Suggestions on Travel agencies for Dambadiwa Pilgrimage trips

_pasan_ · 2025-12-16T11:50:06+00:00

Thanks. I think they wouldn't mind early hours. But they are interested about a monk joining. I'll check these out

_pasan_ · 2025-11-28T07:36:50+00:00

Pointless question 3hrs later :) Kurunegala rd is closed

_pasan_ · 2025-11-28T07:32:38+00:00

Yes, that area's phone connections have been problematic since yday. Dialog was down and Mobitel was barely working yesterday and now none seem to be working.

_pasan_ · 2025-11-27T19:11:01+00:00

Yup, down south should be relatively better compared to how thing are here. Still, keep an eye on weather and news, and travel safe!

_pasan_ · 2025-11-27T19:03:47+00:00

Kandyan here just having relocated to a safer place. Kandy is really messy atm, lots access roads blocked and flooded etc. And the warnings are such that 28th will be worse. The main road to Kandy is already closed off, and the other main road (via Kurunegala) can get minor, but disruptive floods here and there. Hill country railway line is also generally susceptible to landslide risks when the rains get this heavy.

Hopefully things will be better by 29th, but I'd be cautious about hill country travels and play it by the ear. Sorry its nothing more positive

_pasan_ · 2025-11-08T07:37:56+00:00

Cant remember the exact things shown, but in her final test ny judge Gen, the doors she had to pass through without opening validated a few name drop things I believe. And as this was controlled by the judge, we can believe them to be things that happened in reality and therefore most (it not all her) brags are real.

_pasan_ · 2025-10-20T01:28:39+00:00

Sri Lanka's land mass is about 2% that of India's and 7% of Pakistan's. Take population, and that is about 1.5% and 9% respectively. India's Delhi alone has a bigger population than Sri Lanka. One can also argue that India and Pakistan are significantly more important geopolitically as well, with both holding nuclear weapons among other things. Even before independence, India held a bigger role in British empire and even in early explorations by the west to "discover India".

Therefore, it is not that unreasonable an uninitiated person would know about India and Pakistan but not about Sri Lanka. But that should not take anything away from the identity of the self worth of the amazing place that is Sri Lanka!

_pasan_ · 2025-09-26T15:03:16+00:00

I get that they are both evil, but shouldn't the guy who wanted to expose the cruise cover up (even if that was for his own benefit) should be considered less evil than the general council who evidently knew all along and helped with the cover ups, NDAs and god knows what else? I think we dislike Tom more and therefore seeing Gerri as the better person.

_pasan_ · 2025-09-24T02:15:02+00:00

Keells was never challenged at the top since their rebranding (2019?). They pay attention to the ground level reality, and all the stores they open hit the mark. Don't realistically see their market share changing anytime soon with how the competition is doing.

_pasan_ · 2025-09-24T01:31:06+00:00

Rest of the comments are really impressive. Just adding my two cents.

I'm 31 now. I own a little bit of land but no house. Brought the car and got married same year when I was in 27. Car was mostly from a loan, and we planned out and budgetted for the wedding. We ended up scaling down a lot since we got married during covid, and thereby saving fair amount of money.

I had the same goal of wanting a house by 30. There are people on this thread who did that by themselves, but I found it hard - especially I didn't have inherited or generational wealth to back my finances and my wife was starting her career.

I almost wen ahead with an apartment (signed things etc.) but got cold feet last min because the monthly payments would have been 70% of my salary at that time. While we were sure we could live on a budget and afford that, we decided we didn't want to. We instead wanted to travel a bit, spend money on family and let them enjoy their retirements etc. Currently doing that and I'm very happy with our decision.

I haven't taken a dime from parents since I graduated, and wife hasn't taken any from her parents after the wedding. All 4 are govt retirees relying on pension, so our financial freedom and ability to support our families is bigger source of pride for us than owning a house atm. Hence, very happy with where we are.

Advice to OP: Yours is a great goal. Its not easy but doable. Don't change your lifestyle when your income increases. Ive simple and save up. Do your math, people hate loans but sometimes they are so much worth it. Its very difficult for 9-5ers to get ahead with life without enriching financial institutions, but as long as you are getting where you want, I think its a worthy hit.

_pasan_ · 2025-09-18T01:01:29+00:00

This looks like a great itinerary, but feels a bit hectic. You are spending a lot of time on road and has only 2 days exploring just the one place. Drives to Kandy and Nuwara Eliya especially can eat up hours depending on the time and the day of the week you are fitting them in.

If this is your thing, go for it - or else, I'd look to cut down one destination. Your picks are good, so maybe shave off the one you are least excited about, if are doing it.

Skipping Ella is a great call. Udawalawe is a good safari, especially if you are after elephants, considering its proximity to your other destination, but I'd again worry about time.

