Samstag, 15. November 2014

Negombo and Colombo

Same procedure as every morning, after what we went for a walk along the beach where we took some time to help the local fishermen pull their nets ashore. 

Other tourists keep 100 meters distance safety to take pictures. I don't understand people that travel to this kind of destination to stay two or more weeks inside the hotel area and them fly back home without experiencing anything that this wonderful country as to offer besides sun and the hot water of the hotels swimming pool.
Tourist on the right bottom corner taking pictures of fishermen
Miguel helping out
Result of three hours work (15 people)
Then we picked the bus and went to Colombo.
 
Maning market


Dry fish and fish skins
Fresh eggs in the sun by over 30° air temperature
 
The cheapest coconuts we've seen

Following the market we visited the National Museum, no pictures here because the ticket price to take pictures is 10 times higher than the regular ticket and there's not much worth taking a picture. When we came out it was pouring like hell.
 The way back to Negombo in the bus was a three hour nightmare.
 

Donnerstag, 13. November 2014

Bentota - Negombo

We woke up early this morning, the place where we stayed last night (apart from the trains passing by once in a while)  was very quite, it felt just like home. 
 
 
After our already traditional morning swim we started the last leg of our trip on motorcycle exploring the coast.
Dutch channel
Sometimes with small trails in between.
 
 I've a couple of pictures from the chaos in Colombo that I would like to post but cannot read the them at the moment, I hope I can still rescue them and will post later on.
 
 

Mittwoch, 12. November 2014

Galle - Bentota

Same procedure as everyday (wish it was :-))  wake up, swim and snorkel followed by breakfast. The spot we spent the night in, is amazing and the water temperature just perfect.

After the nice start in the day, we packed up and drove to Galle. On the way there we were caught by a rain shower and had to stop and put the rain suits on. While we were dressing, we heard someone stopping near us, what a coincidence, it were the two missing guys. We shortly exchange some words and they left again without waiting for us, just like two days ago. Told us they would go to some hotel but we only had a name without address and were not able to find them.
Fisherman near Galle
At the entrance of Galle we saw this fish market


and shortly after the traffic got suddenly unusually heavy and even on the motorcycles we could hardly move as we slowly moved forward we were able to see the reason for the traffic jam, our side of the road were full with students in a demo to request the abolition of study charges.

We entered the fort in Galle and drove down to the... light, by looking at the houses this town could be located somewhere in Europe. 
Famous lighthouse
Girls demo
After Galle we drove up to Bentota with a short trail at seaside.
Buying another pineapple
Lunch
Until now we were taking this plastics away whenever they gave us an empty dish with but today we found out that the meal is actually supposed to go on top.
Waiting for the train
 After have ridden over a week in Sri Lanka I've learned some new rules regarding driving and also some funny stuff. It continues to surprise me that the busses don't stop if there's only one person to get in or out, they just reduce speed. All busses drive with open doors, the most of them with people standing in the door enjoying landscape go by.
By the way, the bus drivers are the only ones that scare me on the road, they all drive to fast. In this trip we  have been overtaken more often by busses than all other vehicles together. I remember the first day when we were driving quite fast overtaking (almost) everyone and suddenly hear something honk behind me and see this huge bus on my mirrors, I pushed over to the side and as it drove past me read "
Express bus" back then I thought "Huh! Yeah!, that an Express one" :D
Anyway, in Sri Lanka you need to give up your (theoretical) rights to avoid accidents, someone else will do for you in the next couple of meters ;-)
If I look at percentages, I would say that when Europeans use a road to 90% (traffic jam in both directions) in Sri Lanka, in an identical situation they will use it over 500% the efficiency here is at its maximum. :P

Dienstag, 11. November 2014

Merissa

The day started in perfection, wake, short walk, swim and snorkel followed by a shower and a traditional breakfast, this time finally with hopper and string hopper.
After what we drove slowly along the coast in direction Galle.
 
 
 
and ended up in Merissa.
Room view
 

Tangalle

A day without internet has also its advantages, we went to bed sooner and woke up early, the guest house had no breakfast included on the 1500 rupees (9€) for the night. We packed our stuff and drove further south, stopping for a quick breakfast on the way.

Risking some local specialities
Price list overview :P
Finally we reached the coast enjoyed the beautiful empty beach and went for a swim, the water here is warmer than it was in Batticaloa.
Fishermen taking care of their nets
As it was still very early, we drove along the coast looking for a nice place to spend the night.

Which we found in Tangalle.
Devilled prawns