a tour of Sri Lanka
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 o...