Day 12 Tuesday

The journey home

We have had a wake up call everyday from reception which our tour rep, Francesca, arranged. It should have been for 6am but it never came!  And coincidentally Ronnie did not set his alarm which he has done on every other day. The upshot was we woke at 6.30am so had 15 mins to complete the packing and get ourselves washed and dressed. There was smoke coming from our shoes but we made it. Paid the bill and had our last breakfast which by now is standard for me - exotic fruit and buffalo curd with treacle (made from the cockanut flower sap, remember?), followed by an egg hopper and a croissant, because I like them. Tea is not bad at all. It is made from loose tea and just the right strength for me so I am going to say that it is probably the nearest I will get to the perfect cuppa I set out to find

The drive to the airport in Colombo took 2 hours 30 minutes and much of it was along the new toll expressway. Thank goodness for that, as it takes ages to drive through towns and villages. Su chatted to us about various interesting facts about Sri Lanka

For example Sri Lanka has been a republic since gaining its independence from Britain in 1948.  There are 2 elections, one to elect the members of parliament and a separate one to elect the president.  Su takes Sri Lankan politicians with a pinch of salt. He says everyone calls the current president Mr Bean. He says every year he makes a speech about the state of the country and all the good things he is going to do and then does nothing for the rest of the year. Presidents seem to grow rich while in office and like to lead a conspicuously comfortable lifestyle. We saw the President’s helicopter waiting for him on the lawn of the Police Headquarters, barely enough room to turn round!  There is a lot of nepotism and corruption in politics and even the traffic police will stop you on a bogus charge but let you off if you make a cash contribution to the Police Benevolent Fund. However Sri Lanka is not categorised as a poor country anymore. It has an international rating as a country with medium income. Education is compulsory and free right up to and including university and there is a literacy rate of 97%. Uk literacy rate is said to be 99% but it is not reported to the UNESCO list. Wonder why?. Outside every school there is always a large board with photos of all the children on it. There is no slave labour here. The minimum age for working is 17 years. Tourism and tea are of course the main industries but the clothing industry is growing now and I think you could probably buy their clothes with a clear conscience. I do remember buying something from M&S and being surprised to see it was made in Sri Lanka. Nice change from China. 

Interesting facts 

• Electricity and telephone wire poles are made of concrete as termites eat the wooden ones which then fall down and disrupt supply
• The British set up lots of pony clubs and race courses in Sri Lanka but after Independence, the Sri Lankan government banned it. I think it was to do with gambling which is frowned upon by some sections of the community 
• There are lots of nomadic wasps in Sri Lanka. They build huge nests (there were several in the Temple of the Tooth), make an absolute nuisance of themselves for a few days, then move on. At the Temple we had again to remove our shoes but this time we had learned another ancient dance of dodging the dead wasps and bird poo. 
• 51% of the workforce are women and they still go home to shop, cook, clean and look after the kids in 33 degrees!
• Because of the mix of religions, Buddhists, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Tamil, there are 24 religious holidays per year which added to statutory holidays means they get 45 days holiday a year. Very nice but Su said it wreaked havoc with government services. You could wait months for a simple permit for example
• Statues of Buddha are revered. They don’t like you taking a photo of the Buddha in his lying pose as it is often a depiction of his death (right foot slightly ahead of the left) and you may never take a photo posing in front of Buddha as your back is turned on him which is very disrespectful. Buddha’s various hand poses each have a meaning. Palms together means meditation. Palm facing forward means reassurance.  Palm facing sideways means warding off evil. First finger and thumb touching means preaching. 2 middle fingers in a fist means explaining. When Buddha wears a hat it means wisdom

What I have found amusing when on the coach, are the street signs and advertising slogans. On the way to the airport was a sign saying BEWARE OF PEACOCKS. Another sign in our hotel gardens in Yala said WILD ANIMALS ROAMING AT DUSK, oooooh!.  I saw the evidence next day!  There was a street hoarding advertising scooters, which are massively popular here. It said “See the world in a new light with a scooter”. I thought that was a bit of an exaggeration. They seem also to like the white European models on their adverts for beauty products, jewellery, clothing and their are wedding shops galore. It’s obviously very big business. 

But there is a strange mix of old fashioned colonial and modern aspirational everywhere. They want to keep the traditional, the deferential and, to us, quaint  but at the same time embrace the new, the hip, the tech. So you will get a shop selling brooms made from the central stalk of a cockanut leaf, next to a mobile phone shop. 

Anyway we arrived at the airport in Colombo. It’s a lovely airport, not huge but bright and modern and could be in any city in the world. We said goodbye to Su who has been wonderful.l learned he is 46 but he looks about 30. So unfair.  While in the queue to check in, a polite assistant asked us if we would like to make a new queue at a desk which had just opened. We almost fell over our cases rushing over. So very little queuing. Once inside the departures lounge we realised we had micromanaged our rupees brilliantly and we only had about 50p. between us. That’s because the Sri Lankan rupee is a closed currency and you can only buy and sell it in Sri Lanka. However that did mean we didn’t have enough for a drink. Well you can’t pay with a credit card for a coffee!

The flight was on time but there were 2 little girls who screamed relentlessly for the first hour or two as they ran up and down the aisle. Fortunately fish curry was not on the menu this time and the wine was free flowing so all good on the refreshment front. So that was it. Sri Lanka done and dusted. Great holiday, lovely place and lovely people. 

PS. I thought you might like to hear a little more about my experience in the Ayurvedic centre so I’m ending with that. Thanks for reading my blog. 

And by the way, I do know how to spell COCONUT.