Sri Lanka. Part II. CitiesMap
August Most people go to Sri Lanka for the elephants. Even though there’s nothing duller than the elephants in Sri Lanka. PinnawalaMapTo keep tourists happy, they make paper out of elephant dung here. Since the elephant’s digestive system is highly ineffective, what comes out is practically the same grass that goes in. And grass, like cellulose, like rags, is a suitable raw material for making paper.  So, we take a dung pile.  Dilute it to achieve a mud-like consistency.  Smear it over a screen. And dry it.  Voilà, the tourist is happy. Poo paper notepads, calendars, postcards—they have everything imaginable here.  KandyMapLottery tickets are sold at every turn.  Electrical boxes are wrapped with wire mesh to prevent flyering and bill posting.  A traffic light.  An intersection.  Traffic lane markings turn into zigzags at the approach to a zebra crossing, like in England, Mauritius or Romania.  Interestingly, almost every building downtown bears a tile with the UNESCO World Heritage logo.  Yet all of these buildings have been disgracefully mutilated with ads, stuck-on panels and insulated window units.  Please observe propriety at all times.  The city.  A passenger information display at the train station.  A tourist office.  The most interesting detail in Kandy is the paper nightly security log. Eight times a night, a paramilitary security officer must sign the piece of paper glued on the wall next to the shop door to confirm that nothing happened.  TrincomaleeMapLike Ramallah, Trincomalee has shoes to suit every taste.  Hi, I’m your liver.  The city’s main tower.  A tsunami hit here a few years ago. That’s why today there are signs with arrows showing where to go in the event of another one.  Monkeys jump around on the rooftops like pigeons.  Colombo.MapThe capital, still bearing traces of British rule.  A couple of nice-looking blocks remain standing.  An old British shop.  Today, there’s an average bazaar and traffic jams of incredible size.  A vehicle traffic light.  A pedestrian light.  A buddha.  The main means of transportation is the tuk-tuk.  The main type of enclosure is a fence on wheels.  A security guard.  Grocery stores are marked with colored fluorescent lights (in Taiwan, shops selling betel are marked in a similar fashion).  Lottery tickets hang from clothespin circles for socks.  Buddhas.  Lunch at the automobile museum.  An example of behaving without shame and fear.  Cinema.  In case of fire, grab bell and ring. That’s Sri Lanka to a T.  |
