Great North Road


“…It is exciting to be on the A9, weaving my way through the Tiger heartland for the first time…” There are cows, dogs and mad drivers on the road. Cops hide behind trees, waiting for easy pickings. My betel chewing driver spits a jet of red betel juice out of the window and just manages…

Reflections on the Ukraine


Originally posted on From the mind of Chris Terry:
The Maidan in Peace. Own Photo Like many of you, I am now watching the videos and images coming out of Ukraine, following it on my twitter account and watching it on youtube links. The images of fire and smoke, Ukrainian flags flying, protesters chanting and…

Wonderful Wines of Gut Oggau


Originally posted on HMWS Blog:
“Gut Oggau is a 13 hectares Austrian wine estate located in the province of Burgenland by the Lake Neusiedl. The estate is today run by Eduard Tscheppe  – son of a winemaker – and his wife Stephanie Tscheppe-Eselböck – daughter of a 2 Michelin stars Austrian restaurant owner –  who took over the estate several years ago. The vineyards are cultivated according…

A Day In A 400 BC Citadel


Last week I spent a day in Anuradhapura. This bustling city in north-central Sri Lanka started life as an insignificant settlement in 10th century BC. By 400 BC. it had acquired all the trimmings of a proper city – suburbs, cemetery, place of execution, monastery, hospital and houses of worship and sacrifice. It was then…

Barberyn…Where Moors First Landed


I took the scenic coastal road to Colombo from Kadolana last Saturday and stopped at Beruwela for lunch. This predominantly Muslim town is considered to be the place where first Arab traders landed in Sri Lanka in the 8th century. They probably came from the Yemen and called their landfall Barberyn. The Kechchimalai Mosque, one…

Madu River Safari


Three Months In Sri Lanka – Week 9, Part 3, Friday Together with Randombe Lake to which it is connected by two narrow channels, Madu River forms a 915 ha shallow wetland with emerald green water in South-Western Sri Lanka. It is little known and seldom visited despite being the second largest wetland in the country…

Three Months In Sri Lanka – Week 9. Part 1


Life In An Eco Village Day 1 – Wednesday Kadolana Kadolana Eco Village is in the midst of a disused cinnamon plantation at the edge of Madu River in southern Sri Lanka. The nearest town is Ambalangoda. It opened only four months ago and I read about it in Royston Ellis’s newsletter only last Sunday.…

Three Months In Sri Lanka – Week 8


It is hot and humid in Colombo but frangipani is in bloom. The crabs I got from the fabulous wholesale market yesterday was cooked for Sunday lunch and the red mullet will be baked for supper. Earlier in the week I attended an almsgiving and a street art festival and went to my first ever wine…

A Brief Look At “Beautified” Colombo


(Three Months In Sri Lanka – Week 7) Who Cares? The other day I had dinner with a well to do Colombo businessman at the Royal Colombo Golf Club. “I am a member of all the clubs in the City” he boasted as we sipped Rockland gin and tucked in to Black Pork. “Colombo has…