Yes I am in Sri Lanka

I just wanted to add a few words about my first week in Sri Lanka. It is mostly about the turquoise blue sea and white sand beaches,picture perfect postcard dreams come true. In the beach town of Unawatuna, I found a small hotel with a terrace facing the Indian ocean,. . So I decided to treat myself and have a tourist vacation. Each morning I swam in the Indian Ocean as I wanted for my breakfast. By midday,the only place to be was in the room or in the shade. I met a friendly

Scottish woman named Audrey, on the beach on my birthday,and she immediately ordered a vodka and for lack of fresh orange juice,a Sprite. I wanted to show my appreciation,so I drank the triple vodka and soda and finally staggered back to my room. I finished my birthday off by dining with two English doctors doing their residencies in Yorkshire ,one being of Indian descent,both being single and 28 years old. Our friendship lasted one day,long enough.

After two days of being out of sorts and sleeping alot, I met an interesting Norwiegen girl with a strange name,Turid. We exchanged stories,she was a born traveler and had already at the age of 27,been to almost 50 coutries. We agreed the world was a mess and we were so lucky to be free and traveling and educated. That night we were eating in our beach hotel outdoor dining. I turned behind me and spotted a causcasian male eating some very large shrimp.

Curious I asked him if they were good and then one word led to another and we met Matt,a software engineer who had been sent to Bangalore India by his employer Google to see how things were going in their Bangalore branch. He,also being an avid traveler and especially to places more obscure,decided it was time to visit Sri Lanka. So he flew from India and spent a week climbing mountains, traveling by public bus and talking to interesting people. The three of us spent our last and only day together, visiting houses that had been built for Tsunami victums by relief organizations, and watching the stilt fishermen climb on their sticks and sway in the sea. Actually we had to pay them to do this because we arrived after the fishing time. Matt decided he wanted to be a stilt fisherman for a few minutes so he dropped his trousers and in his white briefs and borrowed turban,climbed on a stick in the ocean and posed for us. His final words were I am the whitest stilt fisherman in Sri Lanka. We finished off the day by visiting the most expensive hotel in Sri Lanka,the Fort. The least expensive room is $475 a night. Since it is off season, we got a full tour of the rooms and the infinity swimming pool,facing the sea. We all agreed this place was not our style.

I have left the seaside for the mountains where it has been raining every afternoon for several hours. Hopefully I will find a beach before I get on the plane back to States. I will keep everyone posted.