Tsunami

Am now on the south coast in the city of Galle and today for the first time I saw with my own eyes the extent of the damage from last year's tsunami. Like everyone else I saw the images on television and in the newspapers, but actually seeing just how powerful the force of the water must have been is something else. Some areas I passed through on my journey from Kataragama to Galle seemed to have suffered hardly any damage at all, but between Matara and Galle the damage was obvious. There's been a lot of reconstruction, but a lot of people still seem to be living in temporary accommodation. It was very surreal looking out at the crystal blue waters of the ocean from the bus and thinking that the same ocean could cause so much destruction.

Before I continue I have to say a big thankyou to Lian for her surprise text this morning. Great to hear from you Lian and a nice way to start the day.

Am staying in a guesthouse in Galle fort, which was built by the Dutch. It's in a rambling old house next to the ramparts and although it's pretty simple, it's fine and it's great being so close to the ocean. The fort is very quiet, unlike the new town, which is the usual chaotic Sri Lankan town. A lot of tourists here, so I'm constantly being hounded to take an auto-rickshaw, but I'm pretty immune to the drivers now. I'm actually here a day earlier than anticipated as I've decided to go back to Kandy on Saturday to catch up with some peope I met there. My flight home is late next Monday evening (actually at 0135 Tuesday morning) so I can the evening train back to Colombo and jump on a bus out to the airport. Am looking forward to being in Kandy again.

The last day of the perahera was crazy and I ended up only getting brief glimpses of the procession through the crowds. I had no idea that there would be so many people there, but then it was a poya day, which is a public holiday and because it was on a Friday that meant a long weekend! I'm glad I saw the procession ealier in the week. I was supposed to catch up with Nancy and we briefly did touch base, but she was with some friends of hers from Colombo and they had seats somewhere.

Had a very late night and didn't get much sleep after the perahera so the next day I was really tired. The train to Ella was packed and I had to stand for the first few hours. Fortunately a Sri Lankan family took pity on me and made some space for me to sit down and then preceded to feed me. It was a long, but beautiful, journey (the train is very slow) through the hills, so I'm glad I had somewhere to sit.

Ella was very laid-back. A tiny little village located in a gap in the hills in the south-eastern corner of the hill-country. Did some walking, visited the waterfall - basically just took it easy. There wasn't really much to do apart from sit on the verandah of my guesthouse taking in the view of Ella Rock. Yesterday I cauught a bus down to Kataragama. After 10 days in the hills I'd forgotten how hot it was down in the lower areas and the heat came as quite a shock when I arrived in Kataragama. I'm not sure what I was expecting in Kataragama, but when I went to the temple, which is the town's rasion d'etre there was hardly anyone around. As dusk approached though pilgrims arrived carrying offering and by the time it was dark the temple was swarming with people waiting for the eveing puja. I spent a few hours wandering around the sacred precinct and even went back early this morning before catching the bus. I was planning to spend two nights in Kataragama, but as I said I decided to come to Galle (which incidentally is not pronounce Gaul) a day earlier so I can spend my last few days in Sri Lanka in Kandy.

OK - time to check my mail.