Sunflower ( A/C) Negombo

... say it like we see it: whether it be a spade, a thief or a murderer, we call it by that name. We do not hide behind euphemism. The investigative articles we print are supported by documentary evidence thanks to the public-spiritedness of citizens who at great risk to themselves pass on this material to us. We have exposed scandal after scandal, and never once in these 15 years has anyone proved us wrong or successfully prosecuted us. The free media ...

... In Sri Lanka bakers all have eating areas and sell good quality food aimed at their own people. They also sell short eats. This is the original finger food and excellent value. We grazed ur way round Negombo, there's not much else to do and took some short eats back to the hotel to soak up that bottle of wine.

... many stares aimed in my direction. The town is very similar to those I have seen in Vietnam & Cambodia, with bikes, cars, motorbikes & trucks all tooting each other. I did see a big gathering at a church - must have been the 6pm Sat night mass - many more females to males. Back at the hotel i wasn't that hungry so a can of spag and an apple for tea I was ready for bed again.

The cricket started the next day, with complimentry tickets, and the next five days were spent having my socks bored off me......england drew, no surprise there then...... the only other thing of note in col was my success at the casino......i got 25 quid of chips, had free food and drink all night and came out with 15 quid ...

... course July 7th. It seemed fitting to do some thing v**y positive today and our clinic was an appropriate way to spend the morning. Ev**yone else has left h**e this evening to watch a P**ah**a, I have decided to stay behind to catch up with my blog, do some office work and just spend a few quite hours thinking ov** a few things and reflecting on the last 2 years. Th**e are a lot of people I am thinking of today and I hope the day has been kind to you all Sam

So my last stop and bit of a let down. A beech you cant swim in and now where the feel of the south beeches. So when the weather continued to act up I decided it was time to leave. The others had all flown home and it was my time to. I managed to change my flights and after only one night here I was heading back to the UK.

... realize, until Gordon said today, that Hambantota had the 2nd highest loss of life and destruction in Sri Lanka because of the Tsunami. It's things like that that make you realize why some of the kids have behavioural problems - no wonder after what they have seen or the trauma that has been passed down through their parents. It brings it all back home to you. So that's the weekend over again and we are again without Renalli and Rod, but hopefully they'll be back in a week or two!

... an early start. We set off for Hambantota at 6am. I would have thought the streets would have been empty - far from it. Children were walking/waiting for their bus to school and the cars were everywhere. Renalli was even able to call into the bank at 630am (some think they have it tough in Ulster Bank!!) Halfway through the journey, we stopped in a town called Galle to see an orphanage that was being built. It'll hopefully be ready by August so can't wait to see it up ...

... along the steps with her. The first time we kept a distance. The second time, we sat and laughed  together but couldn't converse because of the language barrier. My companions were grateful for the  stop and groaned when we saw her moving to get up again. In the next stop, she was exhausted and stretched out on a bench to rest. Some of us slept there for a while too, and when we left, she was still sleeping. We never saw her again. For food ...

... so beautiful. so much so that i extended my stay here by another day. The people that work here are all extremely friendly, much like the rest of the negombo population, and the food is awesome. On my first day i took a walk on the beach and stopped and spoke to a few local people. i then Sujee - a tuk tuk driver who has been with me for 2 days now. we arranged the next days sight seeing and i went back to the guest house to sleep. Later that evening i met Victor while i was eating in ...