This small island has so much to offer that even after four years of living here there are so many more things to discover in terms of wildlife and beautiful scenes. This month I thought it time to pack up the search for the large creatures and head in search of the small. Previous trips to national parks and nature reserves have been for the more obvious wildlife – capturing big cats on camera, watching for whales, enjoying close proximity to elephants at play, smiling at awkward-antlered dancing deer, clicking away at crocs, bears, birds and boars, and returning home with thousands of shots to edit, upload and share. So the small creatures for me were a new experience and it took a little time and patience to get attuned, or, rather, focussed.
I was lucky to manage two trips - to Talangama and Bodhinagala with the folk from Jetwings Eco Holidays, which for me were a way to both grab more wildlife photography opportunities in Sri Lanka and to understand and learn more about the indigenous species, the rain forest and wetland life, the migration patterns, and the breeding plumages, amidst two very different yet beautiful areas of the island.
On the first trip (to Talangama) we stopped the car to much excitement and I was wondering what it was we were looking at, until our guide Wicky pointed out a red dot perched on a twig beside the track. It was the aptly named Variable Flutterer dragonfly, such a vibrant red - a marvel of nature and its incredible ability to continually surprise. It stayed close for quite some time, this scarlet spec darting from twig to leaf. I took a while to work out what camera setting, what lens and what patience was needed to photograph this tiny compact creature with its glorious colouring. Whilst attempting to focus I was also wondering just how did Wicky spot it? I realised it would have been a futile attempt at photography on my behalf without someone there to point out where to look, how to look, and to explain what things were.
After the encounter with the VF I had now become hooked on the small. It was easy to appreciate these tiny, delicate net-winged creatures which became fun to seek out and photograph. So much so that I almost forgot about the plentiful birdlife, alongside my favourite buffalo herds, as they went about their business pecking, munching and wading through the Talangama wetlands or gathering in groups enjoying evening baths of mud - scenes illuminated by the golden light of dusk.
Talangama and Bodhinagala have different scenes to offer - wetlands and rainforest, both worthy of photography in their own right but for me the dragonfly had become my new interest. This could be found in both, so I was pleased to find more of these miniscule flights of colour whilst strolling beneath the forest canopy.
Bodhinagala was as impressive as Talangama in what we saw despite the odds being against us with the weather - we spent an afternoon seeking out dragonflies, butterflies, moths and birds. This time the guide was Sam whose excellent mimic of birdcalls alerted us to the huge variety of birdlife in the rainforest area. However, it was not the birds I was there for.
On arriving, after donning our fashionable leech socks (!), we set off up the hill to see what we could find having been warned that the light was not quite right for dragonflies or butterflies. Almost immediately our luck proved good as a Common Birdwing butterfly flew in front of us and perched for a few minutes on a branch just above our heads. It seemed to glow through its feathered markings of black, grey, white and yellow. The name is a great description of an incredibly impressive feat of nature - a butterfly’s wings mimicking those of a bird. We were privileged as the Birdwing, not normally known to stay around too long, settled on the branch for a few minutes giving us photographers the chance to happily click away.
The next impressive sighting for me was the Dark Forestdamsel dragonfly, which also proved a great challenge due to the patience needed to photograph this minute, compact and colourful insect. It had a long thin black abdomen, which kinked at the end with a small strip of electric blue, topped with fine net wings with a delicate patch of brown at their tip. Another dragonfly we managed to photograph, equally impressive and almost an insect caricature to an amateur such as me, was one yet to be identified but the experts amongst us thought it could be of the Drepanosticta species. This had a rustic red body dotted with six small blobs of turquoise along the back, the biggest being on the tip on the tail, and its tiny head was topped with two huge white eyes and mouth. Magnificent! For those of us that are not experts in the field and simply appreciate learning more about nature, these delicate and vibrant creatures were like cartoon characters – A Bugs Life coming to life. You don’t need TV when you have it here for real - natural, incredible and true. These three sightings were the highlights for me but we also encountered moths, lizards, geckos, caterpillars, millipedes, frogs, beetles, and Sri Lanka’s ever present monkeys which threw things down at us from the tops of the trees!
So, another successful couple of trips and yet more knowledge gained from the helpful and informative Jetwings team about this wonderful land and its incredible diversity of life. For me, it is time to get out the photography books and learn for next time how better to capture of the beauty of the miniscule, in focus and in glory, to share with those not fortunate enough to travel here to see for themselves.
All creatures - great and small
Spotting Leopards
What do we commonly wish for from a safari trip? Wildlife, birds, scenery, sounds, smells, open spaces, remoteness, and often something unique to the particular park that we are visiting? On a safari trip to Yala surely everyone’s ultimate goal is to spot a leopard? Ours certainly was. Unfair though this is on the rest of the wildlife and the spectacular scenery in the park, it is the possible sighting of the legendary leopard that gets the binoculars out, the lenses at the ready, and the adrenaline pumping.
My last trip to Yala, and my first, in January 2007 involved two highly satisfactory safaris. We saw bears with cubs, elephants (including tuskers), jackals, crocodiles, hoopoes, black storks, eagles, bee eaters, owls, wild boar, buffalo galore, and a whole lot more plus some amazing photo opportunities. But we didn’t come across the elusive leopard.
This time around the Yala trip was with my mother (on a short visit from the UK), Jetwing Eco Holidays guide Sam, and our ever so patient and excellent driver Thiranga. We had already agreed that Yala had enough to offer for our safari trip to be excited about and that seeing the star of the park would simply be an added bonus (this so as not to get our hopes up too high). And we got more bonus that we bargained for! In our two safaris we sighted not one, not two, but three leopards. Up close and personal.
First sighting was of a male, excellently spotted by a tracker in another vehicle. He was well camouflaged sleeping under a bush just off the road, getting shade and cool after feeding on his buffalo kill. Several jeeps were crammed onto the road with many heads poking out to watch this magnificent creature. He was oblivious to the clicking of the cameras as we focussed in on his ribs heaving up and down in the heat, eyes closed with the occasional lifting of his head, and not a care in the world. We left him to it and decided to return at the end of our safari at dusk.
On our return he had vanished from his den, but instead of driving off on another round of the park we decided to patiently sit and wait. Patience is often rewarded. After ten or so minutes he strolled back through the scrub to his bed in the shade where we watched him playfully swipe at the flies with his massive paws and snap at them with his huge head. He was a big cat. He soon got bored with this game and to our delight decided to come out into the open. So we had the privilege to watch this magnificent male cat meander into the grassland; he was muscular, with clear markings, bright eyes, and all-in-all looking incredibly healthy. He walked around, lay down, rolled in the grass, watched us, watched the distant deer, yawned, rose up again and moved off as something made him decide to leave the area and his kill. He walked towards us, stopped in front of the jeep, took one long look and disappeared into the scrub with our eyes following in wonder at the time we had just spent with him.
As we headed off, thrilled with our close cat sighting, another male leopard walked into the road in front of us. Quite a contrast to the first. This cat was skinny, almost scrawny, and nervous – not the confident creature we had just been with, but none-the-less impressive. Our guide Sam thought this may be the brother of the first leopard going to feast on the buffalo kill. We quietly sat as he squeezed past the jeep, darting a look up at us before he trotted along the road behind. If I had stretched my arm out even slightly I would have touched him, he was so close. We quietly drove off all hoping he would get his clearly much needed feed.
As if this wasn’t enough, our third leopard sighting was two days later, although not so exclusive this time as others on safari shared the spectacular view. Again it was patience that got our rewards. The first sight of the cat was in the distance on some rocks – even far away has was an impressive animal, as large and healthy as the first we saw, confidently slinking his way over the top of the rock, standing and looking over the land before disappearing from our binoculared eyes. Most of the other vehicles hung around for about five minutes and then gave up, only a few of us played the patience game, heads anxiously turning 360 degrees for him to emerge from one of the bushes close by. Again we were rewarded as he came out onto the shallow rocks close to the jeep. He slowly sauntered through the open area towards us, then onto the road and into the scrub passing the rear of our vehicle and taking a look at us all staring back at him before he continued on his way.
