that takes us there. So in the end it wasn't too difficult to find ...

... then me & Ted went for a walk into town, on the way we had an anti-aircraft gun pointed at us - there was Army everywhere - last night during the cricket, the Tamil Tigers bombed 2 power stations, causing a blackout in Colombo, causing uproar to the locals who were watching the ...

... with the poor and the oppressed, and is what creates theology. Pieris seeks theology that has as its first step, the building up of basic human communities where Christian and non-Christian members strive together for a full humanity. Bitter memories of the aggressiveness of Christians in the earlier centuries cannot be erased from Buddhist consciousness unless Christianity undergoes a conversion to a humble way of dealing ...

Sri Lanka summary Summing up our time in Sri Lanka is a bit easier than the same task was for India (and not just because all we've done is to cut and paste the India summary entry and change the names :o). We had 2 weeks there as opposed to 2 months in India so the needless generalisations that we so enjoy are a little harder to draw. Still, here goes: Worst meals in descending order (i.e. worst first) Pizza and pasta at Thaproban Rest in Unawatuna. Not for the actual ...

... That evening i went out to a restaurant down from my guest house for veggie curry and rice. got soaked again and then went to watch a DVD with Victor. Now, i was worried bout bringing my GHDs but that boy has a laptop and CD player!! Today i went to the Elephant Orphanage in Kegalle. It was amazing. Sujee took me again and i had a 3 hour ride in a tuk tuk. My backside feels like i did the trip on a camel. We watched the elephants being bottle fed and then they were all taken down to ...