Not a tourist in sight but I did go to Jaffna and on safari and to a wonderful hotel in tangalle ........

I wonder if he is looking for the toruist centre

November 3rd  - Its now been a month and not a single tourist has come through the door.  It's a bit embarrassing really but what can I do short of going out on the street and grabbing any foreigner I see and dragging them in.  Meanwhile Vachi (the volunteer) continues to come in every day and folds leaflets - what the hell can I give him to do when they are all folded. 
We still have no signs up at the railway station or the bus station so maybe that's it but maybe its because everyone uses the internet now.  Still we can but hope. 

I never get tired of elephants

he looks so happy

In the meantime I have been busy working out the itineraries for my last three visits.  Ros came in early October and stayed 3 weeks.  I made sure she had plenty to do and we hung out in Matara and she went on a Tony tour and to the Morawaka tea estate.  We went on a safari and saw more elephants and still no leopards but crocodile and lots of birds.  We went with Suji, our Bob Marley look alime tuk tuk driver - he hired a care with no windscreen wipers and of course it rained like hell and it turned into the jouney from hell - he is a great tuk tuk driver but couldn't quite master the car driving .we had to tell him when to change gear - add to that the monsoon rain storms and you have some idea.  

there were lots of crocs

and a bee eater

Then we went to meet Sally (yes she is here again) and her Hebden Bridge friends who had got the last rooms at the Last House, an amazing Geoffrey Bawa villa - Ros and I had to slum it in the Coco Tangalle, which is the best hotel I have stayed in in Sri Lanka.  excellent - let the picutres tell the story. We ate at the Last House which was amazing but I didn't get any pictures.  

they get everywhere . 

Then I took a week off and we went to Mirissa where it rained quite a lot and we stayed in a rather down market guest house where we stayed in a room that was totally pink.  We did a cooking class there though and now we both know how to cook bindi , and pineapple curry and dahl and chicken curry .  The family that run the guest house are really lovely and they couldn't have been more welcoming- 

the meal we cooked or watched being cooked at least.

We got the plane from Colombo to Jaffna via Trincomalee - actually it stopped at Trinco where we waited for 6 hours before going to the officers mess for lunch (it was an airforce company) only to be told the flight was cancelled as the visibility was not good enough !  we were offered a flight back to Colombo or to get a vehicle at our own expense on to Jaffna.  We got a vehicle with some other people and 5 hours later we arrived in Jaffna.  That was an 11 hour trip and we were tired.  We were staying at a place where Angelina Jolie had stayed - it was basic and I can't imagine Angelina putting up with no hot water - maybe she is hardier than we thought.  Anyway the next day we went on a trip to an island and saw the city a bit - and the next day we went to the market and the temple. 

I told you they were colourful

the temple in Jaffna

Jaffna is different - the temples are amazing , so colourful and the worship is much more involved than the Budhist type.  In the Hindu religion the men strip off to the waist and prostrate themsleves on the floor in front of one or many of the millions of gods they have.  There are many more women riding bikes,  No-one wears skinny jeans or any jeans - they wear saris or shalwar and they ride their bikes in them.  School children ride bikes .  No-one is very keen to talk about the war although there are a lot of damaged buildings with shell holes that were clearly the result of the war but people are not keen to discuss.  There are a lot more beards.  The people are just as friendly and food is just as delicious - it just has  different feel to it.  I am so glad we went. 
Ros went home and I went back to Matara - no more visits till the end of November.
So now I am in my last 8 weeks in Sri Lanka and I am both really looking forward to and really apprehensive about going home.  I have no firm plans but many options - this has been a great experience and I will write just one more blog to round the whole time off ..........

Bob Marley (Suji)

the sunami memonial in Yala

on the beach at Yala  - my trousers look filthy

madam at the Coco- tangalle

at Coco tangalle - I want this couch

at Coco Tangalle

the market in Jaffna - amazing vegetables

what are all these things

just look at all the different flowers - where? - yes Coco Tangalle

Marvelous Matara is launched .......

 this is it ! marvelous Matara

The VSO contingent Me, with Ruvanthi and Diane

I have been waiting to blog until the Tourist Information Centre opened . I have been utterly consumed by it and apart from a trip to Colombo and a trip to Galle I have not done much else except try to get ready and teach my English classes of which more later . 





So the month has been difficult, frustating and yet in the end in true Sri Lankan style it got done .  It all happened on 28 September - on 27 September the CEO and I were still cleaning toilets, blowing baloons , watching the boards go up in the office and despairing as the leaflets had not arrived and the advertising boards around the place had not been put up nor had the maps been done nor had the money from Save the Children arrived in our bank account meaning that no computer had been purchased.  We went home that night at 9 pm wondering how it would be. 

