Travelling

We are currently on our second day of travel around the country, visiting various cultural and heritage places, as well as meeting the participants from the Sri Lankan group that came to the US in March and learning about their projects.

There is definitely something to be said about driving in Sri Lanka. They always use their horns and well, never stay on the correct side of the road. It doesn't matter how much room there is on the side of the vehicle, there is no vehicle too fast to be past and there is no on coming traffic that will prevent you from getting your spot on the road.

Honestly, it's crazy. I like to drive, but i don't think i would be capable of not getting into an accident here. Thankfully, i won't be driving at all during this trip, but it is truly a cultural phenomena.

Travelling throughout the country, you definitely have the opportunity to see new things.

There doesn't seem to be a style of architecture that is unique to Sri Lanka, except Red/Spanish tile roofs and concrete shells. Those are the most common that I've seen.

We are currently in Dambulla, and have travelled from Colombo (on the western coast), to Kandy (past the tea plantations into the hill country) and are currently in the Dry area. Although we will be arriving at the beach of Trinco tomorrow, it is very interesting to see the various ecologies that you pass to get from one place to another.

I think the top speed we have travelled so far is 60 mph.

there is too much traffic and well, the roads, just aren't that good.

Today, we did see a lot of culture, visiting the Temple of the Tooth, The Temple in the Rocks (I think it's called that) and Sigiriya (which depending on your travel book, has different stories). After hiring 2 tour guides for our first visits of the day, i acted as our tour guide in Sigiriya, which makes think about a career change into guiding :).

It's amazing to think that we are going on an 8 day road trip, because if you did that in the US, you would pass through a number of cities and areas (and even possible drive cross-country), but in Sri Lanka, it's the entire place.

Good Times had by all.