Saturday 7th February 2026

I had a very pleasant day off today, as I got up a bit later, then went over to the school lobby, where Madam Sandra had arranged for her driver, Gayethri, accompanied by her housekeeper, Monika, to take me to the top of Elephant Rock, where an enormous statue of Buddha overlooks the city of Kurunegala. Neither Gayethri nor Monika speak English, and I don't speak Sinhala, so it was an interesting excursion conducted mainly through sign language.

The Buddha statue is an impressive sight, and the views over the city and surrounding countryside are quite spectacular, so I enjoyed being there again. Madame Sandra had gone to Colombo for the day, so it was very kind of her to arrange this trip for me. She had also arranged for Gayethri and Monika to bring me back to her house for lunch, which consisted of dhosas with daal, and some hot coffee, which I very much enjoyed, using the time there to catch up on yesterday's blog.

Around 14:00 they dropped me off in town at 'No Limit', one of the key department stores in Kurunegala, rather like a big Debenhams. I only wanted to buy a pair of shorts, so it didn't take me long. In fact, it took me a lot longer just to queue up and pay for the shorts than to find them. Saturday afternoon is clearly a bad time to go shopping in Kurunegala, plus they had a sale on, so the store was heaving with people, and I decided to call it a day on the shopping front.

I walked back along the South Circular Road to Divi Salon, where Madam Sandra had sent Valerie and me for a pedicure on our visit in 2024. I had a pedicure again, and it really is a great experience, so I then had a manicure, something I have never had before, and it was okay, but I will just stick to pedicures in future. I got a tuk-tuk back to Olu, where I had a simple meal of chicken fried rice and a mango juice, before getting back to the apartment around 20:00.

Today's photographs are all from my little jaunt to the top of the Elephant Rock this morning.













Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday 4th March 2025

Image
I finally got to my last day here which started very early, as I was up at the crack of dawn to sort out a few things in the apartment, then get my last few bits of packing done. Razeena once again brought me breakfast, which was a great start to my day. After breakfast, I popped a present for Sandra in Ravi's office, just in case I didn't see her to say goodbye to her but then met her at the Junior School on my way back and said a fond farewell to her there. I left at 08:30, with Liyanage driving me to the airport - not that I was aware of that journey, because I had got up so early this morning that I nodded off for most of it. I hardly had to queue at all for either the security checks or for check-in, so I had quite a bit of time before my flight was due to take off at 12:50. I had a delicious, filled croissant for lunch, with a latte, then went to Gate 9, where I didn't have to wait too long before boarding the plane, which thankfully took off on time. It was an 11-hou...
Read more

Sunday 23rd February 2025

Image
It was another eventful day for me today, as I went to Kandy for a proper visit. I have passed through Kandy on numerous occasions, but never visited any of the key sites, with the Temple of the Tooth being the most famous one. Rohan picked me up at 09:00 this morning in the school van, with Madonna joining us, to take us both to Kandy, where we dropped Madonna's stuff off where she is staying for the next few days before meeting Achini in the centre of Kandy. Achini was joined by her lovely husband, Kosala, and we had a coffee together before Achini accompanied me to the Temple of the Tooth, which is one of her favourite places in Kandy. It was an extremely interesting experience for me, although we had to take our footwear off again today, and in today's soaring temperatures, it was so hot underfoot, that I couldn't bear it in the end, so Achini had to retrieve me sandals for me before my feet got burned! Part of the temple complex by the lake that dominates Kandy is an e...
Read more

Friday 28th February 2025

Image
Today was my last working day in school, although I may pop in on Monday to say a fond farewell to various people, with the hope that I will return one day. As Daya was staying with me for two nights, he accompanied me into school today and was able to observe two Tamil link lessons (for Sinhalese students) and three Tamil language lessons (for Tamil students). He loved the school, and he very much enjoyed the opportunity to see the Tamil lessons. I had two final Maths lessons and one final observation of the standard of English in lessons, which I greatly enjoyed. I also had a feedback session with two of the Sectional Heads, where I was able to provide very positive feedback to them regarding my experience on both the English and the Maths side of things at the RIS. I had a bit of a break then, before a final management meeting with Ravi, Agatha, and Tharika, which lasted around an hour. Daya joined me once I had finished for the day, and we got a tuk-tuk into Kurunegala to do some s...
Read more