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Message: <blockquote data-quote="rochel1977" data-source="post: 18677097" data-attributes="member: 371">Heading north...<img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m162_DSC_6547.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />We've left Kandy and are driving northward. We passed an amazing Hindu temple. (Hindus are a little over 10% of Sri Lanka's population.).Not shown: the 'spice gardens' which were present in large numbers on this road. These seemed like touristy scams. They'd take you on a tour of their garden to see the cinnamon and coffee trees, and then talk you into extremely expensive extracts, hair oils, etc. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m163_DSC_6609.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />The shirtless guy is the priest. Apparently the ceremony he's doing is some sort of fertility thing. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m164_DSC_6639.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Check out that tree! It's very old, and is growing in the middle of the temple. Though 'growing' is probably an exaggeration, as it is surrounded by heavy scaffolding in an attempt to keep it from falling over. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m165_DSC_6643.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />A woman brings an offering of bananas to the temple. That is the shoe-checking window on the left. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m166_DSC_6721.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Now we're at Dambulla, where there is a set of gigantic buddhist cave temples. All of the temples have offering for flowers, fruit, etc. out front. It's a great place to be a monkey. This one (which we saw a lot of) is a toque macaque. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m167_DSC_6735.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />In the buddha caves at Dambulla. The caves have been painted for about 2100 years and look brand new. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m168_DSC_6740.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Totally gorgeous, walking around on the mountain top next to the Buddha caves! <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m169_DSC_6748.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /><img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m170_DSC_6755.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />We went past (but did not go in) the somewhat gaudy visitor center to the 2100-year-old Buddhas.The caves themselves are a UNESCO World Heritage site -- one of five UNESCO sites in Sri Lanka we visited: Polonnaruwa (ancient city), Kandy (large and active ancient city with the tooth relic), Sigiriya (rock in the sky), Anuradhapura (giant buddhist city), and Dambulla (these caves). <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m171_DSC_6765.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Driving onward from Dambulla, we get loaded into an oxcart for some sort of tour. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m172_DSC_6780.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /><img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m173_DSC_6804.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /><img src="http://The oxcart took us to a boat dock, where we paddled across. Then we walked, and took a tuk-tuk back home. Of anything on the trip that seemed a bit cruise-boat touristy, this was probably it. It felt like being on an episode of The Amazing Race." alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /><img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m174_DSC_6881.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Between the boat ride and the tuk-tuk trip, we watched this woman as she made roti. Tourism aside, it was actually really cool. She started with raw rice, and pounded it into a flour. Add water and a bit of grated coconut, and it makes a dough for rotis (which she's holding here). Cook those over a fire. Make a sambal with coconut and hot peppers, which she ground up on rocks outside. And we had a tasty snack 15 minutes later.The woman here gets paid to do this in her mud 'house' which we're in now. And although it seemed like a show, the reality is that her actual house is 200 m or so away, and looks very similar. Her husband died recently. The majority of people in this area (her family included) are basically living off of subsistence agriculture. They grow their own rice, build their own house out of grasses / mud bricks / scrap lumber, they raise chickens and other animals. Her son is a tuk-tuk driver and makes maybe $10/day in the village. On the off-season he farms onions. She was very sweet and honest. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m175_DSC_6895.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Cooking the roti over the fire. Think of a thick tortilla. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m176_DSC_6910.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Making sambal from coconut and peppers. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m177_DSC_6923.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />This house behind Astro is also hers. It has a table and chairs and a place to sleep upstairs.Meanwhile, Astro is tempted to pick the bright orange objects. Hmm -- reminds of of Piper doing the same thing. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m178_DSC_6949.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Piper drinking the coconut water. We had already scraped the inside of the coconut for use in the sambal. <img src="http://www.eaubergine.com/images/SriLanka_Dec13/thumbnails/m179_DSC_6987.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />She was very sweet. Also check out those nicely made roof panels, each one made out of coconut leaves -- she helped Piper make one in just a few minutes. </blockquote>

Verification: Awruddata maasa keeyada?

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