Travels of my eBid Tee & Cap - to Sri Lanka

[Oldandintheway]

OK everybody, get strapped in for Bro & Sils Sri Lankan trip, flashing the old eBid Tee & Cap.

Just had a call from Bro who was about to call a cab for the Brisbane International airport.
Their first leg leaves at 3.30pm.
Destination Colombo & points beyond.

I expect a blog report from our intrepid travellers in a day or so?

My eBid shopping bag was excess to requirements, so will have to wait for the next trip!

Come along for the virtual ride - duration 3 weeks.

Cheers, Allen.

[meebo1]

I am so excited. I love travelling, especially from my chair

[sucadot]

Looking forward to it, that will brighten up the dull winter days!

[Oldandintheway]

And we're off............. here's an early report! (3 hours ago)

We are in Changi Airport at present, watching a Bruce Willis movie with Chinese sub-titles whilst we wait for our next flight to Colombo.
The flight to Singapore was somewhat bumpy but we did have four seats in the centre to ourselves and no-one behind us so that was a bonus.
Bye.

[Oldandintheway]

Hi all, well Bro & Sil are ensconced in Colombo ATM & are hitting the railways to Anuradhapura later today. Below are some Colombo pix with more predicted, subject to Wi-fi availability, which is proving a problem.(even in the capitol) Enjoy!

#1 "The room at the top of the stairs" - Shalimar Hotel Colombo
#2 Fort Railway Station - to Anuradhapura & beyond
#3 Galle Face Green & beach (remaining shots)









And NO - you can not have the big yellow ducky to play with in the bath!

[meebo1]

And NO - you can not have the big yellow ducky to play with in the bath!

I think I'll have a swan, thank you
Lovely pictures, especially when it is cold and wet here

[HerMajesty]

It's great fun to see such a far away place!! Thanks to you and to them for sharing!

[JDStamps]

Brings back very happy memories- my wife and I toured Sri Lanka for 3 weeks on honeymoon......

[Anniemcc2]

My father was in Ceylon at the end of WW2 - have loads of photos somewhere - so will be interesting to see where your brother & SiL end up

Great pictures to view on a rainy day here in UK.

[Oldandintheway]

Well Bro & Sil have suffered the trip by rail from Colombo to Anuradhapura & I'll let his words describe the journey.

We caught the 3.55 p.m. Express-ish to Anuradhapura. As we had lashed out on seats in the private 40 capacity Expo Rail carriage we were looking forward to this trip.
Big mistake as it turns out - the Carriage was fine but I think there is something amiss with the actual railway tracks. Four hours of being jerked from side to side and back to front and the carriages slamming into the next join in the tracks.
In the beginning it was a worry [how much does it take for carriage wheels to jump the track?], then it became quite funny [watching numerous recently served meals slide off the trays and hit the floor} and in the end a bit painful. We were more than happy to stumble off the thing in the end. I don't know how the non Expo Rail passengers got on - some probably leapt from the windows to avoid the whole drama.
Before we got off the Train one of the very nice Stewards handed us a form to fill out to rate the trip and ask if we would use them again. On the basis that all trains use the same poorly aligned tracks we said 'yes' we loved the service but the ride was "a bit bumpy".

Way too kind in my book!

To explain the following pix, I offer this definition of "Dagoba"
" a dome-shaped shrine containing relics of the Buddha or Buddhist saints"
#1 Jetavanarama Dagoba - 3rd century. Third tallest monument in the world when built & only beaten by two Egyptian Pyramids.
#2 Sil checking up if it's safe to go swimming? at Kuttam Pokuna (twin ponds)
#3 Samadhi Buddha (4th century meditation pose)
#4 Bro near Buddha - sign probably says "Beware Falling Branches"
#5 Abhayagiri Dagoba 1st or 2nd century BC (watch that first step)
#6 Roadside smoko - Bro lost his eBid cap here! (gets sunburnt as a result)
Funny to think a local is now wearing an eBid cap in far off Sri Lanka.
#7 Thuparama Dagoba 3rd century BC - said to contain the right collarbone of the Buddha.
#8 Outside the Ruvanvelisaya Dagoba - which is surrounded by elephants.
#9 Sri Maha Bodhi - the cutting for this tree was taken in Bodhgaya India, under which Buddha achieved enlightenment. This is the oldest historically authenticated tree in the world at 2,000+ years.
#10 Special efforts are made to support the tree.
more pix continued next post:-