Sorry for all the spelling mistakes, but, its easy to miss things when one has very limited internet time. Those Pony tail flowers should read monkey tail flowers.
During our stay in Galle we caught a local bus to Koggala to see the pole fishermen
On arrival in the area the locals on the bus made sure we got off at the correct stop for the fishermen, then the tuk tuk drivers were on to us and guided us to the exact spot. These fishermen don't really fish from the poles any more but, are dressed and ready to mount the poles for tourists that a willing to put money their way.
We could see the poles from about 100 meters away on the surf, with no one in sight , then all of a sudden three men were up the poles and tourists were snapping away. we walked towards them and I took a few photos from about 25 meters away ( I should say snuck a few photos) but, sure enough they saw me and one was straight up wanting money. after a discussion they agreed for four men to be up the poles for 500 rp about A$4 , I did get the price down from 7,000 rp, as soon as we agreed on the 500rp the word went out and they quickly mounted the poles for me and stayed there untill I was happy with the photos I had taken, as one man said this is what they do for a living now as there are plenty of mugs like me to pay.
From Galle we took a local bus that left the bus station to Tissamaharama (also known as Tissa) When we boarded the bus at about 650 am, we sat in stu for about 20 min while the bus filled up then we were away. the bus was full with standing room only and as we progressed it got worse. at one stage we were covered from head to toe with human arms and bodies, we could not see out, but at least we did have a seat. The bus did empty out as we went through several large towns and people just kept getting on and off over the five hours it took to get to Tissa.
It was lunch time when we arrived, we got off the bus and found a seat in the bus station, I looked after our bags while Teresa went off to buy a coke and water.
While she was away she tee-ed up a Safari tour to the Yala Nation Park and a place to stay in just a few minutes.
The one shop at the station that had cold drinks had a great system to catch people like us arriving on the buses. They had call the contact who sent a young bloke with a card in hand of their accommodation, He told us its only a few hundred meters away and would we like to take a look at a room. Teresa said its my turn to go look so I went to see the rooms on offer. we only walked 300 meters to the next street and were shown in their lodge, The rooms were cheap and really good, I choose a room that was 1000rp about A$8 for the night. it was not airconditioned, but had both a ceiling and a very large floor fan. They also showed me a room that was 1500rp, it was bigger and had a view to the front garden, but for one night the 1000rp room was fine. I asked about the cost of a Safari into the park ( we had done research and knew sort of what things would cost) and they told me that I would have to speak to Uncle matar who was on his way. Uncle arrived, he was a middle aged man and had all the details not in his head but printed, explaining the exact cost and what you got, even down to a coffee and a bottle of water.
I told him we would be interested but, I would have to confirm it with the boss and said I must get back to pick her up. he insisted we pick her up in his new van so off we went to collect Teresa. at first she asked why I did not get the bigger fancer room, but then agreed that the room I had chosen was a good one except that the windows looked out into the lobby and lounge area, but I explained that all the windows do except for the 1500rp one.
We paid for the room and a deposit for the safari, and I asked for a good place to eat, Uncle insisted that he would take us as it was hard to find. He took us back in the van into the main street to a place called Roots and told us good food here, then left us. In Galle our host had got me eating these beautiful Omlets she would make. So I ordered a vegie omlet and Teresa had a plater of fruit, we were the only people seated , but people came and went getting takeaways, then a young man came in and sat down to a very large plate of rice. all the while India and Sri lanka were playing cricket on the TV which was of huge interest to the locals.
While walking back to the lodge a young couple came walking the other way, we said hello and later that day we realised that they had also been booked into the lodge the same way we had and infact the had taken the 1500rp room. The boy was from Germany and the girl was from finland. Teresa had mentioned to uncle about a town that she had read about nearby that was the most holy town in Sri Lanka. and that the town was about 30 min drive away, Uncle got excited to know that we knew about the town as it had its on festival and in fact it was on that very night, he said it was fantastic and worth going out to see, he would take us out for 1500rp per person wait while the festivel parade was on then bring us back, but he needed two more people to go. we told him to put us down as starters as we wanted to go see it.
later in the afternoon we came out of our room and he asked if we had had a good sleep then told us he had another couple and he would be leaving with us at 6 PM.
At 6 Pm we were ready and so was this young couple from the front room both of us all got in the van with uncle and off we went.
We really could not believe it, how lucky were we that we could go to this event.
