Krunegala is an ancient city surrounded by rocky outcrops. That makes the place hot, very hot. Fortunately there is a lake built by ancient kings right in the middle of the city. I do believe the proper name for the lake is Ranthaliya Wewa (රන්තලිය වැව ) named so because of a legend concerning a golden platter that is said to have been lost in the middle of the lake. But everyone calls it the Kurunegala Lake. The current dry weather is causing the lake to dry up (this photo was snapped in December 2011, it must be nearly all gone by now)

A black ceiling fan spinning rather lazily against the backdrop of the white roof of the Heritage, Dambulla appears to be transparent when in fact it’s made of solid metal. The photo isn’t monochromatic either, it’s another illusion created by every object in the frame being either black or white.

Devotees braving the weather at the famous shrine in Kataragama

Came here looking for porn? sorry there’s only food porn, and not enough to go round either.

The Telecom Regulatory Commission  of Sri Lanka has acquired a new habit; they goto courts every week with a list of domains names that are supposed to be full of pornographic content and ask that they be banned. The court then gives an order which the country’s internet service providers and telcos have to obey – by blocking those sites. One wonders whether the TRC guys opens each and every one of the sites in their list in a browser and demonstrate that it is indeed porn. It would be interesting to know if they food porn is something they would consider banning. Since they no longer publish the list of sites that have been banned,  there is only one way to find out.

Serendipity is walking into a used bookstore and finding a few gems for giveaway prices. Most visitors to the Colombo International Book Faircram themselves into shops runs by the big boys. They are crowded beyond belief and nearly all of them have the same content, low priced Indian Editions of books published in the US, UK and sometimes low priced Indian books. Ask any of the sales assitants (assuming you can find one) to show you where the Mike Hammers are and they will probably bring you a hammer from their tool box. Ask them for a Louis L’Amour and you will probably not get anything more than a blank stare.

They firmly believe that novels are like pop music, you need to keep up with the latest trends and the charts. I was never a fan of pop music. I’ve always been a rocker not much of a fan of classical music either. Perhaps that explains why I like Raphael Sabatini and Leon Uris but not quite into Dan Brown. Though I respect Shaken Bacesphere (or is it Christopher Marlow?) I would always prefer reading a CS Forester or a Hemmingway. To find that sort of book, used bookshops are where you should head to. That is what I did and this is what I picked up today going back on Wednesday for another lot.