Fuel price fury

About two or three weeks after we arrived here in Negombo the government put the price of fuel up. This is allegedly the direct result of American sanctions on Iran, where Sri Lanka buys most of it's fuel. (The opposition say that's nonsense and in any case they have a years worth of fuel, stockpiled for emergencies...it's just an excuse to make more money through tax).

Petrol went up least, where as Diesel and Kerosene went up more than double. Diesel is used by lorry and bus drivers, as well as fishermen, and Kerosene is also extremely important to the fishermen (who are some of the poorest people here) as they use it in both their boats and their homes (cooking/lighting etc). So when the prices went up there was a considerable amount of anger nationwide, amongst various groups of people, notably the bus drivers and fishermen.

They organised a nationwide strike, which went on for about a week, and blockaded the roads. The main (or should I say only...) road between Colombo and Puttlam in the north was blocked for a few days which caused mayhem. The fishermen didn't go out fishing for over a week, which meant no fish for anyone...and this also meant no fish in any of the restaurants for all the lovely rich tourists the government are trying to attract here.

Negombo is one of the largest fishing ports in the country, as well as being a huge tourist destination. It's a strange combination of people...tourists, who are by local standards very wealthy, and fishermen, who are by tourists standards, extremely poor. Most of the time they rub along nicely with fishermen occasionally making money out of tourists by taking them out on their boats (aside from the money they make selling fish to the tourists through the various hotels). But for about a week, when the fuel price went up (and it was a dramatic hike in price!) there was a noticeable tension in the normally placid air. The main street though the tourist area is called Sea street, and the fishermen blocked it at various points right the way along it, using anything they could find...fishing line, palm trees, and in some cases their boats, as well as burning tyres in the road. Depending on the level of anger of individual fishermen (and their wives) 'manning' the blockade you could either pass through, or go round another rout. I managed to go through most, though one fisherman was very angry at me for ducking under his line...The road is lined with restaurants, all of which exist to cater for tourists, and all of which had worried looking owners standing by the door wondering when this chaos would end and their trade would return to normal.

The normally peaceful air of the main road through the tourist area of Negombo is filled with burning rubber and roadblocks. 

Strangely as protests go, there was not a policeman in sight during the days this was going on. Although it looks chaotic, it all seemed to be politely tolerated...as long as it didn't go on too long.

Fishermen and their wives argue with people who want to drive through the roadblock.

It's a stand off... no vehicles, and in some cases people, allowed through. 

Eventually the army were called in to clear all the roads, and just hang around looking menacing. This seemed to go reasonably peacefully, though apparently there were some shots fired into the air. In Chilaw though (north of Negombo) one fisherman was killed in a similar incident...the army were called in to clear the road and shot one fisherman through the head, and injured two more. 

The army arrived after about a week...and cleared all the roadblocks and fishermen out of the way... Felt a bit nervous about pointing my camera at blokes with guns, so didn't take many pics of this...apparently I can be arrested for taking pictures of soldiers, policemen, or any government buildings. Just like home in that respect then...

Although one fisherman was killed in Chilaw, the whole protest here was a bit surreal.  A mixture of anger and resentment, but quite peacefully done... It did make me think though about how fragile the lives of the fishermen must be. Their livelihoods depend on catching fish. If the fuel price goes up they can't afford to return from a fishing trip without a good catch. Add to that the fact that some fishermen are being moved off their traditional beachside homes to make way for yet more expensive hotels for rich western tourists and you can understand why they may feel angry. This is the point where the two worlds (fishing and tourism) seem to collide. I think I may be doing some more pictures about this...

Colombo

Britta has to go to Colombo about once a week to meet with various people, so me and Noah have been going with her... It's about an hour and a half away by bus, or about 2 or 3 hrs (depending on I don't know what) on the train. Either way it's a slow, and usually cramped journey. The notion of personal space is not as popular here as it is at home...never mind if there's no more room on the bus, or train carriage...just get on and sit/stand where you can.

Personally I prefer the train. For one thing there is more air coming in the window, and aslo you can stand in the open doorway and lean out for better view/fresh air whilst the train is running. (I imagine you'd be prosecuted for that at home!) Our local train station is about 15/20 mins walk;

Also, the onboard entertainment is much better than the bus;

When this guy got on with his keyboard and speaker I assumed he was on his way to perform at a party or something, but then he sat down on his speaker, plugged in and began playing. Kind of like Sri Lankan lounge, or elevator music. Just brilliant.

There's also lots of other people selling stuff/collecting money, ranging from people selling snacks/cold drinks/magazines to people with various disabilities and disfigurements. One guy with Elephantiasis of both legs and feet is something I will probably never forget.

















Colombo's pretty hot and noisy, like any city I guess. When you get off the train there's the usual army of tuk tuks wanting your business, and a market to walk past selling pretty much everything (by the looks of it). Once past the market you reach the sculpture on the Telecom roundabout, which I think is a masterpiece;

It just says everything that needs to be said about modern telecommunications, all neatly packed into such an imaginative sculpture. I love it.

I guess Colombo is like any city in that you really need to live there before you can fully appreciate it. But there are one or two things that so far stand out for me. Curiously they are mostly old colonial remnants.  I'm sure I must have been a colonial in a former life...

