The Road to Serendip

Even with my somewhat niche vocational interest in the administration of Sri Lankan law enforcement I had not expected to spend part of our last full day in Colombo visiting a.police station. But Terry's less than serendipitous loss of his camera presented exactly that opportunity. I volunteered to go with Terry as I thought he could do with a break from Cathy's disdain, and we were worried she may ask them to lock him up.  I had commented that perhaps his colourful shorts were not the best option for the visit, and when he demurred that he was dressed just like a western tourist I pointed out that he should then expect to be treated like a western tourist! Our visit was uneventful, and also unsuccessful. While the officer we spoke to was perfectly pleasant, and to our relief spoke excellent English, we hit the expected south Asian bureaucratic impasse. However Terry had done the needful: his insurance policy required he report the loss to the local authorities and he had don...

When I was a child coconut only came in the desiccated form we sprinkled on orange flavoured icing. Then Thai food became common and we began using coconut milk and cream. But when Alistair turned vegan we discovered a diverse range of coconut products: coconut yoghurt, coconut ice cream, coconut soap, coconut flour, coconut sugar and coconut oil, which Alistair buys in increasingly larger jars. By the way - for those of you with a stainless steel refrigerator a smear of coconut oil is a great way to clean the fridge and keep that new-look steel sheen. I thought I knew every use for coconut until I came to Sri Lanka and discovered there was so much more to this fruit. They tie coconut shells on rope to make climbing ladders to climb the coconut trees and while up there they tap the syrup from the trunks which as toddy serves up a naturally alcoholic drink, or can be processed into a vinegar, similar to say a raspberry vinegar, or a treacle which is thin like maple syrup and is served...

As at home, while travelling I am obsessed by food, and as one meal finishes I am already planning the next. So on this trip we included a cooking class, and some research on good old Trip Advisor led us to Sonia's cooking class in Galle. Sonia collected us from our villa with a couple of tuk tuks to take us to the market to purchase our ingredients. I was slightly confused by the fact that Sonia was actually called Caruna (phonetic Australian spelling - but more on names later), and although it took Tom and Terry sometime to stop calling her Sonia, she was unperturbed and took a shine to both of them. Cathy, Julia and I only were only ever referred to as "sister", whereas Caruna called the boys by name, and quickly adopted the pet name "Tommy" for her favourite. Caruna was loud and bouncy, and quite tactile as Terry and "Tommy" discovered, and a mountain of fun. Our party was joined by French back-packer Ebony who seemed happy enough to jo...

You get these Monty Python moments travelling around Sri Lanka: the evidence of the colonial past is evident in many ways. The names Pererra and Pedro are common from the original Portuguese colonialists, as is the strong presence of Christianity; the Dutch left an extensive canal system that helps irrigate fields for food production; and then came the British. So what have the British done for Sri Lanka ? As in India, the British developed an impressive railway system in Sri Lanka and the justice system here is an English legacy. School learning was encouraged by the British and education remains highly valued here: Sri Lanka has an impressive 96% literacy rate, above world average. Being colonialists the British were not content until they recreated a little Britain to remind them of the mother country, no more so than in Nuwara Eliya which has a touch of the Cotswolds about it. The colonialists escaped the heat of Colombo in this high country retreat and built golf courses, introd...

Ever been to beautiful Milford Sound on New Zealand's South Island? Tom and I took Tim and Alistair some years back and made the 5 hour bus trip to the remote sound only to find dense fog. I asked a local working on the tourist boat who confessed that Milford Sound only offers those picture book views 50 days of the year, the rest of the time it is impenetrable fog. And such was our experience today at the End of the World, a cliff top view across the expansive Horton Plains to the coast some 80 kilometres away. The trek to the End of the World starts with a 5:00am hotel pick up and early drive to the national park, and it being pre-dawn we were treated to sightings so wild water buffalo and deer. Then the 4 kilometre trek to the peak, in rain and sloshing through puddles and rivlets along the rocky path. But it would all be worth it, the view is said to be unequalled. But let the pictures do the talking .... Hotel provided picnic at 5:00am in the van The walk starte...

