On December 17, 1988 when school had just ended for the summer vacation, we decided to do a road trip of the Cultural Triangle. This trip was quite risky as the LTTE has just bombed some buses close to the areas we would be visiting. With my dad as the driver and my mom as the tour guide, my sister and I sat in the back seat and relaxed. My mom did not want to miss this opportunity to see 1st century Buddhist temples.
Mahaweli and USAID hosted the culture exchange sports day which was held every year so that USAID and Mahaweli could have a cultural exchange between American and Sri Lankan families. It was called the Sri Lanka America Society. At the time, Sri Lanka had 5 five star hotels to try to keep tourism going in the midst of war. Tourism is one of the main moneymakers for Sri Lanka. The InterContinental (now the Kingsbury) and the Colombo Hilton were two of them.
I will be live on Korean radio on March 27 from 11:30am to 12pm Korea time to talk about my travels around the world as well as my first book Beautiful Eye. Please download the software at TBS eFM to listen in live from anywhere in the world! I look forward to your comments below.
The Colombo Swimming Club was not only my favorite hangout, but was the hangout of many of my friends. Every Friday afternoon at my school we would gather around and ask each other “where to tonight”? It was always the same answer. The Colombo Swimming Club of course. The Colombo Swimming Club was our place to relax and get away from the parents. We could drink a coke by the swimming pool and get burned in the sun. Occasionally we would use the library but it was usually a hideaway for meeting that boy or girl. The famous snooker table is still here where the “elders” would constantly get in trouble for smoking over the table. It was so dark in here that you could sneak in a few kisses with that boy or girl. In the outdoor dinning area our favorite food was chips (french fries) with salt and vinegar. We constantly had to swat the crows to keep them from eating our food. Those were the days.
Some of my posts on this blog will soon be moved to Doria Travels. Doria Travels will be my blog where I will be giving you first hand experience from all of my travels from around the world. Beautiful Eye will be just snippets of the book that will be published. Please follow Doria Travels for the latest and greatest tips on different countries.
Sri Lanka – 012 – Market street around Fort Stn & Harbour (Photo credit: mckaysavage)
Right now we are having tea in a building that was built in 1884. The Pagoda Tea Room is located in the Pettah area (old Colombo). Not much goes on here now but the tea is cheap (Rs 60.00 a cup) or US$0.46. In 1983, Duran Duran filmed their music video “Hungry Like a Wolf” here.
Fishing craft on the Galle road (Photo credit: oldandsolo)
English: Colombo street scene in early 20th century. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This morning we left for Colombo via car and driver. The cost was US$45 which I though was quite high but there was no easier way. We have 2 very heavy backpacking backpacks and some hand carry luggage as well. Hikkaduwa is not on the express train route nor near the highway ramp. We are driving north on Galle Road so you can still capture in the rays of the sun coming off the Indian Ocean. You also get to dodge the cattle and tuk tuk drivers as well. This is also the longest route at 2 hours.
I am very much looking forward to being back in Colombo to meet more members of my 1993 graduating class. This is also an opportunity for me to talk to bookstores about selling my book. I also have an appointment with a literature translator who is interested in translating my book to Sinhala and an editor-in-chief who wants to offer me my own column. Welcome back to Colombo!
English: Amangalla, Fort Galle, Sri Lanka (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: building under repair in Galle fort in Sri Lanka Photograph taken summer — autumn 2003 by Joedjemal Refer — http://www.GalleZone.com (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The fort of Galle in southern Sri Lanka, first a Portuguese, then a Dutch stronghold (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Large church, Galle fort in Sri Lanka Photograph taken summer — autumn 2003 by Joedjemal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
My Lunch of Jumbo Prawns
Today we came back to Galle Fort to look around at the old architecture. The first stop was the library built in 1832. We decided to ask to have a look at their oldest book. A memoir written in 1803 by a British author was presented to us. The binding was redone but the pages were original. I was lucky enough to hold this book in my hands. The next stop was the old post office that still stands today dating back to 1872. It is still fully operational. As you walk around towards the clock tower, you can see the Tsunami 2004 damage. There is still a lot of construction going on here. For lunch, we headed back to the Rampart Hotel and decided to try the jumbo prawns in garlic sauce. Believe it or not, but they were even better than the seafood platter.
Bentota Beach where East & West meet (Photo credit: YIM Hafiz)
Bentota Seascape 2 (Photo credit: YIM Hafiz)
Today I write on a moving bus to Seoul. This chapter is about the sex education weekend we had at Bentota beach with the US Embassy nurse. Since sex education was not allowed at our school due to all the religious beliefs, the US Embassy nurse offered this class to those who wanted to take advantage of it. Us kids were excited to get away from our parents and spend another weekend at the beach. We stayed at the most popular hotel in the area, the Bentota Beach Hotel.
The Main Building
