Kumudu and I live in the capital of Sri Lanka - Colombo. It is the centre of trade and business in Sri Lanka, but - in many ways - Kandy (Nuwara in Singalese) is the cultural centre (principally because of its Buddhist significance).
We live in a suburb of Sri Lanka called Dehiwala. Dehiwala is highly built up area, but is relatively close to the coast and the touristy area of Mt Lavinia (there is a concentration of hotels in this area).
The area we live in is relatively quiet for Colombo and is just down the road from a Buddhist temple (pansala) and close to a hospital (!).
By New Zealand standards, Colombo is pretty dirty (when you leave Colombo things improve a lot however). Nonetheless, Colombo is not nearly as filthy as some Indian cities and is positively spotless by comparison.
A few interesting facts: Because people have to pay to have their rubbish collected, people often resort to burning rubbish in the street. The upshot of this is that there is quite a bit of trash just lying around haphazardly (although recently the council has arranged street cleaners to make the steeets tidier). Also, because there are no laws concerning animal control there is quite a range of wretched looking dogs hobbling around the streets.
Sri Lankan people, however, are extremely kind and warm and will go out of their way to help anyone - visitors or local. They have a great respect for New Zealanders. At one security checkpoint I didn't even need to show my passport - the soldier simply needed to hear I was from New Zealand!
We live in a suburb of Sri Lanka called Dehiwala. Dehiwala is highly built up area, but is relatively close to the coast and the touristy area of Mt Lavinia (there is a concentration of hotels in this area).
The area we live in is relatively quiet for Colombo and is just down the road from a Buddhist temple (pansala) and close to a hospital (!).
By New Zealand standards, Colombo is pretty dirty (when you leave Colombo things improve a lot however). Nonetheless, Colombo is not nearly as filthy as some Indian cities and is positively spotless by comparison.
A few interesting facts: Because people have to pay to have their rubbish collected, people often resort to burning rubbish in the street. The upshot of this is that there is quite a bit of trash just lying around haphazardly (although recently the council has arranged street cleaners to make the steeets tidier). Also, because there are no laws concerning animal control there is quite a range of wretched looking dogs hobbling around the streets.
Sri Lankan people, however, are extremely kind and warm and will go out of their way to help anyone - visitors or local. They have a great respect for New Zealanders. At one security checkpoint I didn't even need to show my passport - the soldier simply needed to hear I was from New Zealand!
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