A thrilling and exciting three sightings.
Not to do discredit to the other wildlife in Yala that day, as we also spent a wonderful 45 minutes watching an elephant family munching on trees before having the time of their lives in a shallow mud bath. Three mums with varying ages of babies – one about a month old, the other two were toddlers, one a young tusker. It felt very special to watch these huge and gentle creatures enjoying their bath time with smiles on their faces and snorts of satisfaction. The baby was well protected by long and bossy trunks pushing it this way and that. The toddlers were a little more exposed delighting in the mud and needing a bit of assistance in getting up. They were clearly being trained to face their fears as one was forced to cross the road in front of us without the protection of mum who had already gone on ahead and was waiting on the other side for him to reach her. He skipped, grunted and darted across the road. Two minutes later he was slotted in next to mum, sleeping in the shade waiting for the rest of the family to catch up.
We happily left them to their peaceful morning and headed back to our own for a much needed cup of tea and downloading of some memorable shots.
Check Mum's trip report on Bundala Birds
The waiting game… watching for whales
On Sunday 29th March after months of talking to Gehan (friend, wildlife expert, photographer, businessman and someone who knows anything about everything including whales!) about checking out the whale watching I finally got to make the trip as I headed south with Lisa and Di for a weekend. It was a bleary-eyed early morning start as we journeyed the picturesque route from Hikkaduwa to Marissa, which after turning the corner in Galle becomes a constant reminder of how beautiful this coast is – pale blue seas pushing gently at the land as the coast road opens up to glimpses of sea in between houses, fishing huts, villas and hotels. As well as trying not to nod off, there was a feeling of excitement that finally I will be seeing SL from the ocean rather than the land and looking for the marine life I had heard so much about. Last year Gehan highlighted the fact that SL is one of the best spots in the world to see blue whales, also sperm whales, as they pass by the south coast between January and April.
We headed out at 7.15am on the pretty wooden ‘Spirit of Dondra’ fishing boat, with its friendly and helpful crew. A neat little boat with striped wooden deck, and comfy seats to lie in drifting off as she headed out to sea. The passengers were relaxed and soaking up the morning atmosphere as we set our sails towards the horizon slowly moving away from the misty shores, watching the shrinking outline of the hills inland. It was a calm morning with a gentle swell and we all hoped this meant some good whale sightings. We passed a wonderfully busy community of fishing boats - reds, blues and greens, darting in and out towards harbour or sea, and we eyed huge domineering cargo ships in the distance. Whilst all good fun by 10.30am we had still seen no whales!
Then one of the crew spotted some splashing in the distance, and although not the huge creature we had all anticipated we had come across a pod of playful spinner dolphins. I’m not sure how many there were, possibly between 10 and 15 giving us a wonderful display of acrobatics as they leapt out of the water twisting into the air than splashing back into the depths. A few came to check out the boat swimming alongside the bow before curiosity was over and they disappeared back to the seas. Sadly not many good photo opportunities but sometimes it’s nice to just put the camera down and enjoy the moment.
The Marissa Sports crew tried their hardest to find us some whales, but after travelling almost 20 nautical miles we thought it was time we gave up and headed back to land. Although some obvious disappointment dwelled amongst us we had had a calm and relaxing 6.5 hours out to sea - a rare and enjoyable time away from the hassles and pressures of life on land. Apparently there were whales the few days following, but nature cannot be put to a time table and the trip only entices me to try again! Besides, the dolphins were fun, the trip smooth and oh so relaxing, we were all well looked after …and you can’t ask better than that!
Australia Adventures Christmas 2008
As many of you know Australia is like a second home to me and I am devastated by the awful fires, the destruction and the loss of life. There's little I can do to help except keep in touch with those I know that are close to it, and perhaps update my blog to remind people of what a beautiful place Oz is.
At the end of 2007 Kangaroo Island suffered some terrible bushfires and we saw the extent of these on our trip to Oz this time around. However, although only a year ago, nature has been incredible at fighting back and growing again, and the island has very much come back to life in a short period of time. Perhaps this can offer a little hope to the hopeless situation of the bushfires in Vic right now?
(I started writing this blog update a month ago so have quickly finished it to show those in Oz I'm thinking of you all…)
Usually I find it easy to write a blog update as latterly it's been to places new to me which I always find exciting and words spill over themselves trying to get out (Japan:-)), or its been to places still not explored in Lanka that will constantly have a 'wow' factor for me. However, this Christmas the trip was to Australia, and it must be at least trip number 10 there for me, so how to describe anything new is difficult as it's like writing about home…. mmm….
Well the highlight of this trip was Kangaroo Island,
to which all of us privileged to have gone there, lived there, visited there often, it has a large place in our hearts as it really is a very special spot. An island full of old favourites including friends, food and familiar sites. It's been 17 years since I last properly saw the island, but not that much has changed particularly in the nooks and crannies off the beaten track. Although KI as a whole has quite a tourist trade now, with tarmac roads circling the island and monstrous wooden platforms dominating naturally beautiful sites like Admirals Arch, Remarkable Rocks and Seal Bay (which as a result are not so natural or remarkable !), it is still very peaceful and unspoilt.
To get to KI you either drive down from Adelaide and take your car on the ferry braving one of the worst sea crossings I've ever encountered (except perhaps a close-to-death experience on a hovercraft from France when even the ferries weren't stupid enough to cross), or you wimp out and fly, which also can have its moments! This time we took the cheats' way and flew from Adelaide to Kingscote in a compact little 10 seater plane which was a little like a fair ground ride - a cross between the one where you sit in an umbrella and whirl through the air as the machine judders up, down and around, and the ghost train where you're not sure what will loom up in front of you. For our trip what loomed in front of us was an impenetrable density of dark, dark grey and as we got closer to this wall of weather mum's face got whiter and I should have told her that we were about to land before having to enter this curtain of uncertainty. The feeling of relief was clear with a knowing silence as we touched down on the little runway - a smooth and perfect landing. Once on the ground the storm was spectacular with forks of lighting guiding our way as we drove across the island towards and through it in the little hire car, feeling safe in our rubber-wheeled red-painted cart. This is the best way to describe the most inappropriate car for driving around KI - very small, very low, and not even 4WD! Having said that though, it did us proud.
What to see on KI? The most beautiful, rugged beaches in the world. Our first stop was Bales Beach - the picture postcard of white sand, shrouded in sea mist, with multiple blues dappling the scene in front of you as you walk towards the sea, down sand hills scattered with lilac green scrub, and onto the beach. The grey storm clouds lingered like a ceiling full of mobiles made up of misshapen cotton wool balls, suspended in the sky with invisible string. Come rain or shine, all the KI beaches are spectacularly beautiful in their unique way - Vivonne Bay, Seal Bay, Snake Lagoon, Snelling and Stokes to name a few, but the two best for me are: Hanson Bay, and Kangaroo Beach. Hanson Bay is one of those places with a wow factor - the extremes of colour with blues, greens and whites in the sea and sand are Australia at its very best.
I drove to Hanson to pick up Mum and John who I'd sent off on a looonnnggg walk. I parked up the cart, zipped up my top and headed towards the scrub and the sound of the ocean. When I emerged through the hedges, towards the view of the bay and the coast beyond, I was hit by the breathtaking beauty of the place. I am hard to please and rarely get stopped in my tracks by anything much unless it really is very special - and this was. It was one of those "nature is incredible" moments: standing on a sand hill wrapped in my fleece with the winds rolling off the sea, tasting the salt in the air, gazing through the spray and feeling very alive, very happy and wondering how to stay longer!
Kangaroo Beach is the other side of the island (well, other side being north as opposed to south) and our visit there a day or two later was very hot with greatly improved weather. This is a private beach in the midst of farm land reached via a steep, almost vertical decent through folding hills of brown-green fields, with bemused cows watching you creep down the slope in your 4WD (Graham's, not ours - the hire care wouldn't have made it!). This is different to the south - the beach is calmer, the sea clearer, more transparent shades of blue, lined with fields and cliffs with scattered rocks below falling into the sea. As we waded in the (c-c-c-chilly) sea a seal lifted its nose through the surface but on realising s/he was no longer alone in this little piece of paradise it shimmied off, a shiny black head occasionally popping up to check our movements before disappearing into the depths below.
