Walked up the hill behind the golden temple in Dambulla... an amazing view, and more interestingly, a bunch of monkeys... I managed to take quite a few photos of the sunset, the view (you could see for miles around), and of the monkeys themselves, before a very er, excited, alpha male chased me away.
Woke up at 5AM this morning and caught a bus to Sigiriya, a massive rock about an hour away. It was beautiful.. reallly. and I managed to get there early enough to avoid most of the crowds. I'll post photos another time, but the view was just mindblowing. And the thought that humands carved a fortress into this rock thousands of years ago is very impressive.
On the way home, I had my first -real- taste of Sri Lankan busses... the one going there just wasn't busy enough to really experience it.
It seems that no matter how crowded a bus is, there is always room for one more customer. I kept starring in disbelief as more and more people packed on (I had my seat already, so I was happy)...at its peak, there were maybe 3-4 people hanging out of the door. Quite amusing.
Tomorrow, off to see some ruins, and should be back in Columbo by sunday-ish.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Dambulla
I'm now a man, wearing a skirt.
But before I get into that, let me backtrack.
Randomly met up with Charlie, a british guy I met in Kandy last time - I saw him in the street, and we got together later that evening for a drink. I'm actually somewhat annoyed that I need to move on, if for the sole reason that I would really like to stick around and talk to him for a few more days.
Went to the Sri Lankan airlines office, and changed my return date. I now leave for Chennai/Madras on the 5th of Oct. That should give me enough time to see the sites I need to, and then leave.
Some bigwig in Kandy died a few days ago, and so the streets were packed with schoolchildren and other people waiting for the funeral procession to pass through town. White fabric was hanging over the procession path. I wanted to stay for it, but I needed to get out of town, so that I could make it to Sigaria before the weekend (when local tourists decend).
This afternoon, I took a 2 hour local bus up to Badulla - a nice leisurely bus ride (although the drivers are a bit insane), that was made easier by the fact that I bought a ticket for my bag, and myself. giving me a padded bench to myself on the bus.
I'm now in Dambulla.... a small town, by the looks of it thus far.
In any case - in regard to the title of this post. I brought one pair of pants with me on this trip - a pair of purple thai fisherman's pants - which i've more or less been wearing every day for the last few weeks. I decided to break down today, and wash them, which presented the problem of what to wear while they were wet... solution: A Sarrong.
A lot of the men here (the poorer ones it seems) wear sarrongs, which seem to be nice and cool (temperature wise)... I bought a purple batick styled one for 3 dollars, and have been wearing it for the last hour. It's certainly breezy, and is making me somewhat aware of the people who honk as I go past...
In any case, the pants will be dry for tomorow morning, when I head off to a huge rock/castle thing about an hour away. I'm going to try and be there for 7:00 (fingers crossed), to avoid the crowds, and heat.
But before I get into that, let me backtrack.
Randomly met up with Charlie, a british guy I met in Kandy last time - I saw him in the street, and we got together later that evening for a drink. I'm actually somewhat annoyed that I need to move on, if for the sole reason that I would really like to stick around and talk to him for a few more days.
Went to the Sri Lankan airlines office, and changed my return date. I now leave for Chennai/Madras on the 5th of Oct. That should give me enough time to see the sites I need to, and then leave.
Some bigwig in Kandy died a few days ago, and so the streets were packed with schoolchildren and other people waiting for the funeral procession to pass through town. White fabric was hanging over the procession path. I wanted to stay for it, but I needed to get out of town, so that I could make it to Sigaria before the weekend (when local tourists decend).
This afternoon, I took a 2 hour local bus up to Badulla - a nice leisurely bus ride (although the drivers are a bit insane), that was made easier by the fact that I bought a ticket for my bag, and myself. giving me a padded bench to myself on the bus.
I'm now in Dambulla.... a small town, by the looks of it thus far.
In any case - in regard to the title of this post. I brought one pair of pants with me on this trip - a pair of purple thai fisherman's pants - which i've more or less been wearing every day for the last few weeks. I decided to break down today, and wash them, which presented the problem of what to wear while they were wet... solution: A Sarrong.
A lot of the men here (the poorer ones it seems) wear sarrongs, which seem to be nice and cool (temperature wise)... I bought a purple batick styled one for 3 dollars, and have been wearing it for the last hour. It's certainly breezy, and is making me somewhat aware of the people who honk as I go past...
In any case, the pants will be dry for tomorow morning, when I head off to a huge rock/castle thing about an hour away. I'm going to try and be there for 7:00 (fingers crossed), to avoid the crowds, and heat.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
An Israeli?
This morning, outside my guest-house window, at 7AM, building work starts.
I'm not a happy camper.
I had previously managed to haggle down the cost of my room after being woken up by noise outside, and so I went upstairs to speak to the guest-house manager.
She flipped out. Practically started crying, and said that she wouldn't put up with my behavior. Said that I was just as bad as Israelis, who she will not allow to stay at her place, because of their constant haggling. I took this in stride, and in fact, saw it as a somewhat compliment - Israelis are well known for their awesome haggling skills.
So, the greek girl and I move out (she's next door, and equally bothered by the noise), and find somewhere else 2 doors down, with much less noise, and private bathrooms, for the same price.
After all that fuss, we head off to the Botanical Gardens - by local bus (6 rupees). The gardens were great, and in particular, the orchid room had some pretty flowers (photos to come later).
I've had to delay my plans slightly (I wanted to leave Kandy this afternoon), so I can sort out some health insurance issues that have cropped up in the US - which will take a few hours of Internet cafe time.
The plan right now is to leave Kandy for Dambulla tomorrow morning.
I'm not a happy camper.
I had previously managed to haggle down the cost of my room after being woken up by noise outside, and so I went upstairs to speak to the guest-house manager.
She flipped out. Practically started crying, and said that she wouldn't put up with my behavior. Said that I was just as bad as Israelis, who she will not allow to stay at her place, because of their constant haggling. I took this in stride, and in fact, saw it as a somewhat compliment - Israelis are well known for their awesome haggling skills.
So, the greek girl and I move out (she's next door, and equally bothered by the noise), and find somewhere else 2 doors down, with much less noise, and private bathrooms, for the same price.
After all that fuss, we head off to the Botanical Gardens - by local bus (6 rupees). The gardens were great, and in particular, the orchid room had some pretty flowers (photos to come later).
I've had to delay my plans slightly (I wanted to leave Kandy this afternoon), so I can sort out some health insurance issues that have cropped up in the US - which will take a few hours of Internet cafe time.
The plan right now is to leave Kandy for Dambulla tomorrow morning.
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