Whenever I have a beer or two, I really don't want to write. But if I don't do it right away, I'll let it slide, because I can be lazy and undisciplined. One of Sarath's friends lives right around the corner from our hotel, so we walked over and had dinner with him and his sister-in-law, who did the cooking. So I hade another nice home-cooked meal with a family. That's been a real treat here, being treated like a true guest.
Before dinner we drove to Kataragama, which is a pilgrimage site for (I think) all of the religions in Sri Lanka. They have an ancient buddist dagoba there, and this sprawling complex with buildings for Buddism, Hinduism and Islam.
Unlike many of the other temples I visited, not many tourists go to this one. But lots and lots of locals go to it every day, in part for the thrice-daily offerings ritual to this Hindu war god named Skanda. If I understood it right, Buddists worship him too. There was a lot of overlap between the Buddist and Hindu shrines there, so I'm sure I got something mixed up. Then again, I sensed the two religions themselves are kind of mixed up in these parts, so maybe it's the place, not me. The whole place was very alive, though, with lots of colors, lights, candles, worshippers, fruit vendors (for the offerings), bells, incense, etc...
I spent the earliest part of the day loafing around and organizing my stuff (something which merits a whole post sometime when I'm bored). I sort of wanted to take a dip in the pool, but I'm so sick of constantly putting on sunscreen and bug repellant, that I couldn't bring myself to do it for a mere 15 minute swim. That's OK, something tells me there will be pools in the U.S.A.
Tomorrow we head back to Colombo so I can catch my flight to Thailand (passing through Mumbai's airport on the way). It's another overnight flight, with a long layover in the middle, so I'm in for no sleep and a rough couple of days. Be back soon!
Oops, almost forgot this. There's a lot of beautiful hair in Sri Lanka, and I caught these two examples right next to each other:
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| Inside the main temple, waiting to make an offering. |
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| Buddist temple or Vegas casino? |
I spent the earliest part of the day loafing around and organizing my stuff (something which merits a whole post sometime when I'm bored). I sort of wanted to take a dip in the pool, but I'm so sick of constantly putting on sunscreen and bug repellant, that I couldn't bring myself to do it for a mere 15 minute swim. That's OK, something tells me there will be pools in the U.S.A.
Tomorrow we head back to Colombo so I can catch my flight to Thailand (passing through Mumbai's airport on the way). It's another overnight flight, with a long layover in the middle, so I'm in for no sleep and a rough couple of days. Be back soon!
Oops, almost forgot this. There's a lot of beautiful hair in Sri Lanka, and I caught these two examples right next to each other:
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