Aside from the spectacular beauty of the place, the wildlife is another reason to visit KI. From the seals in Seal Bay who lounge on the beach slowly raising their heads to gaze and growl at the groups of tourists - controlled in clusters by strict wildlife wardens, to the seal nursery at Admirals Arch where you watch them play on the rocks, diving in and out of the sea, to the lizards, the birds and the roos. As you know from previous posts my knowledge of bird life can be somewhat improved upon. But I still appreciate driving along with dashes of red, green, pink, grey and white diving in front of my eyes as the parrots ride the airs above and in front of the car; and I enjoy watching the bright coloured blue wrens and red breasted robins pecking at the grass while I'm sitting having a morning coffee or an early evening beer. Something we very much enjoyed doing at Graham's place.
We were lucky that while we were on KI Gaia - the impressive wooden house built by Graham on the block next to his, was free and not only for the 2 days we booked it but for the following few days as well. So we took advantage, changed our flights back to town and snuck in an extra few days to continue exploring, reminiscing and simply enjoying the pace of life on the island. Walks, wine, BBQs, beers, and Roos! Yes, the wildlife highlight was Graham's adopted family of Roos - Bella, Bugsy, Liz, Frank, Sam, etc. They were great fun. Most mornings …mmm, 5.00am!... you'd be woken by the THUD, THUMP, THUD of their long feet slowly hopping around the wooden deck outside the house hoping to wake you so they could get a feed. Early morning and early evening (and, err… mid-morning, lunch time, tea time….) plates of grain were much enjoyed by them all. It didn't stop there - eating breakfast was a challenge with Bella around as this little nose would suddenly appear close to yours just as you were trying to pop a piece of toast in your mouth, followed by two strong paws pulling at your hand trying to grab the bread away before you munched it all down! Possums and wallabies were also frequent visitors. And for the first time no spider sightings for me which was quite a pleasant change!
Graham was a great host and nothing was too much trouble for him so we were royally treated and very much enjoyed it. I cannot depart from the delights of KI without mentioning Graham's Michelin starred cooking - the most AMAZING marron dish to rival any 5 star restaurant in town. My mouth is watering just thinking about the succulent flesh of the marron soaked in a tangy champagne sauce accompanied by freshly baked bread - yummmm. (Marron is a sort-of fresh water cray fish to those of you that don't know). So we left the island sad and tearful but content after having had a wonderful and unforgettable week.
What about the rest of the trip? Well it was hectic and fun and great to see so many family members all at one time - it was Christmas chaos, but good! The food was a delight - BBQs, sea food, roast lamb, (drinkable - whoopee!) coffee, chocolate and cheeeeese… all the things I really miss from living in Asia. And of course how could I mention my trip to Oz without bringing up WINE. Yes, as usual I indulged, and with mum and John that's not hard. So I took them to visit one of my favourite wine regions - the Clare Valley.
I booked a cute old settlers cottage in Mintaro which as we arrived was lit up like rough pale gold in the evening sun. It was positioned in the midst of farm country at the bottom of a hill with nothing close by. We were overlooking yellow fields of stubble full of pink and grey galas, and watching the farmers working on a dusty hill behind us moving their tractors through the hazy evening light in front of a deep blue sky. Very picturesque. Also very noisy with hundreds of galas squawking and fighting for their place on the branches of the gum trees which surrounded the cottage and lined the fields. A wonderful scene whilst drinking a cool glass of Riesling on the patio. It was an amazing deal - a small 3 bedroom cottage with breakfast provisions included at AUS$75 pp/pn and more surprisingly included was a very pleasant decanter of port sitting enticingly on the sideboard - deep burgundy coloured liquid calling out to be slowly sipped and enjoyed. Which we did as the sun disappeared, the temperature dropped, and the warm fleeces came out along with the cheese, Maggie Beers pates and nibbles.
I have blogged about Clare before so I won't go on but it's a beautiful part of South Australia and the wineries are a delight - Skillogalee, Mitchell, Knappstein, Annies Lane, Tim Adams, Chapel Hill... to name a few. Plus a diversion home through the Barossa is always a treat particularly visiting my old favourite Henschke and my new favourite Two Hands - where a most delicious autumn brown coloured Muscat, in its a coffin shaped cool and trendy bottle lying in my fridge, comes from! (My luggage was 10 kilos over weight due to the wine, books and chocolate I brought back to Lanka with me - but I managed to charm my way through and not pay any extra - phew!)
A big thanks to Sue, Andy, Liz at no 25 and to Mary, Richard, and especially David for the Adelaide hospitality and the wonderful supply of drinks and chat at Hart Street.
So Australia still and always will have a place in my heart and I expect I will be back again soon! May try to sneak it into a round-the-world trip when I leave SL this year, though it might not be quite on route to Africa or South America which are potential places to explore as I take some time out after my 4 years in SL.
At the risk of repeating myself - watch this space!!
Oz photos on Flickr.
Black Out
Last night was a rare night of no rain during monsoon season. A perfect night to launch the coffee table book we recently published, guests mingling outside with wine and nibbles. The book contains 200 pages of photos, and related text, depicting the long history of the conflict in Sri Lanka.
After a really successful night with over 150 happy guests heading home from the wonderful location of the Barefoot cafe, Jeevan, Mumtaz and I headed back to my place in Wellawatte for some much needed food.
Whilst star gazing at the beautiful clear night, munching away and chatting on my balcony the whole city suddenly went into black out. All electricity gone, except the bright blue neon of the local Global Towers Hotel (generator powered).
Then the sky lit up with 5 or 6 batman-esque light beams searching the darkness of the night. These cones of light were shifting above our heads clearly panicking - they were searching for LTTE planes, like looking for a needle in a haystack! Confidently safe due to my living in the Tamil part of town we watched to see what would happen.
Suddenly the black sky was filled with the red dots of anti-aircraft fire. It was like fireworks on 5th November. These red flares were launched from strategic points across the city and from military boats in the sea. A few bright flashes in the distance also indicated that a possible bomb had been dropped - confirmed a few minutes later by the efficient text service from work telling us a power plant had been targeted.
The balcony last night became circle seats to the live theatre of war. I went to bed feeling so desperately sad that the citizens of the same country are doing this to each other.
Perhaps tonight we will all be hoping for those cloudy skies again with the monsoon rains and no more raids.
Side splitting moments... and splitting up
Well, here it is, finally, the long awaited (?!) update to my somewhat inconsistent blog! Although the title is not the greatest juxtaposition of words, it has certainly been a roller coaster of a year so is an apt description. Time flies and I'm conscious I've not written anything much since February or posted any photo details since April. Since then rather a lot has happened. In brief:-
- Dad turned 70
- Al turned 40
- Bron and I split up
- Mum and Tony split up
- my stress levels did a melt down and I lost 1 stone
- I spent 3 weeks in freezing UK
- I spent 2 weeks in funky Japan (photos) (blog post)
- I'm off to Oz for Christmas :)
- I'm still in Sri Lanka!
Dad's 70th
Sadly none of us were there to cheer in Dad's 70th as, aside from us all living 1000s of mile apart, he was off on a 3 week cruise seeing Argentina, Chilli, and climbing up Machu Picchu in Peru. Honestly, he lives his seemingly quiet Canada life in style with all his trips abroad. I'd say a great way to see in 70...
Al at 40
What can I say? None of us has changed; we all look a little older but act just as foolishly. A lot of the old crowd from both Al and Helen's friends came to celebrate at a wonderful Crazy Bear evening. Much wine, beer, Thai food, wine, beer, and catching up were done. The photos tell all....
Bron and I
Sadly we split up while I was in the UK. There's not much I will say except obviously it was sad, upsetting and difficult, but there was no animosity.
Mum and Tony
Not for me to say except that they split up this year.
Stress levels high!
Well both of the above obviously contributed, plus working all hours as usual - though self inflicted of course, I can't imagine working any other way.... which is part of the problem!!
