Hi ,

Greetings from the South Coast of Sri Lanka.

Actually I'm on holiday, or trying to be... but Sri Lanka is really interesting and maybe I can't manage a completely 100% holiday :)
Last week I was telling you about a mad rush in Asia, and my progress from a snowy Slovakia to high rise Hong Kong.
You can read about it here.
When we were in Hong Kong, for my birthday treat we took the ferry to one of Hong Kongs many islands.
When you think of HK you naturally think of skyscrapers, they have the most of any city in the world and twice as many as New York. Think HK and you think of mega wealth, super rich folk, banks and eye wateringly expensive hotels.

But there is another side to HK and naturally I wanted to go.. there are lots of small and rural islands, some with no cars, no high-rise and a totally opposite way of life. There are actually 263 islands and a ferry boat system as busy as London underground runs between them. in the ferry terminal we picked an island at random.. Lantua is a big island, and in the sleepy port we caught a local bus to the far end. There we found a little fishing village all the houses built on stilts around an inlet. Of course it is being gentrified and turned into a minor tourist attraction, but an old way of life still exists. Along it's tiny back streets one or two carrot cake hipster cafes have opened and the odd hippy gift shop. One super cool guy had a seriously chilled shop selling hemp bags from Kathmandu and other funky stuff. Yes of course he knew about Ancient Wisdom, so we bonded at the back of beyond.

In Sri Lanka we took time out to make the famous train journey from Kandy to Ella in the mountains. Instagram-ed to death as the worlds most beautiful train ride. It was also full-moon and a public holiday, no first class seats - so we were crammed in tight standing room only.. 7 hours rattling along, windows open through lovely places.. you make friends with people.. locals and other tourists.. when little kindnesses mean a lot to ease each others journey

Not far from Ella (a mountain town near Adams Peak) is a spectacular water fall right by the road, we went to see. A few small gift shops selling stuff. One guy was selling raw gemstones, lumps of Rose Quartz and Tiger eye. "Yes sir, it all comes from Sri Lanka from Sri Lankan mines" he replied when I asked him. He asked me where I was from (standard question here) I said UK.. he pulled out a bag of pound coins - would I give him a £20 note for them so he could change it at the bank. I said sure no problem, but tell me where you buy these stones, where the mines are - I would like to buy for export. He took me in the back of his little shack and showed me sacks of different stones. "Sir I own the mines I can supply you" he told me trying to sound convincing.

I didn't say.. if you own a mine why are you selling trinkets and rocks on the side of the road?.. but I thanked him for his time, we bought some gemstones from him and went off to see the waterfall.
By the waterfall a jolly chap asked me: Where are you from? He had heard me chatting to the vendor, and had to tell me he was in the gemstone trading business and invited me to visit him in the famous gemstone city of Ratnapura.
After chatting and making friends they asked if they could have a selfie with me.. the whole family.
This is my kind of holiday!

More news next week.
Hope you are trading well towards Valentines day, we have the best deals and offers see below.
Also check out our range of hemp bags from Kathmandu - you need these if you want to be seriously chilled gift shop :)

Take care,
Next week China.

David

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