1.  Cargills; 

Cargills is an old Colonial era (early 1900's I suspect) department store. In it's day I imagine it would have been the place to go for all your needs (if you were a colonial at least). Sort of like the Harrods of Ceylon. It's enormous, and some of the old signage is still there;

From outside it still looks impressive. Inside is a different story. It' really odd...only the ground floor is occupied, and true to the ethos of a department store it sells lots of different kinds of things, just not really in departments. It's all jumbled up. And most of the stuff they sell is on view inside old wood and glass cases (which I suspect are left over from the shops' heyday). The company now trading as Cargills is also a national supermarket chain (Cargills food city) so there is one part of the shop which is kind of like the supermarket corner...which is rather incongruous to the rest of the shop. It feels a bit like going into Harrods after it's been closed for 50 yrs and then taken over by Poundstretcher. 

2. Galle Face Hotel

Another Colonial era building, and one of those places that you just have to visit really...we went for 'high tea'. You can just imagine it in it's day...gin and tonic on the veranda, and croquet on the lawn. Today it's one of the most famous/expensive hotels in Colombo. 

 This is 'High Tea'

And, if High Tea isn't quite enough, you get a fashion show to look at in whilst you're eating, just as the sun begins to set...

 This is the doorman...

And this is Yuri Gagarin...one of the hotels more famous patrons  (other than Roger Moor). I love this sculpture of him. He reminds of of 'Jonny Cab' from Total Recall (terrible film, I know!) 

3. Victoria Park. Renamed Viharamahadevi Park in the 50's, but most people still seem to call it Victoria park. It's a classic Victorian park like in any big English city, but with huge ban yan trees, and swarms of fruit bats flying around the sky. Also, on some days you can see Elephants there...having a bath;

This is a view of the town hall; 

But the best bit for me is the small guage railway which used to run and which is now derelict. And the engine (Diesel) was built in Hunslet, Leeds, by a company called 'Hunslet'...(where the Hunslet light Railway now runs, in Leeds of course). I'm not a train enthusiast...just enthusiastic about finding this old train from the city which I call home. 

And this is the station...with someone waiting for the train that's never going to come!

And finally, there's the cafe, where they serve really horrible tea. Shame really...for a country where they grow the stuff. Here's Noah, in the cafe, showing Britta how you should smile when having your photo taken; 

4. National museum. Built sometime in the late 1800's (by the British, of course). I really enjoyed it and could have stayed all day, browsing through the dusty old exhibits, in a this dusty old museum, but unsurprisingly Noah was bored within about 10 minutes and wanted to go back to Victoria Park to play Thomas the Tank engine on the old railway line. 

Colombo is an interesting mix of old and new...and there's plenty of both everywhere you look. I like the old colonial era stuff, but there is plenty more of interest. The more I go there, the more I like it. 

 

This lake is right in the middle of the city, and has a buddhist temple on a little island. Nice to look at but swarming with mosquitoes at the time of evening we were there. Not good timing I guess. 

This is the Dutch Hospital (now bars/shops) and home to the Barefoot Cafe...more on this in a later post I think. 

 View of World Trade centre...with Dutch hospital infront.

And finally, on a Post colonial note, I keep seeing these post boxes everywhere I go. These two were in Colombo. GR? Is that George the 6th? 

Makes me feel at home anyway!

first impressions.

Well, I've never written a blog before, so not entirely sure what I'm supposed to say on it. For those of you reading it I will assume you either know me, and therefore have a passing interest in what I'm up to, or maybe you have an interest in the wonderful country of Sri Lanka. Or maybe you are just incredibly bored and surfing the net when you should be doing something better. Either way, I hope my thoughts and pictures will be of some interest.

My main reason for writing it is to let a few people back home know what I'm doing, particularly with regard to my photography (I'm a photographer) and partly for my own benefit; to help me understand the stream of non sensical thoughts rattling around my brain. Rather like talking to myself I suppose (and everyone knows that talking to yourself is the first sign of madness) except that I'm doing it publicly.

So, on that worrying note, let me begin. We've been here a month now, so I'll explain in this, and the next few posts what we've been doing;

The first few weeks here were spent finding somewhere to live for the next few months. Britta's research into rural use of solar panels is in different parts of the country so we needed a base. A friend and colleague in Bradford has a house in Negombo (near the airport), which he kindly said we were welcome to stay in...unfortunately (as he'd only just bought it) it had nothing in it except a bed and a table. OK for the first week, but without a fridge we couldn't stay there for long;

My son Noah is scared of having a shower so we had to buy him his own bath...

Coconut and mango trees in the garden, and some interesting wildlife, plus lots of gecko's in the house. Neighbours very friendly; Kamal (a tuk tuk driver) always smiling, and his daughter kept bring us some fruit off her grandad's tree (who lives further up on same rd). Just before we moved they invited us for Sunday dinner...(no yorkshire puds in sight). I asked if I could do a portrait of them;

So then we moved house, so we could have a house with kitchen etc...also to be closer to the sea;

5 mins walk from the beach...with big posh balcony, and all mod cons. Really nice house, although the roof leeks when it rains (which it does sometimes...heavy tropical rain), and the water, electricity and/or internet go off regularly...

Again we have really nice neighbours, and whenever we leave the house all the kids on the street shout and wave hello to Noah. Being cute and blond seems to be be something special here...it's like walking around with a celebrity! Even if he is only 3!

So, Negombo has become our home for the next few months...just north of Colombo, on the West coast. The beaches are like a post card, sandy with palm trees along the edge. And lots of hotels! Oh, and loads of churches! Sri Lanka is a mostly Buddhist country, but also lots of Hindus, Muslims and Christians. Negombo has lots of fishermen, and they are mostly Catholic. The town seems to have two main industries; fishing and tourism, More about this later...

I'll end this first post with a few pics of Negombo during one of it's church festivals...not really sure what the festival was all about, but it was all paid for by the fishermen, apparently!

And, finally...Britta and Noah.