Tsunami and Sea Turtle Rescue

Thursday morning we had our last wonderful breakfast prepared by Chandrani, and then said goodbye to our gracious caretakers and gorgeous home. We were heading to the next chapter of our Sri Lanka adventure.

Hikkaduwa was hit very hard by the 2004 Tsunami. It is just at sea level, so the water swept across the area destroying everything in its wake. Many people, mostly women and children, boarded a train thinking it would withstand the force of the water. It did not, and 1270 lives were lost as the train first rolled over and then was submerged in the wave. Today you can see hundreds of shells where homes once stood.

The Japanese erected this huge Buddha to remind us of the event and guide us on how to live following such a tragedy. Two men visited separately while we were there; it appeared that both had lost friends and family in the Tsunami. This really brought home to me how many were personally affected. To lose your friends, family, neighbors, your home, your source of income, is more than we could be expected to bear. Today the people here are looking forward.

Our next stop was a happier one. At the sea turtle rescue we were greeted by two volunteers from England and Scotland who chose a volunteer stint in Sri Lanka instead of a more typical vacation. When the turtle eggs are laid on the beach, locals either eat them or rescue them to sell to a turtle rescue. These 1 week old babies will be released soon under cover of dark to protect them from predatory birds.

We then had a 200 km drive which took 6 hours to complete. I kid you not. We drove on a narrow two lane road full of cars, trucks, tuk-tuks, motorcycles, and school buses –an interminable trip. We arrived in Kandy tired and pretty much fed-up with car travel. A cocktail made from local Arrack, passion fruit, angostura bitters and sugar at The Queens Hotel cheered us up somewhat.

Dinner was at a place with a beautiful view and quite awful food. We moved on to our hotel, The Ellerton, 18 kms away. Imagine driving down a series of increasingly narrow roads, lanes, pathways deeper and deeper into the jungle, higher and higher up a mountain in the dark. Our driver asked every person he saw for confirmation on our directions, and called the hotel repeatedly to make sure we were not lost. We arrived eventually and were greeted warmly by the staff. My room was gorgeous, but Alison’s was just okay. We negotiated an equally lovely room for her, unpacked, and joined a couple in the bar for a nightcap.

This morning I am sitting in the sun with Ben the Labrador. We have a wonderful view, a lousy internet connection, and a morning to ourselves.

Pleasant and less pleasant surprises

Tuesday we decided we actually needed to leave the house and go to Galle. It is a fortress town originally built by the Dutch and later taken over by the British. Because of its high surrounding walls, the fortress part of the town escaped most of the Tsunami destruction elsewhere.

We planned to take a bus, but at the last minute had a guy at a neighboring hotel call a taxi for us. After some negotiating on the price (why do we bother when they actually know how to do this?) we were told he was 200 yards away and would come straight away. After 15 minutes we were getting impatient. Apparently the driver was 200 yards away having lunch, a point that was not communicated from the beginning. We got a little hissy and suggested that the delay would affect the price.

The driver readjusted our thinking. He offered to not only drive us for less than the originally negotiated price, but also to spend the day in Galle doing his own business and bring us back whenever we were finished. He told us not to rush, enjoy a nice dinner there and call him when we were ready. Another lesson for us: Time is relative.

We found some very nice shops, bought a gift for our host, and very nearly bought a fabulous necklace for Alison, before heading to the Galle Fort Hotel for a much needed cocktail. This was a charming place with only 12 rooms and an excellent bartender. While sitting out as the sun was setting we were bothered a bit by mosquitoes. The duty manager noticed and brought us a very nice rose scented mosquito repellent cream along with a nice after-bite balm, both at no charge. If you sit still long enough someone will offer you exactly what you need.

We Checked out the menu – very British (and dare I say boring?). We were advised to go to Serendipity for local food. Upon entering we saw one large communal table, which was fine, and no alcohol, which was less fine. Change of plans – we would head back to Hikkaduwa.

Our driver was already waiting for us at the designated spot, and recommended we go to "Refresh" in Hikkaduwa. He accompanied us to a beautiful beachside restaurant which we had not discovered earlier in the week, and made sure we were being taken care of before leaving us to our dinner, which was the best we have had so far here.

