Galle & Unawatuna

SIGHTSEEING IN COLOMBO
Back in Colombo a few hours later I explored a few of the sites using the public buses - the Government residences, Galle Face Green, the SSC Cricket Ground and the shopping centre at Majestic City. When I got to the Fort railway station I ran into another familiar face - not a traveler but a local. Last time I saw him he startled me a little with his huge shock of thick black hair, wispy mustache and teeth stained red from chewing betel. He is a mute, which I figured out after much grunting and pointing, mainly on my part. He works for the tourist information centre at the station and his job is to point (literally) tourists in the right direction, namely to the tourist information centre or counter number 4, where people who have no idea how to queue Sri Lankan style should go to get their ticket. My friend saw me as I walked away from the counter with ticket in hand and gave me the thumbs up when he saw that I had managed to figure it out on my own. I made a point of going to the tourist information centre to let them know what a great job he was doing. He was truly a genuine chap and wouldn't accept any kind of tip - not even a swig of water from my bottle.

Chased by an elephant

THE DRAGON OF GALLE FORT
Off the train in Galle I found a quiet guesthouse near the Neptune Bastion inside the Fort and watched the sunset. As the afternoon drifted into the evening the sky turned pink, then a brilliant red as the sun sank into the Indian Ocean and the waves continued their relentless assault on the unforgiving rocks.

In the morning I ate breakfast beside the sea at the Rampart Hotel then walked anti-clockwise around the top of the Fort walls past Flag Rock and the lighthouse. All around the perimeter were couples hiding under umbrellas - out of the hot sun and away from prying eyes. At the main gate I found a nice grassy area sloping down towards the cricket ground and the city so I lay down, using my bag as a pillow, and gazed at the view. I was thinking about how open the cricket ground was when a man approached me with a box of old coins he was looking to offload. He had some old Dutch coins from the 18th century so I bought a few of them and we chatted for a few minutes. He took much pride in telling me that Sri Lanka once beat New Zealand in a test here inside three days. I wasn't surprised. He left so I closed my eyes and hitched my shorts up to get some sun on my legs.

Shortly afterwards someone else walked up behind me as I lay still. With my eyes closed I blurted out a quick 'hullow' and waited for a reply - but none came. Knowing that someone was standing behind me I opened my eyes and slowly turned my head away from the sun to see a 3-foot monitor lizard sitting not 6 feet from me with his head propped up looking over his domain, which included me. At this stage I weighed up my options; two strategies entered my head simultaneously. The first comes from my old friend Pillow and is generally used for getting in to and out of scuffles late at night in Wellington - curl into a ball and squeal like a pig. The second comes from a South Park episode and is especially useful for natural disasters such as avalanches and lava flows - duck and cover. What I ended up doing was a typical Ian reaction when faced with imminent danger. I screamed like a girl. But before a sound came from my mouth the lizard quickly shuffled away. There was a chance that he was more startled than I was, but it was only a slim chance. Not wanting any further surprises I decided to stay on my feet for a while. I carried on walking around the Fort and saw another three lizards after that but none as big as the one that disturbed my slumber. Thoughts turned to the six-foot lizard I saw with the Beige Brigade last week near the Elephant Orphanage.

Sunset over the Indian Ocean

The Galle Cricket Ground

UNAWATUNA BEACH
The moon shaped beach at Unawatuna is a charming place packed with friendly restaurants and guesthouses with names like Pink Elephant, Happy Coconut, Banana Garden and Heaven on Earth. Unlike Hikkaduwa the street behind the beach is quiet and the surf is relatively calm. The beach itself is lined with massive King Coconut palms weighed down with large orange-coloured drinking coconuts called 'Thambili'.

Unawatuna beach

When I arrived at the beach one of the hawkers was trying to sell some wooden masks to a German couple. The man was trying to walk away, obviously disinterested, but after being continuously hounded finally turned and yelled "Do you know what it is means no?" in a thick German accent, to which the hawker replied "No" and continued with the mask routine. I managed to take a wide berth around them and chuckled at what is a more than familiar reaction from a weary traveler. I have been guilty of being that abrupt in the past, although I have always done so with perfect English.

