Wednesday 15 December 2010

The last word

Wow, this is going to be tough, the final words to the blog. Its like saying goodbye to a good friend, a best mate, a lover, knowing that you will never see them again. It is a similar feeling to when I said "Goodbye" to my Father every time I visited him in the nursing home, knowing it might be the last time that I might see him alive. He died three weeks before I left for India.

Its also difficult to write the blog in the freezing conditions of my current rented home, which I now have to leave in the New Year as it has been sold. An absolute antithisis to the heat and security of back packing through India and Srl Lanka.


QED Mission accomplished.

Parvati's eys were hazel brown, I remember Parvati the little girl at the Barka Khana Orphanage, with the soft brown eyes. I will finish the canvass , paint Parvati's eyes hazel brown, but fleck them with touches of gold to bring the eyes alive.

Very sad to report that I have not had any monitor lizards, eagles, mongooses etc cross my path, too blooming cold. So the natural history section is now closed.

The highlights of the trip, were in chronological order, the cemetery in Park Street Kolkota, Diwali in Kolkota, all of Darjeeling and its mountains, the Red Pandas, sharing three days and nights with Raj and Olmer, the Orphanage and meeting Parvati. Feroz in Puri, the Sun Temple at Konark and the guide Shankar, the Bhutan Possee, the Hindu God Bronzes in Chennai, Pondicherry. Meeting up with Angela and Nina at their home in Srl Lanka, the GM car, meeting Michelle and Wouter and visiting Sigiriya (and its wonderful frescoes), with them, bumping into them again at the Elephant Orphanage and of course the many elephants. Mirissa Beach, meeting Manuel, Cheeky and Bobi. Being met by friends at Gatwick Airport and Norwich Station. And of course all the wonderful people I met on the way, those mentioned and those too many and too numerous to include  just to say that without them I would have been very lonely.

Would I do it again, yes of course? But maybe miss out the drive from Kandi to Badulla.

Many thanks to all of  you who have commented so kindly to my blog, without you it would never have flourished. Many thanks to those who read the blog but didn't comment.

Goodbye from Parvati and me.

Tuesday 14 December 2010

 The Elephant Orphanage
 Lion Beer
 Mirrisa beach
 Manuel & Cheeky
 Fire whirling
Bamboo poles support bank ceiling
 Darjeeling
 Raj, me and Olmer
 Orphanage Girls

 Mohammed & Feroz
 Train Corridor
 Bhutan Possee
 A Pondicherry Street
 Michelle & Wouter
Bhudda

Monday 6 December 2010

Penultimate blog

Thoughts for the day.

Flies all look the same no matter where you are in the World, they also irritate you as much

Public transport is good in Sri Lanka, so many buses and they are cheap fares , three wheel (taxis) tuctucs too. Another hazard is cyclists carrying umbrellas in strong winds.

Dogs always cross the road in pairs or sometimes more.

Was stopped recently by the Traffic Police and asked whether I wanted to buy a lottery ticket.

Road side stalls all sell exactly the same products as their neighbour in a collective madness, whether its pottery, wooden gods, fruit, yogurt, there may be 10 to 20 stalls on a road side next to each other, but not a single customer, I have heard of "stacking high and selling cheap". Here it is "spreading wide and selling nothing".

What is the thin cusp of water that laps up and back on a beach after a wave has broken?

Saturday's Natural History corner.

3ft  monitor lizard crosses in front of my path to my bedroom and disappears through a 6inch wide drain pipe.
A brown eagle glides on thermals all the way along the beach it takes 5 mins without a single flap.

Spend Saturday hanging out, chilling, doing nothing, laying on the beach reading swimming, there is a cloudy sky, but the water is hot.

I hang out at "Babi's Seaside" shack and wait for Manuel, Babi gives me a present of a carved baby elephant,
because he says I have good heart. I was over whelmed by his comment,. They call me "Bob" after the previous evening explaining the Bob Marley story, I tell them that the elephant will be called "Bob" too.

Manuel arrives, we have soft drinks, and order food. Vegetable Rice for him, Deviled Calamari for me. We get into a good discussion about India vs Sri Lanka. Cheeki plays "Sleng Ten Rhythm" a dub style from the early 80's, its amazing how its stood the test of time. Food arrives mine is a brilliant mix of onions, leeks, peppers, chilli's and squid. Babi is a natural cook, also a good fisherman. Great Food. We leave to go, we said that we are off to the Large Beach Shack at the end of the West beach, the Seaside Shack guys decide to close up for the night and join us.

They sea is black, but so warm to our toes. its a warm night,  fireflies fly above our heads. We walk along the beach its hard to imagine that I will be leaving all this soon.

At the shack there is a nice atmosphere, Israeli, Dutch, German travellers sit at tables by the lapping tide, drinking laughing and relaxing. A young Sri Lankan man twirls flaming oil lampson 3ft chains around his head and to his sides in time to the music, its very impressive. Suddenly all the tourists jump up, the last wave came much further up the beach and whetted all their seated bums. Much laughing in many languages. Its late and I decide to leave, big hugs all round.

