Hotel Flower Garden, Unuwatuna, Sri Lanka
Shirley's plane arrived ahead of schedule and I was there to meet her following a morning taken up with entertaining little Sadali in Negombo.
We travelled south to Galle in the hotel's minibus - very comfortable, watching the green Sri Lankan countryside drift by - buffalo, small tea plantations, people ambling along dirt roads, shack-like houses hidden by lush tropical trees.
After some hassle about room allocation at the hotel, we went down to the beach where we met a man called Keechua (phonetic spelling). He was touting for business re. scuba diving trips. He told us, in graphic detail, of the day of the tsunami in 2004 and how he ran to higher ground to save his family but returned to his sea level home later to find his father's dead body floating in the kitchen. His mother was found in the bedroom. Keechua started to weep and I rubbed his shoulder, reassuring him that he had done his best. It wasn't his fault that his mother and father had drowned. He wasn't to blame.
As night descended, looking over the bay, we ate a lovely Sri Lankan fish curry with chopped coconut in a sambal sauce. We didn't have quite enough cash on us and so I promised to return today with the extra money. It was amazingly cheap anyway - about £8 for the two of us with beers and I also had banana fritters and ice cream - delicious.
It's 7.30am just now and breakfast isn't served till 8am. After that we plan to go back into Galle for the rest of the morning.
How did you manage to tear yourself away from such beautiful surroundings?
ReplyDeleteThe dates on our travel tickets.
DeleteHow lovely
ReplyDeleteIt was a lovely holiday. For me it was three weeks but for Shirley only eight days.
DeleteI am surprised you used that title, it has been Sri Lanka for many decades now
ReplyDeleteIt was called Ceylon when my father was there during World War II.
DeleteYou two are lucky to have traveled so widely.
ReplyDeleteWe have some special memories of faraway places.
DeleteLiving in paradise.
ReplyDeleteI would not call Prescott Valley AZ paradise!
DeleteIt sounds wonderful, apart from the tsunami story.
ReplyDeleteIt was not the only personal tsunami story I heard. 35,000 to 55,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka alone that fateful day. Nobody knows the accurate number.
DeleteWonderful memories, and thank you for sharing some of them with us.
ReplyDeleteI might write up another journal entry tomorrow.
DeleteThat is a lovely photo of Shirley and her smile. It would be nice to know how your teaching of English I presume? went as well.
ReplyDeleteTeaching English in Bangkok was a breeze Thelma. You didn't have to labour because the children were calm, happy, receptive and they got on well with their classmates. They were ready to learn and receive instruction. If only my teaching career had always been like that!
DeleteSomewhere that is still on my bucket list. Not sure if I will get there though.
ReplyDeleteI very much recommend Sri Lanka so that will probably put you off it!
DeleteWhat a lovely picture of Shirley.
ReplyDeleteWe had a couple of brief experiences of Sri Lanka just two years ago, and loved it. I've since seen wonderful slow train trips that can be taken through gorgeous scenery. It is twelve years since you wrote the post or twelve years since you were teaching in Bangkok?
ReplyDeleteThe answer to your question is both Andrew. I flew to Sri Lanka from Bangkok for that holiday.
DeleteThis is vey interesting.
ReplyDeleteMy father too, was out in Ceylon with the RAF, during WW2.
When Ceylon became Sri Lanka, many years later, there was a big promotion on holidays to the island. Husband and I decided we'd like to see the place where my father spent four years of his youth. He cautioned us against going until tourism was more established - better infrastructure and hotels etc., so we decided to wait. As so often happens, we never went - too many other more exotic places beckoned!
It is a shame you missed it Carol. Such a lush country with ancient history and animals and tea plantations and beaches... but also dark shadows of religious warring. Perhaps my father met your father. The RAF turned my dad into a meteorologist so Ceylon was just one of the many locations he visited.
DeleteSad story about the tsunami. People blame themselves for things out of their control and hold on to that far too long.
ReplyDeleteIt must have seemed so exotic for both you and Shirley, having lived your lives in such a different environment.
ReplyDeleteShirley is wearing the same expression I see on so many people's faces when they have been in Cozumel for a few days. The water and the sky and the peace take over and faces soften, smiles appear.