I spent two days unwinding at the Sunset Inn, an intriguing name given that you can't see the sunset from there or anywhere else in Unawatuna for that matter. For much of the time I either sat on the beach or outside my room writing postcards and looking for monitor lizards in the back garden. The choice of seafood at the beachfront restaurants was varied and over the course of a few meals I tried Seer, Cuttlefish (Calamari) twice and lobster. Breakfast was supplied as part of my stay at Sunset and included fresh pineapple, papaya, coffee and partially toasted toast, also known as bread. The Sunset Inn owns the weakest toaster on the planet. It was a pleasant place to while away a couple of days but I wanted to return to Colombo for some last minutes shopping before flying back to India.

POST OFFICE COMEDY
A few weeks ago in Rajasthan I bought a large Rajasthani wall rug weighing about 3kg. Today I decided to send it home to free up some space in my backpack to make room for some new clothes that Sara had sent me in Sri Lanka. After breakfast I wandered down to the local Post Office with the rug in a plastic bag and walked up to the parcel post window where a woman was there to greet me. She inspected the rug and then told me I needed a box. I pointed to an empty one behind the counter and asked if that one would do. She said it was okay but I needed some wrapping paper and some twine. "Do you have any here?" I asked, but she told me to go across the road to the shopping centre and buy some there. Across the street I found all manner of birthday wrapping paper and eventually some plain brown paper and a roll of wonder tape. Outside the shopping was an old man sitting on the ground with one hand missing, begging for money. I stopped, opened my bag and gave him my trusty green t-shirt - the one I had worn religiously for the past year. It was clean but a little worn. That didn't seem to bother the old man as his face lit up with a big beaming smile. Back at the Post Office the clerk switched the rug to a smaller box and I started wrapping it in brown paper. After about 11 seconds another clerk took the box from me and insisted on doing it himself. Five others joined the clerk and together they worked feverishly for half an hour. The end result was a shabby looking thing with wonder tape and flaps of paper hanging off at the corners. I nervously wrote Sara's address in Chicago on one side and my name and guesthouse address on the bottom. I also wrote 'Sea Mail' in big letters on the top. After filling out the customs forms and having the box weighed (3kg even) I went to the stamp counter and purchased 1,670 rupees (US$16) worth of stamps - no fewer than 23 stamps. Where was I supposed to put them? I looked at the pile of stamps and the box and wondered how I was going to get them all on properly. Again the box was whisked away from me before I could start and the same packaging team covered the box with stamps on the front back and all the sides. It looked so ridiculous that I had them pose with the box when they had finished while I took a photograph. It was covered in stamps, wonder tape, glue, some kind of Sri Lankan export stamp and finished off with complimentary twine. I looked at the box as they took it away wondering if I would ever see it again.
"Will it get there in time for Christmas?" I asked.
"Christmas this year? Maybe." came the reply.

Dambulla for the cricket

VESAK
It passed by without incident, apart from a two-hour bus journey during which I was forced to stand the entire way. The Sri Lankans celebrated Vesak (the festival of lights and lanterns) while I treated myself to Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). The elephants were out in full force, covered in elaborate costumes and decorated somewhat haphazardly. Yesterday was one year since Sara and I packed up our apartment and drove out of Dallas. So much has happened in that time and there is still much to be done before it's over. We have agreed that June 30th is the end date - I'll be back in Chicago by then, and we'll both be in London about a month after that.

Decorated elephant 

BACK TO THE CRICKET
After a brief stop in Colombo to refresh my CD collection and have a hot shower I went back to tiny Dambulla to watch the last of the cricket games. New Zealand beat Sri Lanka in a thrilling match and I met five other London-based Kiwi's, all from my hometown in New Zealand - Tim, Shane, Carey, Grant & Tane. As it turns out I knew two of them from University but hadn't been good at keeping in touch. They had come to Sri Lanka to watch some cricket and in doing so had been to a local tailor to have replica kits of the 1980's New Zealand cricket team made.

In New Zealand fans who wear the 1980's kit are known as the 'Beige Brigade' after the colour of the strip. The following day we lost to Pakistan but the New Zealand team had already booked themselves a place in the final against Pakistan two days later. I returned with the Beige Brigade to their hotel in Negombo (north of Colombo) and spent a few days with them before making the return trip to Dambulla for the final - this time I had my own beige outfit and we were six. The final was a memorable game with New Zealand looking strong throughout and winning quite easily. By far the highlight of the Sri Lankan section of the trip was getting to pose in photographs with the team and the trophy they had just captured. For a keen fan like myself there is nothing to compare with getting that close to the action. Many of the team members thanked us for our support and the coach, Dennis Aberhart, made a point of coming over to talk to us after the players had left the field.

