Awe... They are so cute!

On the way back from our relaxing beach weekend in Mirissa, we stopped at a sea turtle refuge near Bentota. We talked about visiting one of these facitlities when were were planning the trip because Christen is a fan of sea turtles. But as it turns out, I think everyone likes sea turtles! I was pleasantly surprised at how interesting the place was and how well informed the people that ran it were.

Upon entering the refuge (read: house near the beach with a large sandy garden and 6 concrete tanks) we were greated by a smily local guide who was the owners son. He told us about the 5 breeds of turtles found in Sri Lanka then took us to the garden where they grow sea turtles. Yep, thats right - Sea turtles can be grown in a garden. Basically, they buy sea turtle eggs from local fisherman and keep them from becomming omlets (hmmm, now I wonder why those omlets in Mirissa were so good...). They take the eggs and rebury them in their garden and after 30-60 days (depending on the breed) the little buggers hatch. After they have hatched, they get moved to the first tank that serves as a nursery.

Jana has here hands full... there were hundreds of these little guys swimming around in the nursery tank.

You could almost hear this one crying "Mama!"

I look so confortable holding this turtle - I think I will take one home with me.

Eric and his turtle. ok, you dont have to say it... yes, Eric has a bigger turtle...

So that was our trip to Mirissa with Eric and Christen. Thanks so much for coming to visit! It was great to see you and I look forward to seeing you on the playa this year!

Beach Holiday

After 18 months on this island, I finally had my first visitors! This is not surprising given the distance from the states, the cost of the flights, and of course the wonderful state of affairs here during the past year. I was lucky though, my friend Eric was making his second trip to Chenni, India for business and had inivted his wife Christen to join him. We originally were hoping to meet in the Maldives for a long weekend, but in the end it was too expensive. So we decided to make a nice 4-day weekend in Sri Lanka instead.

Eric and Christen flew into Colombo on Friday night and Jana and I made the extraordinarily slow drive down to Colombo from Trinco. It took us the better part of 8 hours to make the 260km journey. We booked rooms at a small hotel near the beach in Colombo for the first night and had a nice seafood dinner on the beach. "Nice" being a relative term and even though the beachfront restuarant was better than most places in Trinco, Eric and Christen were quickly indoctrinated to the levels of service found in Sri Lankan resturants.

We rented a car from Colombo and the four of us drove south along the coast to a beach town called Mirissa about 3 hours away. We stopped in Galle along the way and had lunch in the old Fort and walked up on the fort walls that served as protection to the old town from potential sea invaders. We met a local man that claimed to be a dive instructor that lost his boat and all his equipment in the Tsunami. He was selling old coins that he scavanged from the shallow wrecks near the fort. I bought a few Dutch and British copper coins from the 1700's. I figure they will be unique keepsakes if nothing else.

A typical ox-drawn cart still in comon use here in Sri Lanka. Its a wonderful juxtaposition (thanks Eric!) seeing these animal-powered transports working against the sea of buses and Japanese lorries.

Jana and I a-top the Galle Fort walls. We were so lucky, the weather was like this the entire weekend.

Eric and Christen enjoying the views and relative reprieve from India's constant hussle and bussle.


After Galle, we moved on to our final destination, Mirissa. We stayed at the nicest place there, which doesnt mean all that much. But the place was really quiet nice. We each had private 2-story bungalows with ocean views and AC for about $40/night including dinner and breakfast for two.

Not much else to do but enjoy the beach with a few tropical drinks and good friends. Ok, truth be told, these cocktails tasted just a bit off... not quite right... But never fear, Eric and Christen stocked up at the duty free in Colombo airport. So we made our own drinks that were much, much better. Thanks guys!

It was so nice to have friends come to visit me and to see the country that I have been living in for the past year and a half, even if the south is much different then our life in Trinco. The weekend was really relaxing; we started each day with a swim in the sea, followed by a breakfast of fresh fruit, omlets and juice, then back to the beach to chill in the sun, read, swim or what ever met our fancy.

On the way back we stopped at a Sea Turtle refuge. I will write about this in another post.

