Fascinating country, charming people. After a few hours here on total jet lag I hope my first visit to this amazing place won’t be my last.My seat mate, Langan, is a Sri Lankan national who now lives in the UK under British citizenship. He comes back here for the winter. Super guy, who just couldn’t say enough good things about his country despite the troubles here over the past decades.
A Hilton driver met me at the airport and the 40 minute ride to the city was sensory overload…
Buddhist shrines…
next to Hindu temples… next to sacred cows (look closely under the tree… this was one of many along the main highway from the airport)…
next to sleeping dogs in the street while three-wheeled tuk-tuks zoom by. High security everywhere for understandable reasons.I ventured out to the World Trade Center to change money (I now have 113,500 rupees… about $100) and bought a simcard for my phone. Ready to catch a nap before the serious sightseeing begins tomorrow. The talk of the town is the US insider trading scandal involving a Sri Lankan investor who was heavily playing the stock market here and allegedly supporting the Tamils. Read more at this link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091018/ts_afp/srilankausjusticemarketsfraud_20091018023214