On the road

We're a week into our trip and we couldn't be happier to be on this amazing island. Our travels along the west and south coasts of Sri Lanka have so far taken us to Colombo, Mount Lavinia, Galle, Welligama and Mirissa, and in these beautiful places we've experienced fleeting conversations with Tuk Tuk drivers, spiritual moments of chanting with Buddhist monks and marvelling at their peaceful temples, market bartering over mangoes and bananas topped off with an afternoon of singing and drumming with families at the beach.

We've been struck by how hospitable everybody is; people want to know where we come from, tell us about the people they know in England and even invite us to their home to cook us lunch.We can't quite believe that within this small geographical location Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims live alongside one another incorporating aspects of their scripture and imagery into each other's religions; the Buddhist temples we've seen have prided gorgeous statues of Hindu gods such as Ganesh and Shiva, and we even spotted baby Jesus in there too.

The communal aspect of life here on this side of the island is amazing and we wonder how things will be different when we head into the tea growing areas? We're really hoping to explore community and issues around community cohesion in our project at Tea Leaf Vision so we're eager to find out.

Things are already starting to look different as we head inland on the Train as endless lush hilly greenery is quickly replacing endless golden sand and sea (and supply of fish!) The sea landscape seems to define the identities of the people and their way of life along the coast, how will the landscape define the lives of those we meet next?