To Marissa

Breakfast under the tent.

The wood apple drink.

A common tailer bird weaving a nest using spider webs.

A large teaching Buddha.

The coastline.

Young Sri Lankan lovers sitting under umbrellas and gazing at the sea.

Local boats and boys at our Paradise Beach Hotel.

Eating on the beach.

Tuesday, February 13^th.

John woke up first with the morning light and the symphony of birds. We got up and we tried to get my computer fixed. I called HP Australia using his Skype and explained my problem on my computer. A really nice Indian woman was very helpful and told me how to download two drivers and to uninstall the microphone driver, so that it would be re-installed with a new start up. Because we were in a campground and the computer was saying it would take a half hour to download the first driver, we took notes and told her she could go. It took a while, but I followed all three steps and it did not fix the problem. However, I at least felt we had eliminated a few things and was happy that I could actually talk to someone. We’ll try again in the next couple of days.

Then we went for breakfast in a long outside tent. We were served a brown drink with seeds in it that looked very unappealing. It was from a wood apple and actually tasted quite good. 

We had a bit of free time after breakfast to pack up and get organized before the drive. We drove for a couple of hours to the coast where we stopped at a little bakery for lunch. Then we continued for another hour to our hotel for our last three nights. Most of us relaxed on the beach. This is a pretty spot with a nice beach and coral just off shore. There are a few local fishing boats and a snorkelling and diving centre here. The Indian Ocean is very warm and John and I spent a long time swimming and bobbing around in the water. It was nice to be on a beach and just relax for the afternoon. 

For dinner, Sam took us to a restaurant on the beach about four kilometres away. The setting was beautiful, with tables on the sand. But, unfortunately the service was terrible and the food not great. It took a long time to get our drinks and the food even longer. John and my meal of calamari, fries and salad, came cold without the fries or the salad and we sent it back. The fries and salad that were to come with it, came in a large bowls for everyone and the ketchup came after the fries were all consumed. Gordon’s tuna steak came with bones and scales. Etc. I could tell that our guide was frustrated, so I went and told the manager that during the two weeks we were in Sri Lanka this was the worst meal we had had. I told him it was not the young waiter’s fault as he was working really hard running back and forth on the sand, it was the kitchen’s fault. It changed nothing, but I hoped it took a bit of pressure off of Sam.

On the drive back, I sat in the assistant driver’s set at the front and John sat in Sam’s seat and we pretended to do their jobs. It was lots of fun. Then off to bed.