I lift the broken picket fence off so that I can climb back into the hotel property. Go to bed and fall asleep immediately.

Sunday.

Woken by crashing of waves, its 5.45am, there is no water to shower and the rest of the list beginning with "S". I leave in a bad mood. By 6.00am I am on the road. There is little traffic, the sea looks angry too.

I forget to pop in and say goodbye to Babi, I am pissed off at not having showered.

Its raining hard, I cancel stopping off at Galle, its a pity, but site seeing in pouring rain is not an option. I drive past glorious beaches, but they are just so wet. Colombo is an unflattering city, smoothered in Police and Army checkpoints. I head out fast.

I get to Ngombo, 10 ks south of Kochikarde. The roads are all flooded, its been raining here fro 2 days non stop. I pass a cemetery, it too is flooded. On a beach hummock there are thousands of crosses with names on them, reminding all of Boxing Day 2004's tsunami and its toll on local families. Its a very sad but an evocative sight. I get to Angela and Nina's by 11.30. We head out early for last minute shopping, a few beers and a meal at the King Coconut.

 I say goodbye to Angela, she is flying back to England via Kuwait at 5.30am next morning.

Monday

Angela, phones from Kuwait, she waiting for her connection. I half pack and take the car back. Nina and I take a tuctuc to Ngombo for some shopping. Its sunny for the first time in 10 days, there has been much local flooding.

I chill out for the day. Preparing for my 11.30pm taxi, and a trip back to England.

PHOTOS WILL BE POSTED ON THE LAST BLOG.

Friday 3 December 2010

Saturday, Mirissa

Friday pm

In the next Bay, hiding in the rocks from the breaking surf, crabs the size of a digestive biscuit cling on, then will jump 10 inches to the next rock, they have a dark grey shell with bright red claws. The backs of their shells are marked like a fine white lace or filigree work.

In the dark I can see embers from a beach fire, floating in the breeze. But they are not hot embers but fire flies, small, but with a very bright LED bum, its so bright. They are called something like Halamadidias .

I was asked whether I wanted to spend 8000 rupees or 45 quid to go and see (or possibly not see) Orcas, swimming off the shore. I hear later that this can be quite a dangerous trip.

Mirissa is very soothing, (a big thank you to One F in Geoffrey {from a Pixies song} for suggesting the place ) a good place to spend a couple of days relaxing before returning home. I head out to look for somewhere to eat. There are plenty of shacks with tables and chairs and a real variety of menu of fresh fish. The shacks are covered in rope lights making it festive and inviting.

One shack is playing "lovers rock" reggae, are rare treat in these parts. I stop and sit down and order a (Jah) Lion Beer. I am served by the DJ, his name is "Cheeky", he joins me and asks where am I from in not bad English.

"No woman no cry" booms out from the massive speaker system, the waves seem to know the rhythm and crash in time. I order fried calamari and potato salad. Another beer and then another. I talk to the manager Bobby, he is a fisherman, but for 6 months can make more money with a tourist shack..

Manuel from S Italy sits at the next table, he is a professional photographer working his way round India and the Far East, he worked in England, learnt the language well. We agree that because of its extremes  India is more exciting to photograph. Sri lankaa is very laid back.

A shack up the beach plays green lasers on the waves and braking surf, the effect is dazzling. thee fire is still burning on the beach, its smoke is dissected by the laser, its green plane looks like a map of the world. The music is Spanish Techno and House (or is that Peublo?) a few beers later and we are all up dancing. I retire at 12, my hotel (Hotel Sunset) has locked all the gates to the beach, I have to break in to my hotel.
Fortunately the picket fence comes away easily, I replace it exactly, I can use it again tonight. I am meeting Manuel at Bobby's 7pm Saturday evening.

I remember as I doze off that on Tuesday on the way back from the Elephant Orphanage, I was following Michelle and Wouter in the Tuctuc taxi that they had hired, we were on our way back to Kandy. Suddenly an oncoming motor bike was hit with a thud, by a cow just deciding to cross the road, the biker falls but is all right , the bike falls over. The cow just trots off and starts grazing as though nothing had happened.

Saturday.

I wake up at 6am, rush down to the beach, its not far 5 seconds maybe. I try to catch the sunrise behind the palm trees, how predictable am I? Small fish leap across the the edge of the shallow surf, just where the curve of the lap decides to return back to the sea. A fisherman with a throw net waits expectantly, he calls to the fish repeatedly. Its a sunny day I have an English Breakfast, toast, two fried eggs, coffee, brilliant fresh made mango juice. However the jam is a lurid ruby/cerise colour and would not look out of place on a Norwich Dance Floor.

Friday, Mirissa, the farthest South of Sri Lanka.

