Sri Lankans on Tour

This weekend has been hectic with travel in all modes of transport being the name of the game. On Thursday evening I needed to head back to Colombo for a VSO meeting and chose to go by train which was definitely the right move. There are 2 classes - 2nd and 3rd (not sure what has happened to 1st!) and 2nd class is a really expensive 180 Rupees or about £1 for a 3.5 hour journey! The distance is only about 130km so it's slow but the views are incredible. I arrived in Colombo as the sun was setting over the Indian Ocean - magical.

I came back on Saturday morning in a van hired by some fellow VSO-ers. The drive takes the same time as the train but is significantly less relaxing with the constant use of the horn, overtaking on blind bends, lots of emergency stops and generally pretty dodgy driving. The speed limits are 73km out of town and 52km in towns - why the random amounts, I don't know! Needless to say, no one sticks to them.

We made it back to Galle in one piece and I had to ready myself for my first Galle District Chamber of Commerce Board Meeting which started at 7.30pm that night. Firstly formality is a HUGE thing here. All 30 Directors had a place at the Board Room table in a position that reflected their seniority. I didn't have a place at all and was expected to sit at the edge of the room but, in true Jules-style, spotted a wee gap at the table and asked if I could sit there, which worked much better. The board is made up of 1 Tamil representative, 2 Muslim and the rest are Sinhalese. The meeting was conducted almost entirely in Sinhala (with a bit of English for me) so they're really only nodding to the cultural diversity that is reflected in the Galle District. Needless to say, there are no women on the board. The meeting started with a silent prayer to Buddha and then a minute's silence. Then the pontification started. Meeting etiquette doesn't seem to exist in Sri Lanka. Firstly all the mobile phones remain on and, even if someone is in the middle of speaking, if he receives a call he'll stop his speech and take the call - incredible! Secondly, everyone is talking over each other all the time. There were a couple of "debates" on a few subjects but, even with my level of Singhalese, I realised that, despite the verbosity of the statements, they were all agreeing with each other. The agenda covered pretty random topics and didn't, I thought, get to the meaty issues e.g. the fact that the Chamber isn't breaking even. It has reinforced to me how difficult it will be to get changes made. Aligning 30 people who are always managing their own businesses to new ideas is going to be a tough job.

After the meeting (10.30pm) everyone adjourned to one of the Director's restaurants. Immediately the Arrack (the local spirit made from Palm syrup) came out. I had a beer and a small bite to eat and then made my excuses to leave at 11.15pm (a) because of the potential sexual harassment (see my last blog) and (b) because I didn't want to have to be driven home by any of them in their inebriated states. Apparently it all went on till 2am!

The next day was an early start at 6am for a trip with the "Richmond Hill Welfare Association". Richmond Hill is the area I'm living in - nothing to do with Richmond, London! The Association was set up by neighbours to create a small social club and donate to local needs. Each year they have a trip for members and their families and this year I was invited by the Chamber's Chairman, Mr Lakshman, and his wife. They had decided that they wanted to visit Hambantota which is in the South East of Sri Lanka, about 4 hours from Galle. A standard Sri Lankan bus was hired complete with hard seats, no a/c, and bald tyres (see the pictures attached). I was sat next to Mr Lakshman's wife, Rohini, who unfortunately is the largest Sri Lankan lady I know so, coupled with my not insignificant arse, meant a fun day for all!

I was amazed at the party spirit of the 40 or so people on board who ranged in age from an 8 month old baby to a Granny of maybe 80 (I find it very difficult to age people here as they all look so young). The singing started at 6am and carried on for the duration of the trip till 11.30pm. Unfortunately no one could hold a tune amongst them but they carried on with gusto accompanied only by a makeshift set of drums.

The first stop was to view the empty hole in the ground that will become the new Hambantota Port. It's being built by the Chinese as part of their "string of pearls" strategy which aims at getting ports across Asia in strategic places. I asked what was in it for the Chinese and the answer was "nothing - we just have to pay back the loan". I don't believe that but Rohini did confide that she is disgusted that the country is saddling itself with a huge debt to pay back when there are so many people below the poverty line who need more basic amenities than a port. Hambantota is at the edge of the "dry zone" of Sri Lanka, and it was amazing to see the difference versus the lushness that I'm used to around Galle and Colombo.

After a hot visit to the port, the trip included a Chinese School, a model farm, a patch of grass that is to become an International Cricket ground, and some hot water springs - a rather random set of sights. In total we were on the bus driving for at least 11 hours of the 16 hour day. Part of this was due to the fact that we got a puncture and, later, got stuck trying to navigate some very tight corners around paddy fields. I have to say I did get slightly grumpy at the end of it all, especially as I felt I was being ordered all day: "sit", "eat", "get on the bus", "go to the toilet", "look", "come here", "don't go there". Singhala uses definitive verbs all the time and it's a sign of caring to constantly make sure the guest has what they need but it translates into very forced orders which I began to want to rebel against, especially as the day wore on and the singing got worse! All in all, though, the day was an adventure to see more of the beautiful south of the Island and, more importantly, observe Sri Lankans letting their hair down.

The more I see of this amazing Island and it's friendly people, the more I want others to see it too so do think about when you're going to come and visit and book those flights!!