The Pearl Negombo

... postwar era. The wounds of war will scar them for ever, and you will have an even more bitter and hateful diaspora to contend with. A problem amenable to a political solution will thus become a festering wound that will yield strife for all eternity. If I seem angry and frustrated, it is only because most of my compatriots - and all the government - cannot see this writing so plainly on the wall. It is well known that I was on two occasions brutally ...

... it can be quite impressive. The monsoon season has just started (runs May to Sept) which is the best time to see it. Although I think it gets more impressive around June time when the monsoon is in full flow, we still got a number of good spouts. BodyBoarding at Goyambokka I spent a weekend staying at Goyambokka back at New Year time and it is a great place for body boarding. The waves can be pretty rough and you do get quite a ...

I've made my way back to Negombo in preparation for my departure to Thailand early early Saturday morning. As Negombo is only 45mins from the airport and a nice beach rest in its own right, it made sense to pass my last 2 days of island paradise here. So long to Sri Lanka!

... who charge through the crowds pulling or carrying enormous loads. With sunset approaching I headed back to Emmanuel and Sarojini's to pack my rucksack for the long journey home. By coincidence Emmanuel and Sarojini's eldest daughter (along with her husband, and daughter 'Sienna') was due to arrive at the international airport only an hour before my own flight check-in opened, so the three of us travelled to the airport having spent an hour watching a ...

... the last time she was standing there alone a tuk tuk driver had asked her if she wanted to go to the airport, she has said no as she was waiting for some one whilst the tuk tuk driver kept impressing on her that he was a taxi and she must want to go the airport and he would take her! As we had arrived a bit early we had some time to kill whilst waiting for our friend to collect us, I decided to indulge in a bit of people watching ...

... So I found out a lot more about Sri Lanka and visited some amazing sites. But I think above all, it was the people that really made my visit so spectacular... COLOMBO: Latin dancing with a pregnant woman...and bullying with new friends...and scoldings from sweet Ammas---the people make Colombo! KAUSHI and THIVANKA I met so many people in Sri Lanka...and some of them have ended up being like family!!! During my ...

... then due to the war in the north with the Tamil Tigers. Our first night there was a quiet one. We had some food whcih we decided was not as good as Indian food and then went to bed. We were woken in the middle of the night by the sound of 4 explosions which we later found out to be the Tamil Tigers attacking the airport which was 10 km away. Lovely! We reassued ourselves that they only target the military bases, we made a trip into Colombo and we got the ...

... any money there. I went out of the holy room with the footprint in time to see the puja procession (offering) going by and people crowding to touch the offerings which passed right in front of me. I wished I could reach out to touch the puja, just as all the pious buddhists were doing. But there I was, an outsider and an unbeliever for whom everything was just a curious show.      Buddhists sat on the cold floor to pray. I wished we could stay ...

... rather got us down. Cold seafood fried rice and plain, dry slices of cucumber and carrot that took an hour and a half to prepare and was utterly disheartening. The waitresses' amazement that we wanted the fried rice hot (as in 'fried') topped off this awful meal in Tangalle. Best meals Rice and curry at the Prassanda Village guesthouse we stayed at in Kandy. So many dishes. So tasty. So much food. Simple fried fish lunch at Hot Rock in Unawatuna. Devilled pork with a ...

We got up and walked onto the train at 11.15 to Colombo, we thought he would be waiting for us outside but we had no resistance, i spent somuch time worying but it all turned out fine! We arived at Colombo 2.5 hours later and got straight onto another train to Negombo which is a resort town right near the airport. Negombo was ok but a nothing town really, we got oue accomodation and aranged our taxi to the airport for the following morning. We had our final night together as ...