Hopped in a tuk-tuk to go for our nightcap at Top Secret, and were joined at our table by 3 men, a Swede and 2 Sri Lankans. They admitted they were already quite drunk but sat with us and talked our ears off for an hour or so. We left them to come home, keeping an eye that no one was following us. Upon arriving at our locked gate we attempted to rouse our night watchman. While repeatedly banging on his window and our gate, 3 men appeared on motorcycles and stopped just across the road, watching us. Of course we were sure they were somehow threatening, so we banged louder and woke the neighborhood dogs, and eventually the night watchman. I am pretty sure he was drunk. We decided to just lock our doors and hope no one was going to attack us, since he quite obviously would be no protection on this night.

We noticed something strange on the floor, but the light was dim so we agreed to call it flora vs. fauna for the evening.

Then the power went out. This is a big old house, and we were already on alert from the night’s events. Now it is a big old pitch black house. And we could not find matches to light the candles. And there was no flashlight.  The moment to make sure there is a flashlight and candles in the house is at least 5 minutes before the power goes out! Back to the night watchman, woke him up again, and asked him for a lighter. He came into the house, watched us light a couple of candles, and then offered us the only flashlight. We accepted. We also decided to sleep in the room with 2 beds, not that we were frightened or anything just for practical purposes you understand. Of course by the time we went to bed the power came back on and we called off the alarms. Well Alison did. My body decided to stay on high alert for the whole night just in case any remaining danger should present itself.

This morning we got a proper photo of our late night visitor. It wasn’t flora.

Delicious local food and scary creatures

I woke up Saturday morning to friendly voices and the wonderful aroma of breakfast being prepared. Chandrani prepared a feast of plain hoppers, egg hoppers, chili sambol, which is a mixture of chilies, onions, dried fish, and salt all ground up with some lime juice squeezed over at the end, dhal curry, papaya and bananas. Incredibly good. We decided it would be a good idea after to walk the 1.5km to town, but chose the hottest part of the day to do so. We bought what we needed and walked back home for a 2 hour siesta. Lounging by the pool, cocktails, and dinner at Moonbeam Restaurant beachside, a drink at Top Secret beachside, was all we needed to have a lovely sleep that night.

Sunday was similar, except breakfast was string hoppers, fresh tuna, potato curry and coconut sambol. We did not leave the property all day, enjoying the pool and of course the requisite siesta. When we finally decided to go for dinner we walked about 5 minutes to Top Secret and had very mild (too mild) curries next to the Indian Ocean. The surf pounds along the shore here quite dramatically. A nice young local man invited us on his brother’s boat Monday afternoon. It is nice but we probably won’t make it at that time. He also invited us to a private party on the beach where he and his friend will be drumming, and that we might accomplish. Funny story at Top Secret: the poor little dog I was feeling sorry for the night before is actually doing okay. I made friends with him, but when I offered him food he said "No thank you I have already eaten." Live and learn.



Sorry to say but the most exciting thing that happened was wildlife related. Late Sunday night I toddled into my bathroom for the usual reasons and discovered a spider the size of a dinner plate resting on my towel in front of me. I screamed which brought Alison running, and then we screamed together. Unperturbed our new guest continued whatever he was doing. We then ran out, stopping to unlock the door, and tried to explain to the night watchman how much we needed his help. He did not understand but came with us to investigate. As we issued him directions in a language he does not understand from outside the bathroom he searched in vain for our intruder. This was not going well. Finally we creeped into the bathroom and showed him the damn thing which by then was on the floor to take advantage of his camouflage. We pointed, screamed and ran back out. Well he just couldn’t see it, which of course meant he could not remove it. He did his best, looking under all the furniture with his flashlight but no luck. All I could imagine was waking up in the morning and having this monster in bed with me. Yuck.

Dinner at Top Secret Hikkaduwa

Yes he was on my head this morning!

Okay now get this. The next morning, as I walked into my bathroom something landed on my head. No it was not the monster spider from the night before, but it was his little brother. Another big scene, our caretakers came running and finally removed it, still alive, to the great outdoors where it belongs. I have always hated spiders, but will no longer be afraid if the little bitty ones we get in the western world.

The day improved when Chandrani presented us with tuna, milk rice, and chili sambol for breakfast. Quite possibly her biggest challenge was not to laugh too hard at the silly girls.

 

Well fed local dog



Neverlost-Everlost:Quel Voyage

Quel voyage!

Thursday was a rather important day at work. I had planned a client teleconference at 10, a new business development meeting from 11-1, a second new business development meeting at 2, and found myself at 5 still not back in Paris. This I mention because I had also planned to go home, finish my reports, pack, do an errand for my friend, and leave for the airport by 7:45 that evening. Time was running out. It didn’t help that my client report came back immediately with suggested changes.

