No Power, No Booze, Scorching Heat. Welcome to Backpacking Sri Lanka!
Sunday the 13th March 2016 another seriously hot day in Sri Lanka with temperatures in the 30's across the country. The high humidity and lack of any breeze gave it a much higher temperature feel leaving us all drained and exhausted. It was definitely not a day for backpacking across Sri Lanka using non air conditioned buses or 3rd class train carriages! (In my guide book to Backpacking Sri Lanka, I give you information about the different buses and trains as well as tips for how to combat the heat exhaustion).
The only thing I wanted to do was find a nice hotel bar with air conditioning and a view of the ocean and have a nice cold beer. Unfortunately for me it was a national mourning day for a respected monk, this meant no alcohol or fresh meat could legally be sold anywhere in the country.
It looked like I would have to settle for a juice and air conditioned view, that's when they cut the power. The whole of Sri Lanka was without electricity. The few shops and hotels that had emergency generators were okay, everyone else was left to suffer in the heat. We waited and waited and waited for the power to come back on. As night fell and still there was no power, kids were crying, parents were upset and exhausted, those that could took refuge from the heat and headed for their cars to sleep in the air conditioning.
Global Warming Shuts Off Power in Lanka
For months now Sri Lanka has been seriously suffering from the effects of global warming, in particular the El Nino effect which increases the temperature of the oceans and raises global temperatures (I talk more about the weather in my guide to Backpacking Sri Lanka) this has turned Sri Lanka into a hot zone and is completely messing up the weather patterns.Hottest Jauary Ever!
This year Sri Lanka experienced the hottest January ever recorded (source NASA), the unusually high temperatures have meant that the reservoirs and rivers are drying up and Sri Lanka is unable to generate sufficient hydro power to supply the island. The Governments solution is to cut the power supply to everyone. Seriously, I don't understand why no one has thought to switch to SOLAR POWER. Sri Lanka has 365days of sunshine am I missing something here?You can read more on Global Warming in Sri Lanka at http://roar.lk/environment-wildlife/warming-indian-ocean-brewing-storm-sri-lanka/
Author of Backpacking Sri Lanka
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