With the New Zealand cricket team after winning the final

Posing with the sponsors, including the motorbike Brendon McCullum won

ONE MORE WEEK
I have another seven nights in Sri Lanka so I will use this time to visit one of the fine coastal cities, Galle, before returning to Colombo to do some shopping. With just over a month to go it's now time to start stocking up on goodies for family, friends and myself. I'll be back in India for a short time and then back to Thailand before flying home.

BRING BACK BEIGE
The Beige Boys headed back to London early (4am) on Monday 26th May so I graciously stayed on in one of their hotel rooms until a more reasonable hour before taking the back exit on to the beach and down to Negombo town. As far as Browns Beach holiday resort knows, Ian Warner never stayed there for 5 nights on the floor in Tane and Carey's room. I was a ghost. Thanks guys.

Dambulla & Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka

DAMBULLA

We had a great time in Dambulla at the cricket. New Zealand outplayed Pakistan in their first match then lost a close one to Sri Lanka a few days later. In the rest day we went to see the impressive Cave Temples in town and then climbed the ancient fortress atop a massive rock in Sigiriya, 22km from Dambulla. After climbing Adams Peak a few days earlier, Sigiriya didn't seem that much of a challenge but with tight calves in the midday heat it was still very difficult. The ascent takes you past some well preserved erotic frescoes of Sigiriya damsels, a shiny wall with 1500 year old graffiti and through a giant set of lions paws carved from rock. The summit was blustery but being a strong Wellington lad I was able to cope with the wind better than my Hawkes Bay and Auckland companions. The views were fantastic despite the low lying cloud.

Dambulla is nestled in an area known as the 'Golden Triangle' because of the abundance of natural wonders and ancient ruins. After the loss to Sri Lanka we created our own golden triangle of 15 bottles of Carlsberg's at the local 'Arrack and Parrott' pub.

NZ & Pakistan flags at the cricket in Sri Lanka

Plantains

CINNAMON GARDENS

Now I find myself in Sri Lanka's bustling capital city, Colombo. With attractive suburb names like Hulftsdorp, Slave Island and Cinnamon Gardens it always sounded somewhat romantic. And it is in a way. I'm staying at a house next door to the French Embassy in Cinnamon Gardens - a quiet leafy part of town with some lovely stately homes. The house is a wonderful example of modern architecture with large open spaces, long horizontal lines and sweeping staircases. One entire wall of my room is windowed with views over the garden and courtyard below. The opposite wall is only three quarters of the height of the ceiling but high enough to allow complete privacy. It's like something Frank Lloyd Wright could of dreamed up. I'm not long there though as this afternoon I catch the train to Hikkaduwa to have a few days on the beach before returning to Dambulla for the last of the cricket matches.

Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

ADAMS PEAK
After the cricket test in Kandy finished, Phil headed back to Australia and I headed south to Nuwara Eliya to meet up with two Kiwis I had met at the game - Greg Collinge and Danielle Benjamin. They had also come to Sri Lanka to watch some of the cricket but mostly to see some of the country. They had both been living in London and now were on their way back to the Hawkes Bay in New Zealand to open up a guesthouse near Greg's hometown. When I arrived in Nuwara Eliya I called their cell phone a few times before finally getting through and met them in the main street of town. After finding a place to stay we headed out to the Pedro Tea Estate for a tour of the factory. It was just the three of us and the guide wandering through the different sections of the factory, occasionally picking up and smelling handfuls of tea in different stages of refinement. The tour concluded with the compulsory tea tasting in the guestroom overlooking the estate.

The setting for the Pedro Estate tea plantation

The tea leaf pickers

Tea leaves

Smelling some of the finished product

The following morning we were up at 4am for the two hour drive to the base of Adams Peak, marked by a 30m high standing Buddha statue. We had got ourselves a van and driver for the day. It began to rain lightly and the clouds closed in but it was a superb walk spoilt only by the amount of rubbish and stray dogs. By the time we made the summit I was dripping with sweat and my shirt soaked through. Adams Peak, the 2,224m mountain in the heart of the Sri Lankan hill country is the nations 4th highest peak.

