Hop in, we’re taking a loaf! I want to show you some of the things I see here on my enchanted isle.
This weekend’s ‘Everyday Life’ challenge has precipitated several themes I’ve been building for In Search of the Quintessential Sri Lanka. When each theme is complete, I’ll post with more detail. For now let the photos do the talking.
Notes:
Take a loaf – go on a jaunt
Handiya – junction
Hamuduruwo – Buddhist monk
Kade – corner store
Your images paint a clear picture of life in your part of the world. Hard workers. The stilt fishing is new to me.
Just confined to this particular stretch of the south coast – and incredibly hard work. I’ve heard of tourists trying it out, and so forth, so hopefully the fishermen are reaping some reward
Wonderful photos of beautiful people.
Thanks Ad – I’m biased, but I think on the whole they’re beautiful people!
Great post! Thanks so much for labeling the images. This was a nice and easy glimpse into your world, and I understand why it’s special. i’d love to know more about tea; someone asked if tea could be grown in ecuador, and most people flatly say, ‘no.’ it must be very temperamental about growing conditions! z
So glad you enjoyed a glimpse into everyday life here in Sri Lanka. You asked about tea:
Tea plants grow best with even temperatures all year round, very wet summers and dry winters. It grows in temperatures ranging from 10 to 30 degrees Centigrade, in areas with an average yearly rainfall of 2,000 mm. and at elevations of between 600-2000 meters above sea level.
Minimum temperature supported is around -5ºC, depending on variety.
Tea needs an acid soil (pH 4.5-7) so should be only watered using soft water or rainwater, and always grown in lime-free conditions.
Grow in light shade, and keep well watered during summer. Tea does not need a very fertile soil. Mulching with acidic compost can be beneficial (they use composted waste tea leaves here).
Wow! Thanks for the wealth of information! I fear that we strike out a lot here on the coast where I live. The soil is very sweet; we do have higher elevations, two seasons – the rainy and the dry…. Guanacaste Costa Rica might have more favorable growing conditions.
Thank you so much for the crash course in tea production!
z
ps: tell me about your ‘extinct is forever’ blurb at the bottom of the screen; is this a particular group, did you design it, etc… I love it! z
It was originally a red bumper sticker (http://thewanderlustgene.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/480-and-the-94-shades-of-red/) from a ‘save the elephant’ initiative here in Sri Lanka 15 or 20 years ago. When I eventually had a car worthy of it I had to apply it, of course, so took a photograph and made up the little triptych to use wherever it seemed appropriate. I’m really glad you noticed it in its new position at the centre of my footer widgets.
Thank you so much for explaining, and wow, you went to a lot of trouble to bring that back to life. Yes, I notice it every time now! You have my deepest respect!
z
The people who do the work are the ones deserving of respect – i’m just putting my hand up to be counted, if you know what i mean
LOVE this post! The image of the schoolgirls in front of the temple grabbed me. And the tea plucker brought back memories! Can you imagine, I have no pictures at all from nearly 8 years on a tea plantation and another 8 on a coffee processing plant!!
By the way Kade is shop – any shop in Tamil and Kovil is Tamil for temple! Amazing how despite the onslaught of Tamil culture and language, the landscape and architecture is so reminiscent of the wet coast of India! Must be the Portuguese connection. Tamilnadu was never a Portuguese colony. I know I am rambling
It’s insane, isn’t it! But of course I can imagine not taking any photographs of the sights that made up your every day – back then we took photographs of the exceptional scenes, the special occasions, of friends and family, not the every day. I’ll never forget the pasting my parents gave me when they saw I’d asked the Chemist to develop a whole role of horses heads – it’s taken 50 years to get over that sense of profligacy that experimentation represented! So, more subjects to add to your list, Madhu, next time you drive over to Mangalore
I love our language comparisons. It’s interesting – Kovila is a Hindu temple, Pansala a Buddhist. So, I guess they just adopted the same word their Tamil neighbours used for their temples. The words for church (palliya) and mosque (muslim palliya) must have come from somewhere else too. Tamil? Would these north Indian adventurers have brought a word for shop with them when they came a couple of thousand years ago? What was it in Sanskrit, I wonder? There has certainly been an enormous amount of cultural cross over over the millennia – it’s part of the fascination of the place
Wonderful experience visiting with you. Thanks for thes beautiful photos.
