After Nepal, I headed to Sri Lanka. I flew into Colombo, the capital. Colombo is on the west coast of the island nation.
I discovered hoppers, a rice flour crepe that can be topped in different ways, but usually with an egg. They are simple and good.
On a wander through a local grocery store, I found environmentally friendly utensils and one time use food containers. I found many items derived from coconuts including this syrup called coconut treacle made from the sap of the flower.

The main point of interest in this city is the Gangaramaya temple. A Buddhist temple that has a tree grown from a sapling, that came from a sapling, that came from the Bodhi tree!

The vibe here is reminiscent of the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, impenetrably tranquil. I had to come back a second time just to spend the day here.
Before I left Colombo to explore the rest of Sri Lanka, I got some locally sourced linen and had a tailor make me a custom made shirt for the sun.
I took a train to my next destination, Weligama. The train ride was fun. The windows were open. Some of the doors were missing, so you could hang out of the train as it moved.

Weligama is known for it’s ideal waves to learn surfing. Weligama was amazing. The day I arrived, I booked a hostel outside of town. I took a bus into town to explore. Entering the bus was like entering this casino, night club, Shiva realm. That was bizarre.

The next day I explored my neighborhood and got caught in a downpour that lasted about an hour. It was monsoon season when I went.

The beaches were nice but I needed to be in a place with more people, so I moved to a hostel closer to the city center, Backpacker’s hub. This place was great. I met so many lovely people! My days here were spent surfing, going to the local club, the Doctor’s House (so fun), and experimenting in the kitchen with various coconut derived products.

I want to mention two things that were percolating in my mind for several weeks at this point.
1) It’s vital to take responsibility for what we consume. Most of you know by now what a big advocate of eco-bricks I am. I’ve been making them as I travel. The bricks have been accumulating in my bag as I plan to put them into the adobe wall I’m building back home. Carrying this extra weight is certainly a burden. I was recently pondering if it was absolutely necessary doing. Eventually I came to the conclusion, after many hours of meditation and consultations with trusted sangha members, that I would pack what I could and toss what would be considered beyond a moderate effort that would cause a significant inconvenience. Overall, the more moderate perspective I adjusted to, allowed me to relax the stringency of having to do everything cleanly and perfectly the first time. I felt I had a little more wiggle room.

2) The abstinence of eating meat to diminish the harm I cause in the world was being perceived as the likely culprit for the lack of vitality I sometimes feel. Again, after meditation on the topic and consultation with invaluable sangha members for which I am so grateful for, I came to the conclusion of taking a more moderate lifestyle in regard to consuming animal protein. Overall, I realized that all of us are always creating some degree of harm in the world. The best way to proceed is to recognize that harm, reduce it to a manageable degree that doesn’t become obsessive, and use what vitality you have to work hard to benefit others. I feel this is like a kind of debt you take on. Work hard to use the resources you get and do something beneficial and useful for humanity. Don’t stop working toward this end.

After Weligama, I headed to Ella with my newly acquired hostel friend/driver, Zane, Australian, in his tuktuk rental. We planned to meet up with friends we had met in Weligama. The drive through the country side was lovely and green. Just before reaching Ella, we stopped at Ravana Falls.

It was a joyous reunion meeting up with our Weligama hostel friends in Ella, although the new hostel we occupied was riddled with nuisances. The local club, Journey, was fun!

I spent my birthday in Ella celebrating with this charming crew. The morning started out with jog over to view the famed 9 arches bridge.

In the afternoon, I headed over to Little Adam’s Peak. The view here was just boundless. I felt so inspired and fortunate to be here, the accumulation of all my life’s choices and where it had brought me.

The hike up was also pretty. I came across a lounge that was built out of bamboo, such an impressive structure.

The evening concluded with a modest meal with friends at a local restaurant.

The next day we headed over to Diyaluma Falls. This place was amazing. It was a natural water park. There were various levels to the waterfall. There was a picturesque place, a place to swim, a place to cliff jump, and even a place that had a rock water slide. We did some slacklining too.

“The real way to build a sense of well-being in the world is to love and be loved by others. If we don’t recognize the fragility and interdependence of our samsaric identities, we will never achieve a genuine sense of confidence, because all of our hopes for happiness will be focused on maintaining an identity that doesn’t actually exist in the first place.”
-Traleg Kyabgon
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