Nuwara Elliya - Central Highlands

So its been a while since my last post. As you can Imagine, I have been pretty busy trying to finish up my work here so I can move on to greener pastures. Ok, maybe its difficult to get greener than Sri Lanka, but you get my drift. I felt pretty good coming back from my holidays in the states and was motivated to work hard and to enjoy the rest of my time here in Sri Lanka.

Not too long after my return, a few of us planned a trip to the cooler central highlands. Six of us took advantage of a long weekend, and climbed into a van for the 7 hour trip to Nuwara Elliya situated in the lush hills at about 6,000 ft above sea level. I had been here last year with my friend Tom, but it is a really nice place and I was happy to return. Nuwara Elliya is known for its lavish tea plantations and shockingly cool weather. It gets down-right cold in the evenings - about 45 deg (8 deg C).

The view from a mountian top behind our guest house. We hiked through the tea fields to this visita and were pleasantly surprised by the views.

Ivo, Matej, Jana, and me standing in the tea fields above Nuwara Elliya Town.

Mmmmm freash strawberry juice. Verka enjoying her strawberry milkshake. This is almost unheard of in Sri Lanka and was a welcome treat. I think we stopped at the Strawberry Inn each day we were there!

The fierce and much feared wild Sri Lankan Elk. Ok, he was not so tough in the end. i think he even came to me and licked my hand.

More Bali pics

Well, finally getting around to posting a few more pics from my Bali trip. Once I finsh posting these pics I will post an update on my situation here in Sri Lanka, which is better than its been for a long time! :) Enjoy!
Yes, another sunset photo... Can you really have enough though? This is from Kuta beach where I stayed at the begining and end of my trip. It has quiet a few tourist and the locals really seem to appreciate the beach life too. Local people fly these very large kites everyday at the beach. It seems to be a national passtime and is really beautiful. Everyone comes at to watch the sunset.
This is a family that runs a guest house in Ubud, the cultural captial in the foothills of the mountain region. There house looks more like a temple and all the buildings are beautifully decorated. I stayed in my own bungalow for about $4.50 a night, with breakfast!

Traditional Balinese dance is a popular activity in Ubud. I went to two performances while I was there and they were really entertaining. They seem to enjoy themselves which makes the show even more entertaining
!
Everyday local people prepare offerings to the gods. They start each morning by making the small baskets by hand out of grass leaves. It adds color to even the dullest of streets. 

Bali Pics

Well, Im finally getting around to posting pics from myBali trip. This first set is from my stay on a small island off the coast of Bali where I stayed for 4-5 days. It was really peaceful and had excellent diving!

The beach was protected by a coral reef and when the tide went out you could see all of the seaweed farms.
View of the main volcano on Bali from the beach I was staying at/
The first night I was staying here there was a shipwreck on the reef. The boat was not from the area and was unfamilar with the reef. I walked out there at low tide to find the crew stripping the vessel of anything valuable. Locals mentioned that boats like these often are pirate ships that steel fish from the local fisherman. Apparently it happens a lot down here.

It was a bit of an adventure to get out there. Walking through the seaweed farms and over the coral. I lost my flip flops 3 times as it was getting dark and got pricked by 2 sea urchins. Ouch!
I rented a motor bike and drove around this little island and there were some fantastic views. This is another bay where they are haresting seaweed.

Temple Hike

The morning after the Pera Hera festival, we got up at 430am to hike up to this temple located on a high hill. It is about a one hour hike up to the top and you are required to do it barefoot! Needless to say, my feet were pretty sore by the time we got to the top. The views from the top were quite nice, although it was hazy on this day so we could not fully enjoy the sunrise. Thanks again for the pics Tom!

(Photo by Tom Ramsson)
Some of the volunteer (pilgrams) and Raja on our way up.
(Photo by Tom Ramsson)
Colorful hindu priest we met on the way. I was struggling to keep up with these guys on the way down because my feet were so sore.
(Photo by Tom Ramsson)
Another hindu priest. Great pics Tom! 

Kataragama and Pera Hera Festival

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recently made a very quick trip to the southwest of the island to join 275 other Sewa Lanka people as they ended their one-week pilgrimage to Kataragama. The actual pilgrimage starts in Jaffna (northern most province) down the east coast to Kataragama and obviously takes much more than a week to complete. The pilgrimage is enjoyed by both Hindu’s and Buddhist as Kataragama, the deity, is believed to be a son of Shiva that came to Sri Lanka from India and now resides in the town with the same name. The Pilgrimage ends the Night before the Pera Hera Festival begins. So, unfortunately I wasn’t able to join on the pilgrimage due to work commitments, but it was nice to join in for the festival. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. Big thanks to Tom for sending me these pics!