3 weeks in the UK
My UK trip this time around was really to be with family and to sort a few of my things out, so apologies to those of you I missed catching up with. A HUGE thank you to everyone for looking after me so well - dinners, lunches, beds for the night, comfort and care. It was much needed and very much appreciated. You know who you are! Though it was lovely to come home, drink copious amounts of much missed wine, and enjoy many a tasty pub meal I was not remotely impressed with the weather. It was bloody freezing and I spent most of the time trying to find bits of winter clothing in order to survive.
2 weeks in Japan
Japan was quirky, cool and fun and despite expecting an alien world, as I had always thought Japanese culture may be a little mad, I actually felt very much at home and enjoyed / understood the oddities. Amidst the seriousness there is also a tremendous sense of fun. There were a few side splitting moments - not least the musical toilet; my friend's curiosity resulting in an unexpected bidet face wash; the Japanese dog hairdressing salon; and the fun loving staff at the coolest restaurant in Tokyo. However, let me stop as Japan deserves its own blog section so please read the next blog update for the Japan experience...
Oz calling
Yes, again I return to Australia for 3 weeks at Christmas time in Adelaide. Suffice to say I can't wait! Family, friends, wine, beach and KI. Counting down the days....
Back in SL
Pointing out the blindingly obvious with this... but, yes, I'm back, and with some renewed enthusiasm after my break in Japan. Funding for me at work runs out in January (though I have said if more money comes in I'll stay until April) so I'm not sure what the future holds next year.
2009 is up for grabs and I have to come up with some ideas. exciting? scary? new chapter? who knows... currently going with the flow until something makes me decide what to do. But until then it's back to balcony beers and weekend jaunts to the beach in Hikkaduwa. Anyone wanting to visit should get their skates on before it's too late and I move somewhere even more inaccessible!!
two SL anecdotes....
The Post Office Experience
I went to collect a friend's parcel with the post office slip put through the door. I arrived and was sent upstairs to the 'foreign parcels' section. A room which stepped back in time where all data was entered into huge dickens style ledgers and 5 people were sitting around doing nothing while the only woman in the office was doing all the work. The men just sat and looked at my passport photo.
They wouldn't give me the parcel without my friend's ID, but he was long gone and in the UK. So we came to a deal and I sat in their office and wrote a letter from him giving me permission to pick up the parcel on his behalf.
An hour later... and I am sent downstairs to the collection point where I sit and twiddle my increasingly impatient thumbs while the staff sit and chat and do nothing. After another hour I get really impatient and ask what the delay is. One of them decides to shuffle to another room and finds the parcel. It then takes half an hour for them to open it. I discover I have been waiting for spices sent from India and useless bits and bobs that would have costs about 100 rupees here. Then, after another 20 minutes, I am sent to the finance guy who decides that I'm a rich foreigner so he tries to charge me Rs 3,500 for the privilege of collecting the parcel. By this time I am at boiling point and I shout the whole place down with extremities and storm out. Never to return again.
The Motorcycle Admirer
Many Sri Lankan men really have no clue about chatting people up and seem to think approaching you as a complete stranger is perfectly acceptable. I walk out of the office with some papers in an Odel bag. Odel is the department store here which I hadn't been to for at least a month. A boy pulls up on his motorbike and tells me he just saw me in Odels where he was with his parents. Although in the West admitting you are with your parents is a total loser thing to do, here it is respectful. Anyhow, I told him I've not been near the place for ages, though he still insists he just saw me there due to me having the bag, wants to take me for a drink and finds it odd that I won't give him all my contact details. Aside from the worst approach to a woman possible he was about 20 and clearly had no clue - somewhat sad! Though perhaps not as bad as the tuktuk driver who told me he was very much into foreign women and the fact I was married made me even more attractive to him. He was toothless and ugly and extremely untrustworthy, what on earth made him think I would be happily taking a journey down any road with him other than to get home and fast as possible?!
Japan Junky
I would never have got there if it hadn't been for a work trip. This was to an essential conference which would help us with ideas and contacts for our centre in Sri Lanka. Although that was the primary reason for my trip, I was of course excited to go to Japan and I had factored in a couple of days off in Tokyo at the end of the journey to see a bit of the country.
To be honest when I stepped on the plane heading East I knew nothing about Japan other than:- the handy tips my friends had given me; watching Lost in Translation; and growing up watching a lot of pretty terrible WW2 black and white films (old and biased). So I was surprised and satisfied to find a new land to add to my world travels and top the list of cool and interesting places to go.
But what had I expected?
Misconceptions: a land of raw fish and ultra healthy food (therefore weight loss); an obsession with Tamagotchi pets; a land of very short people; a suicidal and serious race; new technology everywhere; neon everywhere; people like ants in the streets pushing and shoving to get space; no English; complete chaos; the inevitable feeling of being very alien.
Reality:
• calm, not chaotic
• busy, not balmy
• peaceful, not pushy
• serene, polite, kind and thoughtful people
In summary: a land of sashimi, sushi, sake, yakatori and delicious deserts - AMAZING food (and no weight loss!); no weird pets other than tiny little dogs which seemed a Tokyo accessory; trendy cool people (not that short); a race with a feeling of wholeness, contentedness, kindness and a tremendous sense of fun as well as seriousness; no astoundingly new technology (at the conference it was appallingly out of date!); lots of neon; no chaos - a lot of people but with an aura of calm; feeling completely safe, at home, at ease and welcomed. Already missing it!
Arrival in Tokyo
I travelled alone so had booked myself into some quite nice hotels doing cheap deals if booked early - prices equivalent to the less expensive hotels in town (the prices were 3 times more than I had paid upfront so I did well!). The reason for booking somewhere reasonable was to feel comfortable in a nice hotel in case I freaked out and couldn't cope in a strange new land. That way I could at least hide behind my laptop and do some work, or join the other sad unadventurous bastards in the hotel bar. Suffice to say that of course didn't happen, but caution seemed a must at the time of booking!
It wasn't the greatest start I have to say. I flew all night so was tired and grumpy when I arrived in the lobby of the Shibuya Excel Hotel. As I got off the airport bus at 10.30am my somewhat knackered old case, which has travelled all corners of the globe with me, decided to snap its handle. I dragged the broken bag in behind me, and with no handle and only one wheel it didn't look great next to all the smart guests with their deluxe designer cases. The hotel staff looked at me as though a tramp had walked in off the streets. What to do? To top that I was secretly hoping I would be able to check in early and was a little put out to discover I couldn't check in until 2pm.
No room, no sleep, no shower. Tired, smelly and disinclined to be even remotely adventurous I skulked to the hotel cafe to sulk and to decide what to do. However, very quickly the waiter realised I wasn't going to order so kicked me out as though I was vermin rather than a hotel guest! So I left my embarrassingly scruffy bag and took to my place on the streets negotiating my way to Tokyo Station to buy Shinkansen (bullet train) tickets to Kyoto the next day. This was a wise move as I started to realise this was a city that was easily negotiable and that I really wanted to explore.
Tokyo began to unravel itself to me as I travelled by metro gawping up at the sky scrapers and people watching all the cool folk sharing my carriage. I wandered the corridors of Tokyo train station wondering how many food outlets and vending machines the station managed to accommodate as they lined each corridor packed with eager customers. My mood had reversed and I was sad to have to return to the hotel and check into my room at 2pm to spend the rest of the day at my laptop working on my conference presentation. However, I could hardly complain as my room was on the 23rd floor with the most spectacular views looking down upon Shibuya Junction - the ultra famous 5-way busy pedestrian crossing in Tokyo.
