Around the Fort in 80 Lives
3,500 Sri Lankan Rupees
or £20.00
Buy Now

Review of Around the Fort in 80 Lives by top Sri Lankan writer Ashok Ferrey:

“A micro-climate is one where exotic species of flora and fauna survive, and to me this is exactly what Galle Fort is: a micro-climate of rare and special people. According to legend Galle was the Biblical city of Tarshish. King Solomon was its first tourist and they haven’t stopped coming since: from Morocco and Yemen, from Holland and Portugal; and today, from just about everywhere else. It is popular these days to argue that a country should be reserved for its indigenous people. As a Sri Lankan I couldn’t disagree more. This is an island, and if you care to go back far enough we all came from somewhere else, the many shards of precious stone that go to make up this splendid jewel.”

Chucking the Dragon

Buy online at amazon.com

Preview

"This is sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll at its very darkest."

Colombo 7° City Guide

Megara Tegal - Journalist, Sunday Times:

“Colombo is constantly developing and even more so since the end of the 26 year war and as such it’s a raw exciting time to come and see the place.”

The Suicide Club

"One of Sri Lanka’s fastest selling books."

Froteztology

Rathindra Kuruwita - Deputy News Editor, Lakbimanews:

"Brash, cocky, politically incorrect yet deeply intelligent and understanding, Marlon Ariyasinghe's Frotenzology is the voice of the post 89 generation."

Juliet Coombe and Daisy Perry have deconstructed Galle Fort in the most charming manner. Here you will find the old man who annoyed his wife by keeping goats in the kitchen and raising the kids in the sink (the goat’s, that is, not the old man’s). Noor,  the diver who harnesses giant octopus, though alas we only have Noor’s word for it. The betel seller with a face that has more tributaries etched on it than the Amazon. And the snake charmer who says: “If you see a snake, don’t get hysterical. Just give me a call and I’ll come and relocate it.” (Where to? Colombo?).

But the most curious creature here is Juliet herself, who arrived as a journalist to cover the tsunami, was wooed by her now husband  pursuing her in tuk-tuks with bunches of wild flowers and rare jewels, and who on her wedding day threw her bouquet out to sea praying it wouldn’t return, because that would mean bad luck. (It didn’t.)

You will pick this book up for the positive cornucopia of information it contains. But you would want to keep it for its photographs, which bewitch and beguile. But if you visit Galle, be warned: like Juliet you may never want to leave.

Sri Lanka’s Other Half:
A Guide to the Central, Eastern and Northern Provinces

View Interactive Pdf Preview

Buckle up and hold tight!!

Classic cars, fat cigars, blue pigeons, singing fish, war planes, delicious palmyrah jam and bejewelled Bollywood saris. BBC Lonely Planet photographer and journalist Juliet Coombe was determined to be the first
writer back into northern Sri Lanka after 26 years of war, despite having just had a baby and being knocked back several times by the Ministry of Defence to go by the usual means of transportation. She finally found herself in a tiny jump seat in a huge military plane, still holding her baby aka her chief negotiating card on her way to Jaffna with a bunch of generals.

In contrast to the north, going east led her to lost lagoons, unspoilt beaches and magnificent forts that sit atop rugged cliffs.  On her journey, Juliet, got to know the ferrymen who until recently had only Tamil Tigers as passengers and took up their suggestion to try the hot water wells with magical healing powers near Trinco. From here she headed inland to central Sri Lanka – much more than just historical sites. Here wildlife is still prolific – leopards abound as well as an elephant corridor. Artists gather in large numbers, especially around the amazing Sigiriya rock.

In addition, the book covers the seven islands off the coast of Jaffna, Sri Lanka’s crown jewels, and their myriad of ancient traditions, which range from carrying baby dolls across the waters to guarantee fertility, to musical pujas.

Chucking The Dragon
By Mark Wilde

View Interactive Pdf Preview

‘Chucking the Dragon’, Sri Serendipity’s latest book, is a blisteringly honest account of heroin addiction and its consequences, set in the pearl of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka. Mark Wilde (not his real name) unflinchingly tells the true story of his life as a teenager and student in Colombo. A highly intelligent and well-read man trapped in an apathetic, shallow society with no prospect of escaping, he turns to heroin and meets a completely new set of people. Whether he is stealing Parker fountain pens or working as a rent boy, shooting up in his university cafeteria’s toilet or reading Byron’s poetry, Mark’s story is rarely anything less than extraordinary. This is sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll at its darkest.

As well as telling Mark’s story, ‘Chucking the Dragon’ tells the story of modern day Sri Lanka, a story you won’t see in the guidebooks or travel brochures. It leaves no stone unturned in revealing and exploring the dark side of life in a country troubled by civil war, riots and the terror of tsunami: NGO volunteers smuggle drugs into the country in their ‘aid containers’ and the police quell student demonstrations with brutal force, then go to celebrate in a nearby bar.

On the idyllic Galle coast, with its tall coconut trees and flawless white sand, Mark manages to ‘kick’ his drug habit, locked in a beach hut for days, hallucinating wildly and lying in a pile of his own filth. But when he finally returns to regular society, how likely is he to remain there?

Addicted: Generation T
Sri Lanka: The Ultimate Guide to Tea and Tea Cuisine

View Interactive Pdf Preview

Discover why tea in the 21st century is sexier than ever: learn how to cook a delicious romantic meal using tea, find out how to travel Sri Lanka's tea country discovering a hidden world of tea factories used as art galleries, luxurious planter's bungalows and the best roadside tea stalls to stop for a cupper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colombo 7° City Guide

The first city guide book to Colombo. We have walked every street and tried and tested everything over a six month period.

“I live here for the people, but enjoy exploring the city for its charming bits of random — the view of the port from the empty Grand Oriental Hotel, or the two headed goat in the otherwise destitute science museum. As it develops, the city will start to make more sense, but right now is a unique time to explore its random cool.” Indi Samarajiva - Columnist – The Sunday Leader

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Suicide Club
By Herman Gunaratne

Herman Gunaratne’s life over 45 years, working and shaping the tea industry in the island. It’s a journey that takes you across misty tea hills, gambling tables, country clubs and political dilemmas. A truly inspirational DIY story made of many previously untold stories; it’s one of Sri Lanka’s fastest selling books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Froteztology
By Marlon Ariyasinghe

Rhymes, protest, rebellion, art and more you will find in this new generation collision of poetry writing and painting. Sure to stab your thoughts and make you laugh till your sides turn into jello, Marlon Ariyasinghe’s Froteztology is one outrageous read. So get off your frozterior and get yourself a copy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around the Fort in 80 Lives 2

Juliet Coombe is back with her groundbreaking style of travel book writing and high successful Around the Fort in 80 Lives. In this new edition, rediscover the 400 year old grandeur of the Galle Fort and the people that colour this World Heritage site with their lives.