Marvelous Minister (in white) and oil lamp

Next day dawned and everyone arrived early , flags were put up , muffins arrived, the food arrived , the dignitaries began to arrive and finally , 10 minutes before the minister arrived the leaflets arrived ' Marvelous Matra' was in print, now they just needed to be folded.  All hands to the pump.  I gave a  demonstration of how to make coffee in a cafetiere and the staff were fascinated.  The coffee which had beeen brought by my sister smelled so good. 

Marvelous Vachi - a TIC volunteer

Time to start the celebrations - the minister arrived .  Unfortunately the photos do not show his amazing gold and jeweled rings and his patent leather winklepickers - he was something else.  He is the minister of tourism and gave a speech which really told people to look East to China and Russia and stop concentrating on the West.  Before that we had to light the oil lamp (I love this ceremony) and after that he cut the ribbon and declared the centre open.  He says he will tell the president about our wonderful centre -  but we will see.  The speeches continued , Ruvanthi from VSO rebutting the minister and saying its all very well to be proud of how many visitors there are to Sri Lanka but unless we learn to treat them better and stop harassing them they do not return - controversial but the minister had left.  Then Save the Children talked about responsible tourism - sexual exploitation and child labour and then it was the vote of thanks and Marvelous Matara became Marvelous Mary - its nice to be appreciated.  Food followed and then I left, thoroughly exhausted to go on a boat trip.  We saw so many king fishers and eagles and a few crocs - the bird life is stunning.  Then I went with another volunteer (the woman who started at the same time as me) to Mirissa for fresh fish on the beach - all good .  Now I can relax - all we need now are some tourists. 

'Marvelous Mary' in full swing

marvelous muffins (in the basket)

My English classes continue - its interesting that in all three classes it is mostly the men who stay the course - I think that this has something to do with the fact that girls just do not go out in the evening and two of the classes are evenings.  One class folded altogether because they couldn't understand me - they only gave it two weeks ,  but they are used to being taught English by Sri Lankans and so find the English accent difficult.  It takes about 3 weeks for people to get used to it .  I have a new class of travel agent staff who are delightful - advanced-  so they are doing writing stories and reading Dr Seuss aloud - they are a challenge but so nice .  I am coming to the end of a couple of the classes but my one to one class continues and will continue till I leave I think.

Ros comes today - for three weeks which will be fantastic, Sally is coming back with some other friends of hers and so I will get to see her and then Ronke and Martin will be staying in a place nearby so I can visit them .  So October is pretty much taken up with visitors and going to Jaffna - so the next blog will show lots of that .  Then November will be quiet with no visitors at all and then my sister and brother come for a week and then it is nearly time to come home.  I have a date 11/1 - I finish at the Chamber on 21st December and then go traveling for a few weeks - going to spend Christmas in Galle and New Year in Maldives and stay at some Geoffrey Bawa places.  I will be sad to leave but glad to get home too of  which more later .........

elephants, elephants elephants and other things too .........

first elephant carrying a relic

18the August.  Its been a whole month since my last blog and I've been busy.  Now I've been told by my sister and my brother that these blogs are too long so I will keep this short - or I will try but there is such a lot to tell.
So there was a Perehera at Dondra and the president of the board at the chamber got tickets and invited me and I took Rosie the daughter of the family from Hebden Bridge staying downstairs.  It was great - lots of elephants - it poured with rain but it was spectacular ..  Rosie took the pictures so they are particularly good but just posting one I have so many more.

they look pretty good for now sleep don't they?

  The Hebden Bridge gang left for the east coast and then it was a week of goodbyes - Sureka and Nanthony finished their project so they left and then the Americans ended their project so they left - so here I am alone again -but don't worry because then Jan and Josie (Sister and niece) arrived .  they stayed in Matara to get over the jet lag for a couple of days but we went to a trip with Suji (otherwise known as Bob Marley) in his tuk tuk to the blow hole an to the lighthouse  and I got them on the bus to Galle and to Barefoot (who cares about jet lag!)  and then off we set on our tour (another Tony tour) we went to Ella first , climbed mini Adams Peak through a tea plantation in beautiful weather and then had a massage which was more like assault.  I don't know if you remember as a child giving your sister or brother a Chinese scrub - you rub your knuckles hard on to the top of the head - (No? well we did it in the Wyman family and it hurts ) well this was at the beginning of the massage and then she started slapping me about the head which caused me the laugh hysterically , which set Janet off and then the masseuse who didn't get what we were laughing at - it was all downhill from then!  Ayeurvedic ? I'm not sure it is supposed to be quite so painful is it?  Much hilarity though .