I was also lucky when I returned to Tokyo a week later (staying in the deluxe Cerulean Towers Hotel again for a bargain price!) when I was upgraded to an enormous sky view room on the 26th floor. I felt somewhat lost as I staggered into the room with its walk-in shower and bath tub big enough for me to comfortably stretch out in. The greatest treat here was watching the Tokyo skyline light up as the sun set, or watch the city gradually reveal itself as the sun rose. A wonderful night time neon view of blue, red, green, orange, pink and white lighting up skyscrapers of all shapes and sizes including the Tokyo Tower (the Eiffel Tower replica) splendidly lit up in red. One of the buildings had a 5-aside footy pitch on the roof top constantly in use - what a cool way to play sport! This hotel also had a top floor bar. Viewing Tokyo from the 40th floor with a very nice glass of Riesling on my last night was something to be savoured and an enticement to return! However, it wasn't all plain sailing in this hotel either - they were also very snobby and jaws most definitely dropped when I asked where the nearest coin operated laundry was!
Fish Market
The top Tokyo score for me on this briefest of trips was the fish market. I believe the biggest in the world? The guidebook suggests getting there just after opening at 3am, but when I was in Tokyo the only day it was open was Tuesday and I wasn't staying up until late on Monday night to head fishwards with no sleep. So it was up at 6 arriving at the market 7.30 on Tuesday morning - the later time didn't matter in the least as it was still absolutely FULL of life and FULL of fish!
There are literally rows and rows of stalls, like mini streets, with men and women slicing, hacking, stabbing, dissecting and carefully packaging or displaying their fish. From giant grey coloured tuna with sharp yellow fins, to deep red octopus, spotty orange crabs, scarlet shrimp, large eyed slimy squid, and multicoloured fish of reds, yellows, greys, whites, and blacks, this was the most incredible collection of seafood I had ever seen. It was like an artwork to view and also to watch. The sellers meticulously crafted their fish slicing off the ugly and bad bits to perfection ready to sell or to be shipped off for someone to enjoy a sumptuous sushi supper.
Surprisingly the smell was not too bad, I had of course anticipated only a limited endurance of fishy smell but the stuff was SO fresh most of it was still flapping, squirming or crawling in various shapes and sizes stored in boxes and bags, tanks and trays so there was no smell. However, there was water everywhere so the only danger would have been to slip in a pool of fresh fish blood which would not have been pleasant. I would say that for those of you who are remotely squeamish (or vegetarian) perhaps the market would not be a priority place to pick.
The market was full of chatter, laughter, shouts and screams creating a wonderful atmosphere to completely lose yourself in - except if you remotely lost concentration you would be run over by the hundreds of electric carts darting through the small market lanes. These were bizarre barrel shaped vehicles with a man at the controls standing up and skilfully manoeuvring his cart through the market stalls at incredible speed. They were like dodgems weaving through carrying cartons and boxes of fish from market stall to vehicle. They took no prisoners, so if you got in the way it would be your fault. Not easy so early in the morning to be completely alert so as not to be mowed down by highly sped fish. This was juxtaposed with the traditional trolleys slowly pulled along by wizened old men, or old mopeds with baskets on front and back full of fish.
All this gawping and wonder worked up an appetite and you would not be forgiven for avoiding a sushi breakfast. So dutifully I queued in the hour long line to get into one of the best and most famous sushi restaurants in the market. This was theatre in itself as we were bossed through the queue and into our seats by 2 women efficiently getting their customers in and out of the restaurant door in record time. In the meantime the men practiced the art of making and serving sushi with flamboyancy, fun and flair. By 9.30am I was indulging in ultra fresh tuna and red snapper sushi with miso soup and green tea.
Old versus new
Kyoto was a different kettle of fish - the old city compared to the new. This used to be the capital of Japan and has a completely different feel to it. Tokyo is modern, busy, very tall and very cool. Kyoto is old, full of temples and shrines, houses are tiny and compact, nothing is high rise, and it has a laid back arty feel to it with wide quiet streets. However, this is not the first impression you get on arrival - this is the feeling that is created after a few days there. The first impression was of chaos which stemmed from pulling into the HUGE train station with levels and levels of shops, restaurants, cafes and bars - it took me 20 minutes to negotiate my way to the subway and escape to my hotel!
Arrival was via the high speed and very smooth Shinkansen (bullet) train. Not remotely scary and very fast so looking out to the passing countryside was a little dizzying. A missed opportunity though as most of the journey was spent working on my plugged laptop so I didn't see much of what I was zooming past at a speed of 300 km/h (186 mph)!
Hiroshima (even newer!)
On a more sombre note part of our conference was spent in Hiroshima, hosted by the Peace Park, which included some thought provoking talks by the Mayor and survivors of the A-bomb. It is very hard to describe this place. A city that was completely destroyed by the atom bomb with no word nor warning. People literally melted from the heat and radiation and I still have nightmares from the few photos and the many horrific stories of human suffering. The city feels strange as it is only 60 years old and everywhere you go you are reminded of what happened as you pass by little memorials, statues and shrines. A determination for world peace prevails here and for nuclear weapons to be abolished worldwide.
Until I saw Hiroshima and the devastation caused by the bomb - a terrible weapon that should be in no human hands, I naively hadn't quite appreciated just how awful nuclear weapons are. Now I am with the ever growing movement that believes they should be eradicated so this can never happen to people again.
Museums for Peace conference: friends and fun!
The Hiroshima trip was on the last day of the conference, however most of it took place prior to that in Kyoto. A pretty much missed opportunity for any sight seeing as the 6 days spent there really were all about work. Not that I'm complaining as that's why I was there and I met some truly amazing people, learnt heaps and have a lot to disseminate. The organisers had us up at 7am, bussed us to the conference at 7.45am, only returning to the hotel at 8 or 9 at night. As usual, I managed to find a really nice group of people to hang out with for the week. A multicultural group we were too:-
Sajid and Hina from Pakistan: I think I can speak for the others in saying that we were all truly humbled and inspired by the inter faith work these guys are doing in Pakistan. Inspiring, courageous and lovely people to spend time with.
Alexis and Eleni from Cyprus: these guys were a bundle of European fun and they ran a fantastic sports management life skills project that I could totally relate to having run sports programmes in SL for 2 years.
Karen from Rwanda: on a German funded programme Norbert had recently told me about, Karen was doing some interesting and brave work in the rural areas of Rwanda, something I think I could learn a few lessons from.
Kunda from Nepal: a wonderfully inspiring man who had produced a coffee table book on the conflict in Nepal after running a successful travelling photo exhibition. He was now thinking of setting up a peace museum, he had also worked for the BBC, worked in SL and was from the media so we had a lot in common!
Erik from the Netherlands: a Dr in the field of war documentation (academia, therefore way over my head!) who worked on interesting projects and whose wife worked at the Anne Frank Museum.
We confused many with our locations: Faye from Sri Lanka (but really from the UK); Alexis from the USA (but really from Cyprus); Karen from Rwanda (but really from Germany)! A diverse and dynamic group of people! We also hung out with Maria from Guatemala, Tom and Joyce from the US, Peter, Clive, Julie and Eddie from the UK. I was also lucky to meet up with Alexis, Karen and Erik in Tokyo so we reunited over sashimi and sake before going our separate ways.
It was an honour and a privilege to meet and spend time with you all, a lot of fun too. I hope we will somehow manage to meet up again in the future. Take care and thank you!
Sushi, sashimi and sake
One thing our group seemed to share was a common appreciation of the food, and boy was it good. So here I go saving the best to last....
The Kyoto Experience: The night I arrived I was tired and a little crotchety mainly due to the fact that the conference organisers had demanded I give them my completed presentation the night I checked in. So after a long journey, and more suitcase dragging, there was no rest for me! I had to do a quick rehearsal to check on the length of the presentation, add some finishing touches, and hand it in without getting any rest. This was completed by 8.30pm, and after a brief search on the internet for good Kyoto food I headed out in the pouring rain to satisfy my rumbling tummy. I aimed for Torito Restaurant which sounded quite nice from good recommendations online...
As I walked on I realised that my map was not to scale and what seemed like a 5 minute stroll was in fact a 25 minute hike. This would not have mattered had it not been sheeting down with rain making me completely soaked despite rain-coat and umbrella. So I was wandering through very deserted streets and had no clue as to whether this Torito place would a) be any good, b) be affordable, or c) be open on a Sunday night! However, all was not lost as I arrived to an empty restaurant which at least seemed open. They asked if I had booked? I looked around at the empty seats and wondered what they were on about. Was this a polite Japanese way of telling me that I was not welcome and that they wanted to close? I indicated there was only one of me and that I didn't take up too much space, so they let me in. 10 minutes later the place was completely packed! I was soon to realise why...
