Stargazer4moon's blog: "It depends on what occurs on the way."

I wish the internet was not as slow as the concrete tortoise is just outside our room by the pool's kiddies' play area. It is frustrating but at least I can type, not necessarily coherently though but that is not internetal. ++++ Today, rather than sitting in the sun again and pool dipping, we went by Tuk Tuk up to Richmond Palace which is an old palace build by a very rich man at the beginning of the 20th Century. He was OK, she was beautiful as was his mother & father. Wealth is a funny thing here. They made the most amazing home like a replica Mogul Palace but without the domes. The decor was done no expenses spared so the glass in the doors was from Scotland, it was green on the outside but inside it looked opaque or white. It was also decorated with the thistle and shamrock. The tiled floors were marble from Italy and very cool to walk on but the other tiles were teracotta from India. As for the air-conditioning. Well that was vents and ducts and pipes that brought air into the house from outside plus of course the windows and doors. It really was cool inside in comparison to the external temperatures which were in the high 90's and humid. +++ We walked around being given a comentary by a lady guide and she took us to the school rooms for the kindegarten children, we only glipsed the living quarters of the orphans from a distance. The school work, more especially the artwork, was spectacular. There are some very gifted children there and they are lucky to have gifted teachers but sad to know that they are orphans. ++++ The couple who lived there were childless and he only liked boys so there are only baby boy orphans living there but the school part is mixed. The gardens are spectacular one way to the hills & river source and the other down to Kalutara Beach and the Mosque down there. Alas the trees have grown, just like over our back garden fence along the stream, so there is no longer a clear view to the sea. It is still spectacular though. The guide pointed out that the outer doors were total vermin proof by design so no creatures could get into the house and sure enough it would be a very flat wood lice who managed to get in underneath them but I think it was more for cocroaches & snakes the doors were designed to keep out. ++++ Then she walked us along to the side of the house where the statues were with the hills in the background. She pointed out that the lady's statue was looking out towards the garden, the gentleman's was looking and facing up to the balcony of the house. The statues of the girls were carved with their faces looking down towards the ground but they did have the fronts looking at the house. The boys' statues were face upturned and fully facing the house. The little girl had such a haunting expression too whereas the boy was carefree & smiling. So his like of little boys was very pointed in the landscaping of the statues & their carving. +++ There were gifts from the Royal Family in England and some beautiful photographs of the wedding. The cake was 25 feet high and all cake. The wedding photographs were the centre piece of the room really and they were married for 30 years prior to getting divorced. The gardens had lawns with Mimosa in and the guide kept rapping the poor plants with her pen just to show me that it closed momentarily upon contact. When I touched it unfortunately it did nothing so she gave it a heft tap and another frond closed for a few moments. A living breathing lawn indeed. There was a beautiful water fountain or bath in the middle of a patio which was fed by water spouts at for corners of the bullustrades, that would have been a site to watch when it was working. I think the nicest thing for me was the Iguana who sat in an air vent on the bank under the side of the house. This was an entrance for the air into the house and he looked like he was there to sort out the maintenance. I took photos and talked to it because I am like that. They thought I was mad. ++++ After our tour we climbed back into the Tuk Tuk and had a pleasant meander through the back roads of Kalutara prior to getting into the town centre and heading back to the hotel. ++++ The day started off as usual with breakfast then a quick tan up and out for a trip to the Bank. The Man with the Limp went into the bank for what is always an age because there is so much paperwork involved and I'm sure they print and count the money whilst you wait. I was talking to Harin, the driver, who told me of his father who'd had a stroke and died quite quickly after that. He nursed him for his mother though to save her the hard work. He has reached that age now and is worried about his health because his uncles also died of a stroke early in life. I told him to take up walking to which he told me there was no time in the day with taking his children to school, working the TukTuk, collecting them from school, taking them home and of course he is building a house with the view to let to tourists in the future. He is doing it all slowly and when it is done he will have a good business as he is honest and hard working. I have given his card to one English couple at our hotel here and she will use him plus my friend Ruwan because she has places that they want to visit and it would be nice if they had a guide they could trust, you know, one who could take you to the local dentist where they themselves go. +++ The Man with the Limp returned hot and damp as it was incredibley humid and we had been sitting under direct sunlight so were ourselves very hot. He invited me to go shopping with him to look for a belt and Harin tagged along m aking sure we were not over-charged or charged tourist rates. I found a Bata shoe shop, I caoont remember if we still have them in England but there are plenty in Sri Lanka. They were tagging behind and I hate dawdling when it is hot as it is tiring so I darted into the shoe shop and was promptly followed by three shop assistants as I walked around looking at the flip flops. It got a little irritating so I walked to the doorway where the pair had arrived having decided the belts were too expensive and they came into the shop. The Man with the Limp asked if I wanted some flipflops for the beach and as I said that I was looking he went straight over to some, picked out a shoe and I tried it on after he had actually picked out the right size. It fitted, felt comfortable and so I bought it, we he paid for it and we left a rather flustered couple of Sri Lankan shoeshop assistants. We left there and walked further then bobbed down into the back street market where nothing seemed to suit so we headed out and on the corner of the roadway onto the main pavement was a man with a bunch of leeks. He was chopping off the roots and he handed me one, to which I smilled, shook my head in thanks and we walked back onto the main thoroughfare. ++++They decided to cross the road to yet another belt shop and so I stayed put only the have the leek man ask if I had a cigarette in sign language. I shook my head, smiled and said that it was a disgusting habbit to which he laughed then he asked where I was from. When I said England he said that was a good country so I agreed because it is not too bad actually and he then tried to make more conversation which was not easy. Luckily the boys returned and we walked back towards the Tuk Tuk. It was boiling hot by now and we climbed out of the sun with much pleasure and grabbed a bottle of cold water to drink. After I had shown Harin some photos of our garden we drove along with a cooling breeze blowing through the Tuk Tuk and left town to go to Righmond Palace. ++++ By the time we were back it was lunch time so we went back to the room with our purchases, he did eventually find a belt and I bought some socks as I can never find a pair when I want to take Hector out at home. Then we went to a very quiet lunch as there seem few people here after yesterday's exodus. Tomorrow will bring the locals staying for a cheap week-end holiday and of course a new set of tourists from abroad.+++ Now it is time to go for our afternoon beach massage and I will walk along with the new flip flops and maybe even have a paddle in the sea if the water is calm, it sounds quite quiet out there now, even the birds seem silent in the heat of the afternoon sun.