Sri Lanka Email

I landed in Colombo and took local transport (buses) towards my guest house, the buss was empty to start, my 35lbs back pack sitting on my lap, my camera bag on top of that, it's still cool because it's the morning but as the sun creeps higher and the bus begins to fill the temperature starts to go up, and now i'm sweating. An hour and half of semi confusing travel and bus hoping, and i finally find my guest house right off Galle road which is a major hub in Colombo. Excited to see a bit of the city i walk around briefly in a bit of disappointment, and i don't know what i was expecting after nearly 30 years of militia bombing and aggression.

What i did see is the most heavily protected city that i have ever encountered. Men with AK-47, Uzzies, and Rocket Launchers sitting in bunkers at nearly every other major intersection, Armed Guards walking nearly every street and standing guard at most traffic lights. It was a definitely a scene out of a movie, but the best part was giving them a smile as you walk towards them because the big tough men who can end your life in a second with a semi automatic weapon in their hands nearly melt, responding with huge goofy grins as you pass them by.... priceless.

I rushed to the north to see the Rock fortrouse of Sigiryia which was a very impressing structure built on top of an enormous rock sitting in dryer plains of the north. Not being a huge History buff i dismissed the other ancient cities and caves which date back some years and headed straight for kandy, a beautiful mountain town. it was here that i discovered what i truly found special about Sri Lanka. The people are just so unbelievably kind, expressing my interest in food to one of the guest house owners, i was then helping cook a traditional Sri Lankan meal of String Hoppers, Chicken Curry, and Sambal, and potatos. Smashing chillies, toasting spices, frying off chicken only to stew it some more, squeezing citrus out of the orangey flavored limes into a freshly scraped coconut sambol was a pretty unique experience, doing it with old women in the traditional way was even better.

I found this to be the trend among the mountain towns i visited, each guest house, each restaurant being ever so willing to let me into their kitchen to cook and learn. In Ella i found my self with red beetroot stained hands cutting up the vegetable to make a curry (beet curry sounds gross i know, but it's pretty freakin' good). I look up from the cutting board to see a costumer walking through the kitchen, mutter something in Sri Lankan and wander away baffled by my presence in the kitchen. Twenty minutes later i return to see him eating the dish i was just preparing, again a unique experience.

Wondering the mountains, riding on unbelievably overcrowded trains and climbing up one of the tallest peaks in Tea country was a great time, i could have taken my time and spent way more than 10 days slowly wondering around in different towns, but i wanted to do some beach time before anxiety levels rise and the reality of India is upon me. 4 days soakin' up the sun (and rain) in Unawatuna was more than enough for me, visiting fishing villages, seeing the iconic stilt fisherman of Sri Lanka, buying freshly caught tuna from the market and bringing it to a local restaurant to be cooked was all part some great days I had down in the south.

One more overcrowded train back to Colombo, and i treated my self to a nice meal at the Hilton at one of their prized restaurants who serves up Sri Lankan Cuisine with the freshest ingredients, i happened to mention to the chef as he strolled by that I too work in the kitchen and from that point on the food never stoped coming. It was a delicious way to celebrate One Year On the Road, what a trip it's been.