Torito was very well designed - dark wooden bar and tables, charcoal grey bar stools and chairs, black slate and clear glass plates, shiny sharp wooden chop sticks, young cool chefs dressed in black with red and white headscarves. Like many places in Japan it was minute with a long breakfast bar overlooking a galley kitchen. At one end was a thin rectangular deep metal container full of burning charcoals with white smoke curling into the air and a wonderful BBQ smell drifting through the restaurant. This came from the grid sitting above the charcoals on which was a neat row of the famous Japanese 'yakatori' being cooked for us contented customers. Yakatori is meat on skewers to you and I, and mostly chicken where all parts of the bird are used. This was pure theatre to me - somewhere you could sit and watch the experts cook then order new delights from them through the evening. Yakatori washed down with a couple of cold and tasty Kirin beers was extremely satisfying stuff on a rainy Sunday night in a strange city. I had duck, chicken leg, and chicken wing yakatoris with a grilled rice ball and a watercress salad. I left a very happy and somewhat full bunny and took this as a good omen to the beginnings of the Kyoto trip. Naturally 2 days later I dragged the others there and the meat lovers amongst us shared my awe and wonder of the place.
The Tokyo Experience: There were many great places to eat in Tokyo, mostly tucked away down little streets and alleys - some stumbled upon, some discovered through the Lonely Planet Tokyo Encounters bible, and some which needed assistance from very friendly Japanese folk.
For example, after the conference I had a couple of days to spend in Tokyo as did a few of the others. So on the first night I arranged to meet Alexis and told him I'd look up a bar for us to head to before grabbing some food at a place I'd discovered the previous week. However, finding bars in Tokyo is quite a task. Some of them are at the top, bottom or middle of department store buildings, some at the top of hotels or towers, and some are discovered down winding streets not listed on maps. So when I suggested Insomnia Bar and headed in the right direction despite being near the place could I find it? No! So we had to ask a friendly group of trendy Japanese 30 somethings (who actually were not from Tokyo) to help us. They took the guide book from me and rang the bar. Within 3 minutes we had been booked in as Mr and Mrs Smith and they had escorted us to Insomnia's entrance to ensure we made it for our much needed drink!
This place was very cool! On arrival they took our shoes and we walked barefoot into this tiny bar with red carpet, red walls, contemporary art work and mirrors. The corridor you walked into had a wall on the left and a bar on the right with sunken seats which sat you opposite a mirrored wall with glass shelves full of all drink bottles imaginable. This corridor led to a small open room with floor level tables and seats full of trendy Japanese people. A very nice place for a swift G&T before heading to the best restaurant in the world.....
Kaikaya
I love this place for several reasons:-
1) it was kind to me on my first night alone in Tokyo. Despite not booking they squeezed me onto a table sitting me opposite 3 French blokes and by the end of the evening I was sharing stories, sushi and sake and very much looking forward to the rest of my Japan trip - intrepidation over and eagerly awaiting new experiences.
2) it's a popular Japanese pub and fish restaurant with a great atmosphere which prides itself in the quality of its food and service and this rings through - the staff are clearly expert in what they do and love working there. The camaraderie is genuine with shouts and cheers as dishes are ordered, served and satisfyingly consumed.
3) the food is simply incredible! Here's a taster:-
• Toro sashimi (the top quality tuna) which literally melts on your tongue as you place it in your mouth savouring the flavour and texture with a little soy sauce to add to the delight.
• Tuna spare rib - this is simply divine. Tuna slowly cooked which falls off the bone and slips off your chop sticks into your mouth in anticipation and appreciation at the delicious flavours landing on your tongue.
• Scallop risotto / omelette - a round fried dish with scallops encased in rice and egg, very tasty and more-ish.
• Sizzling mushrooms - arriving in a wooden tray with an inner black hot plate full of sumptuous, sizzling local mushrooms - a great accompaniment to the fish.
• Fried fish - whole and crispy little fish, crunchy and lip smackingly good!
• Steamed chicken salad - many light spicy flavours in this most cleansing of dishes.
• Sizzling slices of succulent beef (another hot plate dish) - the most tender beef you could imagine either take it off the hot dish as soon as you can to savour the unique flavours of the raw meat, or leave it cooking a little longer to your liking.
I could go on... stuffed squid, fish carpaccio, raw tuna and avocado salad, prawn patties. This all accompanied by SAKE.
Yes, I am a sake convert. I hadn't realised you could have so many different types. In Kaikaya, much like a good sommelier's advice, the sake menu gives you an accurate description of each sake - dry, sweet, medium - and what dish it would suit.
Sake is either drunk in medium sized shot glass which sit in a box so that when the sake is poured and the glass is full it overflows into the box. Hence at the end of the pouring you end up with 2 glasses worth - one you drink from the glass the other you drink from the box. The other way to drink sake is in tiny ceramic cups poured out of misshapen ceramic pots. Whichever way, it's tasty and fairly lethal in alcohol content!
All these delights were topped off with a tasty morsel of either green tea or raw sugar cheese cake expertly wrapped in small little rectangles and produced from the coolness of the fridge. A perfect way to end the most perfect of meals.
I went there 3 times!
In summary?
If you get a chance suss Japan out for yourself. It's not cheap but costs no more than London, Sydney or New York. The food is a treat. The place is safe. The people are friendly. If you book way ahead you can get a really nice hotel for a reasonable price!
Lose yourself in the Shibuya Lanes. People watch the Japanese fashion and the outrageous punk Harajuku girls. Check out the top floor hotel bars and their plummeting city views. Gorge on coffee and cake in the cool cafes. Visit the temples and shrines. Explore and enjoy!
Photo Updates: April 08
I've updated a few photos and have also been adding some old ones in. I have over 9,000 and want to get some of the better ones up but don't worry there are not that many to view!!
You'll find the new ones in the following:-
Sri Lanka Trips:
Sri Lanka General:
Will update the blog one of these days! Work has been so incredibly busy I've had no time to do anything. Mum was here for 6 weeks and it was great to have her stay for so long, I managed a week not working all hours to spend some time with her at the end. Sadly she left yesterday.
Bombs and Hot Showers: A brief update
Since my long epistle last March I have enjoyed the wonderful wines of Oz, home comforts in the UK, the history and hospitality of Berlin, and a trip around some of the most beautiful spots in Sri Lanka. Sadly more and more of these spots are being denied to us with the war again escalating. Sri Lanka's cease fire was ceased by the Government in January and since then bombings and killings by both sides have got far far worse. This week marked Independence Day (60th anniversary) in a country that has struggled with politics and polarisation since becoming independent in 1948. Sad times.
You do however tend to get accustomed to the madness of it all. Sri Lanka is sadly and rapidly becoming a complete military state so you become used to armed men, or boys, wandering the streets or looking thoroughly bored at roadside check points. This morning's walk to the tuk-tuk stand on my way to work took me past a row of four armed military police strolling down the road, I nearly walked into the gun of the one closest to me as I wasn't paying attention at all. I was too busy watching the traditional Ox cart walk towards me pulling its fat metal red barrel down the street on wobbly wooden wheels. It's a scene I should be well used to by now as it's so common, but it still holds some kind of magical Sri Lankan past to me. The Ox and it's owner looked about as knobbly as each other, like dogs and their owners the two must have grown together to look alike. Skin and bone contentedly plodding along the road selling their kerosene to people coming out of their houses for their morning purchases. Following these two the bakery boy weaving his way on his bicycle coming to sell bread and crocodiles (sweet bread laced in sugar in the shape of a crocodile especially good for big kids - I am a frequent purchaser!). Street life is full of people of all shapes and sizes selling their wares to the domestics, house boys, and ladies of the house - from kerosene to coconuts, crocodiles to curry leaves, and trolleys and trolleys of fresh and colourful veg.
