Dec 2 - 8 SRI LANKA

Dec 2 – We took our first flight from Hyderabad to Chennai and arrived in Channai (formerly known as Madras) to steamy, tropical weather. Kim basically slept walked off the plane and to the international terminal where we sat for hours waiting for our flight. We arrived around 8am in Chennai and our flight to Colombo was supposed to be at 1130, but was delayed until 2pm. I called home and called Sahani to check in and tried to keep awake while Kim slept sitting up, mouth open. Pretty funny.

We finally arrived in Colombo and were met by Prasanth’s uncle. He took us to check in at a hotel in Colombo and helped us make contact with Sahani’s parents and arranged our travel to see them in Kurenagala. Kim and I got showered, took a nap, and headed out for a nice dinner at the Galle Face Hotel. It was this really nice seafood/Sri Lankan buffet and we sat along the ocean wall and watched and listened to the waves. It was so steamy out that both Kim and I took a second shower when we got back and had one of the best night’s sleep we’d had in a while.

From here… Dec 3 – 6 was spent in Sahani’s home. I’m going to list things we saw and did before returning to Colombo Dec 6-8 and then tell a bit about the emotional side of Sri Lanka…

First, Sahani’s parents were amazing. If the roads in SL had been better it would have taken about an hour or so to arrive there, instead it took nearly 4. We got our first cultural experience because Sahani’s youngest sister had just started menstruating and there is a big party to celebrate her becoming a woman. How crazy is that? So Kim and I met all the family and drank Arrack (local liquor) and ate and laughed with the family.



The family arranged a day trip for us to Sigiriya (fort on top of a mtn);




Dambulla (where Premi’s house is) to see the Golden Temple;



Kandy (could spend a day there... beautiful area);



and then back to home. It was all a blur and I didn't really take that many pics. So the views you are getting are very limited. We drove up Elephant Trunk Mountain in Kurenagala to the big Buddha with the family that night and then Udeshika’s parents came over to meet us.





Udeshika’s father took us the next day to Penivala where the elephant orphanage is and we saw a feeding and the baths. That was fun.



I even took a picture with an elephant the same age as my papa!



Then we went to a mushroom farm, the first in the country currently being developed by an ex-pat Sri Lankan who lives in Melbourne. We had been traveling that day with his son “Chuck” who also lives in Melbourne and is my age. It was nice to have someone else to chat with. After the farm, which was actually very interesting, we went to Udeshika’s father’s company and drank King Coconut milk and then scooped out the inside to eat.



After our snack we went to pick up Udeshika’s brother and then went to drop Chuck off at his family’s home. We returned to Sahani’s house pretty late and Kim and I were both tired, but ended up playing dress up with the family.



Sahani's mom gifted the sarees we are wearing to us, along with earrings and bracelets. What a generous gift!



We finally convinced the family that we would rather go back to Colombo since we had tried to get south to the beach to see both the reconstruction areas post-tsunami and also to enjoy the sun and sand… but we were apparently not convincing enough and though we did return to Colombo, it was still not exactly as we had hoped or planned, however Parakama (U’s bro) came with us and helped translate. He has his interview to get in to La Trobe that day and was accepted! YAY!! Kim and I had time to sit down and check email and tried again to get a hold of Premi – no luck despite getting his number from his father’s secretary. Kim and I checked in to a hotel and said goodbye to Udeshika’s family and grabbed dinner and crashed.



We spent our last day in Colombo walking Galle Green, Pattaya and then souvenir shopping at Odel. After our walk on the green that morning, Kim was burned to a bright pink color, so it was good that we spent the afternoon indoors. We cam back, had a shower and a nap, and then headed to Royo Bojun for Sri Lankan buffet dinner. It was really tasty. Then we headed to the Hilton for drinks before heading back to our hotel. The next day we left to meet Manjit in Mumbai.

Soooo… Sri Lanka. Pictures could not do the scenery justice. It was lush… a tropical rainforest… green and shiny mixed with dirt/gravel roads. Houses didn’t have windows - just decorative bars to let air flow - and everyone sleeps under a mosquito net at night. There is the sweetest pineapple there and the people couldn’t be friendlier.

My emotional state during this trip was just a wreck. We were invited to come to SL by Premitha and then… he never bothered to contact us once we arrived. I was so angry with him that the whole trip was a blur. Kim was pretty upset too… but not in the same way. I may, some day, return to SL and not feel sad; we were adopted by Sahani’s and Udeshika’s family (as well as the help provided by Prasanth’s uncle) and we have been invited to return any time as long as we come see them first! There is so much to see in that country that two weeks would have done us better, but I was glad to leave when we did. Turns out, from what I’ve pieced together, Premitha returned home and his parents had accepted a marriage proposal and so soon after our time there, he was to be engaged. I assume that I could not be seen with a government minister’s son in his home country if he were about to be engaged. No scandals or something. Would have been courteous of him to at least inform us of the situation, ya think?