sri lanka! part 2 (and not getting any shorter)

hey! what up, guys? december is kind of killing me over here! not in a bad way, just in a HOLY SHIT HOW DO PEOPLE DO ALL THIS WORK AND ALSO PREPARE FOR CHRISTMAS AND ALSO HOST PARTIES AT THEIR HOUSE AND *ALSO* FINISH BLOG RECAPS??!!?! way.

things are dire on the busy scale, is what i'm saying. i mean, i faceplanted INTO THE WALL OF AN ELEVATOR the other day and didn't even have a chance to tell you about it. (it was comical, i assure you. i have many bruises.)

but! the recap! it shall go on!

after surviving day one, we got up bright and early the next day to travel to Galle, in the south of the country.

Galle is home to a fort that was started by the Portuguese in the 16th century when they occupied the country, then was redone by the Dutch in the 17th century when it was their turn to occupy.

so i probably mentioned this already? but HOLY JEEBUS is it hot in sri lanka. SO, SO HOT. as we were at the fort, some pretty gnarly clouds started rolling in because it just cannot be that hot & humid that long before a spontaneous thunderstorm develops.

as a result, you see people walking around under umbrellas pretty much at all times, since either it's 1 million degrees and so sunny you want to die a little, OR it's pouring on you.

we left the fort right as the rain started, and drove a few miles north to our hotel for the night, the triton.. and were promptly blown away. infinity pool? yes please.

the hotel is RIGHT on the indian ocean, and the sun was just beginning to set as we headed down to the beach.

..which resulted in some pretty outstanding views.

the next day, we got an awesome opportunity to see "cinnamon peelers" at work. apparently cinnamon is one of the few products that we humans have not developed machinery to harvest effectively, so the process is still done (laboriously!) by hand.

first, a woman (it seems to always be a woman doing this part?) shaves off the tough outer bark:

next, this guy rubs the peeled branch vigorously with a metal rod, then makes a vertical slice about a meter long...

..and starts peeling back the thin layer of inner bark, in one giant piece.

(that guy in yellow is a local tuk-tuk driver, who brought us to these guys' house and showed us around.)

it smells DELICIOUS at this juncture, by the way, and is surprisingly juicy.

after it has dried for several days, smaller pieces of bark are stuffed into the large "quills" to made a solid rod.

..and then they sell it to you. by the METER.

holy crap. how have i STILL only made it another day and a half in the recap??

ok. let's do some of this lightening-round style. ready?

flowering banana tree!

roadside dried fish stand!

rambutan!

mangosteen!

giant lizard thing!

jackfruit!

roadside monkeys!

next up is our trip to kandalama and the ruins at polonnaruwa (which, i am not joking, took me about 3 days to learn the name of. polonnaruwa!) which is a post in itself.

and then there is still the THREE DAY LONG indian wedding to show you! anyone want to take an over/under on me finishing this before 2012??