A MARSH BECOMES A BIODIVERSITY CENTRE Kotte Marsh, situated just outside Colombo has always been a good spot for an evening walk watching waders and the odd nesting Paradise Flycatcher. At one time, there were plans to drain it and build a housing complex. There was an uproar from nature lovers. It is now being…
LUMPRICE Lump rice is a Dutch Burger delicacy popular in Sri Lanka (The Dutch ruled Sri Lanka from 1640 until 1796). The dish consists of rice cooked in meat stock and served with chicken curry, Frikkadels, Brinjal (Egg fruit)) paella, Chilli & Onion sambol, Prawn blachang, Ash Plantain fries and a full boiled egg fried in coconut oil –…
CRAB CURRY & PLANTAINS The local fishmonger has fresh sea crabs on Sundays. They make wonderful crab curry to be eaten with red Basmathi rice and washed down with Tanqueray and tonic. Fresh king coconut water is another great thirst quencher, isotonic and rich in potassium. Bananas here are called plantains. They are relatively small…
I flew to Sri Lanka in search of warmth and sunshine and for a break from the British winter. A new president was elected and the Pope arrived in Colombo to canonise the first Sri Lankan saint. Harrogate was covered in fresh snow the day I braved the M62 to Manchester. Traffic was horrid and…
In February I joined a group of Sri Lankans travelling to the northernmost point of Sri Lanka. This has only been possible since the end of the bitter civil war between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government in 2009. From Jaffna, where we were staying, the big blue coach snaked its way north…
…soak in liquid Viagra, have a free lunch, laze the afternoon away on the beach, watch the sunset and eat great ice-cream in the evening… Jaffna in Northern Sri Lanka is not exactly Rio but has its own quiet charm. Here are some of the things I enjoyed in one day during a…
“…Few have heard of it and fewer have visited it…” I heard about Kantharodai only recently. There seemed to be a certain magic about the place and I yearned to visit it. The big coach I was travelling on this February could not negotiate the narrow winding side road from the main Jaffna-KKS road…
These images are from a two day trip to the Northern Sri Lankan city of Jaffna in February 2014
“…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…
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…
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