Keith in Sri Lanka

It's time to conclude my blog - exactly 12 weeks after my first entry on Sunday 17th April 2022! I went to bed at 04:00 (UK time) this morning, after a quite exhausting 24-hour journey home, and got up at 08:30 after around 4 hours sleep, so I am going to rest up today, whilst my mind and body get into some sort of synchronisation with the time-lag situation that long-haul flights inevitably impose on you! My first thought this morning is simply to thank everyone who has made an effort to read through my daily blog. Some of you have been ardent followers (so well done to you!) and others have dipped in and out when they have had the time. I am grateful to each and every one of you, and I hope that you have enjoyed reading about my many varied experiences out in Sri Lanka. It has been quite amazing! Although it has been amazing, and I wouldn't change it at all, it has also been extremely challenging, far more so than the 3 months I spent in Sri Lanka at the end of 2019. The coun...

I was up very early this morning, and had breakfast at 07:00 (Sri Lankan time), as I was due to be picked up from the Colombo Swimming Club by taxi at 08:00, but he was late, and I didn't leave until 08:30 in the end. Fortunately, there was no traffic on the roads, so I still got to Colombo Airport in good time to check in for my flight to London Heathrow, which was supposed to take off at 12:20. In the end the flight was delayed by a good hour, and then, of course, we had to have our 'technical stop' at Kochi Airport in Kerala, India, so that the plane could be refuelled, as there was no fuel in Sri Lanka. All that went without a hitch, and after a very long flight we eventually landed at Heathrow Airport at 21:30 (UK time), which was the point where today's journey took a nasty turn! I got through Passport Control very easily, but when I went to Carousel 5 to collect my luggage, it was very crowded. Some people seemed to get their luggage and move on, but there was a ...

It was my last full day in Sri Lanka, and I had no commitments, so I was determined to enjoy myself before tomorrow's exhausting journey home. I slept in a little, had a long, slow breakfast, then decided that I couldn't face staying in all day, as I really wanted to go to Colombo Port, where the people have been camped out for more than 90 days now, demanding that Gotobaya Rajapaksa resigns as President. It was a little ironic that I was visiting the political protest at Colombo Port on the day that Boris Johnson was finally forced to resign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom! I soaked in the atmosphere of the protest, and I took some photos, but somehow it didn't feel enough to just do that, so I got involved by chatting to a small group of protestors, and then doing what I could to help them. Basically, the protestors are reliant on people helping them to meet their basic needs, so I bought some drinks for them, and then took them shopping to buy some much-needed fo...

My apologies for my blogs being a bit slower, but to be honest I am quite exhausted now, and struggling to do much at all. I am deliberately taking the time in Colombo to wind down and try do as little as possible. I had a quite a long walk this morning along the right side of Galle Road as you leave the Colombo Swimming Club, and a lovely relaxing swim in the hotel pool this afternoon. Jit very kindly picked me up at 18.00 to go to Colombo West Rotary Club's first meeting of this Rotary Year, which was held where they normally meet at Jetwing Colombo Seven Hotel. The meeting didn't start until 19:00, but they were having a board meeting prior to the main meeting, so I just chatted to a few people who weren't involved in that meeting, then took my place on the top table. I had been asked to speak briefly (no more than 10 minutes) about the success of the Rotary International Project, so it was mainly thanking them for their support as the fundholding Rotary Club in the coun...

It was a time for yet more goodbyes this morning, as I bid farewell to Daya, and then Jana, Yad, and Meena. I realised I hadn't got any photographs of Yad's mother Meena, so I took one quickly before I left this morning. I have been so well looked after by them, and I will always remember my time in Blackpool with much affection. I sincerely hope that I will be back gain as soon as I can. Reggie picked me up just before 09:00 and we started our long journey to Colombo - an interesting drive, as you just drop lower and lower, and it becomes hotter and hotter, going from one climate zone to another. We got to the Colombo Swimming Club around 13:30, which was pretty good, mainly because there was so little traffic on the roads because of the terrible fuel crisis. When I arrived at the hotel, I was told that there was a problem with the 'Deluxe' room that had been booked for me, and that they had upgraded me to a 'Super Deluxe' room. Obviously, I told them that I wa...

My final day in Nuwara Eliya arrived, and I got Reggie to pick me up at 08:00 to take me to The Grand Hotel, where I had breakfast for only the second time ever in all my visits there. It was just as wonderful as the other day, and afterwards I sat in the lounge writing a report of yesterday's graduation ceremony for the third cohort of the 6-month Training Programme for the Rotary International Project. I then made my way into the town centre to get a few last-minute things, including some shorts and sandals for my next three days in Colombo, as it is going to be very hot there. There is a huge variation between the mild, wet climate in the Central Province and the hot, dry climate on the coast, and I am very much looking forward to the change as I travel down to Colombo tomorrow. I went back to The Grand Hotel around mid-afternoon to get on with a short PowerPoint presentation about the success of the Rotary International Project, for my meeting with Colombo West Rotary Club on W...

I had a wonderful time returning to Potree T.V. School today to take part in the graduation ceremony for the Rotary International Project's third batch of students, who have just completed their 6-month Training Programme. I travelled there in Reggie's car, with Jana and an electrician friend, who went on to the Tea Leaf Vision School in Maskeliya to sort out some electrical issues there. The teachers had done a great job of arranging the graduation ceremony, with two of them acting as Master of Ceremonies, and various people being invited up to share a poem or a song, plus an opportunity for each student to share what the course has meant to them. I had to make a speech, and Gobi did too, before we gave out the certificates that were being awarded to each of the teachers today. 24 of the teachers came - from the cohort of 30 - which was very impressive, as some had to travel quite a way to get there, and travel is extremely tricky currently. We saw very little traffic on our j...

Hello there bloggers, and thank you to the few people who are still blogging in. We are down to just a handful a day now - and only 7 more posts to go - but I will soldier on regardless - taking my cue from Mastermind, where the indomitable Magnus Magnusson always said: 'I've started, so I'll finish'. If you are one of the few hardy souls still reading my blog, then thank you very much for your perseverance! I decided to stay home today and pack all my stuff, as I have a very busy day tomorrow, and I want to leave Monday as free as I can to say goodbye to a few people. My key job today was to decide what to leave behind in a suitcase I bought last time I was in Sri Lanka for that very purpose, what to pass on to Daya, and what to bring home next Friday. I ended up giving Daya a few things when he popped back in after school before heading off home, and I then filled the suitcase with all the stuff that is staying here, ready for my next trip to Sri Lanka. I pretty much ...