Moving on to Induruwa

---

Woke at 5am with period pains. Great, just what I needed - and unexpected. Had some coffee on the balcony at 6.45am and watched the tankers out at sea.

Ask anybody who knows me and they'll tell you how thorough I am at packing for my holidays. I'm using a packing list I've had for years and there is nothing essential that isn't on there. But (and you knew there was a but) this time, I did not bring any sanitary protection whatsoever. I broke the golden rule of never travelling without tampax - expecially in a developing country.

Before breakfast, we went to the hotel shop. There is a small cabinet with toiletries and stuff in it, but they didn't have tampax, only pads. I bought some and asked the girl where I might get tampons. She said that I'd get some in Galle, or maybe a pharmacy.

I wasn't so happy, apart from having stomach cramps and generally feeling crap, my last morning at the Fortress was ruined! I'd planned a lovely last swim there before our car picked us up at 11. Ah well. Instead, we packed our cases and I sat in the shade and watched Roy swim. Then we went for breakfast. Roy had beans on toast and buns, I had potato curry, coconut roti, onion sambal and milk rice.

Our driver was bang on time and we paid our bill, said our farewells and set off in search of Tampax. My goodness, what a palaver!

The driver stopped for us at a pharmacy - they said they had some, but after 15 minutes rummaging round in the back room, an assistant came back out and said no. The next shop, Food City, had a fabulous array of towels and pads - but no tampons. When I asked I was met with a blank stare. "Shampoo? Pampers?". No, tampons. "What is it for?". I never dreamed I'd be in shops full of male assistants declaring my need for tampons and describing that they were for "women's periods. Female menstruation". They didn't seem to understand either. Nor did the women in the shops know what I wanted. This performance was repeated in 8 shops in total. The shame. Actually, I had no shame - I wasn't willing to spend the last two days of my holiday in this hot country without being able to swim!

Our driver just knew I was looking for "women's things" (I did want to retain some decorum with him) but I think he got the drift. He spoke excellent English. Eventually I remembered what the girl in the hotel told me - that I'd get some in Cargill's Food City in Galle. I told the driver and he dropped us in the new part of Galle City and pointed to where Cargills was. We dash in (with a quick stop only to take photographs of the betting shop next door!). Hurrah! Success! I bought the last two packets of tampons on the shelf.

Finally, we can head to Saman Villas, our next, and final, hotel. As we drove up the drive to the entrance we passed a small group of tuk tuks and drivers (collective noun: a Nuisance of tuk tuk drivers?) standing under a tree. One of them was speaking on a mobile phone and he turned to watch us going through in the car and his face was a treat - the slow, broad smile that broke out as he spied fresh blood! Hilarious!

Saman Villas are lovely - feels very "rustic" compared to the ultra modern Fortress. The room is fine, although it has an outdoors bathroom. I find the notion of these always more attractive than the reality. They stay very hot and during the night they're full of insects. I also don't like the covering on the bedroom floor - it's like matting. I'd have preferred tiles throughout. Apart from that, Saman is ok!

We sat by the pool (under the shade of a brolly) for a long time and then have tea. Next we headed back to unpack and cool down in our room. They've left us a bottle of bubbly and a fruit hamper - complete with whole papaya, pineapple, 12 bananas, and more!

It feels very, very, very hot today. We did ask about moving to a room on the other side of the resort (which is on a headland) as it seems breezier there. Apparently there are none free, which seems odd as the hotel is very quiet with hardly any people around.

We went for a short walk on the beach at 5.30pm - we only got hassled once and he backed off pretty fast when we said no thanks. Then we had a beer and watched the sun set. A big storm at sea seems to be closing in. I decided to take my outdoor shower before dark just in case the power went out! The water was only lukewarm.

We'd opted for the set menu at dinner, which I thought was fairly steep at 3,900 rupees. We both had thai seafood salad, followed by tomato soup (very good). Then passion fruit sorbet. Roy - seer with horseradish and veg (bland). Jan - chicken and duck roulade with mash, veg, madeira sauce. Lumpy mash. Didn't like the roulade at all - horrible texture. The choc chip mousse in a brandy basket with orange sauce was nice, if very sweet. Then we had coffee and baileys (which we'd sneaked in with us).

During dinner, students from the Ruhuna Ballet school (4 girls, one bloke) did six dances. They were very good.

I wasn't feeling great tonight - too much sun/heat? Adn so we were in bed by 10. I was up in the night a lot for various things and wasn't loving the huge cockroach and assortment of mossies in the outdoor bathroom. Roy was awake from 2am. Not a great night for either of us!

---

Photos

Pool, Fortress hotel
Looking down from jacuzzi end toward main pool

Tuk Tuk drivers
Awaiting their prey

Bookies in Galle
Betting shop next door to Cargills

Induruwa beach
South from Saman Villas