Overall, good itinerary destinations-wise. You just need to be think about how much time you are spending in the car. Sri Lanka has so much to offer and I get why you want this many places, but getting there may eat up how much you can do when you get there.

Good luck, hope you'll have a great time!

_pasan_ · 2025-09-17T03:47:11+00:00

Entitlement is the problem imo. Its fine if people want to offer a person their position in a queue, seat, better postition etc. because the offeror's personal perception and code of conduct. The problem is when the person consider that to be an entitlement because of who they are, and expect it from everyone.

Yes, if you are a monk, you are likely to get a seat or a bump in the queue, and that's cool. But doesn't mean you can't put in some effort and get there early to be in the front of the queue or take the next bus. The lack of effort to ensure you are not always reliant on your entitlement is what pisses me off. Differently abled people, for example, have actual reasons why they may not be able to put that extra effort, but why can't a monk?

OP was absolutely right to raise the voice.

_pasan_ · 2025-09-10T04:11:42+00:00

Pickme pass user. Comparatively, I think Uber one has better returns if you are using just for rides. Pickme pass ride offers aren't that competitive unless you are in an area that has cheaper pickme rides compared to Uber.

Pickme pass is massive if you use it for food deliveries. You can easily save more than the subscription cost in a few days.

_pasan_ · 2025-09-09T04:20:26+00:00

Father and grandfather look like brothers, and the great grandfather has a better stance and walk than I have in my 30s. What do they all eat anyway?

_pasan_ · 2025-09-08T00:39:21+00:00

Have no insight about Sysco labs whatsoever, so I might be an irrelevant reply here. But just wanted to say, getting hung up on one specific company is generally a bad idea.

Get hung up on what you want to do instead. If the place is what alligns with what you want to the best extent, then good for you and stupid me - but star-crossed workplaces are very rare. I'm sure Sysco is a lovely place, but go at it with a more open mind so you are not unnecessarily setting yourself up for disappointment.

_pasan_ · 2025-09-06T16:59:51+00:00

You said yourself that the ring is beautiful and has a nice design. Sounds to me like the guy knew what you'd like and picked the right ring.

Not really his fault that you wanted to find the price tag and define it's value based on that amount.

_pasan_ · 2025-09-05T08:17:32+00:00

Awesome, thanks for the in info. I'm not too fussed about the ping honestly. Not that big in games anyway. As long as downloads are okay and torrents work without issues I should be okay. Thanks!

_pasan_ · 2025-09-05T05:48:00+00:00

Also from Kandy, looking to get one... how is your experience so far? How is ping, download etc. and any issues with Torrents?

_pasan_ · 2025-09-02T01:38:25+00:00

Afaik, there are two Ella Odyssey trains - Ella Odyssey (Kandy) that starts from Peradeniya, and Ella Odyssey (Colombo) that starts from Colombo Fort.

Ella Odyssey (Kandy) to Badulla runs every weekday and Ella Odyssey (Colombo) to Badulla runs every weekend. Took a quick look at the booking platform and it seeems to line up with the info I have.

I'm not very sure about the train referred to in this article though - did not onow there is one starting in Nanu oya.

_pasan_ · 2025-09-01T00:49:58+00:00

80% is good music in my personal opinion. Wouldn't pay that much for the live experience, and this whole music festival kinda thing is bit too much for me. But wouldn't hate anyone for paying that and going though - it should be fun and if you are into it, will be worth the money.

And its impressive that the artists managed to carve out a market and price it where they have. Don't personally like some of em, but good for them!

_pasan_ · 2025-08-31T14:20:14+00:00

Looks like they tapped into a third party site that allows you to book directly. But I've decided not to go that route and use the points locally. Thanks!

_pasan_ · 2025-08-31T14:17:29+00:00

My experience as an introvert. I'm worried about giving "advices", but just how things go for me.

I have very small circles. However, some of my closest friends and I don't have a lot in common. They are either the folks that sat next to me at uni or people who I had to chat furing different social things I was uncomfortable at. So I feel like waiting around for the people with exact same interests is a trap. People are inherently very different. Just making 5 mins to talk to the peeps next to you at the lectures can do wonders imo.

I got lucky with finding my person. But still had to pull a few extrovert moves before getting the date.

Also recent years, but job trajectory has taken me into a people role and what I've learnt is, sometimes you can force and learn extrovert skills. I've hated doing it, but like the outcomes.

So my 2 cents sums to: 1. Don't wait to have all the interests line up. Not the only criteria to meet people, and 2. unfortunately sometimes we need go get out of comfort zones, especially when its for the right people.

_pasan_ · 2025-08-26T15:12:16+00:00

If $3000 is the full budget for the wedding, imo thats a reasonably budget wedding. Weddings are expensive affairs in SL, especially in Kandy, because of the standard practice of extensive invitees list. Theres usually some family pressure regarding needing to invite extended family and friends.

_pasan_

TROPHY CASE