Sri Lanka Revisited

Sri Lanka Revisited
We are more than a little surprised to find the Hunt returning to Sri Lanka so soon, having been here in 2010. Not immensely disappointed (though we were secretly hoping for Bhutan), since we enjoyed our first visit here and had though it would be good to see more of the country, at a relaxed pace. Well, I guess we get one of our wishes....
Late evening arrival in Colombo, and we're staying at the same Hilton as before. It has not improved, and is now an even shabbier Motel 6 equivalent. Still, we won't be spending that much time here. After  breakfast we convene and hear that we will have 2 1/2 days (3 nights) here.  As before, the scavenges take teams out of the city, and are designed to make them choose between heading north or south. Last time we went north, and while the northern route looks more promising points-wise, for us it is a no-brainer to check out new sights. Strategically, our previous experience would likely be of some benefit, since most of the scavenges are repeats from before, but we really don't feel like rehashing. Sadly, the opportunity to take an overnight hike to the top of Adam's Peak is not an option. So within an hour we find ourselves on a southbound train en route to Galle. It lies at the southern tip of the island and was one of the areas hard hit by the Christmas tsunami in 2004. We are supposed to find some evidence of the disaster, and see lots of new buildings that replace those that simply disappeared. There are commemorative stone markers where houses (and families) once were. Almost everyone we talk with lost some family member that day, and many report that only by chance were they spared by being out of the city.
We explore the old fort (first Portuguese, then Dutch, then British), enjoy a drink at Mama's rooftop restaurant and plot our next move. Two scavenges involve visiting parks (one a nature reserve, another a wildlife sanctuary). The elephants at the latter are appealing, but we decide that the time committment ( a 5 hour drive each way) is excessive. So we taxi to the Singaraja Nature Reserve, a mere 2 1/2 hour drive away. Our driver claims that he can get us to the park before it closes (that would be good), and drives like a maniac to fulfill his promise. It's a very windy 80 km drive up into the hill country, passing through multiple tiny towns and sharing the narrow road with a steady stream of tuk-tuks, mopeds, and trucks. We're in tea country, and the fabled green colour of Sri Lanka here comes from tea plantations (and rice paddies). Trucks loaded with burlap sacks of tea leaves become more frequent as we drive north, and up. A family can make a modest living here with only 2-3 acres of tea shrubs, though it's very labour-intensive farming.
We arrive at the reserve at about 5:30 to find that while the park is still open, ticket sales cease at 4:30. Fortunately our driver knows "someone" who is busy at a wedding, but who in turn knows "someone" and they have pre-purchased our tickets. Our driver had phoned ahead to set it up! Like much of the far east, Sri Lanka has embraced the cell phone (Nokia signs everywhere). We get a short tour of one of the hiking trails from the "someone" who is actually a park guide and very well informed. We decide that it would be a great place to return to some day (though that idea will change).  Back in the taxi and back (a little more sedately) to Galle.  En route, Kit notices a cut on her arm that won't stop bleeding.  Our driver suggests that it's probably a leech bite (common in the park).  They are tiny caterpillar-like leeches (note to self -  when we get home, check out tropical diseases transmitted by leeches).  Back in Galle we consider returning to our paid-for Colombo hotel but are dissuaded by the 5 hour bus ride to get there (with the Hunt ban on overnight travel). So we check into a hotel in the Fort. Spartan for our $20 per night, but it has Wi-Fi - Sri Lanka has modernized immensely in only 2 years!  Undressing, I find my own leech bite, to go with Kit's three.
Early departure from Galle on the bus - the quickest way to get back to Colombo. Our next target is a visit to a Boy's School, which turns out to be a home for "developmentally delayed" kids, although one "boy" we meet is in his 70's. Turns out, it is holiday time, and only 4 of the 30-odd students are there - those without homes to go to. We tour the grounds, play a rousing game of cricket with 2 of the boys, and chat with the Director who keeps asking if we have Canada pens for him (we assume he got pens from the other teams that have visited). After 2 hours, he offers to call us a tuktuk and we gladly accept as the rain has begun. 45 minutes later, he informs us that the tuktuk is only 15 minutes away. We decide to walk to the main road and find our own just as the skies open. In 5 minutes we are drenched and no tuktuks/taxis/buses in sight. Eventually we flag a tuktuk willing to take us the 45 minute trek back to the hotel. We literally pour water out of our shoes as we enter the lobby, and spend an hour drying our passports with a hair dryer.
We had planned to visit another school that day, but our experience with the empty boy's school and its rather creepy director leaves us extremely discouraged. Other out-of town choices are now too distant. So our only option is to complete the Colombo area scavenges. Since they are mostly unchanged from the previous visit here, we had not planned to repeat them, but now they are our only option. So the afternoon becomes a soggy round of: tuktuk to a location, complete 1-2 tasks, find a new tuktuk and repeat. Fortunately, our modest familiarity with the city (or at least the scavenges) stands us in good stead, and we are even able to correct our drivers when they arrive at the wrong spots. Three hours later we are about a dozen scavenges to the good. We have explored the Pettah Market, found spices and gold merchants, Hindu temples, churches and mosques. We've found out how St. Lucia lost her sight and what St. Anthony is patron saint of.  We've shopped at Cargill's, found batiks, and walked on the Galle Face Green. We reward ourselves with a drink or 3 (a beer tast test) at the Galle Face Hotel, a famous Raffles-style hotel that has been the haunt of politicians, writers and celebrities for decades. A couple more temples, including one with a resident elephant and a collection of antique cars, and we've earned dinner at "the Mango Tree". Home to bed with a half day to go.
Another sit-down breakfast as we try to create a plan. Slim pickings left in Colombo so we decide ^%*&^ the points, let's do something fun. We tuktuk to Nogombo, a fishing village north of Colombo. Way too few points for the hour trip (each way) but it's the most enjoyable thing we do on this leg. Our driver does an amazing job of creating tuktuk space from nowhere as he weasels his way (at top speed) through the jam-packed streets. We have a quick explore of the fish market: tables covered with silvery sardines, bigger fish of surprising girth, and lots of cats helping themselves to a meal. We would love to linger, but we must fit in a ride on an outrigger canoe on the lagoon. That done, we tuktuk back with another driver with similar aspirations to drive Formula 1. Half an hour to spare before check-in at noon, so we sample a wood apple beverage and then we're done.
Lunch today is included (to mark the half-way mark?) then it's off to the airport for our flight to.....
Oman!