Saturday 4th June

You may have realised from my blog that I have been feeling very bored, and a bit lonely this week, so when Artem left this morning, I thought that might add to my woes. However, it was a gloriously sunny day today, and it is amazing how much that can lift you. I got my washing done this morning, plus a bit more of my never-ending paperwork, then I headed off for a walk, and I had a wonderful time!

I headed out the back of Ananda's and up the hill to do a circular walk through the town and back again along the Upcot Road. I stopped to chat to an Iman near the mosque - at a carpenter's shop - and then I heard someone say: 'Hi, Mr. Keith', and it was Kevin, who I had last seen in 2019 when I visited him in Mullaitivu with Daya, as part of the Sri Lanka Unites work, I was engaged with at the time.

I walked through Maskeliya, buying a couple of essentials, and then wound my way downhill past the Police Station (photo attached), before finding myself at Butterfly Mountain Lakeside Guest House, where I stayed in November 2019 for Gobi's wedding. I bumped into Chamilka and Lakshitha there, who I found out were the Estate Manager and Deputy Estate Manager from Gouravilla Tea Estate.

Tea Estate Managers are wealthy people - they live in Estate Manager Bungalows and can afford to run cars, which is a luxury that only a minority of people in Sri Lanka can afford. They invited me to join them for tea, and I ended up having a pot of ginger tea, which was delicious, and a very interesting chat with them - finding out a lot more about the other side of life on the Tea Estates in the Hill Country.










Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 4, 2022 at 11:47 PM

    It sounds as though there is a new experience waiting for you round every corner, Keith!

    ReplyDelete

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