Day 2 Saturday

Day 2

For breakfast you could have any sort of curry you like but I had an egg hopper which was a crispy rice flour pancake in the shape of a bowl with a fried egg and chilli pickle in the middle. The tea was ok but to be honest a bit like Sainsbury’s own label. We had an early start so we’re on the coach by 8am. Can’t do that every day!  We had quite a long drive to the Golden Temple at Dambulla but it was broken up firstly by a stop at a fish drying community on the beach. Mackerel, sardines, whitebait, tuna and manta ray are gutted and filleted, soak in salt water and left to dry for several days in the sun on the beach.

The women folk have the back breaking job of turning the fish in 30 odd degrees.

Skinny dogs roam freely between the rows of fish but don’t even sniff the fish, mind you you could smell it a mile away. We were warned not to talk to the gypsies (Rodi) people on the beach. Some feigned interest in where you came from and offered to explain all the fish to you but you had to pay. They had pythons in baskets and they really did play a pipe to call it out. You had to pay to take a photo of him and a bit more to hold the snake. I passed.

Driving on through villages I spotted a few entertaining signs and shop names, “Try our tasty variants”. Fancy House, Imitation Jewellers, Lucky Beer Shop and my favourite, Shoppy Shop. Lots of tuc tucs but very plain unlike the Induan variety which are done up like Christmas trees and stalls set up by the roadside selling not just the expected fruit and veg but shoes, rag mats, piles of bricks and one stall just had a small pile of nuts and the council rent for this is £2 a month.   Our local guide Su gave a running commentary on Sri 

Lankan history, geography, culture and nature. On the latter subject he spoke extensively about the cockanut pluckers 😳.

We stopped for a tea break, yes really, at a lakeside restaurant in Kurunegala which means Elephant Rock City. We could see the Elephant Rock across the lake and there was a large seated Buddha on top.

There are 5 large outcrops of granite in this part on Sri Lanka named after 5 animals which 

were turned to stone -  the elephant, the tortoise, the monkey, the beetle and the eel but you have to use your imagination. Each has a Buddha as they believe that everything that falls under the gaze of the Buddha will have good luck. The tea however was served with 

hot sterilised milk so nul points for that 

On again for lunch at another very nice restaurant. There was a big buffet with lots of choice but even though the dishes were labelled In English, I had no idea what they were except some spicy chicken but the Lion beer was nice

Then a short ride to Dambulla and the caves of the Golden Buddha. It was a climb in 32degrees of about 200 steps which was bad enough.

So blinking hot, give us a grooming!

But at the top we had to remove our

shoes to walk into the holy area. Those of us with no socks quickly learned the ancient 

dance of the burning feet.   The caves were really a huge fissure in the granite but in the 8th wcentury were divided into 5 separate caves each with a resting Buddha or a lying Buddha 

at the point of death

The way to tell which is which is that the toes of the right foot are 

slightly further forward than those of the left on the dying Buddha. (Feet on the left)

There were also many statues of seated and standing Buddhas and the ceilings were still exotically painted.

At the bottom of the rick was the huge temple of the Golden Buddha with a queue of dozens of red robed monks waiting to approach him.

 I think Ronnie is heading off to join the holy queue in search of enlightenment

Back to the hotel hot and exhausted for a quick Lion Beer, followed by a shower and dinner. 

Day 1 Friday Ist Feb 2019

The cab arrived on time, the train arrived 5 minutes after we got to the station, the tube train was pulling up to the platform as we arrived and the Heathrow Express left 7 minutes after we boarded. Clockwork.  

We had set off very early as we wanted to get to Heathrow before the snow did. So we had several hours to kill and where better than a nice restaurant and bar?  While we charged up our phones for free, I checked out the shops and Ronnie wandered into the World of Whisky emporium. Some time later he wandered back having blagged several freebies of expensive whisky- £78 a bottle!

Time to go to the gate now and again everything went like clockwork. We were just hoping for seats  a) not near any very large people and b) not near any babies.  Guess what?  In the row in front was a lady with a young baby and two toddlers.  There was some discussion with the cabin crew as her husband and one child had been allocated seats 29 rows further back and he wanted to sit all together.  So we offered to change seats with him. When we got to Row 50 and our new seats - result!  Not only were we not near the babies but we had extra legroom!  We settled in and as we started to taxi down the runway, the snow started. Can’t believe how lucky we were. 

So here we are up to date and just waiting for the drinks trolley. Waves of relief are washing over Ronnie. He is a martyr to altitude sickness and has been advised to take quinine as soon as possible after takeoff. 

Wretched 11 hour flight in spite of extra legroom, as I hardly slept. Dinner was red curry,vegetable curry or salmon. Guess which I had. Breakfast was fish curry, vegetable curry or omelette.  Guess which I had. Not a big fan of curry although I survived a month In Nepal on various curries and dahl baht but would not choose it out of preference

When we touched down at Bandaranaike airport, things could not have been more different from Heathrow. No queues, smiling faces, baggage arrived quickly.   After

 immigration there was a long hall of duty free shops including, in fact mostly, white goods. I was tempted by a new fridge freezer but would it fit in my case?

In the arrivals hall there were huge adverts for Celestial Intellectual Opportunities???  Quick transfer to our hotel in Negombo. The town itself was founded by the Portuguese with a strong Catholic influence which continues today. Religious statues on most street corners and today was a religious festival so the school children were out in force to celebrate.

The girls’ uniform is white dresses and a red tie. No good if you spill your curry on it.

We arrived at our hotel to see a line of smiling young men in long skirts, David Beckham style. Our room is a bungalow facing the longest pool I have ever seen.

The room is very spacious and the bathroom is outside under the stars. But will we be able to find the loo if need to in the night?

Slept like the dead after not much sleep on the flight. Breakfast by the lagoon. As many kinds of curry as you like and lots of tubes, spaghetti, webby stuff all made from coconut necessary in the night?  The restaurant is facing a lagoon, just gorgeous, while the reception faces the ocean   We have mastered the Sinhalese words for hello “ ahyubovan” and thank you “istuti”.  Early start tomorrow so early night.