Over the two weeks of our journey in Sri Lanka, I slept in a number of different places from upright in a crowded train carriage from Colombo, to a beach by the surf on the south coast. We stayed in…
Tea Time in the Sri Lankan Highlands
Tea is one of those drinks that everyone is happy to talk about. Every person you meet has an opinion on it. How to drink it, how to prepare it, when it should be consumed; even how it should or…
Tuk Tuk Trek
Transportation while travelling is something of a romantic ideal to me. Wherever we trip across the globe, I’ll invariably return with a story where the means of getting from one place to the other is the central premise of the…
Guest Who
When it comes to accommodation, we as travelers, have a number of options for consideration. The obvious starting points are the traditional options; hotels, backpacking, and camping. More recently we’ve been offered accommodation share choices like Air BnB and couch…
Mirissa – Southern Sri Lankan Stopover
“Can’t we just take a tuk-tuk?” I asked. “But the bus is cheaper.” It was the same discussion every time we travelled. I wanted comfort speed and a just a little legroom. Linh, on the other hand – at 5’1”…
Einstein’s Barber Shop Itinerary – Sri Lanka: Exploring Mountains, Temples, and Coastlines
Itinerary 3 Sri Lanka In Sri Lanka, we made effective use of trains and busses to see a large percentage of the island in a relatively small period of time. The trip initially took us from Colombo to Kandy by…
Behind Unawatuna
We spent the last few nights in Sri Lanka staying on the south east coast of the island. We’d taken a tuk-tuk from Mirissa in the morning and found a spot on the beach to spend a couple of…
Matara Island Temple
We had been on the road for almost 6 hours and although this stop was only brief – just long enough to drop off a couple of passengers and take on another collection of travelers and commuters – it was…
Travelling the Cultural Triangle – Sri Lanka PART 2
Missed part 1? You can read it first here! There is something to be said about arriving at your destination by night. First, there is the anticipation of arriving after a busy day of exploring or driving. Then there is…
Travelling the Cultural Triangle – Sri Lanka PART 1
For such a small Island, Sri Lanka certainly overachieves when it comes to opportunities for exploration. The country’s diminutive footprint on a world map (430km from North to South) belies a wealth of historical, geographical, and biological wonders that are…
Barber Shop Photos 25 – Polonnaruwa
Polonnaruwa is a sprawling city ruin in central Sri Lanka. We visiting in late September 2016 and spent a couple of hours wandering around the crumbling temples. At one stage, I walked away from a car park with a small market…
Walls of Galle Fort
Unless you are one of the few who have been able to break free the bonds of daily work commitments, then you will know the pain of selecting from the multitude of experiences in any particular location and grafting them…
Arugam Bay: Surfing Slum
Sri Lanka is – particularly for its small size – a dazzlingly diverse island in almost every way. The people, the culture and history, and the landscapes all change from town to town to the point where it only takes…
Barber Shop Photos 14 – Gateways in Galle
This week, I was looking back through the photos I took in Sri Lanka, and I noticed that during the last couple of days of the trip – particularly in Galle on the South West coast – I found a…
On the train to Colombo
I have never loved crowds. I have quite the knack for avoiding situations where I have to deal with being crushed against hundreds of sweaty bodies. I shun most events that mean that I’ll have to jostle, fight, bite and…
The salesman on the beach
When I travel, I find that I can forget the stresses and anxiety of my normal life – in fact, I become a completely different person when I am on a journey. The short temper and inflexibility that has come…
Barber Shop Photos 11 – Stilt fishermen in Sri Lanka
One thing that fascinates (and concerns) me about travelling is the effect we have on cultural and social practices as we trudge our way through countries that often have vastly different structures than our own. This shot of the stilt…
Rain on Lion Rock (Sigiriya Fortress)
Once we decided to travel to Sri Lanka and we began to investigate what to do while on the island, I quickly identified four experiences that I could not miss. Firstly, we wanted to climb Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak) and…
Peaking one’s interest
The harsh buzz of the alarm pierced my fitful rest and I stared bleary-eyed in the direction of the light switch. 1am had arrived – as it so often does – both unannounced and unwelcome. I seriously considered rolling over…