Stilt Fishermen of Sri Lanka

The famous Stilt Fishermen of Sri Lanka, where they fish at the southern coastal region, standing for hours to grab that lucky catch.

The last post mentioned my encounters with the lovely people around this coastal region of Sri Lanka.

These days, most of the retired fishermen stopped fishing and would pose for tourists instead.

One of the fisherman, Julius only does this for tourists, he is retired from fishing and gets some money from the photographing tourists. His son had moved to Japan to work, and had married a Japanese lady.

The whole area was pretty popular with the Japanese, and many young men in this area often marry and have Japanese wives. It was not unusual to have a son within this community to be working in Japan or somewhere else.  Just like these two lovely fishermen sons.

 

Sri Lanka Stilt Fisherman

When I first saw these famous Sri Lankan Stilt Fisherman from Steve McCurry’s travel images. I wanted to visit and find out how they  fish from such waters with the mere tiny stilts,

Much has changed since Steve McCurry taken that iconic image. These days fishing is difficult as fish stock has almost diminished, many fishermen would venture out in larger boats and go fishing for days.

Most of the stilt fishermen are pretty old and have largely retired. Posing mainly for the tourists who have invaded and changed the whole coast line into spas and pricey resorts. I am quite surprised how shallow these stilts were.

It was the monsoon season, not really idea to do much fishing, most of the time it rained for the whole morning, a daily affair. I stopped photographing places after that.  I spent a week here, mainly to relax and meet up with various people around the area. The Sri Lankans are incredibly friendly and very inviting. As always when you spend more time around the same area, folks would invite you into their homes for great home cooked meals and tell you their stories. This was how I passed my time, visiting homes.

It has always my favorite part of the journey, meeting people, having them share a part of their lives with me, however short it is. That tiny moments in life.

 

 

Happy Vesak Buddha Day!

The holy day of Vesak or Waisak is celebrated all over the world by Buddhists. This day is also the birthday of Buddha, it represents the three milestones of Lord Buddha’s life, symbolising his birth, death and enlightenment.

It is a great time to visit during Vesak where various buddhist temples come alive with devotees performing their buddhic alms.

Here in Sri Lanka, Colombo, the whole city comes alive, and the main streets in the different colonies will decorate with lights, lanterns and decorate wheels of life that feature Buddha stories of devotion.

Galle Face in Colombo

During the long weekend of Vesak festival in Colombo, Galle face became extra special, where all the local Colombo families would come and gather at this great location beside the ocean. It had been such a hot and humid week, quite a welcome relief from the cool winds coming from the ocean

Did I mention the Kites!

 

 

If only coconuts have wings

Always wondered if Coconuts can fly, and now I know.

A little identity problem – wanna be Apple or Google?

Saw this shop selling computer products in Colombo, Sri Lanka.  It is a little confused about whether it wants to be Apple or Google. The owner came out and asked why I photographed his shop, of course I laughed and said he was rather cool to have such a great sign board.

The Big Dipper in Diyabubula, Sri Lanka

Sitting out in the open roof, while watching the family of macaques coming home to roost as the sun came down. Laki Senanayake pointed out at the night skies, “Look, Its the big dipper”.  I turned to my side with my mouth open, totally in awed.