µWhat do sick people do in Sri Lanka? Anyone can see a doctor free of charge.
If they go to the hospital, they will be seen. Any required medication is provided free. Repeat medications can be obtained from the hospital.
There is no general practice as we know it and some rural patients [Read more…] about Traditional And Modern Medicine in Sri Lanka
Yesterday my son and I went to see Mr and Mrs Brown again, at Eastleigh Museum.
In 1938, Mr & Mrs Brown lived in Eastleigh with their son Arthur, who was an apprentice at Eastleigh Rail Works. Mr Brown was an engine driver, who earned about £5 a week. [Read more…] about Mr & Mrs Brown At Eastleigh Museum
By David Vane
I am a member of SGI-UK – the UK branch of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a socially engaged Buddhist movement based on the teachings of the 13th century Buddhist teacher Nichiren.
At the heart of the philosophy is a concept known as human revolution, whereby the inner change sparked by Buddhist practice leads to courage, compassion and wisdom, [Read more…] about UK Buddhist Movement – Soka Gakkai International
Everyone who stays in Sri Lanka has to have an extension to their visa at some time and the visa run to the government office in Colombo is one of those things that ex-pats have to do. ^
The train leaves Kandy at dawn before the sun colours the land. [Read more…] about Dawn Train Down The Mountain To Colombo
Tourists know Kandy for the Temple of the Tooth. They are bussed in during the late afternoon and dine in a hotel. The next morning they are conducted around the Temple of the Tooth after leaving their shoes at the gate. Then they are back on the bus and off to Nurawa Eliya and the tea plantations.
Tourists don’t see Kandy City, nor do they see the Tooth. It is too sacred. [Read more…] about A Temple For A Tooth?
Not as big an event as in Glasgow but Hillwood College Sports Day for the Nursery and Playgroup was great fun.
We knew we were to be invited but when the invitation came it specified us as “special guests” and that, before the prizes were distributed the special guests would make a speech. We thought we had better try to speak in Sinhala. How would you do it? [Read more…] about Commonwealth Games In Kandy
Anuradhapura is about 100 miles from Kandy. On our travels, Bernard, our driver, advised us that we passed through the best area in Sri Lanka for mango.
He sampled a few before advising us which to buy at 12p each. The farmers are keen to sell at the roadside stalls. If they sell wholesale they get only 2.5p each. Six weeks later the season was almost over and the price was 25p each. Never mind, they are still very good. [Read more…] about Life On The Road
The ubiquitous tuk-tuk makes Asia work. Just a motorised Rickshaw, a driver, a bench seat for 2 passengers and an engine. No doors, no safety belts, no baggage space, no in car entertainments but what a lot of fun.
The warm air blows around you, when stuck in traffic you can strike up a conversation with the people in the tuk tuk alongside you. [Read more…] about Tuk-tuk: My Transport Of Delight
I expect many of you will have seen the fantastic work that has been undertaken on our war memorial over the last few weeks?
Stonemason Jon, of Blackmore and Moody has indeed done a good job. It is now possible to easily read the names of those brave men, and of course, that of Margaret Caswell, the only women whose name appears on the memorial. [Read more…] about Chandler’s Ford War Memorial Research: Part 3
No, not Orlando Gibbons’ anthem of John the Baptist, but another John who served his community in Sri Lanka for 15 years and what happened to him next.
Who was John?
Three cities, Kandy, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa form the three angles of the Cutural Triangle.
Kandy has Temple of The Tooth, Anuradhapura is the site of an ancient kingdom dating back to 600 BC and is the site of arrival of Buddhism about 200 years BC. [Read more…] about The Cultural Triangle Of Sri Lanka
Have you noticed the refreshing new look of the Chandler’s Ford War Memorial? It is improving each day I see it.
Jon Tann from Blackwell and Moody Ltd in Winchester is renovating the war memorial.
In the past few weeks, you would have seen Jon kneeling, crouching, stooping by the war memorial on Hursley Road, outside St. Boniface Church. [Read more…] about Renovating Chandler’s Ford War Memorial
“…That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England…”
(Poem by Rupert Brooke)
A heavy tropical rainfall had snarled-up the traffic on the road so my driver took an unfamiliar detour. The narrow road twisted and turned alongside the river and was hemmed in by jungle trees and elephant grass. [Read more…] about There’s Some Corner Of A Foreign Field
Sri Lanka is not a place for haute cuisine but if you enjoy fresh and exotic fruits and the complex favours of curries you will be happy with the culinary experience.
Thanks to a homesick Victorian Scottish tea estate manager, there are all the familiar European vegetables grown in the highland area around Nuwara Eliya where the climate, at 5000 feet above sea level is similar to UK. [Read more…] about Sri Lankan Food
This was a big wedding even by Sri Lankan standards.
Some 480 guest met to celebrate the nuptials of Pavithi Weerasinghe with Udara Rajanayake, both physics graduates from the University of Peradeniya. [Read more…] about Sri Lankan Wedding
While in Sri Lanka, quite by chance we came across a party of ex-pats calling themselves the ‘Discovery’ group. They meet once a month and go off to explore a hidden part of Sri Lanka. Hidden to tourists and even most Sri Lankans that is.
Today a convoy of 6 vehicles left Kandy for the south and we soon turned off the main road to an un-named village in the jungle.
Sunday morning in Kandy, Sri Lanka, time to walk out around the lake looking smart, long trousers of course; only tourists wear shorts. On an energetic day we walk to town but this means braving ‘The Tunnel’.
The tunnel is dark, damp and has deep drainage channels on both sides. Water drips from the roof and there is barely room for pedestrians and cars. [Read more…] about Kandy Lake vs Chandler’s Ford Lakes
During my time at Southampton General Hospital we always had a junior doctor from Sri Lanka in training. Some of them worked with me and many became friends.
After retirement my wife and I decided to go and live in another culture for a while; Sri Lanka was the obvious choice. What was it like? What happened to us? What are the differences compared with Chandler’s Ford? Here are a series of blog posts for anyone interested. [Read more…] about Dispatches From Sri Lanka
How often have you used a £50 note?
My guess is “not very often”. In fact, I’ve got one at home at the moment, and am not too sure what to do with it. The only time I’ve used them was an occasion when I needed to pay a cash deposit, and £50 notes was the easiest way to carry it.
My mother visited the UK recently and she [Read more…] about How Often Have You Used a £50 Note?
“What’s for dinner?”
“Your favourite tonight; mealworm and mash.”
“Did you get those nice mealworms from Waitrose?”
“Better than that; these are our first crop of home-grown from the shoebox in the garage.” [Read more…] about Mealworm and Mash
