Blogs from Western Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 28

We were taken, first thing in the morning to the Tropic Inn proper. After a hearty breakfast of toast and Ceylon tea (well you’ve got to!) we were shown our room. The room was lovely with Aircon, cable TV and wireless internet; it was great, especially for the price. Our first day and we were jet lagged so just a stroll down the beach and up to the main road sufficed. We found a big shop, bought some snacks and two, very tasteful, flashing, Santa hats (for Christmas day of course). That evening we ate in our hotels restaurant, it was nice and very reasonable too. We spent the night calling our families using Skype (best invention since the interweb!). Next day was spent sleeping and being generally confused as our jet lag hit us like ... read more

I arrived home on Saturday 19th November and I am booked to leave the UK again on Sunday 27th November. I had a good few days at home catching up with friends and family and sleep. My sleeping pattern has been strange since I returned. I keep waking at about 06.00 and feeling tired by about 16.00. My pictures have come out fantastic. Seeing them on a 17” computer screen is a real treat. I have been feeling very tired this week. Currently I have absolutely no energy. Maybe it is my body subliminally creating the energy reserves I am likely to need in the next four weeks. As the departure date draws nearer I am feeling very excited about this trip. I think it will be rewarding and adventurous to travel independently for the first ... read more

The only surprise waiting for me in Colombo when I arrived was how routine it all seemed. Rukman's father, Mahinda, and his sister, Kanchana, were waiting for me as I cleared customs. On the way to their house Kanchana accidentally drove through an army checkpoint. I saw the sentry un-sling his rifle and point it at us. The thought of a bullet whistling through the passenger compartment gave me a weird thrill. Kanchana slammed on the breaks. She explained to the soldiers that she was a big attorney and there would be trouble if they detained us. They let us go. Apparently there have been some recent clashes between the army and the LTTE (a.k.a. Tamil Tigers) so roadblocks are once again part of the daily routine. At the house Rukman's mother had a five-course meal ... read more

Colombo, Kandy, Dambulla, Adam's Peak, Anuradhapura... read more

The cruise wouldn't have been complete without the obligatory children's fancy dress competition. I remember Mum discovering an old acquaintance of hers amongst the Himalaya‘s passengers, and this poor lady then somehow became lumbered with the responsibility for kitting me up for the show. I‘m fairly sure she didn’t travel the high seas armed with cabin loads of suitcases packed full of fancy dress outfits, but this didn't seem to slow her down too much. She managed to assemble enough suitable gear to make me bear at least a passing resemblance to a youngster from the backstreets of Shanghai, complete with long thin oriental moustache. If the pictures of the event are anything to go by, a lot of my young shipmates' parents must have known before we set sail that a fancy dress night was ... read more