Buddha foot

Depending on which legend you want to believe, Adams Peak is either;
     i) the place where Adam left his footprint after being kicked out of heaven,
     ii) the place where Buddha left an impression of his foot,
     iii) the place where Shiva left an impression of his foot or
     iv) Butterfly Mountain, where butterflies come to die.

The sacred 'footprint' in the rock is surrounded by a bland temple and a small shrine. Lower down is a charmless concrete assembly hall for the pilgrims to congregate in. The first thing I noticed was the massive amount of brilliantly coloured butterflies around the temple. Sadly though there were many more on the ground, either crushed underfoot or simply expired. After seeing this I felt more inclined to believe definition iv above. It was at the same time beautiful and tragic that these harmless creatures should come here to sacrifice themselves.

Reclining Buddha

Many pilgrims had made the trip up to the peak. Some where still hovering around the temple at the top but the majority of them had walked down already smiling at us as we made the ascent. They had made the trip up much earlier in the morning in the hope of watching the sunrise but there was no chance of that today. On the way down I took turns with Danielle and Greg counting the number of steps we had walked up - it came to 4,466. After a quick stretch we drove via Kandy for lunch further north to Dambulla for the start of the One Day Cricket series between Pakistan, New Zealand and the hosts Sri Lanka.

Kandy, Sri Lanka

DAY 350 - CEYLON
May 2nd marked a number of important milestones for me. 350 days since leaving home, two weeks shy of one year, first time on Sri Lankan Airlines and my first time to Sri Lanka. Arriving in a new place it's always the little differences that make the biggest impressions. First impressions are usually lasting and my first impressions of Sri Lanka were very good. The airport was quiet and the immigration procedures didn't take long and before I knew it I had changed some money and was ready to head for Kandy, the hill town where Phil was staying. Outside of the airport were various security staff but what got my attention straight away were the female officers wearing knee length skirt uniforms with ankle socks. Every single one of them had hairy legs. What a thing to notice first off.

It was just as hot as India so I didn't appreciate the fact that the air-conditioned bus to the city, 30km to the south, wasn't running. Instead I walked about a kilometre to the junction and caught a public non air-con bus to the busy Bastion Mawatha bus station in Colombo. As soon as I leapt off the bus I was almost run over by another one which, purely by coincidence, was heading to Kandy so I got the last seat, next to the driver and watched in horror for the next three hours at the suicidal Sri Lankan driving. No corner is ever too blind enough to attempt overtaking, no following distance too close. Maybe it was because I watched the road the whole time that I felt as if we could die any minute because the other passengers in the back seemed oblivious to the danger we were all in. Our driver was relatively inexperienced and it seemed at times he didn't really trust what he was doing. A number of times we came roaring up beside a truck or bus trying to overtake, only to pull back at the last minute and tuck in behind one second before another bus or truck came hurtling past in the other direction. The scenery was nice though and the countryside around Kandy is spectacular. It took me longer than usual to finally get my bearings in town but once I found the lake I just followed Phil's directions up to the guesthouse overlooking the lake. I last saw Phil at the All Bar One in Covent Garden the day before we flew to Russia so it had been about 350 days since I saw him last.

KANDY
Phil had given me directions to the guesthouse in Kandy so once I found my bearings I walked uphill through the main street past 'The Pub', around the lake, past the tree that smells like hash and up the hill to the Lake Inn guesthouse. After a few minutes Phil emerged. It was great to see him again after nearly a year - we went to school together in Wainuiomata and shared a flat in London for a year or so. He has a reputation as being New Zealand's biggest cricket fan and the reason for being in Kandy is to watch the second cricket test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Awesome for a cricket fan like me but dead boring if you don't follow it. For the record, after five days the game ended in a draw but we had an excellent time sitting in the sun for the most part, enjoying some of the local three coin lager.

Waving the flag randomly - maybe a wicket, maybe a four. Who knows?

After almost a week in Kandy, walking around on foot most of the time, I began to notice a relatively unique phenomenon. It was as I was walking uphill through the main street past 'The Pub', around the lake, past the tree that smells like hash and up the hill to the Lake Inn guesthouse that I realised that it's not very often you walk up hill towards a lake. It was weird but not quite as weird as the tree that smelled like hash. I spent a lot of time beside that tree looking out over the lake. Sniffing.

THREE COINS
This is a quote from the back of the 650ml bottle of Three Coins lager;

"When consumed in moderation, Three Coins is an ideal thirst quencher, a mild relaxant or an excellent lubricant for social intercourse."