the view from the train

 Then the next day we took a spectacular train ride to Nuriya Ella through mountains  and tea plantations  and coconuts and waterfalls  - quite amazing - such views, such verdant lands - Sri Lanka really does have it all.   Then on to Kandy where we came upon some political rallying accompanied by the loudest firecrackers you have ever heard.  We went to the botanical gardens - you should have seen the bats - as big as cats - and very numerous - those of you who know me well know my dread of bats . but hey ,they were high up!  Lots of monkeys too. It was a beautiful botanical garden with trees planted by Princess

A very big tree

giant bamboo

a dubious looking fruit, no comment

look at the size of those bats

in theorchid house

famous tree planter

how do they do that ? 

Anne and other more famous people , like the first man on the moon and Indira Gandhi and the prince of wales in 1922.   Then we went to the cultural dancing (again) and then to the tooth temple where we were part of a scrum that was called queueing  up for the privilege of herding past the casket which may or may not contain the relic - the Buddha's tooth!.  In this situation Sri Lankans loose all their politeness and good humour and old ladies will elbow you out of  way and shove you - you can see I was not impressed and  couldn't wait to get out of there .  We left Kandy for Sigiriya which Josie and I climbed - its is still amazing the second time around .  Jan has vertigo so couldn't do the last precarious steps but she got up to the lion's claws.  Lots of monkeys again.  Then it was on to Dambulla - you've seen pictures of that before. 




What about these elephants then?  On to Mineriya national park and 'the gathering' .  The highlight of the trip - in August and early September elephants from all over gather here for a party - a kind of reunion - lots of babies and lots of elephants of all ages.  We saw at least 100 elephants - if not more and we got charged by one who was fed up with tourists getting too close - it was scary , trunk up, trumpeting1.  They are amazing creatures and to see them all together - quite reminded me of a Wyman family reunion!  The next day Jan and I went on an elephant ride which was good .  We then headed for Trincomalee and our stay at the Jungle Beach resort which was so lovely and so classy and so expensive!  It was fab. 

god I love elephants

look at the baby

there were so many

maybe didn't seem quite right after all the wild ones

at the Hindu temple

We relaxed there for the next 4 or 5 days sunning and swimming and we went on the worst nature walk in the history of nature walks - ' a common dragonfly madam' a common babbler madam' - that was about the extent of it !We visited out first Hindu temple in trincomalee and went snorkeling at pigeon island where Josie saw a baby shark .   From there we went  to Anaradapurah and the last bit of the cultural triangle - what a place - it  would take all day to see everything - we saw a lot thanks to Tony who knew which bits were key - and then the next day we went to Wilapatu national park which was a bit of a disappointment - didn't really see anything of note - not a single elephant - i I think we had been spoilt.  Then it was a dash to Negomobo for the Js to get their flight home and me to head back to Matara.  Alone again but what a great trip . This was a good itinerary - varied and lots of difference and it includes the beach.  A feature of this trip was the amount of kingfishers we saw , just sitting on the telephone wires - they are so rare to spot in England but so common here! Entrancing .

Anaradapurah

a Bo tree taken taken from a cutting of the one Buddha was nlightenedt under

the inimitable money eating lotus flowers

a atar tuttle - one of the few animals we saw in Wilpautu

So work - the tourist information centre is still on track for end of September and I started at Hambantota chamber this week - I will work there for the next three months on Thursdays and Fridays - it didn't start too well , too many memories of starting at Matara and thinking what the hell am I doing here ?  I know it will get better and that I will have some interesting work to do so that is good . The work at Matara continues - the CEO is constantly looking for new opportunities for me to teach English - so now I have a class for tourism students (5 people of whom 3 are challenging to say the least e.g. what do you put in a safe?  answer 'a bicycle'  'no a bicycle is too big ' (there's a pciutre of safe for him to look at ) 'what do you put in a safe' answer 'I've been to kataragama' - you couldn't make it up - Visions of Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam pop constantly into my head) , I am teaching the executive staff at Lucky Lanka which is good, and the managing director of Lucky Lanka on a one to one basis , she would like to do 4 nights a week but I've kept her to two.  The CEO is desperate for me to do a class on a Saturday and has 5 people waiting to start that - I might do a shortened version for the next 6 weeks to build up another week of lieu time .  So I am busier than I have been , given up trying to give management advice - they really don't want it , especially not from a woman!


