Songkran, the Thai water festival, just finished. Two years ago I celebrated Songkran in Bangkok where they celebrate for three days. This year I celebrated Songkran in Chiang Mai, where the festival is celebrated with exceptional zeal. The festival starts early and ends late—five days of throwing water! Songkran is not specifically a Thai festival, …
Category Archives: Experiences
Security & Limitations While Traveling
One of the most inconvenient and least helpful things about traveling is the “security” and regional issues you encounter. Credit cards block you from using your card (even if you warned them up front), accounts are blocks because of “suspicious activity,” and a host of other annoyances. Want to watch Netflix or listen to Songza? …
Galle Fort & Unawatuna Beach
I wrapped up my trip to Sri Lanka with a visit to Galle, pronounced “gawl” in English. I chose to stay in Galle Fort, which in retrospect was a mistake. I am sure I would have enjoyed staying at nearby Unawatuna much more, despite it being overrun by tourists. I hadn’t even planned on visiting …
How Ceylon Tea is Made
I had never been to a tea plantation before or visited a tea factory. Tea is everywhere in Sri Lanka because, well, they are super famous for it. Ever since the British colonized Sri Lanka and re-named it Ceylon for who-knows-why, they have been growing tea. Coffee might have been the main product if it …
Road Trip from Kandy to Tissamahara
I was really interested in a safari at Yala National Park, but I had to get there from Kandy. For some reason I do not understand, public transportation from Kandy to Tissamaharama (where Yala is) is very limited and slow. You can take buses, but several transfers are required and it will be slow going. Given …
Day Trip to Sigirya, Dambulla & Polonnaruwa
Outside of Kandy is a whole different level of temples and sights. The main day trip that people take from Kandy is to Sigiriya and Dambulla. I tacked on Polonnaruwa, which made for a very long and exhausting day. It didn’t help that the van broke down and I ended up having to switch drivers …
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Kandy Three Temples Loop
Kandy is supposed to be one of those amazing cities that will alter your life. It’s nice and definitely a wonderful place to visit; not sure about it being life altering though. Of course, you really can’t take a trip to Sri Lanka and not visit Kandy. I did the next worst thing, though, and …
My Whirlwind Tour of Sri Lanka
I just returned from my whirlwind tour of Sri Lanka. I was there for nine days, though really only seven full days. I started in Colombo, a rather nondescript city, took a train to Kandy, private car to Tissamaharama for a safari around Yala National Park, continue to Galle, then finished back in a suburb of …
My Visit to Sri Lanka Next Week
My original plans to visit Bali, Indonesia this month changed. The friend I was going to go with ended up staying in Thailand. His parents are coming to visit. Can’t argue with that. I need to leave Thailand, however, because of my visa, so I decided to go to Sri Lanka. I have heard of …
Magnolia Farmer’s Market [Photo Gallery]
Magnolia is a nice, old district in Seattle that is an upscale, middle-aged, mostly white neighborhood. Of course, a farmer’s market is required for such a place and Magnolia did not disappoint. I didn’t actually intend to go—I was going to breakfast—when I ran into it (and it was raining hard). I snapped these photos …