Tuesday 21st June 2022

I woke up today with a heavy cold, which seemed to get worse as the day progressed. It is the first time I have been ill since I came to Sri Lanka - and I wasn't ill at all in my first 3-month visit - so I guess that's not bad going. I could have just stayed at home, but it did me good to go into Nuwara Eliya, and the house is Yad's office, as well as her home, so it was good to leave her in peace for the day too.

Despite feeling ill, I had a very good day, as I spent nearly all of it at The Grand Hotel, where I managed to complete all the editing tasks Yad had set for me! It was strange though, as it was like a ghost hotel. It is the most prestigious place to stay in Nuwara Eliya, but of their 154 guest rooms, only 3 were occupied last night, which is a terrible reflection of the current economic and political situation.

They seem to have been very good and not laid staff off, so they were all doing their best to look busy or were being given unnecessary tasks just to keep them going. If you have seen the film 'The Truman Show', it felt a bit like that, as every time I moved around everyone was set in their place pretending to go about their daily business. It must be so boring for them, and the days must really drag!

Yad's mother Meena is an absolute star, and as I write this blog, she has just given me a mug of lemon, ginger, and turmeric to drink, which she tells me is the perfect cold remedy. It tastes nice, so I hope it does the trick. I leave here 2 weeks today, and suddenly time seems to be passing very quickly. Staying with Yad, Jana, and Meena (not forgetting Ranger) has been such a lovely experience for me.