From 8dcfcc93fd28564fedd9cbaed0cb1d5dae33a0da Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: James Bayly Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2025 08:15:46 +0500 Subject: [PATCH 1/3] sri-lanka-technicolour --- src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md | 44 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 44 insertions(+) create mode 100644 src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md diff --git a/src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md b/src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..78d10ae --- /dev/null +++ b/src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +--- +title: Sri Lanka - A Technicolour Paradise +cover: https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-BGsGJWr/4/KLkDmJj6kzfpq32TjBhspKT7Q2b4zgCwXcjTDXpLR/X3/DSC06153-X3.jpg +date: 2025-08-18 +toc: false +tag: + - Sri Lanka +--- + +Sri Lanka hits the eyes first - and not gently. + +![Old portugese churces in Galle](https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-PLSCQGz/2/NHtfhC8THXphRTK6SZQGh7QhmwzWh89Gb58DpcJDP/X3/DSC06180-X3.jpg) + +The buses are screaming monstrosities on wheels. Airbrushed saints and buddhas piled up on the dash, pumping music drowning out the revs, a disco on two axles. Tuk-tuks dart around them like metallic beetles. The ocean is that deep chrome blue you’d swear was fake until the heat tells you it isn’t. On the roadside, bold brown dirt next to trees green as bottle glass. + +![The ocean is a deep chrome blue](https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-wH5kMDk/2/LT2wXDDP6XxMRvD2ksdWSc38Qfb3BrsNcFV3dhwds/X3/DSC06234-X3.jpg) + +Head inland and the green gets disciplined - it’s tea country. Tea bushes ripple like corduroy, the rows crisp and parallel. + +The island of Sri Lanka is coloured like saturated filmstock - no filter needed, no apology offered. + +But walk thirty steps and the perfect postcard shows a mistake. + +On a beach that looks like a brochure, the wrong glitter shows up: red and green bottle caps, snack wrappers, cigarette butts, strings of plastic. The waves keep delivering. Every surge is a courier - of shells, driftwood, and a hundred pieces of tiny plastic. + +![Endless beaches battered by the detrius of waves](https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-HVBfWfQ/2/L6w7MTWXWDRgm58HwgqNN54PBD8bvmnpwbgm85VwK/X4/DSC06238-X4.jpg) + +Sri Lanka can be pure technicolor beauty, but lower your eyes and paradise has crumbs on its shirt. + +![A local prepares to go fishing at dusk](https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-z4hXKXb/2/LjWChphG2cPdP756cwXXRPV9BBP2z74LGkQdmpwBS/X3/DSC06288-X3.jpg) + +![Beneath the fishing industry is one of waste and plastic](https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-PGHdwsn/2/L5sHWLn7sswg59LKkkBm9mNHPNPZvjgJHdd8xnqv7/X3/DSC06306-X3.jpg) + +You can blame the tourists, and some do. A million arrivals a year, a few million plastic bottles of water. Bins exist, they overflow. What can a guest do? You don’t dump your trash on the roadside. You refill your bottle. You say no to the little plastic bag that is offered with your coffee. + +But then you take a bus or train, and witness locals flinging their plastic waste out of the windows without second thought. Or see shop owners dump their rubbish bins in the water drains out the back. Sure, all countries in Asia struggle with waste in some form, but it’s heartbreaking seeing it happening to such a beautiful gem in the Indian Ocean. + +The island is not ruined. It’s smudged. Smudges can be cleaned, but only if you stop making new ones while you scrub the old. But is Sri Lanka at risk of killing the reason why the tourist dollars flow in? + +## Gallery + +https://media.bayly.xyz/Sri-Lanka + + From 34cc1ddc7a6b40fb35e6b0b1b947c7772e341b26 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: James Bayly Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2025 16:46:44 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 2/3] Technicolour images --- src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md | 14 +++++++++++--- 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) diff --git