In Sri Lanka I was joining an old Australian friend of mine who does not ‘do’ hostels, or indeed backpacking-style travel. So I’d agreed to up my expenditure for a couple of weeks and join her on an organised tour that covered much of the island – run by an Australian company that she was comfortable with. & we agreed to arrive at the tour hotel a little early, so that we had a day to catch up with each other before meeting the other ten people we’d be travelling with. It was a nice hotel, with all the comforts that I usually miss in my cheap hostels (private shower with hot water, TV, buffet breakfast – and in this case a swimming pool!!), although on the flip side there is no shared kitchen so you do have to spend more money on eating out. It was great to see Rhonda again (and to use the swimming pool and wash a few clothes in our private bathroom).
But I was in for a big surprise.
On the evening of the second day there, we stepped out of the room to make our way down for the group meeting – to go through logistics and say hello to our fellow travellers. Another white foreigner walked towards the lift from a different corridor. He stopped and looked at me, asked whether I was Louise Cotton … it took me a moment to recognise Andy, as it has been nearly forty years since I graduated, but we’d been at the same college, and were here in Sri Lanka to do the same tour!! & already downstairs at the table was his wife, Michelle, who was also at college with us and even rowed in the same boat as me!!! Wow…….
I’ll never really know how my Aussie friend felt about this, as obviously I spent time catching up with my old college mates when perhaps I should have been with her (and the photo I’m sharing here is of me and Michelle, not me and Rhonda…), but thankfully the whole group was open and friendly, so we moved around on the bus and at mealtimes during the two weeks, all getting to know each other. & getting to see Sri Lanka, of course – an impressive country with lots of interesting historical monuments, temples, nature and culture, many links to the UK (such as the tea plantations) and very friendly people.
We covered the famous sites: Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Mihintale, Sigiriya (although low clouds obscured any views from the top of Lion Rock), Dambulla, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Ella (Nine Arches Bridges) and Galle, as well as a ‘rest day’ at the coast in Mirissa and a couple of optional safaris. The second of the two offered is known as the best place to see elephants in Sr Lanka, so I opted for that one, but then those (the majority of the group) opting to do the first safari saw some 33 elephants and so the second one was switched to a different national park where we ‘might’ see a leopard. We didn’t see a leopard, nor any elephants in that park, so I was relieved that we saw a couple of elephants from the road one day. & the park I visited (Yala) did have quite a lot of nice bird life.
Going on tours is certainly the easy way to see a country, with no planning required, you simply need to follow instructions as to what time to meet at the bus the next morning and whether there are any dress requirements for the day (trekking shoes for muddy walks, or shoulders covered for temple visits, for example). But the downside for me – aside from the extra cost – is that I don’t learn quite as much about the country nor remember so well where I’ve been.
Comments
Post a Comment