Tales from Sri Lanka

Gallery: Sri Lanka

susannah_palk — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:57:00 GMT

My last English class

susannah_palk — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:26:00 GMT

Another cloudy overcast day for my last day of ‘working’, as tomorrow is a ‘Poya day’, - a Buddhist holiday, everyone gets a day off, yay!

So, today instead of working at Titus’ house we must clean the turtle tanks, which we would usually do tomorrow. More scrubbing with brushes and coconuts, but this time we are much faster.

I get Rosie (my room mate) and Anthony, who both volunteer at the hatchery to show me around a bit more. Poor old Kevin the baby turtle is not eating anything and hasn’t for a few days now, so Rosie and Anthony don’t think he will last much longer. The other turtles seem to be in fine form. Dudley, who runs the hatchery and the community centre apparently started his turtle conservation work by taking in a sick turtle and keeping it in his bathtub when he was 17. The hatchery has obviously grown since then.

After cleaning out the tanks we clean the turtles shells with sand and then head down to the beach for a bit of a swim.

After lunch I have my last class of teaching. Lazantha and Sandu are there, and also Sandu’s older brother, Asoon. No Dimadoo today, which is a bit of a pity, as I won’t get to say goodbye, but many are away today as tomorrow is a holiday.

We do revision today, so we cover a few things like clothes, body parts and transport ect and numerous stickers are handed out. Then after much demand out comes ‘barrel of monkey’s’. They are all so competitive! I try and get them to count and add all the monkey’s they have collected in a bid to teach them something, anything, even if it is basic math. However they are onto me today and counting isn’t their primary concern. They are more interested in who will be ‘champion’. Lazantha wins the day again and gets the big sticker.

After class I get out my radio recording equipment and get them to have a go recording and listening to themselves in English. Not so much English was recorded, but I now have a good 20 minutes of tape dedicated to Singhalese and Bollywood songs sung about a third of the school.

The rain hasn’t stopped all afternoon and when it’s time for the kids to leave, they are all stuck under the timber roofing of the dining area waiting for the rain to subside. This doesn’t seem to bother Lazantha who decides that it is perfect weather to fly his kite. Finally the rain lets up and they all disappear. The place goes quiet again. Can’t believe that was my class!

That evening over a few arracks, all us volunteers decide to play a few rounds of ‘barrel of monkey’s’, we’re still rubbish, even more so after a few arracks.

Cool Breeze

susannah_palk — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:41:00 GMT

Wonderful, glorious cool weather! I didn’t think I could be happy to see cloudy grey skies, but I am. The coolness and the breeze seem to have swept away yesterdays lethargy and today we are all new people.

This is my last day working at Titus’ house. We managed to do quite a lot today and started smashing up the concrete floors. Titus told me as I was leaving that the house we were tearing down had stood for over 75 years. It’s a little sad to think that it could all be wiped out in a matter of seconds, changing the lives of Titus and his family completely. Apparently 150 houses were wiped out in Kosgoda. Around 100 of these have been rebuilt, leaving quite a few more to be rebuilt.

As we took a break from working, Titus gave us some of his coconuts to drink again. Hurrah for coconuts!

In the afternoon I had the kids again, only two today, Lazantha and Sandu. Maybe I'm scaring the others off? But I take solace in the fact that quite a few were missing from the other classes as well.

Today we leant the time. I’m not sure how much of this the boys picked up, especially Sandu who was convinced that the word ‘o’clock’ was actually ‘tock tock’, no matter how many times we said it.

After we finished learning time, I brought out the game, ‘barrel of monkey’s’ – where you have to pick up all the small plastic monkeys by linking their arms together and not dropping them. Why didn’t I bring this game out earlier? They where so excited to have a new game to play and totally addicted to it. We even managed to do numbers and addition in English without them realising they were learning! Brilliant!

After class, a few of the older boys who are about 15-16 start talking to a few of us. They are trying to convince us they are 18. Hmmmmmm. They start giggling and one says that he is married with two childen (which he isn't), so I tell them that i'm married to cricketer Ricky Ponting. They're is stiches laughing, then one pipes up 'yeah, and I'm Bob Marely's son'. Touche!

Back to work

susannah_palk — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:15:00 GMT

Well, I guess it was inevitable - I have the runs. No trip to Asia would be complete without it I guess. (Sorry to all those who may be offended by the the inner workings of my bowels.)

