Blogs from Western Province, Sri Lanka, Asia - page 5

Today we begin our long journey home, but not until much later; we leave for the airport at 9.30 pm. First a day in hot, dirty, polluted Colombo. We decide to pay for another night at the hotel so we don’t have to check out until evening. After breakfast we plan a walk along Galle Face Green. It’s a British style seaside prom. There’s even a memorial from its opening by Sir Henry Ward in 1859 where it is ‘recommended to his successors in the interest of the ladies and children of Colombo’. Poor Henry would be turning in his grave if he could see it now; it’s a stinking mess of garbage and sewage and makes me long for the pristine beach of Bournemouth. Next we head for the lake, in theory. In practice, the ... read more

We have booked flights to Colombo via Singapore but our first plane has been cancelled, meaning an earlier flight and a 9 hour layover in Singapore. One last attempt to liberate our laundry - thankfully it is open. She looks as relieved to get her hands on our dollars as we are to get our clothes back. Then off to the airport for our first flight. We are seated separately because the plane is full of school groups. I sit next to an Australian teacher accompanying students who have been doing voluntary work. He tells me how they have taken disabled kids swimming, brought gifts for orphans and sung with blind children. It makes my sightseeing followed by cocktails feel rather shallow. Passengers transiting Singapore are offered a free 2 ½ hour city tour. So we ... read more

Woolly says – After a couple of most enjoyable days on the beach watching the fishermen at work, the crows sneaking off with their catch and avoiding the waves wherever possible I decided it was time to explore further. Having ensured that the women were up and ready on time I led them onto the main road just as a tuk tuk hove into view. He stopped, having asked for the bus station and checked the price – always important to do before climbing on board – a short ride later and we were left working out where the correct bus stop was. Jo smiled at an elderly man and asked, he pointed and grinned in return, it was proving rather easy, we climbed onboard to find that every seat was taken, as I started to ... read more

Woolly says – Christmas had passed, and my Aston Martin seems to have got lost at the North Pole, I have sent a quick email to Santa to get him to look into it, Jo says I should be happy with all the presents I got ….. what does she know! Father Christmas had also bought Zoe a cold, she lay in a pathetic heap sniffing and coughing everywhere before very unkindly passing it to me and Jo for a Boxing day treat. Getting onto a flight with a streaming cold wasn’t the best, as we settled into our seats the mammoth sneezed, twice, covering several rows in front of us and the stewardess who was passing by, everyone looked at us, I sneezed into yet another tissue and tried to look apologetic through my streaming ... read more

(Oct 11,2-17)I am in the final stages of packing for my 15th Habitat build which will be in Sri Lanka.(country number 101) The flight leaves tomorrow from good old YVR on Cathay Pacific and we will be switching planes in Hong Kong (four team members on the same flight. ) It is a long haul as we leave at 245 PM and are supposed to arrive in Colombo at 1110 PM.(just under 20 hours) The next wave of people from our team of 14 will start arriving early the next day. As usual, the trip starts with an early ferry ride (0620) and includes the bus and skytrain legs to the airport... I have new Bose noise cancelling earbuds and have booked an exit row seat ($150 USD) so am looking forward to a relaxing flight. ... read more