Sri Lanka part 2 and back home to Phetchaburi

Nov 13

 

This morning we toured Pettah, the classic crazy marketplace that is a jumble of buildings, stalls, stores, laborers, tri shaws, buses, cars and people. It's the closest thing to old India in Sri Lanka.  Muslims were the traders traditionally. We went into the heart of the busy area. As you can see they still use manual labor to move huge loads of products on hand carts..

We discovered an old building that was still being used as a market. The top of the walls had a beautiful wood carved lattice that let in light. See photo. It was an open floor plan with vendors putting open boxes on the floor for shoppers to peruse. A young man engaged us in conversation. He was articulate and very upbeat, telling us about his relatives in the US in Tucson, Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle. As we were leaving he asked us to tell Obama to stop killing Muslims. We were shocked and I reminded him of Obama pressuring Myanmar to stop the killing Muslims. He then proceeded to defend ISIL. When Ron tried to talk to him, he wouldn’t stop talking. He never got agitated or raised his voice but it was like someone had pushed his ‘on’ button. A coworker of his walked by and made a comment to the effect that we would never hear the end of it. He ended with something about how Muslims would take over and the US shouldn’t impose democracy on others. Oy! I want to emphasize that we know not all Muslims think this way but it was the first time we had an experience like this.

We went into a large shop that sold stainless steel kitchen ware. We had bought a set of hammered copper goblets from India years ago and were looking for a copper pitcher. We bought the only one they had. Score! We ran a few more errands at the pharmacy and department store to get birthday cards. We had photos printed of Geetha’s party so I could make a little memory album for her. We rested for a while at the lodge then went to the internet café. We went to a favorite restaurant in our old neighborhood for dinner. We sat outside which I love doing and had a delicious meal. This restaurant is part of the Havelock Place Bungalow which is over 100 years old. The gardens and water features are very tropical and very calming.

Nov 14

 We started our morning with a visit at the lodge with Lashan who worked with Ron when he was

here in 2005-06. He loves this woman. Her smile brightens any room. She gave us Sri Lankan batik shirts as gifts after Ron had told her not to. Nice to know there are women who don’t always do what they are told. HA!

We ran another errand looking for an AC transformer for our wireless router. Next we visited the National Museum and we impressed with the collection and the restoration of the building that housed the collection. We met Herath for lunch. He has been a godsend making it possible for Geetha and me to stay connected via email. He is most gracious and wants nothing as a thank you as I have tried many times. I once gave him a shirt from Barefoot which are expensive by SL standards. He took it back. I am not sure if he got a refund, a different color or what. We stopped at a pharmacy looking for Benadryl for heat rash that Ron got. We cannot find it anywhere. But I did find a small bottle of Cetaphil, a hand cream I like and it was $15! 

Back to Lake Lodge to rest then up to the internet café . While there we had a horrendous rain storm with rain blowing sideways and a true downpour as if the sky had been unzipped. We waited it out then headed back to the hotel. We treated ourselves to our favorite Indian restaurant, Mango Tree and  were very happy with our choices. The man who seated us struck up a conversation and we enjoyed chatting with him about how Colombo has changed. He had worked in Singapore for 15 years but was back here now.

Nov 15

I went to Geetha’s at 9:30 this morning and gave her the photo album of pictures Ron has taken at her party. I made little captions for most of the photos as well as a title page for the album.

Shopping day! Every time I come to Sri Lanka I invite Geetha and her adult daughter to go shopping. We get clothing for all the family. There are 11 in Colombo ages 3-65 now. There are six grandchildren ages 3-16. Geetha has three adult daughters, all of whom are married. She raised them on her own as her husband died fairly early in their marriage. The shopping usually just takes a couple of hours and is fun. This year another daughter joined us which made the shopping even more efficient.  They have their favorite two stores and we are usually able to find what we need at these two stores. Stores here are much smaller with much less stock. So the availability of every size is an issue. Clothes are very inexpensive here by comparison but many of them are not as well made as we are used to. Geetha always frets about the expense and I always tell her to stop looking at the price tag. This time all three of them kept saying how expensive things were. As it turned out we were within the amount I had anticipated. We actually spent $20 less than the last spree yet everyone got new underwear, a shirt, jeans, or blouse. They even got Christmas dresses for two of the granddaughters. 

We squeezed into Mr. Kularathna’s tri shaw and headed to Geetha’s house. They had prepared lunch and invited Mr. K to join us as they always do. In the Sri Lankan tradition you serve your guests but do not join them at the table. So Mr. K and I ate while Geetha and her daughter plied us with more food and drink. We had fish curry, chicken curry, dhal, rice, eggplant and something I couldn’t identify. I told Geetha I needed to leave and she got into the tri shaw with me and we went to Asia Foundation. On Friday night I had gotten a call from someone who works with Geetha asking me to email any photos we had of the party which we did. Geetha went into the office and came back and handed me a large envelop. It had a beautiful handmade card with the photos and a very dear message to Ron and me thanking us for surprising her and for all we do for her family. I cried of course and hugged her. She got back into the tri shaw and Mr. K let her off at a bus stop for her to go home. Again we embraced and we cried. I couldn’t stop crying until I almost was back at the hotel.