So after a rather sleepless night I get dressed in my now rather smelly and mud-caked work clothes to head to Titus’ house. Everyone is a bit exhausted today. I think it is a combination of a big weekend and the unrelenting heat. More hauling bricks today, although there is a breakthrough. By the end of the morning we have knocked down the last of the foundations, which were the really tough bits. Not quite sure what we will be doing tomorrow, although quite a bit still needs to be cleared.

I managed to speak with Titus for a couple of minutes today about what happened to him when the Tsunami hit. He tells me that on that day he was further inland looking for work when someone started yelling that the water was receding and that a huge wave was hitting the coastline of Asia. (Because of their position, many on the southwest of Sri Lanka had a 45-minute warning about the oncoming Tsunami.) Titus ran back home, collected his family and headed inland. When he returned home a week later, there was nothing left of his home except for the foundations we have been knocking down.

Due to new laws passed immediately after the Tsunami hit, Titus could not receive any funding to rebuild his house. The new law stated anyone rebuilding homes 100 meters or less from the water would not receive funding. Titus and many other like him could not afford to by new land further way and had no money for rebuilding. After about six months the law was changed from a restriction of 100 meters to 50 meters. But it was too late for Titus, when he was finally eligible for money, most of the funds had dried up.

He and his family have been living in the make shift huts for three and a half years now, as they wait for their house to be rebuilt. Titus shows me the plans of the new house he hopes to build. But with no money for building materials it is uncertain when his house will actually get built. Unfortunately Titus is not the only one in this situation.

Back at the community centre it is time for classes again. Today I only have three kids again. Lazantha, Dimadoo and Sandu. Today we are doing transportation and after their giggles at my pretty poor pictures of a motorcycle and a tuk tuk we get down to work, with a few stickers thrown in for good measure.

I am just starting to get to know the boys, so it is quite sad to think I only have two more classes left with them. I also feel bad at the thought that they must go through so many teachers all the time.

Am wiped out after today. Looking forward to some more Imodium and bed!

Tea Plantation

susannah_palk — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:56:00 GMT

Today we make the trip back home to Kosgoda. However, first we make a stop at a tea factory just outside of Kandy. Before we even step in the front door to the tea factory I can smell…tea, the smell is so pungent it’s like the walls have been sprayed with ice tea. When we enter we are blasted with a heat wave and the smell gets a whole lot stronger.

We are shown how the tea gets made. First the leaves are ‘withered’. They sit in massive containers that stretch as far as an Olympic size swimming pool and a fan blows underneath to them, to ensure all the moisture is taken out. One that is done, the tea leaves need to go down a chute to the next level where they are crushed and then ‘fired’, and the end product is the dried chopped up leaves that we dunk into hot water.

As it is a Sunday, none of the pickers are working, however we are still able to walk around the tea plantation. It is beautiful. Rows upon rows upon rows of tea bushes cover the landscape, all in neat lines as fall down the hillside into the valley. It looks pretty impressive. One of the workers shows us how to pick the plants, and also shows us a few coffee bean trees, which are a little out of place, but pretty cool.

After the tea plantation we all pile into our mini-bus for the journey home. As the scenery changes from lush greenery to palm tree again, we know we are almost home. A really good weekend.

Exploring Kandy

susannah_palk — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:05:00 GMT

Today we saw the sites of Kandy, including the Botanical Gardens, a Batik factory and a woodcarving factory, wandered the central bazaar and vegetable markets and also caught the Kandy dancing show, which was pretty impressive. But by far the most interesting thing in Kandy was the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.

This temple holds the most sacred Buddhist relic in Sri Lanka, what is believed to be a tooth of Buddha.

Entering the temple is not an easy process. As the front of the temple was bombed in 1998 by the separatists group the Tamil Tigers, high security has surrounded the place ever since. To enter the building, we go past two security checkpoints, walk through a few metal detectors, have our bags checked and get a rather thorough pat down from the security guards. We are all checked to make sure we look suitable – all knees and shoulders covered and no cleavage showing. After all that is done, we finally make it into the temple grounds.

Our temple guide is a tiny man with thick glasses and a very strong accent, so for the first half of the tour I am convinced he is talking about the ‘temple of the tooth fairy’.

Today is a special Buddhist day, so every man and his dog is at the temple. Most women are dressed in beautiful white saris, which are in stark contrast to the bright orange and dark moron robes of the temples monks. We join the throngs in queuing up to see the relic. Although, we don’t actually get to see the tooth, which has not been brought out since 1990, due to mounting tensions with the Tamil Tigers. (Legend says that whoever is in possession of the tooth relic has the right to rule the island). We all walk past a window, which looks into a small, brightly light room, decorated with ornate gold decorations and flowers. On top of an alter is a large gold casket which is said to hold the sacred tooth. Pretty impressive stuff.