New Colombo home
Aside from the chaos, the streets, and the war I can now report that anyone coming to visit would be quite impressed to discover that we have found a place that has hot water - one of the few benefits of moving from the jungle to Colombo. Finding a new apartment was much harder than we had thought. The useless, I mean completely useless, Dave from 'Colombo Cottages' was showing us places we had already checked out in the Sunday papers but strangely at a price of about Rs 5,000 more than advertised. We weren't really his type of customer as we questioned a lot. He was used to green types arriving from the UK to work for the British Council paying amounts we not only couldn't afford but for places that just weren't worth the money. Dark dingy places, or apartments in suburbs way out of town or out of budget. Owners would answer the door in glee as they saw our white faces thinking 'here comes the money' and tripling or quadrupling the cost of rent and then, to top that, asking for a year's worth of money upfront. Sadly they think all white people are papier mache figures made up of bank notes which we are happy to throw at them for dreadful digs in town. Eventually our lovely tuk-tuk driver, Dulip, found us a place down the bottom of the road (we've been staying at Stuart and Shirani's apartment whose generosity has known no bounds these past couple of years).
Like their place the new apartment is also top floor, overlooking the sea which can't be bad. The block is completely Sri Lankan, with music blasting out of doors and windows at top volume, sound waves reaching us at 6am accompanying the spicy smells of different curries being prepared for the day. Every morning I wake to the sound of some kind of 70s sci-fi film which builds into crescendo (dah dahhh, dah dahhh, dahhh, dah dahhhhhh, dahhhhhh) which I'm guessing is the tune to one of the many strange religions practiced in Asia. Fair play to them though, they worship every morning and I'm sure they get more out of their religion than the apartment that played 'jingle bells' at top volume every morning over Christmas. They all seem nice as well as a little crazy. The woman in apartment 2/2 brought us a bottle of wine when we moved in I think because she lived in London for 40 years and wanted to make a connection somehow. As ever, Sri Lanka is v unpredictable! By moving down the road we've made the tuk-tuk drivers happy because they have kept our custom, and we're happy because we wake up to the sea and have the best place in town for sunset balcony beers. Also a rare place to get at least some form of fresh air in a very polluted city.
Having just about settled in and bought a few things it was time for Christmas holidays and back to the jungle house for a week. We keep extending the house rental period to delay losing it entirely, currently we have it until end March having just extended it this w/e! This is partly due to expected guests.
Island visitors
After our plethora of visitors last year, ending with T in May, we have sadly lacked in guests. It was a welcome text to receive from Grant in December saying he was coming to SL for the cricket and could he come and stay? Having someone like Grant visit reminds you of all the good things here - the genuine, good nature of the majority of people, the stunning scenery, the great climate, the rich cultural mix, and the multitude of places to see. He seemed to manage to do more in 8 days than I have managed in 2½ years!! Surf lessons, tuk-tuk driving, white water rafting, canyoning, and cricket test matches. Next visitor will be Mum in March which I'm obviously much looking forward to.
More foreigners arrived with the now annual event of the Galle Literary Festival. The bombs did not put off the beautiful people as they flocked to a crowded, yet intimate, and well organised festival of literature. A festival that personally pulls me two ways:-
1) the role of disgusted, left wing, NGO worker who finds so much money being poured into a very small part of the country, with people parading around like displaying peacocks showing off their wealth, quite tough to observe. This particularly after spending the morning before the festival in the houses of poor rural families.
2) the role of culture-deprived expat hanging off the words of famous authors such as Vikram Seth, Gore Vidal, Brian Keenan, William Dalrymple and Alexander McCall-Smith and enjoying a variety of books to read, debates to attend and films to view.
Despite the internal struggle I was impressed with the number of authors, the efficiency of the sessions, and the exclusive parties in the most stunning houses, hotels and villas Sri Lanka has to offer. The most amazing being 'Taprobane' - a beautiful villa on a small island in Weligama Bay in the South. This is where they held the final night's party for those who had helped out and for the remaining authors, before they travelled off to their next international event or headed home. Of course I did nothing for the festival but Bron worked hard everyday photographing authors, doing some great networking for us both, and enjoying many a party so at least one of us genuinely deserved to be there The Taprobane villa is not visible from the roadside - the island is surrounded with dense trees behind which is a 5 bed roomed house with rooms branching off from a central circle, and pathways twisting around the island to take you to another surprise such as the infinity pool. It is particularly spectacular to arrive there at night, wading through shallow waters, up slippery wooden steps, along a little bridge which takes you to a stone stairway leading to this wonderful retreat. Worth hiring out with some mates for a special occasion, I think it's about £500 per night which isn't bad if 10 of you go. An intimate and relaxed place with paths, pool, bar, food, and chat. So it was one hypocritical w/e for me guiltily enjoying the glitz and glamour whilst simultaneously trying to be disapproving!
For now, anyone coming to stay will have to downgrade to the jungle house as £500 is all I get to spend here per month so I shan't be treating any of you to Taprobane I'm afraid. The jungle house hasn't changed. The squirrels have now taken over not only the Buddha statue but also one of the lamp shades in the main room, though it needs to be highly acrobatic to actually get into its nest at night ¾ of the way up the wall. The kitchen rat has been hoarding things from the house including the bottoms of curtains and is happily residing under the kitchen unit. The landlord has kindly cleared out the spiders though a stubborn bathroom one met its fate once Asanka checked the place out last weekend and kicked it out for us. The garden is still a complete paradise with stunning birds flying in the garden - bright colours of greens, yellows and reds, fast flittering tiny noisy birds, birds with long elegant tails and the usual tweety birds flocking in the garden in their gangs. The palm cats are also still living in the roof with 3 new babies wobbling their way across the wire at 6.30 every night, travelling from the roof to the coconut trees to learn about all things nocturnal from their huge scruffy parents.
Jungle Christmas
It was Christmas time that we were reminded what a haven the house is, and with Grant's insistence started to work out whether we could afford to keep it on or not at £50 a month. Christmas was a quiet affair this year with no visitors and anyone we knew out of town, so we spent a week in the jungle house and re-discovered Hikkaduwa beach. Hardly much of a discovery - over a mile long and where we used to eat out every night, but with work being so busy and days getting dark here at 6.00pm I rarely got to the beach in daylight hours, and I swam in the sea ...err, maybe once?! So having for the first time managed to get to the beach in daylight we made a point of going for walks on the beach every day, and taking the odd swim. It's a really stunning beach with mounds of fine orange sand sloping into the multi-blue coloured sea where no day is the same - rough smooth, high low, warm cold. It's not only beautiful but also very long walking from the fishing boats in Dodanduwa, where you watch the fishermen and locals push their colourful boats of blues, reds, greens and whites up the beach out of the water, to the more touristy end of the beach with rickety wooden beds and chairs laid out in the sand for sunbathers and surfers. Sri Lanka is such a 'no go' area right now that the beach is almost deserted walking for almost an hour along the sand with hardly a tourist in sight was a treat.
We also discovered fine dining 5 minutes from the house!! There's a lovely little villa called Villa Kusum run by a couple of Dutch blokes and staffed by locals which does the most amazing food. The guys really know what they're doing and it's wonderfully relaxed with great service. They even sent their chef back to Holland for a few months to work in and learn from one of the Michelin star restaurants there. We certainly benefitted with prawn, chicken and chocolate delights consumed in a low lit atmosphere with the waves breaking on the beach 10 feet away. This made up for a disastrous Christmas meal which we had at the extremely overpriced Amangalle Hotel in Galle, where the food was awful and minimal, and to top that it was a day that the Government, with their anti-foreigner and anti-Christian ways, had decided to ban the drinking of alcohol in any public places for the day.
Wildlife again
Our final discovery of the month was another wildlife haven. Although you'd have thought anywhere we live is full of wildlife. Even in Colombo the place is a refuge for millions of ants - not the huge ones we had in the jungle but tiny little annoying ones which are barely visible. Often the only way to work out where they are is when you sweep the floor and watch the dirt you swept into a neat pile disappear in all directions. The ants! To counter balance the hassle of insects, we have parrots on the balcony most mornings staring at themselves in the mirror of the balcony window - very cute!