Now I don't want to get all political, or sound paranoid, but ... It is no secret I like a bit of shopping, so when we arrived our Sigirya hotel I made a beeline for the jewellery shop. I fixed on some inexpensive citrine earrings, but as I did not have my purse on me I promised to come back. Driving along the next day our driver, who is very solicitous of our welfare, instructed us not to shop at hotels as the prices would be higher than the shops. But I had given my word... and you can't go back on your word. I just swore my fellow travellers to secrecy and snuck back and got the earrings. All good. It was our last day at the hotel that morning and as I handed back my glass of half finished wood apple juice (I will try anything once, and wood apple juice is definitely a once only experience) I was stunned when the waiter said 'yes Madam prefers the avocado juice she had yesterday". OMG! I am being watched. Buying jewellery in Sri Lanka - the sapphire island ...

“ When he saw how gaily the birds flew about and how the Hare and the Chipmunk and all the other animals ran nimbly by, always eager to see everything there was to be seen, the Tortoise was very sad and discontented.  He wanted to see the world too, and there he was with a house on his back and little short legs that could hardly drag him along. We can help you to see the world,” said the herons. “Take hold of this stick with your teeth and we will carry you far up in the air where you can see the whole countryside. But keep quiet or you will be sorry.” The Tortoise was very glad indeed. He seized the stick firmly with his teeth, the two Herons took hold of it one at each end, and away they sailed up toward the clouds.Just then a Crow flew by. He was very much astonished at the strange sight and cried: “This must surely be the King of Tortoises!” “Why certainly——” began the Tortoise.  But as he opened his mouth to say these foolish words he lost his hold on the stick...

Before we came many friends told us to try the hoppers, so I was keen to find what all the fuss was about. But frankly my first experience with a hooper was a bit underwhelming. But maybe that was because I started with a string hopper- the string hopper is a rice flour noodle steamed and served up with curry. It is perfectly pleasant, and a good way to mop up curry, but hardly a thing to rave about. And then, at breakfast, I discovered the real hoppers! Yummy, slightly crunching pancakes moulded into these delightful cup shapes. Of course every Sri Lankan has her own version and the hotel chef told me his are made from rice flour and coconut milk, but some use egg white and some are made with yeast. You can fill with many different ingredients and an egg in the middle makes a yummy breakfast. The food here has been unbelievably good - and are only little mishap was Tom's cocktail at the five star hotel, I told him never to have the ice in a five star hotel in the topics...

An important part of this trip has been balancing the ethics. Once it was enough just to travel, then the authors of Europe on $20 A Day came out and made frugal travel all the rage when Tom and I made our first trip to Europe (that was 1985, for those of you trying to work out exactly when you could get by on an amount that would now only represent a daily budget to cover lattes). Then we started to worry about carbon miles, until Leonardo DiCaprio's hypocrisy when he travelled 8,000 klms by private jet to collect a 'green' award. Now it is important to be aware of animal welfare - and yes I do feel bad for riding elephants in Nepal with the boys when they were little. But I have taken ethical travel to a new level on this trip. During the planning stage I was flipping through some promotion materials and came across many references to being a responsible traveller in Sri Lanka. Some of the more extreme commentaries even advocated boycotting travel to Sri Lanka. To...

Even I am impressed with this achievement- only 4 days into our travel and I have managed to find a sporting event. Luckily not cricket, a sport I have never learned to enjoy, but soccer, or football as they call it everywhere in the world but home. By happenstance we came across a ground and noticed  soccer goals being set up and with some deft googling I found out that Milo sponsor a big carnival over four days for school teams from the north. So we decided to check it out. To say we were a novelty would be an understatement - but we braved it and took a seat in the stands. Within about a minute school boys descended from their seats to sit behind and next to us, shy at first once they warmed up there was no stopping them: what were our names, where were we from, did we have any chewing gum? They were most disappointed when all I could produce from my bag was a packet of cream crackers, but two of them decided that was better than noting and had a cracker. Tom and I decided to ba...