Off to Kandy

susannah_palk — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:49:00 GMT

The weekend is here! Well kinda…we have taken an early mark and skipped cleaning the beach to head to Kandy. Kandy is the capital city of the hill country and is a good five hours drive from Kosgoda.

Only half an hour into our travels we head inland and immediately there is a noticeable change in scenery. Instead of sand and palm trees, we pass rubber tree plantations, lush greenery and paddocks of rice paddies, all set amongst a backdrop of hills and rivers. Everything is wet, green and lush. We are definitely in monsoon season here.

The small villages we pass are also very different. There are a number of mosques littered around the place and when school comes out at about midday all the children in their white uniforms, some with veils on and other not, spill onto the street and are bright contrast from the green backdrop surrounding them. In one village, there are cows grazing in a makeshift paddock, which is actually a round a bout in the middle of the road.

Driving in Sri Lanka takes a certain about of bravery. Sri Lankans love to overtake each other and the rule seems to be the bigger you are, the more you can overtake. So even if there is a car or a tuk tuk coming in the other direction, it really doesn’t matter. If you are bigger, say in a mini-bus like we are, then they have to swerve to avoid you. This is a little scary when encountering the number 69 bus, which goes from Colombo to Kandy. The huge white buses (at least 20 years old) are jam packed with people, and they love overtaking.

After a few hours of driving we stop at the elephant orphanage, which is on the way to Kandy. We make it to feeding time and walk around the large park to see the elephants up close. They are really beautiful creatures and the babies are especially cute. Although, it is quite disturbing to see a number of them in chains. We don’t stay long at the orphanage, as Dudley wants to rush us to lunch. We don’t quite understand what the rush is all about, until we sit down at our table, and notice that below us is a huge river and in it are hundred of elephants taking a bath. It is an amazing feeling to be sitting and eating your lunch 100 meters away from an elephant having a bit of a dip.

It is then back on the road, and we eventually hit Kandy at about 5pm, which is bustling with life. We drive past the central and vegetable markets, the prison, the botanical gardens, the huge man made lake and the temple of the tooth – it looks great! We check into our hotel and are in heaven. It has a/c and hot showers! Luxury!

The turtle hatchery

susannah_palk — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:13:00 GMT

Today we have a change in plan. No construction work today (my arms are quite relieved). Instead we head across the road to the turtle hatchery. Here we empty all the turtle tanks, clean them, by scrub them with brushes and dried coconut shells (surprisingly effective) and refill them.

The turtles seem a little perplexed but keep on swimming. I help transfer some of them into different tanks, I learn the hard way that before picking turtles up, it’s best to hold their front fins down, cos when they flap, they flap hard!

Anthony, who has been volunteering at the hatchery for five weeks, cleans the turtles as we clean their tanks. As they aren’t in the wild there are no fish to eat the mould and barnacles that grow on their shells, so they must be given a good scrub regularly.

A few have been injured by fishing nets and have been brought here to recover. Stevie is the special turtle who came to the hatchery with one blind eye in 2004. He was the only turtle to survive the Tsunami, which destroyed the entire hatchery. He was found a couple of hundred meters inland, and had damaged his other eye, so know he is completely blind. He seems to be the favourite turtle, along with Kevin.

Kevin is the baby turtle who is only about five days old. He is soooo tiny, about half the size of my hand. As he hatched a couple of days after the others in his batch, he now has to wait until the next batch of baby turtles hatch, so he can be released with them, otherwise he will not survive the swim out to sea.

When the turtles are first born they have tons of energy and whiz around like crazy. Anthony says this is so they have enough energy to get out to sea. Kevin is looking pretty relaxed now, but if feed properly will be strong enough to hold his own when released.

After cleaning the tanks is done, we head down to the beach to pack away the pump and the pipes and have a little dip. The water is rough, but lovely and warm.

During lunch I decide that it is definitely time to clean some clothes, as they stink! I don’t know why I bothered to bring white clothes along, as I have a ring of brown around each neckline – lovely. There is only so much hand washing in a bucket can do, but at least they aren’t as smelly now.

