Traveling the Triangle: Report from Sri Lanka’s Interior

April 15th, 2006 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Click here to read my newest essay, “A Very Buddha Birthday.” I entered it in a travel writing contest; wish me luck.
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New Year and New Plans

April 11th, 2006 | By Joshua | No Comments »

As several of you have observed, there has been a recent addition to our itinerary. I’m speaking of the new countries listed under “Africa” in the “categories” section to your right. As my friend, Khalid (a.k.a. “Manzoor,” from our almost-ill-fated bus trip in Pakistan last summer), you cannot have a proper trip around the world without including Africa. My wife, Tay, who spent nearly three life-changing years in The Gambia, agrees.

I’m an eager first-timer, excited for a glimpse.
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Meanwhile, in the Toppass garden…

April 7th, 2006 | By Joshua | No Comments »

If it’s a cloudy sky show every evening, it’s always bright, dewy, and just-warming-up in the mornings, when the sun first crests yonder ridge at seven-thirty.
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Ancient Cities teaser

April 4th, 2006 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Our first weekend out of Nuwara Eliya was a sensory-soaked trip to Sri Lanka’s steamy interior, a.k.a. the “Cultural Triangle.” 2,000-year-old ruins and modern Buddhism in action — or should I say, “in contemplation.”
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Sunsets in Nuwara Eliya

March 28th, 2006 | By Joshua | No Comments »

From Toppass, we watch storms build to the southeast, over Badulla, says Sabah, looking with us. He stands watching the sky intently, his sweater-clad arms encumbered by leeks and cabbages with soil shaking from their roots. These storms never reach us, not even their rumbling, but their expanding, flashing energy dominates the sky.
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The Hardest Part About Traveling for 16 Months

March 27th, 2006 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

The biggest challenge of traveling and working abroad for such a long time is not jet lag, financial management at home, nor even Traveler’s “D.” We aren’t falling behind in our careers, nor have we tired of so much movement. Occasionally, we get misty-eyed for certain creature comforts or familiar foods, but these are small things, all of which were easily found during our couple of cush months on Thailand’s tourist trail (first-run films in Bangkok; bagels and lox in Chiang Mai!).
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Volun-tourism: Why We Came to Sri Lanka

March 20th, 2006 | By Joshua | 3 Comments »

We did not choose Nuwara Eliya. We were assigned here. In my experience, allowing somebody else to pick one’s destination, especially in some sort of official capacity, is more exciting than merely scrawling one’s desires across a map, or choosing fanciful place names—more unpredictable even than a random spin of the globe, eager finger poised.
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Fancy Goods and Ironmongery: At Home in Nuwara Eliya

March 15th, 2006 | By Joshua | 3 Comments »

Besides being the highest settlement above sea level on the entire island of Sri Lanka, the sprawling hill-country hamlet of Nuwara Eliya (or “Nor-REL-iya”) is one of the most bizarre conglomerations of people, industry, religion, and culture I have ever seen. Though the town itself is not entirely enticing in an obvious livable or lovable manner, I am thankful for the two months we’ll have in which to experience, explore—and attempt to explain—such an utterly unique place.
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Lil’ House in the Hill Country: Meet the New Crew

March 11th, 2006 | By Joshua | 3 Comments »

The five-hour drive from Colombo to Nuwara Eliya (pronounced, more or less, “Nor-REL-iya”) takes us a mile-and-a-quarter above the Indian Ocean, a rise accompanied by a delicious drop in temperature. It is a swerving, unnerving, rough-road journey that, eventually, delivers us back to tea country.
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Colombo, City by the Sea: Welcome to Sri Lanka

March 6th, 2006 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

It is less than a four-hour flight from Bangkok across the Bay of Bengal to Sri Lanka’s coastal capital, Colombo, which greets us with a blast of hot, humid midnight air and the smiling face of Sarath, our agency-appointed driver holding up a sign with our names on it. Oh, to be greeted at the airport! A rare luxury on this trip, and we savor it as he shakes our hands and reponds to my “Ayubowan,” the traditional Sinhala greeting which I learned from our Sri Lankan Airlines flight attendants. Sarath drives us through the empty streets to our guesthouse, and a new adventure begins.
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