We soon had struck up a good friendship with this couple and they also had booked the safari to yala the next day and the four of us all shared the safari jeep the next day. On arrival at the town which is called Kataragama uncle lead us through a maze of people and street stalls selling all types of items incluching offerings for people to take to the temple. we crossed a river on a bridge (by foot) and people were all in the water cleansing themselves , Uncle explained that they slept next to the river over night then we walked through the parade route with many of thousands of people waiting for the parade to begin. I was snapping photos here and there and many people were calling out to have their photos taken. Uncle said talk to people they will be from all over Sri lanka, many people were asking where we were from and all were waving to us. Just outside the temple elephants were lined up and waiting to be taken into the temple, to be blessed, before taking part in the parade.
The young couple had thongs on and went into the temple with a great thong of people , Teresa, myself and uncle waited out side, then uncle disapeared to secure a position for us to view the main event the parade. he came back and when the young couple came back out he took us to a position that was standing room only right in front of a large round letter box , people had been there all day waiting but, let us squeese in. we waited for about 40min before the parade route had these multi rows of lights turned on, much the the delight of the crowd, they let out a mighty glee type scream.
The family infront of me started talking and wanted to know all about us our family , where we were from etc and after a short time standing the father made his boy sit with his sister on one seat and gave the now empty seat to me. Teresa insited that I take the seat as she had a rail to sit on that devided different sections.
They were quite a large family group and one of the girls next to me explained different things as to what was happening, she looked about 12 years old, but was actuly 18 years old. During our wait I had them trying to do things with their hands and took several photos of the family members all were wanting me and egging me on to take the photos. we exchanged addresses as they want copies of those photos, they do not have any computer for emails. Teresa told the girl she would be welcome to say with us in Australia and I could see her start thinking about this offer.
The parade was fantastic and dad turned to me and asked how I liked it, I told him its the best thing we had ever done and he said he was so proud to be a Sri lankan.
It was very hard to get photos as three people were controlling the crowd right in front of my position and of cause I could not move a inch an any direction to try and better a view point. The parade went on for quite a few hours with whip crackers, fire dancers , drummers, and other music players and thousands of girl dancers with elephants inbetween each group of dancers. the elephants were swaying in beat to the music.
All were dressed in their traditional outfits. it was really one of those travel events that one should not miss. After the parade had passed ,uncle led us through the mob of human life back to the safety of his van then back to the Roots restaura\\\\\\\nt to get a late meal before a 5am safari start.
The young couple had dinner with us at Roots and gess what I had them eating Vegi omlets.
During our stay in Galle we caught a local bus to Koggala to see the pole fishermen
On arrival in the area the locals on the bus made sure we got off at the correct stop for the fishermen, then the tuk tuk drivers were on to us and guided us to the exact spot. These fishermen don't really fish from the poles any more but, are dressed and ready to mount the poles for tourists that a willing to put money their way.
We could see the poles from about 100 meters away on the surf, with no one in sight , then all of a sudden three men were up the poles and tourists were snapping away. we walked towards them and I took a few photos from about 25 meters away ( I should say snuck a few photos) but, sure enough they saw me and one was straight up wanting money. after a discussion they agreed for four men to be up the poles for 500 rp about A$4 , I did get the price down from 7,000 rp, as soon as we agreed on the 500rp the word went out and they quickly mounted the poles for me and stayed there untill I was happy with the photos I had taken, as one man said this is what they do for a living now as there are plenty of mugs like me to pay.
From Galle we took a local bus that left the bus station to Tissamaharama (also known as Tissa) When we boarded the bus at about 650 am, we sat in stu for about 20 min while the bus filled up then we were away. the bus was full with standing room only and as we progressed it got worse. at one stage we were covered from head to toe with human arms and bodies, we could not see out, but at least we did have a seat. The bus did empty out as we went through several large towns and people just kept getting on and off over the five hours it took to get to Tissa.
It was lunch time when we arrived, we got off the bus and found a seat in the bus station, I looked after our bags while Teresa went off to buy a coke and water.
While she was away she tee-ed up a Safari tour to the Yala Nation Park and a place to stay in just a few minutes.
The one shop at the station that had cold drinks had a great system to catch people like us arriving on the buses. They had call the contact who sent a young bloke with a card in hand of their accommodation, He told us its only a few hundred meters away and would we like to take a look at a room. Teresa said its my turn to go look so I went to see the rooms on offer. we only walked 300 meters to the next street and were shown in their lodge, The rooms were cheap and really good, I choose a room that was 1000rp about A$8 for the night. it was not airconditioned, but had both a ceiling and a very large floor fan. They also showed me a room that was 1500rp, it was bigger and had a view to the front garden, but for one night the 1000rp room was fine. I asked about the cost of a Safari into the park ( we had done research and knew sort of what things would cost) and they told me that I would have to speak to Uncle matar who was on his way. Uncle arrived, he was a middle aged man and had all the details not in his head but printed, explaining the exact cost and what you got, even down to a coffee and a bottle of water.