After lunch it’s teaching time. This class, my bribery is glitter pencils and stickers. Works a charm and we get through the topic of weather with little fuss. I am starting to get to know some of the boys in my class. Dimadoo and Lazantha are the older boys (around 12) who get bored quite easily, but a really good kids. If you can control them, then the rest of the class is pretty good. Sandu is also another regular. He is about 7 and concentrates very hard. They have all decided that they want chocolate today and when I show them my empty hands look a little disappointed, but not for too long as I release them outside to play.

Most of the boys play cricket, which is quite interesting to watch, as the schoolyard is littered with palm trees. Every time the ball hits a palm tree it flies of in a completely different direction and it’s quite funny to watch the boys scramble to chase after it.

Lazantha has brought his kite today, which he loves. It is made out of wire and the plastic off a garbage bag and the tail looks like used to be police tape used to cordon off areas. But not matter the rough materials, it is still a pretty nifty kite and flies well.

Once the kids leave and dinner has been consumed, today fish, which I saw Dudley buy earlier. We have a glass or two of arrack and play cards whilst planning for our trip to Kandy tomorrow.

Getting into the groove

susannah_palk — Wed, 9 Jul 2008 09:30:00 GMT

The first thing on my mind when I wake is… what on earth am I going to teach these children and how in hell am I going to control them? But, before I can worry about teaching, we get in our daggy t-shirts and head to Titus’ house again. Where, having cleared all the bricks, we start knocking down what’s left of the walls and foundations.

Not the easiest work, although quite satisfying to see how much you can knock down in three hours. To reward our hard efforts, Titus, who is not a young man, climbs up his palm tree, nimble as a teenager, knocks on a few coconuts and drops them to the ground. After breaking them open with his machete, he gives them to us to drink. It’s awesome. Inside the coconut is a wall of fleshy white, which is delicious to eat and the water is sweet and tangy. This beats any bounty bar!

After a shower and lunch, I head into the closest town, Aluthgama to get some school supplies with a few of the volunteers. We head out in a tuk tuk, which is great fun, although I am pretty sure we were totally ripped off, but ces’t la vie. Aluthgama boast a supermarket, hence why it is often frequented by volunteers. Things most popular things on the shopping list are:

banana milkshakes (kinda gross, but whatever floats your boat)
cordial (as we drink soooo much water it is nice to spice it up a little)
chocolate (need I explain)
postcards
and stickers (I’ll get to the sticker bit in a minute)!

As we enter the ‘food city’ and am surprised to find of all things, vegemite, stocked on the shelves – nice!

Aluthgama seems to be a busy little town, with a big bus station and tons of little shops lining the main highway (which is Galle Road). Women in saris and children in their white school uniforms all bustle past us and give us a good look up and down.

After our expedition into town, it’s school-time and I’ve come prepared, although now I only have three in my class, as the other have not come. I might of scared them off! I have learnt the magic to controlling the class is through bribery. Okay, might not be the best teaching method, but seems to do the job.

Whoever thought of stickers, I could kiss you! They work wonders and we get through the topics of feelings and emotions in no time with only a few incidents about who gets what sticker. Note to self: next time I buys stickers; make sure they are all the same! Tristan is also back teaching with me today! Hurrah! A days teaching well done!

The real work begins

susannah_palk — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 17:01:00 GMT

I wake at 7.30am with a groan. Rosie, my room mate and I are each curled up in our seperate single beds with our mosquito nets around us, like a protective blanket. After shaking off the sleep we head up to breakfast at the dining table, where all meals are served, including the kids lunch.

There are nine volunteers in total, two (including Rosie) work at the Turtle Hatchery and the rest of us work on rebuilding houses in the morning and teaching English in the afternoon.

After breakfast we make our way to the construction site we will be working on. I wouldn’t call it a construction site per-se, as it is the remainder of what used to be the home of a man called Titus, which was destroyed during the Tsunami in 2004.

Although it missed some beaches on the south coast, it completely devastated others, killing some 30,000 people in Sri Lanka all up. Although Kosgoda was not the hardest hit, the tsunami still left a mountain of destruction in its wake.

Titus’ house is about a 10 minute walk from the community centre. So we all trek off in our daggy t-shirts, along the road, past the turtle hatchery and Rosie and turn done a mud road about 300 meters away. Nilantha who works at the community centre comes with us to help out, and so does Brown, the community centres so-called ‘guard dog’. Who, when not running in front of cars, is usually trying to hump something or someone.

