Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Jan 10, 2014: Acharu Ram the 90 year old station porter
Acharu Ram is a cheery, very hardy station porter and a real character!
Acharu Ram is a cheery, very hardy station porter and a real character!
I enjoy Farmer's Markets and stopping at small roadside produce stands and visit them whenever I can on my travels. It's here you'll get the freshest, highest quality fruit and other food-types.
I must admit doing a double take when I saw this robust young monk working at repairing something by the roof of the Temple of the Tooth complex in Kandy.
Sri Lanka is intimately tied to the sea. As a tropical island, only a few degrees north latitude of the equator, there are dozens of lovely warm beaches by which you can relax.
Yala is the most visited National Park in Sri Lanka. It’s remotely situated in the southeast corner of the country, a long day’s drive from Colombo and even from the central Hill Country, and covers almost 1000 square kilometers.
Adam’s Peak (also known as Sri Pada, or “holy footprint") is located in the southwestern part of Hill Country. It’s 2,243 meters (7,359 ft) high, the tallest mountain in this region .
My first introduction to Horton Plains National Park was in Hans Mohemius’ photo room at his home in Colombo. It is a beautiful high altitude plateau, with dramatic scenery.
The coastal regions of Sri Lanka are fairly flat. Given that and the relatively small size of the island, I was surprised to find impressive peaks (over 2500 m high) at its center. This is where the country's tea is grown.
The Sinhalese name for this city is Maha Nuvara (Senkadagalapura), impossible for the British colonialists to pronounce so they just called it Kandy.
The eastern most point visited when touring Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle is Polonnaruwa. The ruins in this ancient capitol are the best preserved and most varied in Ceylon and it’s well worth the effort to visit them.
One of the highlights of any trip to Sri Lanka is a visit to the Pinnawala elephant orphanage. Pinnawala is small town just north of Kegalle, east of Colombo and west of Kandy.
“You absolutely must go to Sigiriya!”, Arthur C. Clarke insisted to me during my first visit to Sri Lanka. “There are other countries with beautiful weather and beaches, but there’s only one Sigiriya.
A great opportunity available to any traveler to Ceylon is the chance to explore the country’s rich history and extensive archaeology. This post describes my visit to the oldest ancient site in Sri Lanka.
Dambulla is known for its Cave Temples which predate Christ. Legend has it that a Sri Lankan King, driven out of Anuradhapura, found a hiding place in these caves.
Part 1a of this blog series discussed the city of Colombo. This post focuses on my visits with its most famous resident, Sir Arthur C. Clark.