Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

A stall in a flower show/sale at Vihara Maha Dewi Park, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Flower shows and sales are held in a corner of the Vihara Maha Dewi Park in Colombo, on a regular basis. Large crowds gather to collect plants for the home garden. This was one of the many stalls there on 2/8/2009.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Trinkets for sale, Saman Dewale, Rathnapura, Sri Lanka.

A lot of pilgrim buses come from places all over the Island, to Saman Dewale, Rathnapura. The vendors have a rollicking time, selling trinkets to these pilgrims. This is a picture of one such shop.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Tea bushes on a hillock, Alupola, Sri Lanka.

The tea bushes are tended carefully throughout their life in the tea estates. The plants have their tops pruned parallel to the ground. Regular weeding of the soil is done. Proper drainage of rain water is done. Fertilizer is applied regularly. Fungicides and insecticides are used liberally. All this is done to the plants, grown from selected parents and is done by vegetative propagation. All this attention is done to produce the two leaves and the bud which goes into the making of green or regular tea. The rural villagers take these leaves, pound them in a mortar (Van-gedy) and dry it in the sun. They use it as a home brew and call it 'Vangedy-The'.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Bridge over a mountain stream, Alupola, Sri Lanka.

We used to go for a bath in the stream and have our lunch under the bridge. What idyllic times we had in days gone by. I took this photo in July 2009 on a recent visit.