WEATHER: Hot and steamy 31C
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Met my guide this morning-Indika
BUMMER OF THE DAY: New group jitters
WORD OF THE DAY: Intrepid
Guides ROCK
THANKS TO ALL MY
WATER CHARITY DONATIONS SO FAR:
Lisa
Jones, Lisa
Farrugia, Michele
McEachern, Jude
Mills, Julia
Elton-Bott, Pamela
L. Zander Suhr, Robert
Poole, Simon
Hooker, Jamie
Anderson, Paul
Mills, Liz Jones and
Kaitlin Ellis xx
This afternoon I meet my fellow travelers for the next 2
weeks. I got a phone call this morning
at 9am saying that I would be staying in my room and that someone would be
joining me sometime today-woo hoo I didn’t have to pack up all my stuff and
move. They did ask me to come downstairs
and sign new paperwork for it was an Intrepid accommodation night tonight. So I went and had breakfast and then stopped
by reception on my way back to my room firstly to collect my washing and sign
these papers. Well as it turned out I
have to move rooms, but the room was being cleaned so she would call me when it
was done and the bellboy would come for my bag.
My Intrepid leader was in reception, so it was nice to
meet him this morning. His name is
Indika and he looks quite sweet. I was
given some paperwork to fill in before the meeting this afternoon and if I had
any questions to just ask. I did ask
about an ATM and he said we will stop by a bank tomorrow and if I needed any
money he could give me some now and I could pay him back tomorrow. That’s nice, but as it was the hotel took
credit card so I could settle my bill on that and keep the cash, and I will
just get some more from the ATM tomorrow.
So back to the reception desk I then paid for my meals for the last 3
days and also my washing which all came to 9180LKR and my washing was 2238LKR
of that which is around 17AUD and I am thinking that is quite expensive, I
think I have been ripped off there, but with it all done and in a bag next to
me I really don’t have a leg to stand on do I.
So I paid it all up and went back to my room to pack all my crap. Now knowing how hot it is here I don’t need
some of the clothes in my bag and was thinking of leaving some stuff here at
the hotel, which usually wouldn’t be an issue but we are not coming back here
to Negombo, we are staying at Colombo for the last night and my flight leaves,
LEAVES at 7.20am on departure day. I may
speak to Indika this afternoon and see if maybe we can get the stuff sent to
the hotel in Colombo this afternoon maybe?
We’ll see. I got the call at
11.30am that I could now change rooms, so with the bellboy showing me to the
room, we passed 3 people on the stairs and I just had a feeling that maybe one
of them was my roomie. We turned up to
the room and my roomie had already left with the key, so I think it must have
been them, so we headed back to reception and I saw the ladies and the
gentleman we had passed and I asked if one of them was in room 23 and Lenore
piped up she was. So I introduced myself
and then headed back to the room as they headed for lunch. Didn’t get a good vibe, but we won’t be
judging any books by their covers just yet.
The new room was similar to my last one, maybe mine was a
little nicer but the problem being there are NO power points in the room that I
have a charger for. The TV and fridge
have plugs and are those funky triple holes and there is a spare triple hole in
the bathroom, no European plugs to be seen.
Useless. So I will need to ask
reception of they have an adapter and I may have to find one on my travels if
they exist. I can’t not have flat
electronics and I also can’t be the only person in the world to not have an
adapter for Sri Lankan plugs. At the end
of the day as long as the air-conditioning is working and I can somehow charge
my gadgets, what else could I possibly need?
The afternoon was spent at the restaurant where I had lunch, loaded a
blog and back to the room for a LLD (little lie down) before our meeting at
5.30pm. I wonder what kind of group we
are going to have.
So we all met at reception at 5.30pm and then Indika took
us upstairs to one of the function rooms (air-conditioned) and ran through the
tour, the do’s, the don’ts, what to expect blah blah blah. Points from the meeting that I thought
interesting:
· 4 years ago if you had of come to Sri Lanka it
would have been a different country as they were still fighting a 30 year war
with the Tamils and the Singhalese.
60,000 men lost their lives during this period, all over pieces of land-isn’t
it always territorial or religious reasons these things start!?
· Some of our hotels/guest houses we will have to
pay 500LDK (4AUD) for the air-conditioning –YES YES
· The accommodations will be simple but
clean-anything else will be a bonus
· Look after your keys as some places DON’T have
master key- Uh Oh
· If you have Mossie coils in your room make sure
they are near anything flammable-death by mossie coil
· Sri Lankans eat with their hands-good practice
for me for Ethiopia
· Phone calls from phone centres are .40c a
minute-from hotels 1.20 a minute
· Wi-Fi connections sound promising at most
places-internet cafes are 77c for an hour……
· There are 3 main languages in Sri Lanka-Singhalese,
Tamil and English
· Costs for meals not included are approx.: 600LKR
(4.60AUD) breakfast, 800LKR (6AUD) for lunch and 1100LKR (8.50AUD) for
dinner. Soft drinks are 100LKR (75cAUD)
and beers are 250LKR (1.92AUD)
Indika briefly went into the Tamil Tigers and their history,
but says that it is not so dangerous now but I am sure everyone has heard of
Tamil Tigers. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam;
commonly known as the LTTE or the Tamil Tigers was a separatist militant
organization that was based in northern Sri Lanka.
