Portraits of Sri Lanka

A journey through the island nation on my iPhone

By Stories She Saw

June 4^th, 2018

To anyone that will listen, I will tell you that my 2015 trip to Sri Lanka changed my life. But when asked why, I am unable to find the words. All I know is that I left for Sri Lanka as one person and returned another - bolder, wiser and kinder.

What I do know is that the people I met were funny, welcoming, gracious and loving. Here are the photos and stories of too few.

truth

This is Sharma. She's was my masseuse when I first arrived in Sri Lanka for a few days of rest and relaxation, and was a total babe. Although she said that I was a 'little bit fat', she also said I had a nice face, so I think it evened out. She said that if I went back to her for 14 days, she would give me treatment so I would lose weight and make my husband happy.

beauty

This lovely lady was having a rest after returning from an offering at the Minhinthale Stupa, a brutal 1873 steps above. All her friends and family loved that I took her photo, but she took it all in her stride.

friendship

Just a few boys waiting for a train at Kandy train station

swagger

This kottu roti chef in Anuradhapura oozed swagger. He was born for having his photo taken, and he knew it.

style

This beautiful woman was kind enough to let me take her photograph one evening in 'downtown' Anuradhapura while she waited for her kottu roti dinner. Her babe game was on point.

comradeship

These women who I introduced myself to found my Tamil accent hilarious. They sat me down and served me some freshly brewed tea that they sipped while taking a break from picking tea leaves in the hill country.

handsome

Just a man and his drum. Here, he was preparing for the morning ceremony at the Ruwanwelidaham Saya Stupa and by the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Tree in the UNESCO Site in Anuradhapura. After I took his photo and showed him, he made me show every other person on the walk back. Including the security guards, one of whom was slightly suspicious about my use of the word 'handsome'.

poser

Dambulla fruit market, September 2015.

happiness

This gorgeous woman was on her way back from hospital with her one-day old daughter. She was so happy to have her photo taken. I've never seen pride and happiness as much as I did in her eyes.

babe

No language barrier was going to stop this bus conductor and me flirting.

grace

I stood up on the bus from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa for this man, and he smiled at me the rest of the trip

family

On the famous train from Kandy to Ella, we met this extended family who taught us songs and games and shared their food and language with us. Such a loving and kind group of people I have never met.

playfulness

In Kandy I met Thelma, an older lady with a wide, one-toothed smile. After I helped her navigate the stairs out of the restaurant, her son insisted we have a photo while Thelma kept kissing my cheek.

good omen

This is Padmapani, whom I met high in the Hill Country. (He was wearing this scarf on the day Hawthorn was to play, then win the qualifying final against West Coast).

pride

In the far north of Sri Lanka, we found this man, a hairdresser and barber, working methodically out of a shell-ridden building.

resiliance

This was Thanusha, who worked at our hotel in Jaffna. She learned Singalese while in a refugee/internment camp in the east of Sri Lanka, where she stayed for 1.5 years during the civil war. She saw horrific things, lost a brother to the 'cause', and a promised husband on a boat to Australia where he received asylum and remarried. She's was taking English classes, so when I go back, we're going to have a cup of tea and chat in English.

skills

On a long bus journey, this man came on to do his sales spiel - a liquid that removed the pen from his shirt (still in progress here). It was a real life informercial and this man was born for it.