I am now half way through my placement and the next 5 months will flay past I am sure - I have a few visitors from October .  There is still such a lot for me to see and do - I have to go to the north - to Jaffna particularly.  I love Sri Lanka and I have come to love Matara .  I feel privileged to work here and to get inside the culture - I might not ever understand it .  The rainy season seems to have ended so it is hot hot hot again .  I guess i will have to think about what I am going to do on my return to England but not yet , no not yet............

no weddings or funerals this time but tea, sea and crocodiles ..

It seems like ages since I last posted on this blog because I have been busy and have been all over the place and had Sally visiting me for an extended stay which has been great but now she is gone so its back to normal time !

its there on the log

What have I done - there seems to have been a bit of social whirl but most of my new friends will be leaving shortly - end of project time so its going to be a bit lonely again . Llet me tell you what I have been up to.   We went on  a spectacular trip down the River Nelawali - we saw crocodiles by the ton - babies and huge great 20foot long ones - unfortunatley that picture didn't come out but look at the baby one - its on the log!  There were eagles and kingfishes and peacocks and a water monitor - the river was all but deserted - so impressive - it was fantastic and something that more people should do!

Ahoy Cap'n

 I have finally met the chair of the women's chamber who is a dynamic and rather wild Sri Lankan lady called Kumari - she nd her husband own a hotel and a tea estate and Sally and I were invited to visit the tea estate at Morawaka.  It was amazing - so peaceful and cool even (well some of the time ) We had tour of the  tea factory and of course got to sample some of the tea which is quite delicious .  The flowers and vegeatables that they grow there are amazing and they have  school for the plantation workers' children which is a bit basic but it's a school and the children seemed really happy.  Kumari and Sumedha were great hosts and we had a great time.

look how green this is

could it be an avocado or something else?

birds of paradise just growing all over

this vegetable garden would make my dad happy

 Before that there was a VSO meeting in Colombo so we went up for the weekend after we ran a workshop on employment skills .  This was a workshop done in English - we had been assured that all the students could speak English and would understand what we said - out of 8 attendees only 3 could speak anything like adequate english - have you ever tried running an interactive workshop with people who do not understand what you are talking about.  Add to that the fact that two of the girls were accompanied by their mothers who sat at the back and two of the attendees had learning difficulties! It was a challenge - I got the CEO to come and translate and we got through - the best part was teaching them about handshakes !  A real experience - they all got certificates at the end which had to be signed by three board members so the driver had to drive round Matara to get the signatures while the class waited.  lets hope my next English class is a little more straighforward/ 
Anyway in Colombo we went out with the other volunteers the night before the meeting and we had wine - quite an event for me! The meeting was really interesting - there was talk on the ecomomy of Sri lanka which was fascinating - did you know that China is the biggest investor in Sri Lanka - it gives 1.01billion in investment but only 0.01 is for aid.  Most of that has to be paid back somehow.  Then there was a talk on a project in Jaffna - with pictures that made me really want to go there .  Then a talk on architecture ( a bit random but really interesting) and then it was off to the tea estate.
 

ladies who lounge at Atugam Bay

The following weekend we went to Arugam Bay - which has the best and calmest sea I have ever swum in - it was idyllic to say the least.  They say it is a surfing beach but the surf was not up (as they say) when we were there .  We stayed in a fantastic place with a little bar in the garden - we had a great time marred only by the rather gruelling 8 hour bus journey to get there .  Do you know that no matter what time of day you get on a bus in Sri Lanka it is crowded - we managed to get a seat but then spent the next 8 hours with someone's crotch, bosom, shoulder, bag or elbow in our faces! it was worth it though.


We had the staff at the chamber round for lunch to say goodbye to Sally - they bought her a 3D elephant picture (I say nothing) .  We ran out of rice - they eat so much rice  and they were nearly an hour late but hey - I think we got away with it (as Sally would say). 
Work continues to be frustrating but I have more english classes lined up and now that Kumari is involved the tourist information project is developing nicely and I really think we can think about opening at least a desk in the office in September . VSO gave a small grant to help us with the publications so there is hope.  Janet and Josie (my sister and her daughter ) are coming in 2 weeks so that will be excellent and I am looking forward to going to lots of new places with them - we have a Tony Tour booked (he is the guy that took Joe and I on a tour when I first got here) . 
I am loving it still and cannot believe I am about half way through my experience - its just gone so quickly .  I am expecting to be a bit busier at work over the next few weeks - I will miss the Americans and my Sri Lankan friends who will be leaving Matara in the next few weeks but I will just have to make new contacts and keep on being optimistic ...........................

A normal breakfast at my house 

our cabana at AB

Arugam Bay - paradise!