Anyway back to the discovery - we were privileged enough to be taken on a trip with one of Sri Lanka's best wildlife photographers to a wetlands area outside of Colombo known as Talangama. Here was a stunning area of lakes and paddy fields, rural village and birdlife living side by side, and the discovery of yet another amazing villa to stay in and absorb the tranquillity. We didn't stay, but are reserving it as a treat for the next visitor. Tempted?!
Europe Exposure
That's what work called the trip they organised for me through Austria and Germany exposing me to a new side of Europe (new for me at least) - visiting former Nazi Concentration Camps and Soviet Special Camps, alongside various memorials and peace centres. This took place over the past two weeks after my trip home for Mum's 60th which, as you can see from the photos on Flicr, was a fantastic day (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fayenightingale/). The UK was full of stunning autumn fair - juicy red and crispy golden leaves dropping like flies in the wind and rain (though there were some sunny days too!). I squeezed in a trip to London renewing my love of the city and having some well overdue catch ups with folk, also some nice country pubs and walks with Mum and a decent time with Dad who was over from Canada. Loved meeting my little niece Millie sleeping like her father at 3 months old, and Oscar is growing fast and cheekier than ever! Sadly work pressures took precious time away from them all too.
During my usual flying visit home where I continued to struggle with work, paperwork and trying to get to see people, there was a lot of criticism that I'd not written anything on the blog for a while. So here it is, rushed on my first day back in SL before I head into work mania.
After leaving the UK with the usual teary farewell my first port of call was Austria, and as I arrived in Vienna I realised it had been quite some time since I had experienced winter. The cold went through all my layers of clothing and I was pleased to arrive at midnight in my cosy warm hotel room, deposited there by a stereotypical old European taxi driver in his jumper and trousers, less typically listening to a neon blue stereo in his old Merc. Perhaps he wasn't a cabbie at all just enjoyed taking foreigners to their destination?
Vienna was what I expected - elegant old buildings with culture and gold brocade, schnitzel and wine. The first of my 'exposure's was to a castle about 1.5 hours out of Vienna - a well known centre for Peace Studies and also a Peace Museum which I didn't actually find that impressive. The journey put the UK autumn to shame as the hilly horizon was completely dappled with colour in the trees. This on the way back however, with an elderly version of Schumacher behind the wheel, was more like a speeding kaleidoscope of landscape - somewhat nauseating on twisty roads! This short trip ended with the sleeper train to WeimarGermany, via Dresden at 6.30am on a head screamingly cold morning. Weimar - a very interesting town of arts and culture, celebrating Goethe and Schiller, music and architecture, history and beauty, and also Hitler.
On arrival in Weimar, after a hearty German breakfast it was off to the local Concentration Camp - quite a way to be introduced to Germany! This part of Germany has fascinating and frightening history and is so complex I don't know how they have managed to deal with it, but I think they've done a good job. The camp was one of the most well known of the Nazi regime - a camp where the prisoners were worked to death. Buchenwald shamed me due to my serious lack of knowledge about WWII history and the atrocities Europe suffered under the Nazi regime. Only recently through BBC, Channel 4 and cinema have I learnt about the early years and last days of Hitler, the Wannsee Conference, and the division of Berlin with the allies and Soviets (even more ashamedly this was through a George Clooney movie!!). Film and TV rather than UK education gave me glimpses of the history but the reality is quite shocking.
I fittingly arrived at Buchenwald on a FREEZING cold day, you could smell the fallen leaves before your nose froze and became a constant drip - so it was like this with shoulders hunched and hands in pockets that I was guided through some of Europe's darkest history with a very knowledgeable and helpful colleague, Stephanie. I looked through the familiar entrance of the camp from all those WWII films - the rectangle with the small arch in its centre and metal gates that led to a bleak empty space open to all the elements - severe cold winds on open land where the prisoners had to stand still for hours for punishing 'roll call'. The camp (built by inmates) was calculatingly cruel set on a mountainside with stunning scenery in the distance but severe weather in both winter and summer with all the trees cut to prevent any form of shelter. A peaceful place for the locals for a Sunday walk, and a place of horror for those that had to endure the conditions living outdoors in freezing or soaring temperatures. It was a living nightmare for Jews, Roma, Sinti, political prisoners, men, women, and children who were brought to the camp to work to death. Too many atrocities to write about and a place not only used by the Nazis but then used to house prisoners by the Soviets in their 'special camps' which also housed political prisoners as well as those that used to be part of the Nazi regime. A terrible complication and contradiction of horrors. The Nazi's were so calculating that they documented every minute detail so there are photos, stories, documents, and footage of the camp and what went on there. Many of these are put together in a museum on the site - you need to visit to really understand.
Weimar is a beautiful town with nice bars and restaurants and an arty student culture so if you're prepared for an extreme contradiction of experiences then I'd recommend the trip. After that a brief stop off in Frankfurt - a lovely city with the river running through it where you find good museums and restaurants, and where I found my Sri Lankan colleague Sulochana. The two of us then travelled to Berlin - a great, complex, and buzzing city!
Arrived in the over budgeted, enormously impressive glass train station. It may have cost a little more than it should be it's certainly a good way to arrive in Berlin. We were privileged to be escorted through the city by a Professor of Political History, who also had a very interesting East / West history of his own and has just received a medal of honour but for now we'll stick with Berlin's past. It has an immense history. For us though we were there to concentrate on the history of the city in conjunction with Hitler, evacuation and murder of Jews, Roma, Sinti, anyone sick, disabled or not having an appearance that the Nazis favoured.
Then after the history of the war we turned to the Soviets, then the GDR (those that ruled East Germany to you and I), East and West Berlin, and the Wall. The Wall prominent in history and a thing I remember well from my childhood watching escape attempts on TV and watching the euphoria as the wall came down in November 1989. The Wall is dominant still by it's constant presence either in the form of double-cobbled lines (similar to double-yellow lines, but made of cobbled stone - like a long equals sign winding through the city streets), or still standing in places, and if not standing fixed on walls for memorial such as at Check Point Charlie - a place depicting a history of desperation and escape attempts to get from East to West.
The city is full of memorials of all shapes and sizes for victims of many faceted conflicts - it's confusing, fascinating, saddening and buzzing. Not only are people clearly interested in their history and how to come to terms with their pasts they are also making the most of the unified and vibrant city of Berlin. East seems to be the coolest, with a lot of history and many restored old buildings - it’s a dynamic mix of old and new. You drive through this huge city taking in buildings that survived the war, alongside prefab buildings built in GDR times, and many places of culture such as opera houses, concert halls, museums - all are full of life. It is a city with two centres both of which I went to, though from what I saw East was best. I enjoyed Indian, German, Turkish and Egyptian food, many a glass of warming red wine plus some very decent cups of coffee.
Accommodation is pretty cheap too, though book in advance as the city is so popular hotels are getting booked out. I stayed in a cool apartment hotel in East Berlin. If I had had the one bed apartment to myself it would have been luxury - huge room, huge bed, little kitchen, big bathroom with bathtub long enough for tallies and an excellent shower, and to top all that there was a balcony with comfy chairs which was enclosed so no need to endure the cold. In the end, I had to share my hotel room of luxury with my colleague as her trip had been last minute and there were no other rooms in the hotel or 2 bedroom apartments. It was great that she could join me on such a useful trip, but for my fiercely independent self needing all the space in the world I found it hard to have to share a room. It was like going back to school! It also meant a week of heavy snoring, followed by 5.00am phone calls to Sri Lanka - and a v tired and irritable Faye. One night I even resorted to sleeping on the balcony for at least some kip. Sadly she had to endure with my intolerance but I think at the end of the day we had a good trip!
Berlin was a place where I felt safe, relaxed and inquisitive and where the people were friendly and interested. Everything and everyone seemed to tell a story - from professors, to buildings, to memorials, to double-cobbled stones, and to the techno DJ who drove us to the airport on a crisp Sunday morning. We headed back to Sri Lanka full of Europe's history and German food. Berlin is certainly a place I would like to return to.
