Sri lanka pt2

Continuing from my first post on Sri Lanka.

Curries!  For a foreigner the cuisine of Sri Lanka is pretty wondrous and very very hot, as in chili and curry everywhere! There are so many different varieties of foods that I cannot say I am any expert after only a couple of visits to Sri Lanka. Suffice to say that the food is delicious and after a while you get accustomed to the hotness and start enjoying it more and more. Locals use their right hand to eat but there are usually spoons or forks available everywhere for the random visitors and of course in the more expensive places you have the full fork, knife and spoon available. Rice is the main staple of the local dishes with chicken and beef used often as well. There is a wide variety of vegan foods as well.

For dessert expect to get fresh fruits or curd with syrup (a sort of youghurt).

Working the garden.

Lovely flowers to enjoy.

Lot of flowers or plants are the same we in Europe might buy in a flower pot but in the tropics they are practically trees.

There are of course small and big varieties of lizards. Geckos are everywhere and I for one like them for feeding on those pesky little mosquitoes.

One of the nicest food fruits you can have, the Jackfruit. Great to eat fresh and cooked.

Monsoon rain with a bit of sun glimmering in the horizon.

Sun setting and the dark monsoon clouds in the sky. Three-wheels and motorcycles are widely used form of transportation all over the country. Good for getting around cheaply, not so sure about how safe they are. On that note its very sad to know that everyday 10 people die in traffic accidents in Sri Lanka. Most likely the reasons are bad driving education and small roads with lot of traffic. There is also a popular transportation style of 4people on the same motorcycle so when accidents do happen they can have a very high toll on lives of people. It is however good to note that the situation is getting better with more strict enforcing of traffic rules and the building of better roads as well.

More tk.

Sri Lanka pt 1

As an avid traveler/photographer I always have loved the possibilities to visit a little bit more exotic countries. I have spent years abroad so there is always a strong calling to go visit new places as well as re-visit interesting place. Sri Lanka has been present in some my last few posts in the form of different monochrome shots. I would love to share a bit more of this lovely land and my trip with you.

Sri Lanka is located on the tip of the Indian sub-continent. The country was earlier known as Ceylon and some of the tea that is imported from Sri Lanka still carries the Ceylon name proudly. If you are a tea person, you will probably know that Sri Lanka tea is one of the best known and widely used teas. The country is the second biggest importer of tea in the world (for many years it was the biggest but apparently at the moment Kenya holds the top spot).

Climate wise the country is very warm and humid being located just a bit north of the equator. As Asian countries go, it is not as highly populated as some of its regional neighbors, but over 21,5million people live on the island with a couple of million living abroad. Ethnically the country is divided into two main groups, the Sinhalese and the Tamil. Both people are also represented in India and the country and its culture has quite naturally some similarities to the cultures of Southern India.

In the time of the British Empire Sri Lanka was an integral part of India and at that time period also the tea plantations grew and a great legacy was built. It is only a fluke of nature actually that Sri Lanka is known of tea instead of coffee as they were growing it before but a bad crop in the early 19th century affected those plans.

Sri Lanka is very interesting in that it is very diverse country. There are beaches, jungles and mountains. Wildlife including leopards, crocodiles and wild elephants as well as a wide variety of birds.

Tabletop mountain on the road between the capital city of Colombo and Kandy. Going up to the mountains and the region where tea is grown is something I would recommend anyone visiting Sri Lanka should do. Even though the 130km drive takes around 5.5hrs it is worth the bother.

The views on the road are stunning as well as the difference between the lifestyles of the countryside vs the capital.

City of Kandy is  a major center in the country and one of the central places of Buddhism as well. The city is located in a valley with a lake and a great river running by it.

The main religion is Buddhism and it is visible everywhere with statues and monks aplenty.

Rush hour in Kandy is relatively cosy affair versus the likes of Indian cities but there is a lot of bustle still.

Selling water on the high street.

Jungle in the monsoon season, in the lower corner the Mahaveli river which along with the mountains dominates the Kandy area.

Mahaveli from another vantagepoint.

One of South-East Asias biggest Golf-courses. is located close to Kandy.

Beautiful flower being ravaged by beautiful bugs.

Hinduism, the second dominating religion in the country has a lot of followers especially in the Tamil population. Small shrines and big temples can be found almost as often as Buddhist shrines.

A flower that looks like a bird made me look twice and take this photo.

More tk.

Rain and happiness

Monsoon season, one of the essentials of life in the tropics does make life difficult for a photographer. This young gentleman was very happy nonetheless and as our eyes met he smiled and I raised my camera and here we have the result.

Character

Some people have true grit (like the old John Wayne film..). Somehow this gentleman seems to me to ooze that sort of mentality. A life lived in sometimes hardship but still going strong.