From Sri Lanka, a pear-shaped island in the Indian Ocean, across the ancient empires of SE Asia, there is a whole world to experience: the smiles of barefoot tea planters in the mountains near Ella; the spires of the Bayon Temple at Angkor Wat, Cambodia; boats rowed by one-legged fisherman on the silvery waters of Inle Lake in Myanmar; purple lotus flowers floating next to Asian Openbilled Storks (Anastomus oscitans).
Go there! Imbibe in the delicious mixtures of cultures yourself. Find the rare moments that create friendships, and allow understanding of people you thought beyond your reach.
The following photographs will give you a taste of the difference in cultures on the other side of this little blue marble, which we all call Earth. You'll find far more similarities than differences, and any differences will spark your interest to taste, feel, see, and ask, ow what is this huge cultural cake made?
Blog 1: A Journey With the Stefanescu Family
Professor Constantino, just turned 50, is still addicted to birding! Marta, a woman of the age, raises two boys...Gica, a model young man of 17 studying hard to do well his last year of high school...Maties, 14, figuring it all out and getting his feet on the ground!
Follow our adventures through Sri Lanka from December 10, 2014 thru January 5th, 2015...
We fly in to Colombo and stay in Negombo at the Beach Villa Guest House right on the ocean.
Jet lag is inevitable after a 15 hour flight!
...reality can be like dreams...
...but the scent of the Negombo Fish Markes is very, very real....
...and in the city of Negombo, life goes on...
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The boys stay out late to watch the last of the first day's light drop behind the Indian Ocean.
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Puttalam and then to Kala Oya to visit Wilpathu National Park, with the hopes of seeing leopards!
Birds, birds, birds everywhere!!!!
Wild peacocks strut their stuff for the ladies! Wish I were so handsome!
During our visit, Marta finds a handful of sand to add to her collection at home.
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| We saw lots of wildlife, but sadly, no leopards. |
On we go to magical Anuradhapura, a huge cultural center in the North Central Province.
...and so begins "The Adventure of the Flat Tire."
We've got to find a bicycle tire fixer!
"What's the problem? Oh! Just go over there to Mr. Jutay's and he'll fix it for you!"
...in the meantime...
Mr. Jutay is happy to fix your tire, Maties! How much...well how about $1.50 US?
Gica makes some new friends...
...and is fascinated by reptiles!
We peddle on to the huge, bulging stupa known as Jetavanaramaya.
We search for the "moonstones" and find intricately carved stairs thousands of years old that people today still use and admire.
..and finally we find. . .
... . . the "Moonstones". The moonstones are intricately carved stone semicircles at the approach to stairways leading into the ancient temples. Some are thousands of years old.
Hurray....lunch!
Thuparama Dagoba, Anuradhapura. It is here we realize that Hinduism and Buddhism have melded and we then move on to see...
...the fascinating Ruvanvelisaya Dagoba (Temple) that captivated us all for hours.
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| When I saw this, it took my breath away. |
We bicycle on thru a marvelous, rainy day.
From Anuradhapura we travel northeast to Trincomalee for our next stop and find wildlife is part of the community.
We find milkweed, a favored food for butterflies, so we try to capture some butterflies to see what they are...Dr. Stefanescu is a lepidopterist extraordinaire!
Fort Fredrick, hundreds of years old, is an interesting escape from Trincomalee traffic.
Trincomalee.
"Im going to bust your heads together!" says the young man they meet on the road to the Hindu Temple on the promontory above Fort Fredrick, where interesting things happen...
...like, a miniature Hindu diva...
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| . . . a wise woman with her friends. . . |
. . . wooden boxes hanging from a tree, whose meaning we don't know. . . 
. . . and brilliant colors that make one contemplate life.
Attempting to mash coconuts on a stone to find good karma. . .
. . .and wondering, how can we change our brotherhood so we don't annoy each other so much?
Mr. Assadi, the local policeman at the temple.
Huge old trees line the main road inside Fort Fredrick.
Kite flying and kite battles along Trincomalee's bay were all the rage of the local boys.
Taking a tuk-tuk home to our guest house.
In the evening, we're invited into the local Hindu Temple for evening puja.
We head out to the beach at Nilaveli for the day. . .
Gica contemplates the surf. . .
. . .while Note (Constantino's nick-name) scouts down the beach for photos.
We also notice hard-working dung beetles!
Next stop. . . 
. . .the archeologically intriguing site of Polonnaruwa. . .
. . .where more moonstones grace the temples (dagobas) at the Polonnaruwa Quadrangle from as far back as 800 years ago. . .
. . . and beautiful, larger-than-life Buddha images in fine-grained sandstone were carved between 1153 and 1186 of the Common Era (CE).
People today still worship here.
My trusty steed that day. It rained, and rained, and rained. . .
. . .but this little guy didn't seem to mind; I think he was enlightened.
The kings of ancient Polonnaruwa!
From Polonnaruwa we head to Kandy in the center of the Island.
It's a major city on a lake in a valley with one of the most revered Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka.
From Kandy we head out to do many interesting tours. . .
The tooth of an elephant.
Gica focusing. No wonder he's such a good student!
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| Marta communing with the pachyderm. |
Visiting an Ayurveda medicine botanical garden where many tinctures, unguents and potions are made from plants they grow. It was too expensive for us to afford the medications, but we enjoyed the quick massage!
"It tickles like rain!"
"I'm not going to wake up...I'm not going to wake up...just keep going!"
Visiting a tea factory to understand how the best is made. I was very enthralled by the guide!
Many teas from one plant!
We visit the Temple of the (Buddha's) Tooth Relic on the edge of Kandy Lake. Security is tight, as this temple was bombed during the last civil war that ended in 2009.
The entrance to inner Sanctum.
The musicians in the inner sanctum.
We are allowed to the very door of the inner sanctum, gilded with silver, the room painted and adorned marvelously. It was hot and crowded with hundreds of local people and tourists like me, packed into the upper floor waiting for possible access to the Lama's attention.
I couldn't take up space from someone else who was a devotee, so I wandered the outer halls marveling at the tangible culture that was manifested by intangible beliefs.
At the botanical garden of Kandy.
We take a long bus ride to visit the Rock Temple at Dambulla that we had missed earlier because of rain.
We climb the long stairway from the Golden Temple up to the Rock Cave Temple.
Happy birthday Constantino! Want to buy some lotus flowers for the Buddha?
An incredible family!
Inside the Rock Temple caves I am stunned!
I feel very privileged to have Constantino as a friend!
Gica thinks feet are ugly, but I think his are manly! The other ones are mine.
A cute couple at the Rock Cave Temples.
While we are at the Golden Temple we also visit the wholesale vegetable market.
And so, from Kandy, we take a train onward toward the remainder of our adventure in Sri Lanka which you'll find in Blog #2...
In Blog #2, we go to Nuara Elliya and learn about flood where we just came from; travel on to Ella and meet new traveler friends; finally see leopards amid a traffic jam; and wrap up our travels in Sri Lanka at the Sinharaja Forest Reserve in Deniyaya before heading back to the beginning at the airport in Negombo!
Click to: http://shoestringtravelsasia.blogspot.com/2015/03/stage-i-blog-2-sri-lanka-from-rainy.html