I told him we would be interested but, I would have to confirm it with the boss and said I must get back to pick her up. he insisted we pick her up in his new van so off we went to collect Teresa. at first she asked why I did not get the bigger fancer room, but then agreed that the room I had chosen was a good one except that the windows looked out into the lobby and lounge area, but I explained that all the windows do except for the 1500rp one.
We paid for the room and a deposit for the safari, and I asked for a good place to eat, Uncle insisted that he would take us as it was hard to find. He took us back in the van into the main street to a place called Roots and told us good food here, then left us. In Galle our host had got me eating these beautiful Omlets she would make. So I ordered a vegie omlet and Teresa had a plater of fruit, we were the only people seated , but people came and went getting takeaways, then a young man came in and sat down to a very large plate of rice. all the while India and Sri lanka were playing cricket on the TV which was of huge interest to the locals.
While walking back to the lodge a young couple came walking the other way, we said hello and later that day we realised that they had also been booked into the lodge the same way we had and infact the had taken the 1500rp room. The boy was from Germany and the girl was from finland. Teresa had mentioned to uncle about a town that she had read about nearby that was the most holy town in Sri Lanka. and that the town was about 30 min drive away, Uncle got excited to know that we knew about the town as it had its on festival and in fact it was on that very night, he said it was fantastic and worth going out to see, he would take us out for 1500rp per person wait while the festivel parade was on then bring us back, but he needed two more people to go. we told him to put us down as starters as we wanted to go see it.
later in the afternoon we came out of our room and he asked if we had had a good sleep then told us he had another couple and he would be leaving with us at 6 PM.
At 6 Pm we were ready and so was this young couple from the front room both of us all got in the van with uncle and off we went.
We really could not believe it, how lucky were we that we could go to this event.
We soon had struck up a good friendship with this couple and they also had booked the safari to yala the next day and the four of us all shared the safari jeep the next day. On arrival at the town which is called Kataragama uncle lead us through a maze of people and street stalls selling all types of items incluching offerings for people to take to the temple. we crossed a river on a bridge (by foot) and people were all in the water cleansing themselves , Uncle explained that they slept next to the river over night then we walked through the parade route with many of thousands of people waiting for the parade to begin. I was snapping photos here and there and many people were calling out to have their photos taken. Uncle said talk to people they will be from all over Sri lanka, many people were asking where we were from and all were waving to us. Just outside the temple elephants were lined up and waiting to be taken into the temple, to be blessed, before taking part in the parade.
The young couple had thongs on and went into the temple with a great thong of people , Teresa, myself and uncle waited out side, then uncle disapeared to secure a position for us to view the main event the parade. he came back and when the young couple came back out he took us to a position that was standing room only right in front of a large round letter box , people had been there all day waiting but, let us squeese in. we waited for about 40min before the parade route had these multi rows of lights turned on, much the the delight of the crowd, they let out a mighty glee type scream.
The family infront of me started talking and wanted to know all about us our family , where we were from etc and after a short time standing the father made his boy sit with his sister on one seat and gave the now empty seat to me. Teresa insited that I take the seat as she had a rail to sit on that devided different sections.
They were quite a large family group and one of the girls next to me explained different things as to what was happening, she looked about 12 years old, but was actuly 18 years old. During our wait I had them trying to do things with their hands and took several photos of the family members all were wanting me and egging me on to take the photos. we exchanged addresses as they want copies of those photos, they do not have any computer for emails. Teresa told the girl she would be welcome to say with us in Australia and I could see her start thinking about this offer.
The parade was fantastic and dad turned to me and asked how I liked it, I told him its the best thing we had ever done and he said he was so proud to be a Sri lankan.
It was very hard to get photos as three people were controlling the crowd right in front of my position and of cause I could not move a inch an any direction to try and better a view point. The parade went on for quite a few hours with whip crackers, fire dancers , drummers, and other music players and thousands of girl dancers with elephants inbetween each group of dancers. the elephants were swaying in beat to the music.
All were dressed in their traditional outfits. it was really one of those travel events that one should not miss. After the parade had passed ,uncle led us through the mob of human life back to the safety of his van then back to the Roots restaura\\\\\\\nt to get a late meal before a 5am safari start.
The young couple had dinner with us at Roots and gess what I had them eating Vegi omlets.
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