After walking past a few houses we hit the railway tracks. Apparently the British built the railway line by the sea so the noise of passing trains wouldn’t disturb those in the city. This proved to be disastrous on the 26th December 2004 when the tsunami hit and wiped out a train, killing thousands of people.

In order to get to Titus’ house we walk down the railway tracks for a couple of hundred meters, having to keep an eye and ear out for any oncoming train.

The house we are going is yet to be built, a good four years on. Our job is to pull down what is left of the foundations so that a new house can be built in its place. We soon get the idea, lots of lugging of concrete bricks and granite rocks to the back of the house for a good few hours while Titus and his wife and daughter-in-law look on. Titus is only about 59 years old, but looks a lot older than that. By 10am we are exhausted and still have an hour to go. You can tell we are not used to working in the heat and its not long before we are sweating are starting to smell a little.

After a hard mornings work we sit down absolutely exhausted. Titus and his wife come out and bring us tea with biscuits, they are extremely generous, as they have bare minimum and are still living in little huts used as temporary housing. The tea is Sri Lankan style, which means ultra sweet! And damn is it good. The last thing in the world I could possibly feel like is hot tea, but surprisingly it is refreshing and after hauling a few more rocks we head home for a glorious cold shower.

11am - 3pm we have to ourselves, although after lunch we have to prepare our lesson plans for the children. At around 2.30pm all the kids roll up and have their lunch. Dudley has just secured donations to feed the children for the next two years. Only a month and a half ago they had run out of money had to cancel lunches.

After lunch my terror 5-7 year olds run into class. Dimadoo and Lazatha are exceptions, as they are a little bit older, around 12. Today’s topics are body parts and clothes. I have about 15 in the class today and only one of me and they do NOT want to listen. With an attention span of 0.005 seconds things soon get a bit out of control and after an hour and a quarter I set them free exhausted. My hat goes off to every teacher out there!

After another cold shower (never thought I’d say this, but I love them) and dinner, we set off along the beach to see if we can find any turtles laying eggs. Alas no such luck, although we spot a few crabs and jumping fish. We instead settle for a bottle of arrack and coke! A hard days done!

Heading to Kosgoda

susannah_palk — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 16:28:00 GMT

Everyone has arrived and we are ready to go. First though, orientation! So after an hour or two of what to do and what not to do and a rather pathetic attempt to pick up some of the lingo, we are ready to start (we hope).

Dudley Perera who runs the community centre in Kosgoda (where we are heading), has come to pick us up. Kosgoda is a small costal village in the south west of Sri Lanka; about three hours drive from Colombo. Dudley set up the community centre after the 2004 Tsunami hit the village and devastated a number of homes. Since that time, volunteers have been coming to help out with the reconstruction of homes and also to teach English to the local children from poorer families. The centre also provides free lunch to the children, so they can get a square meal. Dudley hopes that in the next year or so he will have enough funds to make the community centre an orphanage as well.

The community centre is situated on the Galle Road, which runs all the way along from Colombo. Just across the road sitting on the beach is the Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery, which Dudley also runs!

We arrive just in time to work out who our roommates are and dump our bags in our rooms before it is time to go off and meet the children we will be teaching.

They are all sitting at the dining room area, which technically is a great big table under a tin roof, eating their lunch of chickpeas (which are quite nice). After lunch, they run down past the sand covered playground into the school building (which is were my room is located).

I am assigned the 5-7 year old boys (plus of few older ones who need to stay back) along with Tristan, who is volunteering for two weeks also. Eleanor, who has been a volunteer for a couple of weeks shows to the classroom, which is a little room out the back of the main school hall. There are at least 15 boys with a concentration span of zero. Oh my God, what have I got myself into?!?

With three of us there to control them, things aren’t too bad. I take out my alphabet cards out, and we go through basic words like hat, boat, house, fish ect. After an hour and 15 minutes of teaching I am ready to collapse.

Once class is over they all run outside to play, mostly cricket, while the girls play chase, or do each other hair, or practice dance routines (which go one forever).

At five o’clock they all rush out the gates of the community centre and suddenly all is quiet again. Dinner is a 6.30pm, so I quickly unpack my bag and change into shorts – it is sooooo hot and when teaching the kids we must be covered up, so I am sweating everywhere!

After dinner, which is rice and curry, not bad, I have my first taste of arrack. Sri Lanka’s local alcoholic beverage, which looks at bit like rum. Not bad. By 10pm I’m exhausted and have to hit the hay.

