Farewell words and pictures

A country of extreme poverty with oxen-drawn wagons and the most basic of bicycles and bicycle repair shops to match, but widespread cellphone ownership and coverage on the most distant of mountain tops. All over the place, new buildings are constructed with fancy glass facades, but most of them seem to be in a permanently unfinished state with all floors above the second generally missing. Endless miles of road where every other building is either a little shop or has a vegetable stall in front of it selling homegrown produce, and where every fourth building is a temple, a stupa or a Buddha statue, varying in size from minuscule to giant, not a few of them with cheerfully flashing lights. There is agricultural transportation equipment on the road that I remember from when I was young but have not seen in over 50 years. Along with Singalese and Tamil, English is the third official language, but despite a literacy rate of 97% and English classes and international schools advertised all over the place, young people in the hospitality sector barely understand or speak a word of it; and it’s not just them. Open-air butchers sell their wares alongside satellite dishes. A “hotel” is not necessarily a place where you can spend the night, but around popular attractions everyone appears to be letting rooms, AC and non-AC. The last thing you can get at a “wine store” is wine. The photoshoots for weddings (there are lots of them on a daily basis) start at 6.30 am and a wedding is not complete until the “homecoming” after the honeymoon - a big feast, as I understand it. A hammer and a horn get most of the work done.

They’re betting on tourism now, with plenty of hotels being built. A second international airport was opened in the south a couple of years ago. Innumerable gem stores will be pleased to draw more people in. It’ll be interesting to see where the country is ten or fifteen years from now. It won’t be me doing the seeing, but if you’re going, keep me posted.

Anyway, here's a couple of videos:

https://youtu.be/3emZzRJBpJw
(Elephants at their watering place)

https://youtu.be/WksgxJ4Kr1c
(Bandarawela, street life)

https://youtu.be/gFA360HaVXk
Beruwala, wedding

And here's a couple of pictures I didn't get around to posting before.

Road signage - 1

Road signage - 2

Sigiriya, Lion Rock. In reality much more impressive than here.

Sigiriya, Lion Rock. The white line in the distance is a big Buddha.

Sigiriya, Lion Rock. The guy in front is our guide, who thought I was taking a photo of him.

Yala National Park

Big Buddha - 1

Big Buddha -2

Roadside Buddha - 1

Middle-of-the-Roadside Buddha - 1

Middle-of-the-Roadside Buddha - 2