I just thawed out and that was on Thursday so the day should be renamed to Thawsday.
You go on holiday to the sun for several reasons - well I do. They are to see some beautiful blue sky and sun as well as get a warm up from the cold of England. I love the heat and it annoys me when I have to sit in air conditioning just because someone else is hot. Why go to a hot country if you cannot take the heat? Oh, I know why, just to annoy me and make me cold.
We arrived at Manchester airport for our departure and I had frozen everywhere in my body due to the taxi driver being Scottish and preferring the cold. Just thawed out and the plane trip over was coolish but I was seated between to gentleman which kept me warm.
Dubai was wonderful, it was about 90 deg and I thawed again but it did help wearing a cardigan on the coach to the airport from the plane. Just as well because inside it is all cold air and Arabian nights!
Finally in Sri Lanka and some frantic journey in a taxi to our first hotel. It was an old colonial residence and quite impressive standing on top of a hill. Our room was amazing, plenty of room but no drawers for clothes. The bathroom was quite good with a humungous bath, well it was raised and the edge was a good foot wide - at least there was space to sit the wet bag! I showered in it and there was a knock at the door, so as he who had gone to get the wi fi sorted was out I dashed the shower off and lifted one leg out of the bath rather quickly. The other leg's foot slipped inside the bath and I lurched forward only to hit my raised leg on the edge of the bath prior to it hitting the ground. OUCH! Then when it did hit the ground that decided to have a skate and had it not been for my strong erector spinae (or however it is spelled) I would have been flat faced -either by the wall or by the floor.
By the time I got there, they had gone whoever they were so I was none too pleased. Anyway, the good news was that wi fi did exist and I managed to look, albeit it slowly on the internet all the time we stayed there. Future hotels en route were another story of frustration.
After getting sorted, we went down to lunch and it was freezing so we sat outside for the snack only to be chocked by a char burner as opposed to a puff'n'blower. Pah, some people just sit and hold one rather than puff them but then that is probably a controversial topic so enough said. Well, I enjoy tasting my food and it is not only smoke that stops that pleasure, so too does overpowering perfume wafting around and the smell of - but you don't want to know that but it is unavoidable sometimes in an Asian destination.
It was self-service in the restaurant so we had a good choice all the time. We were one of only a few people who ate outside on the huge balcony/patio. Most people sat in the cold indoors. Our time there was dry because the first night was the Po moon festival, which was the Buddhist celebration of the Sunday full moon. The outside restaurants had no red wine only beer and their food was nothing to write home about. We made a good meal for the mosquitoes so something good came out of it. Eventually we did eat at the hotel for the evening and that was fine except they had to set a place out there for us. I told them not to wait on us hand and foot which they did as they were told. Finally, some good quaffing but what a price. Never mind it was our Anniversary and quietly it was spent too. The other reason for the dry is that the second monsoon season did not kick in at all during our holiday except for one shower towards the end.
The beach spent the whole time fending off breakers too dangerous to get into and the noise of the constant crashing rather stopped a good night’s sleep. Well, you cannot expect double-glazing in a beautiful old building so an MP3 is a good travel companion not only for obscuring idiotic garble but blocking out sleep distrubances. Our view was idylic but I was informed by another writer there that our room was not condusive to inspiration and he was right. He changed rooms earlier and had one with a crack in the wall but good vibrations. So in future I must demand a crack in the wall for inspiration.
We walked around on our second day to see what was there prior to going to Colombo, the capital, where we had arranged to meet Andy and Carla, the son of friends in Liverpool and his lovely girlfriend. We walked up to the main road and were accosted by a plausible gentleman who said he was a chef at the hotel. He then explained about the area a little and took us for a tour to the Buddhist temple built by an English woman. We explained that we were in a hurry and he agreed to be quick so we walked for ages before we came to the temple, which was not the most inspiring of places, and he asked me to sign the visitors’ book. Following my signature, he said that I had to give a donation and pointed to the amounts given. Well, I thought the principle of donations was you chose what you wanted to give or not as is the case at times. He then asked for dollars by which time he who had a short fuse erupted and gave him some rupees much to his chagrin.
We finally caught a choke choke, sorry that should be chook chook but the fumes in the area were lethal. It took ages to get in to Colombo but that was due to roadblocks because of the recent bombing of the president or some high-ranking government official. He took us along the coast road, which missed these, but it also missed the beautiful buildings. When we were dropped off, we went exploring only to be stopped at every junction from going up to the interesting sites. The main road was not really a joy to walk along. We were one of very few tourists and there were millions of traders after our compeetoes plus the taxis and choke chokes. At the end of our tether, we walked back to the World trade centre next door to the Hilton and met Andy and Carla. We decided to get a coffee in the WTC and were frisked going in. I had to take my MP3 off because of its implications and as I did so, a passing gentleman enquired whether I was taking anymore of and if so he would wait. I replied, well I opened my mouth before engaging brain, “It depends how much you are going to pay me.” Oh no, I could not believe I had just said it and once said the gentleman laughed and said that it is nice to know what I was. He laughed as did his Indian friend and so did the young security guard who was female as it happens.
After that, we had coffee and a nibble at an extortionate price but it was pleasant sitting in the walkway watching all the smartly dressed people walk by watching us.
We said our farewells and went back into the city centre to be led around the houses trying to find some silk sheets for a friend. We gave up after the third material shop and then could not get rid of the man showing us even when we bobbed into a vegetation restraint for a coffee. A nice gentleman came after we did get rid of the pest and he sat with us telling us about the writing on the wall, which was Sanskrit, Singhalese and Tamil. He also told me the useful words to say Go away, I don’t want, Thank you & Please. He departed and we left after paying the bill then headed to the hotel on the hill.
