Final Days

Yes - my time in Sri Lanka is drawing to a close and soon I'll be on the aeroplane heading back to Sydney. Luckily I don't start work until the week after next, so I have a all of next week to re-adjust to being back home.

Am still in Galle, although I'm leaving tomorrow. I was going to spend my last few days in Kandy, but now a Sri Lankan friend wants me to meet his family and see his village, so I thought why not. It's a bit of a journey, but my flight is late Monday evening, so I have plenty of time to get to the airport. After today I'll probably be out of touch until I get home, so don't panic if I don't post anything!

This morning I went out to Unawatuna, a beach 6km from Galle. Am happy that I chose to stay in Galle - beach resorts aren't my thing - although it was great to have an early morning walk along the beach. It was slightly surreal seeing all the tourist hotels and guesthouses knowing that the local people often still don't have any housing. I suppose in some ways the local people need the income from the tourists, but at the same time I'm not sure if I could stay in a hotel knowing that just down the road people were living in temporary accommodation and didn't have the basic facilities like running water. Hopefully all of the money being spent in Unawatuna stays there and doesn't just end up in the pockets of rich business people in Colombo.

Yesterday I splurged and had lunch at a slightly classy restaurant with fantastic views of Galle's ramparts and the ocean. When I say splurge the bill came to Rs.500, which is about US$5. The food was fine, nothing special, but the view was cool. I did feel a little uncomfortable as it was basically all foreign tourists and usually I've been eating in local places. Tonight I'm going to eat again at a place just around the corner from where I'm staying - I had dinner there the other night and it was delicious. I've actually just bought a cookery book, so I'm going to try my hand at Sri Lankan cusine when I get home.

Since I arrived in Galle I've spent every evening like the locals, strolling along the ramparts watching the sun set. It seems like the whole town turns out - kids playing cricket, couples trying to be very discreet behind umbrellas...great atmosphere. Yesterday I didn't leave the fort - decided that I didn't want to deal with the noise and chaos of the new town - and basically spent the day wandering around the quiet streets of the fort or lounging around at my guesthouse. The family who own the guesthouse are a little noisy and of course the cavernous rooms with concrete floors make the noise even worse. All part of the fun I guess - except when I'm trying to sleep!!!

Am off to do a little bit of shopping - trying to spend some of the money I have left. Ideally I'd like to donate the money I have left at the end to some charity, but am now sure how to go about that.

Next post from Sydney...