A Sri Lankan Head Nod to Galle and Colombo

Before I go any further I have to attempt to describe how a Sri Lankan nods yes. Rather than the up and down movement that we Westerners do, when a Sri Lankan wants to signify “okay” or “yes” they bobble their head from side to side in a wagging figure-eight movement that immediately seems to mean “maybe” or just gives the impression that they are crazy. It is a gesture that is almost impossible for me to do without getting dizzy and even after half a month here still disconcerts me as a response to a question even though I know it means “yes” it always seems to indicate “comme si, comme sa.” It is one of the quirkiest things about this island – I think they also do this in India.

After our relaxing interlude in Mirissa, we headed to Galle, staying in the Galle Fort section which is picturesque, safe and pretty touristy. Because of its great harbor, Galle passed from Portuguese to Dutch to British hands over the centuries. The fort area is very European in its ambience with its brick-paved roads and tunneled entrances, although it seems to be predominantly Muslim (which always means it is very hard to get a drink!).

Galle was also the scene of the worst tsunami damage in the country. 45,000 people died in Sri Lanka, the majority in the Galle area. About 1000 of them died when the wave washed over a train and twisted it unbelievably off the track.

After my first adverse reaction, the safety and peace of the quiet streets, cafes and shops of the fort area grew on me and I wished we had a little more time (which probably translates to half a day in Intrepid tour terms) before moving on with a 6 am breakfast call and 7 am train to catch to Colombo.

This time we traveled second class – which meant we had to haul our own luggage onto the train and scramble for seats. This train was much more modern than our previous ones, with tray tables and multiple fans to cool the entire length of the car. It was also much more crowded, on a major route into the capital city. Over much of the route the tsunami damage was still really evident and it was chilling to travel beside the Indian Ocean and think of the water surging over the train cars.

We were all pretty burnt out from the early start, bad breakfast and two weeks of travel and as usual Indika did not tell us what the plan was until we arrived. Probably because he knew we wouldn’t want to do it. It was a lot of driving on congested roads in a sweltering unairconditioned van and seeing some landmarks and one extraordinary stop to walk through “the busiest place in Colombo” which was exactly my claustrophobic nightmare of Asian cities and why I had avoided them.

Okay, it was fabulously interesting and colorful despite being smelly, dangerous and unbelievably crowded. There were all kinds of old-fashioned vendors of vegetables, fish parts, fabric and everything else that could be sold. But from there the rest of the tour was about shopping in malls and modern stores – yes, Colombo wants to be really contemporary but mostly all it seemed to us was homogenized and it was not the kind of shopping that we wanted to do at the end of our tour. In fact, we even had to eat lunch at the food court of the biggest mall, so yes I guess we have seen it all now, from the timeless tea-pickers to the fast foodies.

After checking into our hotel, I took a tuk-tuk to the House of Fashion, which is the discount clothing store like Filenes or Loehmans and bumped elbows with the Lankans in the four-story tower of cheaper priced merchandise. Again, shockingly up-to-date with scanners at the checkout counters ( have seen that nowhere else in Southeast Asia). Of course there were 20 lines with probably 300 people waiting to check out but it moved surprisingly quickly. The tuk-tuk driver back could not find the hotel, which was a little scary but he asked and it worked out okay.

We had our final dinner at the Cricket Club Café, a restaurant that kind of recreates the colonial atmosphere but mostly focuses on celebrating famous cricket players. As with all once British countries, cricket is a big time sport in Sri Lanka and Indika is a big fan. I didn’t much care about the cricket but I had a great piece of grilled fish which I did care about a lot. We said our goodbyes in a drawn out ceremony standing outside with Indika presenting each of us a little book about Buddhism with something written in the front of it

he is such a proselytizer!) and walked home to our hotel through the dark noisy streets of Colombo.

Indika

After a last Sri Lankan breakfast of egg roti and chapatti, I headed up to the Golden Star Beach Hotel in Negombo again, the place where we started (and where I had left my winter luggage). It was a smelly, hot and smoggy drive and I was happy to get to a place where I could at least cool off in the breezes under the palm trees on the edge of the beach. Even after more than two weeks, I was still not at all used to the sweltering heat. Even walking out onto the road after 5 pm, when the sun was low enough in the sky so that the street was in shade, I was still dripping with sweat, barely able to peel my drenched clothes off my body afterwards. It was a good choice to go to Negombo for the day and evening, even though I had to leave at midnight to go to the airport.

I spent very little money in Sri Lanka (beyond what I spent on the Intrepid tour originally which was more than enough) – so I did not feel bad on loading up on souvenirs before I left, since I don’t think there will really be anything to buy in Cyprus or Greece. It just means I have to haul them around for the next 3 weeks…

The last supper - Cricket Club Cafe

Getting in the hotel van at midnight was the only time I felt a little bit iffy about my safety in Sri Lanka. The taxi driver immediately told me it was his 50^th birthday and so of course I congratulated him at which point he pulled the van over and extended his hand so I could shake it – then he took my hand and kissed and held it up to his nose and inhaled deeply. I don’t know if this was customary or not but I kind of don’t think so, especially when he then began asking me if I was married and whether I was “full enough” on this trip and when he began saying something that I finally interpreted to be about Sinhalese body massage, I started to get a bit freaked out and just said, “airport, airport.” I am sure he didn’t want to jeopardize his job but it was rather unnerving driving around in the late night closed-up city with a driver who was suddenly very distracted.

At the airport I needed to get Euros to bring to Cyprus and I ended up having to change my money into rupees and then into Euros – apparently it was the only way. There was never an exchange fee at any ATMS in Sri Lanka; perhaps they wanted to encourage people to spend their money, which is a smart thing.

So after nearly 6 weeks in Southeast Asia it was time to move on. My feet felt claustrophobic in shoes and socks. What will I miss – the lushness of the landscapes, the kindness and caring service of the people, the mystique of the cultures. What won’t I miss – the garbage smells, the traffic, the places that were just too damn hot. I will miss having the whole trip ahead of me – it feels like a fast tumble down a long slope from here on out.