Road to Ampara

Today, the J-team: Jarrod, Ajaz, James & Joanna (and the driver and me), hit the road for day long journey to Ampara on the east side of the country. The drive took us through small but chaotically organized towns, up in elevation in the hill country, through the picturesque cultural town of Kandy, past blue lakes, green fields, and lush jungle. And past security check-points a plenty. The check points sprung up after we left Kandy and headed toward the east, which up until a few years ago was partly controlled by the opposition. Check points consist of several armed, uniformed guards asking our driver where we are going and checking both his and Joanna’s MC id badges. We’d been told they might check our passports but so far (several days later) they have not. Our vehicle is fully marked and while the government is not terribly welcoming of NGOs, they so far are okay with them and the UN remaining in the area, where they have been since the tsunami in 2004.

As we passed through Kandy, they are having a week long exhibition of Buddha's tooth at the Temple of the Tooth. Long, long lines of white clad visitors line the path around the central lake waiting their turn for a viewing. The city was beyond it's usual level of chaos and traffic and slowed our trip, but increased our experience greatly.