{"id":232,"date":"2011-07-27T23:05:27","date_gmt":"2011-07-27T23:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brucebramson.com\/2011\/07\/27\/sri-lanka-at-m-y-o-b\/"},"modified":"2011-07-27T23:05:27","modified_gmt":"2011-07-27T23:05:27","slug":"sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/?p=232","title":{"rendered":"SRI LANKA"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Map of Sri Lanka<\/p>\n

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The red arrow points to Colombo<\/p>\n

I mentioned on my previous page that I had a brief look at Sri Lanka as part of a team investigating the situation regarding water supplies in that country. In the main, I found it a rather bleak country, though the fine old Galle Face hotel in Colombo<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Faded elegance in the old portion<\/p>\n

was something of a hoot, parts of it dating back to 1864. We did not stay there, but often gathered of an afternoon to compare notes, sip a lime & soda and watch the lovely sunsets.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A lovely sight<\/p>\n

We stayed at a sort of pension a bit off the beaten track. \u00a0After a few days in Colombo (Sri Lanka\u2019s Capitol), we were taken by train north to Jaffna.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The red arrow points to Jaffna<\/p>\n

It was quite a ride, interrupted at times by inspections required because of the unrest in the country in general and the far north in particular. As it was, we stayed in a fine hotel, quite new, but we were the only guests!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We departed for Jaffna<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Our engine and crew<\/p>\n

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Slow going: no crossing guard<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Our train hurtles through the countryside<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Old rolling-stock seen along the way<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Doesn’t look useful any more<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Muddy waters!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The President’s special carriage?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A division point on the Railway<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Inspecting a bridge for possible sabotage<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We made it!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Temple and well near Jaffna<\/p>\n

We returned to Colombo by train, then were driven south to the town of Galle,<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The red arrow points to Galle<\/p>\n

where we stayed at the Galle Fort Hotel. This structure dates back many years and was the home of a Dutch gem merchant, later barracks for soldiers, and then turned into a hotel\u2014of sorts. I had a huge room with several beds, all sorts of old furniture, and a bathroom with a tub large enough to drown in. In those days the place was gritty, but great fun. I had come to the conclusion that the Tsunami in 2004 might have washed it away, but apparently not: it is now owned by Australians and is the<\/strong> place to stay when in Galle.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I sample Coconut Milk<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Well fitted with submersible pump<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This ancient device mechanically measured water as it flowed from a reservoir. No longer used, but preserved.<\/p>\n

We made the obligatory visit to Candy, then after several weeks, our team turned in our reports and went home. What, if anything, came of our brief presence I\u2019ll never know!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Getting reacquainted with my cats<\/p>\n

I also mentioned previously that Sri Lanka had colorful paper money: I will put these on a new page, as this one is already rather long.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

NEXT<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Map of Sri Lanka The red arrow points to Colombo I mentioned on my previous page that I had a brief look at Sri Lanka as part of a team investigating the situation regarding water supplies in that country. In the main, I found it a rather bleak country, though the fine old Galle Face […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brucebramson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}