Founded in May 1976 it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an
independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil people. This campaign evolved into the Sri Lankan Civil War, which ran from 1983
until 2009, when the LTTE was defeated by the Sri Lankan Military. At the height of its power, the LTTE
possessed a well-developed militia and carried out many high-profile attacks,
including the assassinations of several high-ranking Sri Lankan and Indian
politicians. The LTTE is the only separatist militant organization to
assassinate two world leaders: Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 and former Indian Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. Civilian massacres, suicide
bombings and acts of ethnic
cleansing were
integral parts of its pursuit to create a monoethnic Tamil Eelam. The LTTE pioneered the use of suicide belts, and used light aircraft in some of its
attacks. As a result of its
tactics, it is currently proscribed as a terrorist organization by 32
countries, but has extensive support amongst the Sri Lankan Tamil
diaspora in Europe and
North America, and amongst some Tamils in India.
I like the way that Indika phrased that sometimes we will
have to sacrifice our own happiness for the sake of the group. That’s a nice way to put it. Sacrifice our own happiness. I like it.
There is a Buddhist saying that the most important time is NOW and the
most important person is you. We were
also offered a tipping kitty which I love the idea of, so we all put in 3800LKR
(29AUD) for the 15 days and then Indika looks after all the tips for us. Yes please, that sounds great. There were a few murmurs on this from the
group and I think tipping really is tough on every single traveler. It can be uncomfortable, awkward and everyone
has an opinion on whether to tip or not.
I am a tipper, if people deserve it then I tip well and if they don’t I
am sad to say I am still a tipper, but I may not leave the full amount unless
the service has been super bad, then I won’t leave a penny. Each to their own and at the end of the day
it is what you think they should get and it shouldn’t matter what one person
gives to the next. I just get upset when
guides/leaders have gone out of their way to help in some form and then are not
tipped properly…… but that is just me.
So there are 12 of us on the trip plus Indika makes
13. I like that size group, not too many
and not too small. It is an older crowd,
but having not spoken to the 2 young girls from Northern Ireland, we have had a
laugh during the meeting, so I think I may have found some partners for the
trip and the 2 kiwi’s Gary and Sue (who are living in the UK) seem like they will
also be good value. All the others seem
nice, but I just haven’t yet had a chance to know them properly yet. But it is always nice to get a connection
straight up with people and know that you are on the same wave length and have
people you will enjoy this magic experience with. I have wanted to come to Sri Lanka for a long
time so it is pretty cool that I am here now and after meeting the group, our
tour leader and the Sri Lankan people I think I am going to have a marvelous
time for the next 2 weeks. I am still
worried about this walk for 1.5 days, I will need to speak to Indika about
that, but otherwise the itinerary looks amazing.
I would also like to share some excerpts from our welcome
notes.
Please tell me if you have any problems, you feel unwell
or anything happens of which I should be aware.
Unfortunately nobody has taught me the skills of mind reading yet…..
Please always be positive in your approach to every
situation. We want to create enough good
Karma to stop wars. If you have a problem
or something you want to complain about please come to me. Others on the trip do not want to hear about
it. But I do.
In return for your co-operation I will give you 110%
Culture shock, like altitude sickness can hit anyone, you
may suffer mild symptoms of disorientation and alienation to serious loss of
confidence, which may have you acting strangely childlike. DO NOT PANIC. This is not bad this is you simply adjusting
to your surroundings. A little time,
knowledge and experience will soon have you eating with your hands and chanting
with the monks.
You are embarking on an adventure, and may have spent a
lot of time and money getting this far.
From now on, I recommend you expect the unexpected. Leave your Western ideals at home as there is
no place in Sri Lanka for them. Enjoy
the difference after all this is the reason why we travel in the first place.
I am offering you a trip of a lifetime-it’s up to you to
enjoy it-Lets go make some memories.
I like all that and it was on a list that contained a few
more ‘words of wisdom’. The meeting
concluded an hour later at 6.30pm and then we were all meeting at 7pm to catch
tuk tuks to a restaurant for dinner.
Dinner was on a beach. Literally our feet in the sand and because we
were next to the ocean I decided to go with grilled prawns and they were
delicious. I am not sure how I am going
to go with the staple food of Sri Lanka being curry, but as long as they aren’t
too spicy I will be able to handle it, but I am not sure I can do 15 days of
the stuff. It takes me back to my India
trip when Drew and I had never eaten Indian food before our 16 days trip and
then when we got home we never ate Indian food again. 16 days was too much for me and I got
violently ill on my last day and have pretty much sworn me off Indian fare for
life. I got to know Serena and Melissa
better over dinner and we all decided to walk back to the hotel, which was only
15 minutes away passing a church that was having a large outdoor mass as part
of a religious ceremony that was happening all week. So we watch for a few minutes before getting
back to the hotel at 9pm and I retired to air AIR-CONDITIONED room to read and
repack. I have decided that the monster
is too BIG for public transport on this trip and have decided to leave a bunch
of stuff that I will definitely not need while I am here including a beanie,
gloves, jeans, cardigan, dress tops, IPad just to name a few things. By the time I had used the bag I had bought
in Thailand to house all this stuff I seriously think I have taken at least
10kg out of the monster and I have also detached the front backpack leaving
that behind and it totally looks like a new bag and not so scary and monster
looking. I will then either come back to
Negombo to collect the bag or we get it delivered to the Colombo hotel when we
get back, but either way I am so glad I did it and now have a spring in my
step!
So I have now met my new group and I think I am going to
be okay.
I’m looking forward to this trip, even though it is hot
as an oven here and can’t wait to hit the road tomorrow.
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