Escapades in Sri Lanka

“Nomophobia” ……..And breakfast in Kuwait   Picture a world sans YouTube, WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook, emails, video games, Dropbox, Yahoo, Google, SMS, or a camera at your fingertips.   Sacrilegious in the present context. The universe would presumably be a gloomy spectre. Un-contactable, with absolutely no one to probably chatter, share your memories or just simply be in digital dialogue. The mere thought of being lonely is a distressing concept to many and an unthinkable situation in the modern world of constant information overloading and transmission.   Eighty percent of the world population owns a mobile phone and more than 60 percent of the population claims to suffer from 'nomophobia' - the fear of being without a mobile phone. Some 54 percent of people worry about being 'out of mobile phone contact’ and 17 percent of women suffer from 'nomophobia' than men. A quarter of a people even consult their phones during a dinner date and most tend to take it ev...

    “Dedicated to the families and beautiful friendly people of Aranayake and its environs….our thoughts are with you”   Immaterial of one’s origins, December is a month for families to be nestled whilst sharing the joys of holidays and the festivities, and what better way to indulge than to go hiking whilst enjoying the seasonal spirit with an adventurous bunch of family members to the elusive but omnipresent Bible rock (Bathalegala ) in the district of Kegalle.   On the morning after Christmas, we drove to Mawanella and turned right to Aranayake. A few kilometres before Aranayake is the turnoff to the Batalegala temple and thereon another two plus kilometres on a narrow winding and an ascending road took us closer to the foothills of this near vertical mountain. There ends the motor-able road.   A friendly villager voluntarily offered us his immaculately clean garden to park our vehicles. The gentlemen also offer us tea, water and biscuits ...

One never encounters its true beauty.   In retrospect, it is known to be the misty village on the slopes of Piduruthalagala and therefore, seclusion from the regular traveller.   The trip, limited to two guys, in an ancient SUV on a bright August morning. The sun was blissfully shinning, blessing us to enjoy the journey despite the forecast of constant misty rains at our destination. Setting towards Kandy before sunrise, diverting from Peradeniya to Galaha, Rikillagaskada and turning right towards Nuwara Eliya was an absolutely pleasurable drive. To one’s left far away were the Knuckles Mountains and then the forests of the Loolecondera tea estate with the Piduruthalagala mountain range to the right. A four-hour drive with breakfast at a thosai kade (eatery) in Galaha and another one and a half hour drive to the village of Mandaramnuwara were filled with exhilaration coupled with adventurous mindsets. Our route to Nuwara Eliya was known to be used by bullock cart...