Ah, glad you could come along for the ride. I always prefer going by tuk tuk, it has the immediacy of walking, without the sweat
These are terrific.
Thank you Elizabeth – the challenge was the ideal opportunity to fill in a lot of the background picture of my enchanted isle
That was fun.
Good! It was hell putting it together, trying to trim down the numbers …
You are a wonderful photographer. And I love the phrases! So quaint and lovely. While the sky is gray here today, I enjoyed seeing these island images.
Thank you Anne. So glad you were able to enjoy a little tropical paradise on a grey autumn day
Thank you for sharing these photos. I have been so curious about your surroundings, and where you live. Wonderful photos.
Are there more painted parts of the jigsaw showing now, Angeline? The challenge seemed to be tailor made to fast-track my Quintessential Sri Lanka series
Lovely pics! Really captures the essence of the common man!
Just to let you know ,
http://perceptionsofareluctanthomemaker.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/blogging-awards/
Bless you. i’ll be right over
That was lovely. I’m in the mood for break from the city, and in need of some simple life. Your images reminded me that it does exist
Yes, the simple life still exists here, Ella, out in the countryside, though the extent of ‘western’, ‘modern’ influences is spreading faster and further than I’d have thought possible a decade or so ago – television, foreign employment, the end of the war.
That was a lovely ride, a special jaunt around your special place with those smiling faces and the elephants, green and – and – just wonderful
Thank you.
I hope the picture on the jigsaw puzzle is becoming a bit clearer now Keira. Though I’ve seen a lot of change over the past 20 years, (so many cars on the city streets, face painting at birthdays, supermarkets and multi-channel TV just off the top of my head), the essential, everyday scenes remain unchanged, though perhaps not so universally so.
Thanks for the tour of your island
So good to have you along, Maggie. Hope the tuk tuk wasn’t too bumpy!
Such lovely pictures. As AD says, beautiful people in a beautiful country
I don’t notice it so much now, but in the early days I was frequently struck by how beautiful the people – in general – were. Beautiful features, and carriage, temperament … I’m glad you both picked up on that.
Wonderful view into your life.
I loved this glimpse in to your life…there is such a peace that surrounds these beautiful people
What a great overview of your world. Sri Lanka has always held a certain fascination for me and with your posts, especially this one, that fascination continues. Thank you.
I’m glad to hear that fotograffer – I’d like to think I am spreading the word
I love that these photos show the beauty of everyday life while still drawing in a potential traveler to the interesting facets of the people who live there! It does not look like it is always an easy life (I suppose that could be said anywhere in some respects), but these photos have sparked by interest in a corner of the world I admit to be woefully ignorant about. I look forward to learning more through your photos and posts (and adding Sri Lanka to the travel bucket list!) ~ Kat B.
Woowe – that’s fantastic Kat! Just what I was hoping for in putting the gallery together. You’re right, life is difficult for us all, in different ways, but in places like this the physical difficulties, and the lack of opportunity are the background constants to most people’s lives. I must say though, slowly – glacier slow – there are improvements. Hope to see more of you in paradise island.
Your perspectives show in your photos…you must be a people person!
I have never travelled abroad and felt as if I got a taste of Sri Lanka now.
Thank you for my mini trip!
Ummm – i find people fascinating, Denise. I like their stores, and I like to see how they deal with life – not always mad keen on what I see, but I’m always interested
Glad you got a little taste of Sri Lanka off the tourist trail!
So fabulous!!! But that is what I expect from you!
Haaaaaa