a/src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md b/src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md index 78d10ae..8f6f421 100644 --- a/src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md +++ b/src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ --- title: Sri Lanka - A Technicolour Paradise cover: https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-BGsGJWr/4/KLkDmJj6kzfpq32TjBhspKT7Q2b4zgCwXcjTDXpLR/X3/DSC06153-X3.jpg -date: 2025-08-18 +date: 2025-08-30 toc: false tag: - Sri Lanka @@ -17,8 +17,12 @@ The buses are screaming monstrosities on wheels. Airbrushed saints and buddhas p Head inland and the green gets disciplined - it’s tea country. Tea bushes ripple like corduroy, the rows crisp and parallel. +![A man plucks fruit in the early morning](https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-3tJCvzH/2/NVsFDr8vBX9vkWfg2HB8XFHwWdqCSM5WvzQ595VZK/X3/DSC06228-X3.jpg) + The island of Sri Lanka is coloured like saturated filmstock - no filter needed, no apology offered. +![Ancient Buddhist caves richly painted](https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-k55Dgxz/1/MwXtf9h2BHTLW57VK47h2Pggcx6VCf5CB5Cz7p3XK/X3/DSC06775-X3.jpg) + But walk thirty steps and the perfect postcard shows a mistake. On a beach that looks like a brochure, the wrong glitter shows up: red and green bottle caps, snack wrappers, cigarette butts, strings of plastic. The waves keep delivering. Every surge is a courier - of shells, driftwood, and a hundred pieces of tiny plastic. @@ -29,14 +33,18 @@ Sri Lanka can be pure technicolor beauty, but lower your eyes and paradise has c ![A local prepares to go fishing at dusk](https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-z4hXKXb/2/LjWChphG2cPdP756cwXXRPV9BBP2z74LGkQdmpwBS/X3/DSC06288-X3.jpg) -![Beneath the fishing industry is one of waste and plastic](https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-PGHdwsn/2/L5sHWLn7sswg59LKkkBm9mNHPNPZvjgJHdd8xnqv7/X3/DSC06306-X3.jpg) - You can blame the tourists, and some do. A million arrivals a year, a few million plastic bottles of water. Bins exist, they overflow. What can a guest do? You don’t dump your trash on the roadside. You refill your bottle. You say no to the little plastic bag that is offered with your coffee. +![Sigiriya, an anomaly rising from the jungle](https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-Sh52fsq/2/LZ67NWRcDqFgG6LjPDX7LwbwLh66c24wGn9mPgJHD/X3/DJI_0281-X3.jpg) + But then you take a bus or train, and witness locals flinging their plastic waste out of the windows without second thought. Or see shop owners dump their rubbish bins in the water drains out the back. Sure, all countries in Asia struggle with waste in some form, but it’s heartbreaking seeing it happening to such a beautiful gem in the Indian Ocean. +![Beneath the fishing industry is one of waste and plastic](https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-PGHdwsn/2/L5sHWLn7sswg59LKkkBm9mNHPNPZvjgJHdd8xnqv7/X3/DSC06306-X3.jpg) + The island is not ruined. It’s smudged. Smudges can be cleaned, but only if you stop making new ones while you scrub the old. But is Sri Lanka at risk of killing the reason why the tourist dollars flow in? +![Waiting for the day to begin](https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-rWjp2mW/1/KM646CrH5R6Ghz7qLc5xHfTXpXpk83R6xnrTsVWVR/X3/DSC06819-X3.jpg) + ## Gallery https://media.bayly.xyz/Sri-Lanka From b5fd20304c2b5939e53b9b58408002d34d87c738 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: James Bayly Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2025 17:12:38 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 3/3] Update date --- src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md b/src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md index 8f6f421..e457651 100644 --- a/src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md +++ b/src/posts/sri-lanka-technicolour.md @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ --- title: Sri Lanka - A Technicolour Paradise cover: https://photos.smugmug.com/Sri-Lanka/i-BGsGJWr/4/KLkDmJj6kzfpq32TjBhspKT7Q2b4zgCwXcjTDXpLR/X3/DSC06153-X3.jpg -date: 2025-08-30 +date: 2025-09-01 toc: false tag: - Sri Lanka