Random Musings in Sri Lanka

Sitting at a restaurant.  Sign says “There is a Complain Book to note your suggestions and or Complains.”  I want to be the proofreader to the world!

Saw a man on the beach with a big kite.  The wind was strong enough that it would lift him off the ground and made handling the kite virtually impossible.   He quickly took it down and went off.  Later, I saw that it was actually a kiteboarding kite and he was skimming across the ocean!

It is nice to see young lovers on the beach.  These young people are not making out, but are cuddling and being close.   In Kuwait, there should be no romantic exhibitions in public.   Here in Sri Lanka, it is merely a fact of life….just like back home.   BUT I should also say that there was a prostitution ring in Kuwait that was recently broken.   Damn those Filipinos!  LOL 

Bathrooms in Sri Lanka are very similar to ones found in Kuwait.  Depending on where you are, you might find a squatter.   Also, they use sprayers to clean.  One woman told me that using the sprayer is much cleaner than using tissue.   That might be, but I cannot tell you how icky the bathrooms are when water gets sprayed all over!  I cannot figure out how to use the sprayer, so I make sure to carry tissue all the time because some toilets don’t have toilet paper.   A girl doesn’t want to be caught unprepared!    Oh, wait, I’m not a Girl Scout…..well, I’m prepared anyway!  Here is a photo of my bathroom in my apartment, so you will see the sprayer:

I don’t have to keep my eyes down all the time when I’m walking down the street.   The people here are very friendly and the men will look you in the eye and say hello, unlike in Kuwait.

It’s the 21^st and I still haven’t tried to haggle with anyone.   I just pay the price they ask.   It is such a poor place and I feel like I have so much, that I don’t begrudge their prices, which are reasonable enough.   What I hate, though, is that you can’t just want down the street and look at shops.   Some of the storekeepers just won’t let you be.  And then there are the beggars.   I feel so sorry for the ones who are physically disabled (and I mean really in bad shape) and want to give them money, but then where do you draw the line?   I can’t give everyone money.   It’s a sad state of affairs

12/21   Today I got a tub from housekeeping in which to do laundry.   I moved a drying rack out onto the balcony, but it’s so humid here I am afraid that it will take days for my clothes to dry!  Today I walked 2.2 miles (appx) to Negombo town itself because Nikki wanted to shop.   We ate a traditional lunch of rice and curry (R350 – cheap!) and then went to one shop before Nikki gave up!  LOL   Made me laugh!   I told her that shopping with her was no fun!  We caught a tuc tuc back to the hotel, where I have been vegetating ever since!

When we go out for dinner in the evening, it doesn’t matter what restaurant we are in, groups of little boys come around costumed up singing “Jingle Bells” looking for donations.   It could be their way of contributing to the family income, a form of entertainment, or a way to get some spending loot.

You know you’re in Sri Lanka when your waiter serves you in bare feet (and I don’t mean yours!).  There are lots of bare feet here, lots of flip flops and sandals, and fewer full shoes.  Of course, we are in the tropics!

12/25 Watched several young men kiteboarding in the strong wind today!  The wind moved them along very quickly and every once in awhile lifted them out of the water so it looked like they were flying!  Were offered a catamaran ride but decided against it since we were going to be on the water for a goodly portion of the next day taking our canal/river/lagoon trip.

It's interesting that the family car here seems to be a motorcycle.  The dad drives with one small child in front of him and the mother rides behind holding a baby in a bundle!  This is a common scene.  There are many old bicycles....lots of them as old as me!  You see many bikes with a pedaler and a rider.  Getting good exercise, I guess.  Cars are not a common sight.

A Day on the Negombo Lagoon

     Today I began the day by taking a short walk.   I was looking for a shop to be open where I could buy a floppy hat to shade me from the sun.  Most stores were still closed at 8:00 a.m. but down the road aways there was one where the proprietor and his grandson were out cleaning the sidewalk.  Believe me, the sidewalks needed it;  there was a lot of trash strewn about during the festivities of the night before.  Anyway, this old man greeted me and I asked if he had a lightweight hat…and guess what?   Of course he did! 

     At 9:00 Naushad picked us up to take us to our boat ride.   As we were driving through town, Naushad stopped and made us get out for a most interesting photo opportunity:   a man with a cow cart!

     Further on, we stopped to see where the canal empties into the lagoon.   The 100 km canal is a great historical fixture because the Danish built it years and years ago.   

      Then we were off to the Barramundi resort where we drank the milk of a king coconut before boarding our little watercraft. 

We cruised around the islands of the lagoon for about 1-1/2 hours.  I got a few nice shots of herons, some birds that I thought were a type of cormorant, and of course the neverending ravens.  Everywhere were a lot of little silver fishes jumping in the water.  We viewed mangrove trees on almost every island; these are an interesting species living in so much water. 

There were a lot of shallow reefs where people were fishing and looked like they were walking on water.  One little island had a nice clearing and there were men out there playing cricket!  Several marinas were full of boats....Naushad said that the fishermen were taking a holiday for Christmas, so the boats stayed in the marinas!

It was so pleasant on the water and was a great ending to our vacation.  

We also ventured into the fish market to see what there was to see.   And what was that?   Fish, fish, and more fish!!   Okay, there were some crabs and shrimp, too.

Another tourist attraction that we stopped at was the ruins of the Danish Fort that was built in 1672.  All that’s left is the tower, in which a clock was placed, so now they call it the Clock Tower.  This tower is all that’s left of the original fort, and not it’s an entrance for a prison.  There were many people there, obviously visiting their incarcerated loved ones.