Sri Lanka

Three days before my flight I decided to go and see Sri Lanka, eat some good curries and enjoy a short backpacking holiday in a just recently civil war recovered country. For just about 100€ I got the flight with Air Asias to Colombo and was back on the travelers bug for a few days.

In the bus from the airport I pooled together with a Dutch and an English traveler who decided to come along to Kandy. A Sri Lankan artist who also took the same bus gave us a first impression of the outstanding Sri Lankan hospitality, inviting us for a first Ceylon tea before we took off on the train.

On the train station in Kandy... I missed a shot of about 100 man huddling together to see the last minutes of a Sri Lankan cricket game on a tiny TV. The national sport bonds all Sri Lankans.

Sri Lanka Biryani served with chicken. Fried or roasted basmati-rice made with various spices, possibly a bit spicier than the usual Indian version.

Colorful bracelets, typically worn by Hindu woman.

No meal without chillies and garlic.

The main dish of Sri Lanka is a set of rice and curry that comes with several little bowls offering you different savory delights. As a Sri Lankan you use your hands and often it will be served on these leaves.

Aryuvedic medicine.









First stop Kandy

After a three hour train ride we arrived in scenic Kandy in the center of Sri Lanka. The last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka is home to Sri Lankas most precious Buddhist heritage “The Temple of the Tooth Relic” (Sri Dalada Maligawa).  
Sri Lankans worship it as Lord Buddhas original tooth, and now as a symbolic representation of the living Buddha. Wars were fought to own the relic, because it was believed that whoever possessed the Sacred Tooth, ruled the land.

A musem is dedicated to beloved Raja, a Sri Lankan tusker - elephant, who carried the casket with the tooth relic during the Esala Perahera processions for 50 years. Only the most royal elephants with perfect features (including the need for all 7 body parts reaching the ground and perfectly formed tusks) are allowed to perform such a holy ritual.

A wonderful family I met which showed me around the temple.

In the hostel with Ashley and Dusty, friends from Bangkok.













Train ride to Ella

Heading on I took the train to the beautiful little village Ella. The 7 hour train ride probably being one of the most spectecular events in my life.

I sat in the door with my feet dangling outside as the whole compartment was filled to the top. The two Muslim woman behind me provided me with food, other people were singing and in front of me endless tea plantations swinging along.

the famously known Ceylon Tea

Rice Paddies

A stop on the way

Every day he travels on the train selling coconut flowers for a minimum wage.

Ella

On the train station I was picked up by Peter de mel who offered a home-stay at his place. With such a genuine smile I decided to go along and was welcomed by a loving family who took me into their home and showed me a very special insight into Sri Lankan life. I wish I could have stayed longer...

Ellas surrounding.

I went to visit a tea plantation for black tea where I got a guided tour just for myself.
1st: The leaves are harvested and brought in bags to the processing plant.

2nd: The leaves are withered by either blowing air on them during rainy times or drying them with the natural heat in case of sun.

3rd: The withered tea leaves are rolled mechanically through the use of a cylindrical rolling table, producing a mixture of whole and broken leaves.

4th: The leaves are oxidized/ fermented under controlled temperature and humidity to leave a water percentage of below 3%.
Finally the leaves are sorted into grades according to their sizes (whole leaf, brokens, fannings and dust).

Peter took me around the area in his Tuk Tuk.

Where we also came across a group of Sri Lankan army which made me pose with different groups.

Later on I met up with a Welsh crowd to have beers and Arak in the local bars.

Unawatuna

is a coastal village in the Galle area of Sri Lanka, kind of a backpacker hub.

Night out with locals and travelers which partied on until the next morning.

Sri Lankan Beach Boys...

A snake charmer.

I took a day trip to the historic fort area in Galle, which was built in the 16th century by the Portuguese and later on extensively fortified by the Dutch.

Another original Sri Lankan which showed me around a historical Mansion filled up with collective items from around the world. Of course it wasn´t just a free museum but ended up being a sales hall for all kinds of jewellery....I needed some new earrings anyways.

Colombo

Lastly I stayed with Vimukthis family in the capital of Sri Lanka. Wonderful hospitality!

And was particularly excited to attend Sadeepas Homecoming. He got married two days before in the official ceremony and now the second less formal event with more guests took place in his backyard. What an intense cultural experience with so many unfamiliar customs to be observed! 

Site Visits

Now classes are over and all exams are done and dealt with for this semester but as I quite like travelling and living in South East Asia I decided to stay for a little while longer. Still I want to tell you about two informative site visits which we attended during the last weeks of university.

The first one brought us to a recycling factory for chemical substances where the German owner set up a system to ensure cost effective and environmentally friendly solutions for industrial waste from the chemical industry (HDPE liner in ground to make sure that there is no leakage, pipes to control air pollution...). We got a nice view inside entrepreneurial self-sufficient engineering from an inspiring character who has been operating for 12 years in a country, which is just starting to regulate this kind of waste treatment and still allows for holes in the system. Unluckily we weren’t allowed to take any pictures.

high efficiency solar panel

self sustaining zero emissions bungalow

The second site visit we undertook to the Refinery of Thaioil in Chonburi. The Head of the Technology-Environment department and his team tried to convince us how environmental friendly Thaioil is operating but cancelled the promised tour around the actual site which could have given proof to their words.

5 IMRE and all Thaioil representatives in charge for our little group.

All what we saw of Thaioil  - the presentation room.

Some facts about Thaioil Public Company Limited: it is Thailand's major refiner, who also engages in pipeline operations, lube base refining, power projects, shipping, and carbon black production. The capacity is currently at a level of up to 275,000 barrels of oil per day, which are mainly imported from the Middle East, more than a fifth of Thailand's total capacity. Thaioil did set up a framework of its corporate governance policy (e.g.“commitment of our personnel to fair treatment”) and at least on paper they are quite big on CSR activities. Some examples we were told are:
-choosing types of natural resources with low toxicity,
-using appropriate high-efficiency technology to protect air quality,
-reuse and minimize waste and waste water
-the construction of Community Centers for Health and Learning.
It does seem like Thaioil is doing well in terms of investing in future technology, which contaminates less, saves energy and is economically beneficial to the company, but of further engagement nor a real understanding of sustainability we were left unsure. I guess their green strategy serves foremost marketing purposes but some good comes along with it keeping in mind that they deal with oil.

Afterwards we went for a nice lunch near some mussel farm.

The dog slept in this position at the uni cafeteria - hilarious