Colombo, Sri Lanka - 2

Hi, Dinner for our night in port in Colombo was a buffet of foods traditional to the country plus standard western fare.  After dinner there was a performance by Sri Lankan folk dancers.

The next morning we were off for a shore excursion to an elephant orphanage.  Our trip to the orphanage was by train with a bus return.  I have posted images from our train ride in May under Sri Lanka and India.

These are two bull elephants in must.  Therefore, they are kept separate from the females and we were warned to stay well away from them as in this state they are focused on mating and are highly dangerous.  Indian elephants are smaller than African elephants and only the males have tusks.

This female was demonstrating how the animals are used to work.  There is a mahout out of the photo to the right.  Mahouts are assigned to an elephant as a boy and work with the elephant throughout their lives.  However, he does not own the elephant as they are very expensive; about $10,000.

Every day a large group of elephants are brought down to the river to bathe.  We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the area where they were brought.

While we were eating lunch some of the elephants were taken through the streets of town back to the orphanage as shown in this photo by Ruthe.

A few remained in the river, including this affectionate pair.

The remaining elephants got a thorough dousing.

On our way to the bus pick up point we walked through town past many shops with merchandise catering to tourists.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Colombo, Sri Lanka - 1

Hi, After 3 days at sea we arrived at Colombo, Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon).  The two photos below show the light houses protecting the entrance to the port.

 

The first day we visited a museum at which pictures were not allowed.  In the bus for our tour we pulled up next to a motorized 3 wheel taxi with theses children inside.

A group of school children were visiting the museum.

Our next stop was to see a demonstration of traditional fishing techniques.  These fisherman would sit on these platforms a few yards offshore and cast their lines.

Nets also were used and I was able to get this view through the window of the bus of a group of fisherman bringing in a huge net.

We stopped at a hotel for lunch where Ruthe photographed this staircase with these neat sculptures.

After lunch I went outside to photograph some of the traffic.  Buses and trucks have wild paint schemes and advertising.

In the afternoon we visited Galle Fort.  People still lived within the walls so there were churches,

a mailbox,

and children.

Needless to say this display is aimed at sales to tourists.

The fort was on the edge of a bay and across from it was this temple to the god Shiva.

A lighthouse stood on the ramparts of the fort that faced the harbor.

Ruthe took this photo while we were walking on the fort's ramparts.

The final 3 photos were taken from the bus as we drove back to the ship.

We spent the night at the dock and there was a buffet on deck followed by entertainment.  I'll include that with the second day's photos.  I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Sri Lanka and India

Hi,This post contains railroad photos taken on a recent trip my wife and I made.  The first part of the trip was a 2 week cruise on the Azamara Journey from Singapore to Mumbai with stops in Penang, Malaysia; Colombo, Sri Lanka and Cochin and Goa in India.

One of the shore excursions we took while in Colombo was to an elephant orphanage in Kegalle. We traveled to Kegalle by train, returning by bus.  Our special train consisted of 3 cars, two observation cars spiced by a car for serving snacks.  The observation cars were air conditioned but the the food service car was not.

The car was nicely decorated with wood trim.

There were some opportunities from the train, here as we exited the station.

Manual labor was in much evidence, both here and in India.  Control of operations was through towers.

When we arrived in Kegalle I asked for and was given permission to go to the head of the train for a picture.  The locomotive was built by Henschel. 

While we were boarding the bus to the orphanage a regular service train pulled up alongside our equipment.

The regular service train followed our equipment out of the station, shown here through the bus window. 

After the cruise we disembarked from the train and began a 5 night odyssey that took us to three cities in northern India.  This provided my second, and last, opportunity for railfan photography.  I was dropped off by our coach near a railroad station in our first city, Jaipur.  The first train was just sitting in the station.  It remained there for the roughly one hour I hung around.  By the way, while I was there no body bothered or questioned me.

The station is typical of India Railways; it is very busy.  Our guide told us India Railways handles over 10 million passengers per year.

Another train arrived while I was shooting.

Unloading and loading occurred on both the platform side and the track side of the train.

Even on long distance trains some people either hang out of the doors or sit at them.

A second train arrived, this time headed in the opposite direction.

At the same time as the train in the photo above arrived, a freight passed through the station.  Had I known it was coming I probably would have opted to photograph it.

After getting the photo above I walked back to our hotel.

I found the railroads in India to be very interesting and only regret I did not have more opportunities shoot them.  I will be posting a series of non rail photos in the next few weeks.  In the mean time I hope you enjoyed these.