But there I was somehow at 7:45 waiting on the street for my taxi which was exceptionally late arriving. At 8 a taxi finally arrived, explaining that the first taxi had had an accident en route and this fine gentleman was in fact the replacement.

Never mind I was on my way. I was greeted by a long queue at Charles de Gaulle for Qatar economy, and then I was on board the flight leaving for Doha where I was to meet my friend Alison somewhere in Duty Free. And sure enough there she was between me and the duty free alcohol. What a surprise.

Next stop Colombo. Arrived approximately 30 minutes late, found our driver, withdrew 50,000 Sri Lankan rupees (just felt wrong) and started the next leg of the trip by car to Hikkaduwa. You remember it was already a long day, going on 16 hours of travel for me. Well we spent 2 hours driving from the airport into Colombo to pay our travel agent, and another 2 hours driving out of Colombo, followed by 2 hours on the road, to at last arrive at the house in Hikkaduwa tired and hungry. For those of you who know me, the only thing worse than me tired and hungry is me tired hungry and cold. Some might say the difference is marginal.

At this point however things were looking up. The house is absolutely beautiful, big, lots of common space and also huge bedrooms for when we need to have time alone. The caretaker, his wife, and the ancient security guard all greeted us on the front porch. They showed us around, and then realizing we really hadn’t eaten all day, sent the night watchman for some food. We were told to expect fish and vegetables, but actually received something quite different. Hard to describe really but welcome. A couple of cocktails by the pool, and we both collapsed in our respective canopy beds complete with gauzy mosquito netting. A busy Thursday-become Friday was finally over.

Funkin' the Fifteenth

Sunday was kind of a miracle; I was in Paris, it was sunny, and I got to hang out with a great group of people walking around Paris. I joined the Paris if you Please meetup group for their "Funkin' the Fifteenth" walking tour. We spent two hours talking (much of this) walking (lots) and looking (not so much due to being too distracted by the first two for me!).
We did see cool outdoor metal sculptures, a street with homes from the early 1900's one one side and a big modern low rental housing on the other, a winery complete with samples of pinot noir, 3 beautiful parks, a hidden Russian Orthodox church, a very cute artists street, and even a lighthouse!

At the end of our walk we all stopped for refreshments, and discovered a common interest in food. Seven of us made our way to Saravanaa Bhavan near Gare du Nord for really good vegetarian food from Southern India. An excellent day, really nice people and finally good Indian food in Paris; what could be better?

What I learned in the Czech Republic

Traveling always gives me a chance to learn something; sometimes about me and sometimes about the pace or the people who live there. This past week was no exception. I was invited to speak at a client meeting on the future of digital and the practical business aspects of introducing new technology. What did I learn?

1.   That presenting to an audience of Czech and Hungarians in English gives less than desirable results;
2.    When you ask them to teach you something in Czech and Hungarian you should be sure to check the meaning before you show off your new language skills to everyone;
3. That I don’t like Czech, Hungarian or Austrian food much;
4. That Budweiser beer was originally Czech, not American (pretty sure Bud Light Lime is all American though)
5. Traveling 5km across the Austrian border officially places you in the Czech Republic but not noticeably so;
6. There are at least 3 Moulin Rouge locations in Europe;
7.  When asking to be dropped off in the city center of Vienna you really should be more specific. Or have a map. Or speak German. Or get rather lost, which is also interesting;
8.   If you are in premium shopping area, leave your premium credit card at home.

Random wall decoration Vienna

St Stephen Cathedral

Danger ahead!

The Opera House

Moulin Rouge #3

Unremarkable in Vienna

Colorful characters

The trip was far too short to become knowledgeable about Mikulov or Vienna, or any of the people I met. The drive through the vineyards, arrival in an area with several old castles rich in ancient and recent historical events, and of course the beautiful city center of Vienna were all good reasons for a return visit.

On Going Home Again

My childhood home in Hilden, Nova Scotia

You can’t go home again

And expect to find what you left

Preserved in resin

Protected for your return

Some things never change

You still laugh so hard with your sisters

Your mother threatens to disown all of you

And friends remain friends

I went to school here

Your junior high school is torn down

Keddys Motor Inn is now a Holiday Inn

There are more places to eat out

And the movie theater is no longer in town limits

Victoria Park in all its beauty

Still challenges you to get lost for a couple of hours

Glorious trees gracefully touch across the quiet streets

And oh the beautiful Victorian homes

People always ask if I will move back

Probably not – it would not be that “me” anymore

But a visit somehow

Restores an order in my soul.