(photo by Tom Ramsson)
Raja (my boss) and I at the festival.


(photo by Tom Ramsson)
No I did not sneak off to Burning Man... These kids were actually pretty good fire-spinners.


(photo by Tom Ramsson)
They like to dress up the elephants for the festival. This one reminds me of El Nacho, the Mexican wrestler… There were two that were magnificently adorned with rich tapestries and decorations. One elephant was sooo tall with huge tusks that nearly touched the ground. This was an intimidating animal. Before the festival the walk the elephants down to the river (which is, of course, sacred) and lovingly bath them. Then the elephants are marched to the temple grounds and they will bow to various shrines.
(photo by Tom Ramsson)
I just like this pic looking down the parade route on the temple grounds. It really was a nice setting.

Wisconsin in January...

After coming back from Thailand, I was told to stay in Colombo because the events in Trinco had made it unsafe to return. All international NGOs left Trinco temporarily and I worked out of the Colombo office for a week before learning that me dad was scheduled to have heart surgery. I made the decision that I should go to Wisconsin to be with my dad. It was a good trip, er, I guess I should say visit. The trip took 36 hrs, 5 cities, 2 sunrises, and 2 sunsets! Ugh! I got to spend time with family and friends in MN and WI before the surgery and it was great to be there with my dad and his wife during the difficult time. Those of you that know my father know that he is a spitfire and recovered quiet well and only pissed off the nurses a few times!


My dad and I on the patio at Hawk Ridge, his cabin in Pembine, WI before surg. They had some good snow and I got to take a spin on their snowmobiles… January is really, really cold at 95 mph.

My dad shortly after returning home from the hospital and looking surprisingly good! You can see all the tape marks left on him. Each one represents a different line or sensor that was attached to him. I think I counted 19 lines going in or out of my dad when he was recovering. He is doing pretty well these days and has returned to work and is continuing to work with his wife Polly to finish the addition to their cabin (Hawk Ridge).


I also got to see my cousin Anna and spend time with her on her 15^th Birthday.

Thailand - Big Reclining Buddha

Also at Wat Pho, the large reclining Buddha is utterly impressive. It is difficult to get a perspective from the photos but he is really, really long. Along each side of the Buddha, there are hundreds of small bronze pots that you are supposed to drop small coins in as you walk along the Buddha image. The sound is mesmerizing as you walk through the temple with all the other people.


Check out the feet on Buddha! Each foot is covered with intricate mother of pearl inlays.

Thailand - January 2006

After the commemoration events, I took a short trip to Thailand for a little R&R and to celebrate new years. It is relatively cheap to get there and it is about a 4 hr flight. I was happy to return to Thailand after my trip there 4 years ago. I was only there for just over a week but really enjoyed my time in Bangkok and Chaing Mai. I even got some climbing in.

The temples at the Grand Palace and Wat Pho are utterly amazing. Even some of the lesser temples in the countryside are quite impressive.

I really like these…thai versions or gargoyles(???). The detail is amazing.

This golden Buddha is actually from a temple in Chaing Mai (the north) but thought it was worth adding.

Back at Wat Pho, they are currently in the process of restoring many of the temples. Here they are tracing all the intricate artwork for preservation and verification after it has been restored. You can see the areas that have been restored.

Christmas in the South of Sri Lanka- December 2005

I was invited to join the Chairman of Sewa Lanka and a few of the other American Volunteers to spend Christmas in Galle, then travel to the east to participate in two Tsunami Commemoration events on December 26th.

Christmas Dinner at the Lighthouse Hotel
We dined at a very nice hotel right on the beach, complete with crashing waves, fire-lit torches and a buffet that would not stop. It was so great to have good food and a variety of food to choose from. YUM!

Harsha, Amanda, Steve, and Thomas – Cheers!

Amanda and Steve, two american volunteers (note the creative use of the table center piece)

Some of the macabre sculptures within the hotel.