Somehow I managed to lose two blogs while we were on the road so I will attempt to recount what has been happening in the latest chapter of the Rtsla.

We had a four and half hour drive to Chaya Village in Habarana on Oct 31st. Ron and his team did two local authority (LA) assessments and taught a two-day class on road maintenance. I, on the other hand, had a grand time relaxing and touring. I went to Polonnaruwa, an ancient city in ruins one day (my second visit there) and on the second day I went to Ritigala where a family from Colombo was giving alms at a small, poor Buddhist temple. They were preparing lunch for the monks who lived there and offered for me to stay and join them. I declined but did take part in a blessing ceremony with a boy monk and the family. I then went to the archaeological site here that was in great shape. This was a forest hermitage complex that had been occupied by ascetic monks. Brahmi inscriptions here date the site from the third and second centuries BC. There was a beautiful path that we followed as we, the guide and my driver, visited the many structures that had been excavated. It was lovely and somewhat magical. The site is located within a 3,878-acre Nature Reserve where wildlife includes elephants, sloth bear, and leopard.

During the time I was at Chaya Village I saw wild and domestic elephants along the highway, wild peahens and peacocks and a troop of about 35 monkeys. I have come to accept these as almost everyday occurrences when we travel on the island. It dawned on me I wouldn’t be seeing anything like this in Vancouver WA!

We have received several emails from friends in the NW telling us how cold it is. I must admit, it is hard to relate here in the land of perpetual late August! I forget that it is winter back home. There is a lot of flooding throughout the areas where the monsoons are happening. This has driven rats into our house. We got an email from Zarka who was leaving the day after we did and said she went down to the office to send some email around 5:00 a.m. and a rat was on the desk and scurried out the window. They had chewed a hole in the screen. Since then Veena has been diligent about putting out poison and we have kept all the doors and windows shut to protect the screen and to keep the varmints out. The screens are on the inside of the house.

On Saturday we had a one-hour drive to Polonnaruwa where we stayed for one night to make the next day’s trip a bit easier. The guesthouse architecture was fascinating: it looked like Hobbitville with all kinds of organic looking structures and decorative items like logs and tree roots made from concrete. I look some photos and we will get them posted soon. There were no suitable accommodations between Polonnaruwa and Ampara, our next stop. It poured rained turning the lawn into a lake and the flat roof below our room into a swimming pool. After the rain subsided the water dissipated. We relaxed, had mediocre massages and went for a long walk at dusk by the reservoir with Suba, one of Ron’s colleagues. On Sunday we left early, around 8:30 to beat the worst of the heat. The real delight was stopping by a village of Veddas, the aboriginal people of SL. The Veddas were here when the Sinhalese and Tamils arrived so many centuries ago. They still live a very primitive life: no electricity and a well for water. We met with the chief who oversees the village and who has appointed chiefs for the other 13 villages. There are a few thousand Veddas remaining. His home was beautifully made of clay and cow dung. We were greeted on the porch where we sat on clean straw blankets that were draped over a low wall about six inches off the floor of the porch. The chief sat on a bench-like seat made of the same clay material. Ron’s comment was ‘it’s the cleanest dirt I’ve ever seen’. The porch was immaculate. The chief answered questions using a three way translation: we asked Suba in English, Suba spoke Sinhala to a local man who then spoke in the native tongue of the Veddas to the chief. It was an honor to meet this man and we refrained from taking photos as a courtesy. They were hunters and gatherers until the land where they were living became a national park then they were accused of poaching. They got hunting rights on parts of the land but now make their way with subsistence farming and by selling baskets made from shells strung together with wire, booklets that have been published about the Veddas and their language and wild honey that they gather in the jungle. The men do not cut their hair nor do they shave. The men we saw were all wearing sarongs.

From here we headed into Ampara and stayed at a small guesthouse. Ron had fallen ill in Polonnaruwa with chills, fever and upset stomach. He rested the remainder of Sunday. I read the paper and my book and spotted birds in the paddy field behind the guesthouse from the second floor porch. Ron still wasn’t well by day three, Monday, so we decided to come back to Colombo as Sunil, one of the drivers, was heading back. Sunil’s brother had driven up on Sunday to take over the driving so Sunil could head back to Colombo for a driver training class. His brother had brought his son and Sunil’s son with him and they were going back with Sunil on Monday. We all squeezed into the car and headed out on Monday morning. Otherwise we would have no way to get home until Friday and since we didn’t know what was going on and Ron was afraid he might have dengue fever again, we climbed into the car at 8:30 and got home at 4:30, driving non stop with one five minute pee break in the bushes. No snacks, no tea and no lunch. We were ready to go to bed at 7:30 but I managed to stay awake until 8:30. Unfortunately as often happens when you go to bed too early, we woke up at midnight and read until 3:00 a.m. Ron has since fully recovered and thinks it must have been food poisoning. This can easily happen in hot weather and in hotels that serve buffet meals for two or three hours, giving food time to spoil.

Now we are in the throes of packing up the house. It’s Thursday and the shippers come on Tuesday. I am making three ‘piles’: Thailand, USA and the hotel where we will live until Dec 14th. Ron is taking down artwork, patching nail holes and doing touch up painting. Every landlord should be so lucky.

Saturday is Geetha’s birthday so I went sari shopping. You can get a sari for as little as $6.95 and up. I found a lovely ‘wash and wear’ sari, which is what Geetha wears, a sari blouse and a sari slip. In addition we gave her $$ so she can do some shopping for herself. We will certainly miss her. Today is her last day. Saturday there is a big Asia Foundation staff outing that she will attend and Tuesday the shippers will be here emptying the place out. So that’s it from the paradise where the Army just killed 60 civilians and injured 600 by shelling buildings that housed displaced Tamils while trying to kill the LTTE. Oy!

Today's papers said 'only 23 were killed and 125 were imjured' as though that wasn't as bad as reported previously. One civilian killed is one too many. I grew up in the era of 'make love not war' and it sticks with me to this day.