Beer eye...

Yes, beer eye.  We traveled all day on the paint shaker, to get back to here (the name has been mentioned previously, but it escapes me right now)...and we've had showers, and are now on the balcony overlooking the neighbourhood...just on our second beer when Cassandra gets something under her contact lens...takes it out and drops it on the floor, picks it up and shoves it in her mouth...I'm thinking potato chips, but then she takes it out of her mouth to rinse off in her beer...but drops it!  I watch it flutter to the bottom of the glass and start chanting "chug, chug, chug!"  Sorry, just habit.  So, as we enter the bonus round, Cassandra pours her beer into mine...I'm thinking this is working for me!  Not that Cassandra is drunk, but she tries to get the contact out of the bottom of the beer glass...but her fingers are 4" too short........hmmm, how to make this work.  She chugs the beer, but gets a novel expression on her face like she swallowed her contact...luckily, she hadn't, then puts it in her eye and starts to yell..."IT HURTS, IT HURTS...BEER EYE, BEER EYE!!!"  That's my girl!

So, not many pics today...a few off the moving train...and no beer eye shots...CRAP!  It's amazing how kids can spot a camera...

 ...this from the moving, paint shaker train...

 ...these on one of the stops...

 ...and this little charmer and his Dad...

 Tomorrow, we are off to Kandy...for more beer eye!

 

Last day in Jaffna...

The day started fairly early...we were on the road by 7:30am...wanted to get down to the town docks to see the fishing boats...too early to steal a tuktuk, so we flagged a guy down.  He happened to be taking his kids to school, so we went along...

...the kids seemed ok with it...a little curious.  We got the kids to school on time, then off to the boats...

 ...we hadn't had breakfast,  so we dropped into the world famous Gowri...

...as reported in the Michelin Guide, the place was hoppin'...

 ...also as reported, the food was 5 stars...we did a little stroll to settle breakfast...saw some fish drying...

Sri Lanka was first invaded by the Portuguese in the 1500's...they built a big old fort, then the Dutch kicked their asses out, and rebuilt the thing in the 1600's...we went to see if they were still hanging around...

 Nope...still, it was pretty cool.

 ...and here are the gallows...

...Jaffna is one of the most educated places in Sri Lanka...here is the library, the first building rebuilt after the war...

...I don't know why, but they had a statue of old slow hand (Eric Clapton) out front playing a guitar type thing...they gave him 4 hands because he could play so fast...

...so tomorrow we head back to Anuradhapura because we can, and it's a central jumping off point to get to a bunch of other places.  Went to the train station, but they wouldn't sell us a ticket because it's too close to the time we leave.  I know, I know...I don't get it either.  There was a cute little boy in front of us...

...hanging on to Dad's leg, but still curious.  Tomorrow, the adventure continues.

Popey, Popey, Popey...

See, it's like this...me and the Pope...I call him Popey, got together and had a few beers last night...no biggy, just a couple of superstars hangin'...chillin'...bein' the Popester...

 I told him about stealing the tuktuk...he said he wished he been there...loves driving the shit outta those things when he's had a few cold ones...that's why he's THE POPESTER!!!!  Anyway, he said he had a date with an alterboy, and had to go.  We got outside the bar and there were all these fruit bats flying around...

 ...they're like flying cats...I didn't know they were that big!  Anyway, I was kinda pissed after Popey, so we called it an early night.  Today was the festival day, Thai Pongal!  I had plans to get all Pongalled up...but Cassandra wanted to go see the stuff at the big temple here in town.  That's cool, but they wouldn't let TLD inside to take pics...I almost called Popey to straighten them out, but what the hell, live and let live.  Bunch of grumpy old women out front though...

 ...and this happy old guy who wasn't by those women...

...then we got on the bus from hell.  Bus 776 to some island 273 kms away...ok, maybe only 50 kms, but here's the thing, bus 776 isn't the bus number, it's the capacity!  HOLY CRAP!!!...and I thought the train was bad!  This was the train x10, on meth, with a Bollywood soundtrack playing at 12 out of 10!  I made a video, but it's too big...you wouldn't believe it anyway!  So we got to this island by taking a ferry boat...

...if you look closely, that's the 2 cylinder engine just behind Cassandra...looks like it's still in the box!  Getting off the boat I spotted Spiderman getting home from an all nighter, and he was still pissed...he'd lost his outfit, and was trying to get back on his boat...

It's a Hindu temple...pretty big one, but kinda weird...

...they've got this thing for nipples...

...the entrance takes you right into the ass of a cow...that's a new one for me!

...this cool old guy was sweeping up from the day's festivities...

...and there was this guy hanging around...

...back on the ferry...

 ...back on the bus...nothing sez love like falling asleep in grandma's lap!

...back in town for a cow jam...

...and a wonderful dinner at a dosa restaurant...with no f'n beer...I could just cry...NAH!

Sri f'n Lanka...day 6, Jaffna

Yesterday was very busy...we did another big tour of stuff...Sri Lanka has a lot of stuff...and I did tons of pictures of the stuff we did and saw!  But then, our guide Ruwan invited us to his home for dinner...we both saw this as a great honour!  Here is a picture of Ruwan and his family...and Cassandra...

...as many, if not most, know TLD doesn't shed tears very often...if ever!  I will openly admit to being VERY touched by this fine family.  By their standards, they fed us a feast in a very modest house full of love.  Sri Lanka is a wonderful country full of classy people like Ruwan and his family...his youngest daughter (6y/o) is FULL of energy...

OK, enough gushing...I've got a good buzz going from some Lion Lager beer, let's get moving!  Yesterday Ruwan took us mountain climbing...first on the list, this place...

...talk to someone who cares about what the place was called...there were a million f'n steps to get there...I'd guesstimate 4000 feet of elevation change...minimum...I ran up those like my pants were on fire.  When Cassandra and Ruwan caught up, I'd already been instructed on the history by this guy in an orange dress...hey, everyone has a thing...

...anyway, this is what we saw up there...

 ...the lesser among us didn't want to climb up the the real top...ok, I understand that not everyone is athletic as me...here is the way up...

...anyway...the first stair picture, reverse it...I took it in ONE  enormous stride, and went to somewhere else called something else...

...ya...big rock place...1000ft. up...nah...too easy.  Apparently there's a temple up there...who cares...see the little people?...

This brings me to an interesting point...our friends Jane and Mike are going to be retiring this month and Mike always whines about how we travel...something about bathrooms, and sit down toilets...waaaaaaaaaaaa....is this unreasonable?

...and, of course, really roughing it on dining...

Anyway, where was I...oh ya...here's a great old guy from the other day...

 ...then we climbed up to see some monk caves...

 ...then some more elaborate caves...all painted and stuff...

 ...then we went to a big commercial market...

 ...this is getting kind of long isn't it...oh well, we're in Jaffna now...had to get a permit because of that war thing...no big deal for TLD...we be BAD!!!!