In Kandy, Thursday am (after last blog)

I visit the Temple of the Tooth, its reputed to be the Buddha's tooth, snatched from the fire when he was cremated. I am just ahead of thousands of tourists, I am sure they are taking photographs of an edifice, while on the first floor where I am the only foreigner, many Buddhists wait calmly, preying in a queue. I feel very self conscious and decide to leave.

Kandy is very pretty, nice place wish I could have stayed another day. Decide to head South to Mirissa on the South Coast.

I take three attempts to find a road to Nuwarra Elliya, its a tortuous tortoise off a route, I am heading for some very high waterfalls, however it starts raining hard, I decide to press on, It took me 7 hours to go 100kls. 50Kls of road are one big building site, at Phase 1 pot holed like a crumpet bun but a 100 times bigger. A car that overtook me earlier, is stopped in the middle of the road the driver and passengers are just removing the last boulders from the road, the rock fall must have just happened, due to rain.  I have to say when the roads are finished they are a joy to drive on, as smooth as the underside of a crumpet.  I have to stop at Badulla, as it's getting dark, I do not want Srll Lankan traffic in a Mountain Range, I book in at the Riverside Holiday Inn.

I order Pork schnitzel, chips and salad, as per the menu, I get a fatty lumps stew dish. I refuse to eat it, instead I have a few beers, they bring me a large bowl of cashew nuts, freshly roasted with curry leaves.

Friday

All or most dogs in Srri Lanka look the same, an insipid mid brown, the colour of toffee, but not as rich.

I leave Badulla, at 8am, I escape first time, the road is smooth all the way down the mountain side. Every 100 y\Ms or so there are rockfalls/land slides. I just keep speeding on, I am in Tanamalwila by 11.30, in Mirissa by 2.00pm which is where I wanted to be last night. I have driven 200 Kls in 6 hours half through winding mountain roads.

I check in at the Hotel Glaucoma, I will get its name. My shower room window is 20ft from the beach, my balcony overlooks the entire palm fringed bay, its so good to be here.

I walk for a couple of hours up the East Coast and then back past the Hotel to the West Bay. Swim in every bay, guys are surfing, some very well.

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Thursday's erudition

Missing details.

It was farcical, in the pouring rain, on the way from Anuradhapura to Trincomalee, to see soldiers with rifles in one hand and pretty umbrella in the other, some must have borrowed their wife's or girlfriend's, as they were pretty pinks yellows etc. Amazing what a civil war can do for a soldiers sense of preservation.

There are lots of large electrified dead bats hanging from the overhead power cables at the road side. Like a warning to other bats.

I am missing the beautiful effect that Indian women's saris have on the day to day landscape of my life, in Sri Lanka women dress rather plainly, funnily enough its the older more mature woman with her white bunned hair and slenderness that appeals, they often wear a sari.


Wednesday pm, Michelle Wouter and I meet at the Muslim Hotel, its a cheap restaruant in the centre of Kandy,the meal is simple rottu, paratha and a sort of cream brulee custard, washed down with lashings of ginger beer. It costs 5 pounds for three of us to eat well.

Thursday am

To Michelle and Wouter, I hear you leave  to catch the 4.30am train to Galle, like a herd of elephants. Sorry Guys, just has to put that in. Hope you caught the train? Maybe see you in Galle?

Will leave Kandy and head on South.

Wednesday

Wednesday am left Kochicade, heading for the Elephant Orphanage at Perinnawala. It takes 3 hours to get there, there are vitually no road signs, I used a compass that I brought, it was useful at last, yesterday I was thinking it was of no use on this trip, today a godsend.

Arrived at the Sanctuary, there are many elephants (75) most orphans but some now with young. I am having a good time, when all of a sudden I hear my name being called, its Michelle and Wouter, its unexpected but great to see them. I think the elephants look sad, Michelle says that its because they are orphans, on has part of his front right lower leg missing, apparently from a landmine. At 2pm they are marched across the road to the river,through a narrow lane of gift shops, all the shop owners remove the most obvious items, out of trunks way.

I didn't know that they moved so fast, they are 50 of them rushing towards me as I try to take photos of the incongruous picture. They rush to the waters edge, trunks ready, just had to say it. the river is 200 Ms across.
There is a viewing platform 5Ms above the water , its an ideal vantage point, with scope to view the entire river.

They frolic like kids pushing each other over, some have chains around the legs, others grab the chains with their trunks and pull. After a while they go to far shore and rub themselves in the muddy bank. Babes feed off their mums, its a wonderful sight.

They lazily float about rolling in the brown water of the swollen river. At 4pm they start gathering just before the mahouts call them to return. They are all over the place, down river across on the other side, very obediently they group together, rubbing themselves against each other. One scrapes the mud off the back of its neighbour and thows it over itself.

The dutch friends travel back to Kandy in a tuctuc 3 wheeler, I follow in my car, the driver Noel stops on a river to show us trees full of giant bats.

I arrive in Kandy its very pretty even in the mist and rain. Staying at the Hotel Laxshmi.