Today we drove from Sigiriya to our sixth and final destination, Hambantota. What was supposed to be a seven-hour drive stretched into nearly 11 hours as we chose to avoid the highway due to warnings of rockfalls and temporary road closures.
In this long journey we observed the big contrast of religious temples and churches and the general infrastructure and house of the people. It seems as if the after life is more important than the present. We could also see that Sri Lanka is an agricultural country by the vast endless rice fields, coconut and palm tree plantations.
One of the culture's shocking moments through the journey was seeing people driving vehicles without shoes. Straight up feet and toes! In contrast to Norway and other western countries, we observe that in Sri Lanka, people are more dependent on selling products that are handmade or produced in their farm, such as fruits, vegetables and souvenirs. The consequence of this is economical dependency on tourists or other markets. Furthermore we believe the workers have poor working conditions and low wages.
After 10-hours we arrived at Lake Villa Resort and were served Western cuisine - a small but comforting taste of home.
Group 4 - Venera, Oliwia, Any and Kaja