Galle, 2nd day

Yesterday was a full moon, and thus a holy day for Buddhists. The area outside my guest-house was thus packed with tourists, and while it's cute for a while, it does tend to get on your nerves.

I've learned thus far that Politics are something you just don't discuss here. There have been a few bomb attacks in the last week or two on the east coast, and with elections coming up in November, there promise to be more problems. Thus, i'm keeping my mouth shut when it comes to the local political scene.

In addition, while i can ask questions about religion, I have to be very careful - Sri Lankans believe that their country is the chosen holy land of their form of Buddhism (which later spread to Thailand and SE Asia), and take an almost Israeli style approach to killing people who threaten their religion/land. As religion and politics are so closely linked here, thats another topic off limits.

With politics and religion off the table, the only other conversational topic available to me during breakfast this morning, was of course, sex.

My landlord and I thus spend about 30 minutes discussing the dive in cultural standards that the last 20-30 years have brought. Couples now come to Galle to make out, and worse. Apparantly, there is a thriving trade in Japanese style Love Hotels (rented out by the hour). With most local guesthouses only renting out rooms to foreigners, the sex-crazy youngsters pay upwards of 1500 rupees (15 dollars) for a couple hours (compared to the 1000 that foreigners pay for a night).

With that chat done with, I set about packing up my stuff. Galle has been nice, but it's just too crowded and touristy for me. I'm heading about 8km down the coast to a quiet town called Welhengoda Ahangama to hang out with a swiss couple I met yesterday. The town has less than a paragraph in the rough guide (it's only really famous for a large collection of fisherman who sit on stilts in the water all day). I'll probably spend a day or two there, chilling out.

I doubt i'll have Internet access there, but as always, my cellphone will probably work, if I need to be reached.

Off I go.