The little village of Thanthirimale, 40 kms north-west of Anuradhapura city, is the site of a remarkable third century rock temple. The settlement of Thanthirimale was probably first established in the 6th century BC by Upatissa, one of king Vijaya’s (the presumed founder of the Sinhalese nation) ministers and was called Upatissa Gama.…
For the second time in five years, I am on the road to Mannar. And I love it! The Kangaroo cab takes me to the pickup point at four thirty in the morning. The driver, an ex-soldier, talks incessantly about the war with the Tamil Tigers. Flamingo Tours mini-coach arrives just before five and over…
Udawalawe National Park in the Uva Province was established as the fifth national park of Sri Lanka in 1972. Its 31,000 hectares of dry grassland and scrubland and the lack of dense vegetation makes game-watching easy. Most people take a tour organised by their guesthouse or hotel and it will cost about Rs 4000, but a trip with one…
Early on in the week we made Harira for supper – the Moroccan thick soup with chickpeas, lentils, rice, tomatoes, garlic and ginger. It didn’t come out quite the way neither the recipe nor we intended, so we added loads of leftover roast guinea fowl from the previous evening to it and opened a bottle of…
It is already mid-summer but days with good summer weather have been few. Week 28 was no exception. Buying exciting new wines and walking in the Yorkshire Dales were the highlights of the week WINE The man from Enotria Wine Cellars popped in at the beginning of the week. He had driven all the way…
“The Regent’s Canal is one of London’s best-kept secrets – a peaceful haven often hidden by the surrounding buildings. Today it is well-loved by boaters, walkers and cyclists all looking to escape the capital’s busy streets” The 13.8 kilometre canal, completed in 1820, links the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west,…
London’s Brick Lane has an amazing street food market at weekends. I went there this morning and this is what I saw:
“Let’s spend the weekend in the Dales” Renu said. She travelled by train from London to Darlington with Bailey and took a taxi to Richmond. That afternoon Rani and I drove up from Harrogate. We met up at the Bishop Blaize pub in Richmond’s Market Square and drove to our rented cottage in the little…
The morning was bright and sunny. The rain and north winds of yesterday were gone. The day was right for a walk in the country. I drove to Brearton, a small village just outside Harrogate and walked along narrow lanes in to the country. A white and brown cat followed me for a while. Sheep…
CRICKET WORLD CUP The 2015 Cricket World Cup started last week and in the first game, New Zealand thrashed Sri Lanka. People here are in shock. Cricket is almost a religion in Sri Lanka and this small tropical island has produced some of the top cricketers of the world. The other day I came across…
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