Monday 2nd March

This was my second morning at Colombo Swimming Club, and I enjoyed a relaxed morning lying in with a late breakfast, then completing yesterday's blog and diary before Ragu came to pick me up at noon to take me to his cousin Kisho's home for lunch, with Daya and Vino joining us, today being Vino's actual 25th birthday. It was a Poya Day today, so my plans to get some beers in to go with our lunch were scuppered, and I just took some chocolate as a gift instead.

We were almost at Kisho's place when we heard a loud explosion and Ragu and I both thought that a tyre had burst, but when we got out of the car the tyres were all fine. We found out that the air conditioning unit had blown, and Ragu then made a few phone calls to see if he would be able to get it fixed later today. Kisho's place was just around the corner, so Daya had come to help, and I walked to the apartment, with Ragu and Daya bringing the car, which was still fine to drive.

Kisho, his wife, Kanchu, and their daughter, Midhu, were very welcoming and we enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon with them, with a delicious lunch. After an inevitable photo shoot, it was time to say a final goodbye to them all, and particularly to Daya and Vino, which was quite an emotional moment for me. Ragu then drove me back, dropping me off at the Marino Shopping Mall, where I had a little mooch around but didn't actually buy anything.

I got back to Colombo Swimming Club, caught up on a few emails, then James, who is sort of like my Line Manager at Tea Leaf called me and we had a long chat about Tea Leaf connected stuff. I enjoyed a light dinner on the terrace, which is rather lovely in the evening. This is a very pleasant place to spend the final few days of each visit to Sri Lanka, and I am very grateful to my Colombo Rotary Club friends, whose membership here enables me to stay.

There are just a few photographs today of my time at Kisho and Kanchu's lovely home.







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