I went back to the hotel to pick Ron up and we went to Ajith’s to pick up the jewelry I had made. That night we had dinner with Don Brownell his wife and two Canadian friends at a club on the Indian Ocean. We sat outside for drinks and listened to the crashing waves. What a treat. Ron met Don when he worked at the Asia Foundation back in 2005.

Nov 16

 Mr K loves to have us over for a meal when we visit. Because our schedule was so full we had lunch instead of dinner with him today. He picked us up at 11:00 and drove us to his house which is in a neighboring town. On the way we stopped by a new development that was a market for plants and gardening items such as soil and sod. There was a beautiful small aquarium with exquisite tropical fish.

Mr. Kularathna’s wife is visiting one of their daughters in Australia so his other daughter prepared our meal. It was another Sri Lankan feast. See photos. We had seer fish, fabulous shrimp curry, fresh pineapple, onion and tomato salsa, seeni sambol, eggplant, red rice, white rice and string hoppers. Again they stand around the eating area while we eat like royalty. It feels like Downton Abby with all the servants standing around waiting to refill your plate. They had fresh fruit for dessert with yogurt and a honey sauce.  Ron took photos of Mr. K, his daughter, son in law and granddaughter who was charming. See photos. Mr. K has a gorgeous garden filled with orchids and one of his hobbies is building ships in bottles. His collection was outside in the eating area. After our meal his son in law drove us back to the hotel in his air conditioned car. Mr. K and the granddaughter joined us for the ride. We said our goodbyes and again I got a wee bit weepy.

That afternoon Suba and his two sons came to the lodge to visit usBritain. The Tamil Tigers were defeated in 2009 after a 25+ year struggle. Although things have improved overall in SL since the war ended the Tamils still do not enjoy equal rights. For example the state religion is Buddhism. The Tamil speak Tamil and they are Hindus. So government offices have Buddha statues.

. Suba had planned for us to have dinner at his house but his daughter was born the day after we arrived. Suba is another former coworker of Ron’s. His sons came with him. They were well behaved and very handsome. Suba is Hindu and a Tamil, the ethnic group that has been discriminated against ever since independence from

Our last dinner was with Veena Durgabakshi, our former landlady and her brother and his family. This is another tradition with each visit where we have dinner at a vegetarian restaurant as Veena and her family are Indian and also Hindus. Haren’s daughters are all grown up at 12 and 16. Tall and lovely girls. It was a fun evening and a great way to end our visit.

As  a conclusion to our visit to Sri Lanka, here are a few more pictures of local flora:

Nov 17

We got up at 4:00 a.m. to catch our ride to the airport. Something new here is coffee so we were glad to see a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf shop in the airport. However the two Americanos cost $13.50 US;. Truly outrageous! It wasn’t very good either. Bummer!

We landed in Bangkok and took the trains back to Leslie’s and then grabbed a bite to eat because it was 2:30 and I was ready to fall over from hunger. Then we hopped on the sky train to have a fitting at the tailor. The evening outfit looked great and fit perfectly. The two tops needed to be taken in and I will pick them up tomorrow. I arranged for a private car and driver for our trip home as the last van ride was too uncomfortable. I picked up a few items at the grocery store and met Ron back at Leslie’s. He had been on a search for a shop that did repairs on hearing aids but never found it. Leslie had a meeting so we walked across the street and had a simple supper. We were tired and Ron fell asleep by 8:00 and I lasted until a little after 9:00.

Nov 18

I woke up at 4:00 and read until Ron woke up. I love my e reader as I can stay in bed yet not disturb Ron. After breakfast we found the perfect place that serviced the name brand hearing aids Ron has. We went out for a Starbucks then went grocery shopping for items we cannot get in Phetchaburi or Hua Hin.

We got a bite to eat in a shopping mall then went in for a 90 minute foot massage. The place we frequent is more upscale with a darkened room, a bubbling water feature and quiet technicians. There is a sign by the front desk in two languages that says “Please turn off your mobile phone and be quiet”. This is not the case with the majority of massage studios. Sometimes they play the radio, the worst ones have a TV on with full lighting and you are seated in front of a plate glass window with technicians who chatter the entire time. So when I sat down today I quickly became aware of three people sitting right next to me using cell phones: there is beeping and clicking. I said loud enough for everyone in the room to hear me “Excuse me but there is a sign that says no mobile phones!” The woman next to me started apologizing and turned hers off. I closed my eyes and within minutes I heard more beeping. I flipped out. I loudly stopped the technician and marched into the reception area with two technicians following me. I complained and one  of the techs went into the room and said ‘please turn off your phones.’ I have never done anything like that in my life but it just set me off. I wanted a relaxing, quiet environment and wasn’t getting it.

We went home after picking up my tailoring and went out to dinner with Dr. Kristrat, his wife Duang Jai and their daughter Auem. We met Auem when she was an exchange student in Portland. We ate at a great seafood restaurant and had a lively conversation about US and Thai politics and Auem’s leaving for London in December to start a PhD program.

Nov 19

We left Leslie’s at 8:45 for Hua Hin where we picked up a rental car, went out for duck noodle soup and grocery shopping. It takes about an hour to get home from Hua Hin. We are delighted to be home. Our trip was everything we had hoped for. But as Dorothy said ‘there’s no place like home’.  For the next 7 weeks this is our home.