Curry for breakfast is the way to go. Especially dhal, rice and spicy veg. Added to my beloved noodle soup, my breakfast repertoire is expanding most pleasingly:
Leaving Colombo on the bus, to the cacophony of horns:
With a bus conductor who doubled as the left indicator:
“I think we’re going on the local roads, not the expressway”, said Rudy. But we were indeed on the expressway, Asia-style – with dogs, tuk-tuks and shops lining the route.
Past school kicking-out time during a downpour:
And eventually out into the beautiful countryside:
Each town we passed had a speciality, including weaved baskets, fruit, toilets and second-hand car seats. We sped past houses of all different kinds, but almost all were better “quality” than the corrugated shacks lining many of the roads in SE Asia.
The bus got gradually busier til it was standing room only:
But when the monk got on, he was respectfully given the best seat in the house.
A very short four-and-a-half hours later, we arrived at the junction where we were to meet our tuk-tuk driver… only I’d lost his contact details. For the first time ever. And I’d not taken a photo of the note. For the first time ever. Oh dear.
Waiting at the bus stop after being quoted an unreasonable tuk-tuk price (same the world over), another driver pulled up and not only offered a decent fare, but a homestay at the end of it. With breakfast. Sold.
The friendly residents included three generations… and some lemurs:
A coconut tree and beautiful birds:
And gigantic ants (who’d turned the washing line into a super highway):
I often hear westerners moaning about “red tape”. Admittedly, it sometimes goes too far, but without regulations, showers would look like this (who, exactly, thought it was a good solution to put the plug next to the shower?!):
Just before sunset:
… we wandered into “town”, which consisted of a few shops and restaurants along the main road:
… where we sampled the local coconuts – the water of these orange coconuts is slightly sweet, refreshing, and not anything like their brown, hairy cousins:
… before homemade dinner back at the ranch:
An unexpectedly fab day 🙂