I spent Valentine’s Day on the beach in Sri Lanka. I drove to Kalutara and checked in to the sprawling Blue Water Hotel, one of my favourite places on the south coast of the island, built in a minimalist style by the late Bevis Bawa – one of the top architects of Sri Lanka. At…
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…
Buying A Guitar In Granada On Tuesday morning we went to Granada to buy a flamenco guitar. We took the scenic route from El Canuelo through the Zafarraya Pass to Granada and lost our way only thrice. Lisa de Granada Lisa was waiting for us on Paseo de Bomba. She is an American who has…
I took the early morning flight to Malaga. Nick and Renu met me at the airport. We drank coffee, added my name to the list of authorised drivers of the rented car and drove to Torre de Mar. At La Mata on the Autovia de Mediterraneo we turned right and headed towards Torre de Mar.…
My daughter wrote from El Canuelo, near Periana, in the hills above Malaga. “Just waking up from a lovely deep sleep and from my bed I can see the pinky orange of the morning horizon, stretching over the blue and sleepy valley. Not yet fully light at 8 o’ clock. No sound apart from a few birds…
Originally posted on HMWS Blog:
Today is International Mothers Day. These are images of toiling mothers captured during my travels over the years in different parts of the planet.
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…
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