Mt. Lavinia

susannah_palk — Sun, 6 Jul 2008 15:52:00 GMT

I wake up early at around 5.30am (either it’s jetlag or something is very wrong with me). After reading my guidebook for a few hours I decide it’s time to go exploring. I haul myself out of bed and turn my creaky ceiling fan off as I shut the door.

The hotel is situated in Mt. Lavinia, one of the outer suburbs of Colombo. Most residents of Colombo head to Mt. Lavinia to chill and relax, as it is the only place in the areas that boasts a beach.

Ranveli (where I am staying) is situated less than 50 meters from the sea. The only thing separating it from the beach is, bizarrely, a railway track. As I head downstairs, a train whizzes past me, packed with people. They look just as surprised and curious to see me as I am them.

After looking left then right then left again, (not much in the way of pedestrian crossings) I cross the railway tracks and am on the beach. It seems to stretch all the way to Colombo. As it is a Sunday morning every man and his dog seem to be out, swimming, playing volleyball (Sri Lanka’s national sport apparently) or just walking up and down the beach.

After an hour of walking I head back to get some breakfast and to see if any of the other volunteers have arrived. Ranveli still seems pretty sparse of any company.

Lisabeth Shaw is the first person I meet and I am glad to see her. By midday I was starting to wonder if I was the only person in the place. Lisabeth is from Nottingham, England (where Robin Hood lives) and has just finished her first year of uni.

After a pot of Sri Lankan tea (yummo), Boo the owner of the hotel, (whose real name is Buwanelea Abeysuriya, hence why people call him Boo) arrives and greets us. After initial hellos he takes us for a quick drive around Mt. Lavinia. The streets are definitely busier by day.

As the day wears on, I gradually meet the people I’m going to be spending the next two weeks with. I’m now really looking forward to Kosgoda, where all the work begins.

By dinner time most have arrived, all a little jet-lagged and shell shocked. Most are heading to Kosgoda, while a few others will be staying in Colombo to work in an orphanage and two more are heading inland to the hill country to work in a village there.

We have dinner by the beach, which is great, after we put a good dose of mosquito repellent on. The food is traditional Sri Lankan, which means hot curries! I have to admit that when it comes to spicy food I am absolute rubbish, but am determined to love it. Boo has assured us that it is not spicy at all, which is true for the most part, however my tongue catches fire when I dig into the chilli coconut. But still tastes good, as tears run down my face.

Arrival

susannah_palk — Sat, 5 Jul 2008 15:30:00 GMT

Touch down! Hurrah, I am finally here! After a few weeks of rushed preparations I have landed in Sri Lanka.

I get off the plane and am immediately hit by the heat and humidity, what am I doing where all these layers of clothes? Two seconds off the plane and my hair turns into one giant frizz ball - definitely must be rainy season.

I race towards immigration (as everyone else seems to think it is the thing to do) and once there, peel away the ten layers of clothing that have been keeping me warm during the flight.

After a good hour of queuing, I emerge out the other side of immigration a little tired, hot and confused and am met by Dias, who has been waiting patiently to collect me. Dias is part of the i-to-i travel team, and I am relieved to see him, as at this point I just want to be taken to a bed.

It’s about 1 am as we drive through the dark streets of Colombo to get to ‘Ranveli Resort’, where I am staying the first two nights. The first thing I notice about the city of Colombo is the visible military presence. Before we even left the airport compound I noticed a number of armed soldiers nursing AK47’s.

The military seem to be everywhere. As our van queues up at the second military checkpoint, with about 100 cars ahead of us, I notice that even the young solider who is controlling the traffic with his stop/slow sign has an AK47 slung over his shoulder.

We finally make it through the checkpoint and are cruising the empty streets of Colombo. There is no life in sight, except for a few groups of young men and a whole lot of military! Dias assures me that come morning this place will be teeming with life. As he says this, a rather large herd of cows comes sauntering down the road towards us. A little hard to imagine busy streets just at the moment.

As we make our way through Colombo town, I notice a number of signs in bright neon lights advertising ‘Sporting Times Turf Accounts’, (after the first 10 sightings I give up counting). I can’t quite put my head around what they are until Dias explains they are betting agencies (Sri Lanka’s local TAB - nice).

Just as I’m about to nod off to sleep, Dias pull up outside Ranveli Resort, where he wakes up the security guard who escorts me too my room. The word ‘resort’ might be a stretch of the imagination, but clean and comfy and there is a bed! After a quick cold shower I collapse into wonderful bed.