Downwards into a Surreal SriLanka

Our day was planned to be a reasonably uneventful drive from the heights of Nuwara Eliya to the lowlands of Yala. Unfortunately for all involved it was a day the world will remember for a while and the locals will remember forever. Our news guide was quite apologetic that he had to tell us about the six bombs that went off early and then as we wound our way down the hills the story unfolded about two more. It was good that the travel company was already predicting issues for us when we're due to get to Colombo in six days time and considering alternatives. It was a very pleasant 21 degrees when we left, after sleeping in till 8:00 and enjoying a quality buffet (!?) breakfast overlooking the picturesque valley that the Blackpool Hotel is situated in. Four courses for brecky does seem to be the right balance. It was Sunday morning so the roads were full of locals all dressed up as they headed in and out of the small local churches. The roads were reasonably clear (given we know what they are capable of) and we saw some fabulous views of lofty peaks resplendent in the bright morning light.

A quick stop at a glittering Hindu temple to take snaps from the outside was pretty much the only touristy thing we did until we arrived at Ella. We stopped here for a traditional local massage that we'd reckoned was well earned after conquering a rock, a cave and a highplain over the last few days. Our masseur guide chose here because the better places were all booked. No complaints at all. It was interesting to see the amount of foreign tourists in this town. Conjectural research suggests that someone in the past had a great time here. Posted it and then the hordes simply flowed in. It was a good massage. Pity our guide wasn't allowed to be recipient as well. Because he wasn't a tourist and yet he'd done the same hard yards we had. Is tourists racism bias a thing? Seemingly so. Smelling like cloves, eucalyptus and a variety of other local herb and spices we continued our decent. More switchback roads strewn with vistas of waterfalls and monkeys running around posing for photo opportunities. All the whilst the horrors of what was transpiring on the other side of island trickling through to us. Via scratchy radio signals (we were deep in valleys) and our "wondering WTF is going on?" guide's constantly ringing mobile. His wife told us before the radio news that the whole island was under curfew from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am. Given the amount of people moving around the country due to holidays ending and everyone going home this just did not seem practical. Especially the people in tuktuks who would not have the faintest idea of what was going down. Luckily we still had a lot of time to get to our destination before hunker down time. And the monsoon kicked in in. So it became a surreal experience driving through the pouring rain. Roads progressively became emptier. Public busses (which normally dominate the bitumen) disappeared (and we have no idea what happened to the passengers thereon who had destinations to achieve). Our main focus was to try and find an open bottle shop. This was a shared desire also from our multi-faceted guide who we discovered likes a couple of bevvies when he's hangin' out with his collegues once their daily dose of guiding is done. Generally in this emerging developing country there is one booze outlet per large town allowed to sell alcohol ( they call it Wine Distributors but wine is the least moved product). The strongest local religion doesn't like it. Laws abound to limit consumption. And we get a situation like this where every shop is closing due to government crackdown (no issue in this - a very good idea as really have no idea where this is going) and the longest queues in any place for miles and miles was the one distributor which chose to stay open. All sold behind iron bars.

More secure than the local bank branches. Our Non-blogger had great delight in being the only girl within cooee and wanting to see wine list as the locals pushed and shoved past handing over their hard earned to secure their specific taste parcel of wanton hope. The bottle purchased remains unopened, however the experience was priceless. You can't buy memories like that. They can only be created by shear determination in the face of adversity. By this time the deluge had resided and we arrived at our destination - perfectly positioned (next to to a lake - not the midday show) the hotel is set up to cater for the Safari exponitioners so it will be very interesting to see how they pack a traveling breakfast. As the sun set amoungst volumous clouds beyond the abutting lake millions of fruit bats were heading off to local habitats - no doubt in order to shred 'em to bits like they do at home. A spectacular sight.

The place seems very quiet. We think the staff are stuck here due to the curfew and we keep hearing trickles of information coming in that all is still not good in the world out there. A few guests enjoyed the buffet (!!) dinner. Yet the place seems surreally serene. If this is due to the horror going on elsewhere then it makes sense. If this is normal then woo who... Go us !