The End / Lists

It's our last day in Marissa and again it's been a bit of an adventure what with Carolyn "Bondi Rescue" Williams and then y'day a bloody big rat in our room! No damage done! An update on Ron, who Carolyn rescued, he's in a stable condition in Colombo and will be flown out to the States in the next few days. He's expected to make a full recovery. The family and friends continue to make a fuss of Carolyn who in her usual fashion thinks it's all a bit much! Love that girl.
We've been lucky to meet up with a great family of English people from Essex - Chris and Jill and Paul and Emma. We've had some great times in the days and nights with Jill regaling us with tales of "2 pound of sand in me draws" and rats under plastic bowls running around bathroom floors. We loved Chris's "new" rules of Uno as well. Enjoy the stout and keep an eye on your David Beckham look alike son-in-law mate. They're a terrific family and it was sad to say goodbye to them.
We head to the airport town of Negombo today and this is the last post. Thanks to all those who have followed our travels and I hope I didn't bore you too much. As promised here are some lists to enjoy!
TRIP BY NUMBERS
85 - days on holiday
24 - flights
9 - train trips
7 - countries visited (include Bali as we had to buy a visa and pay departure tax for a 2 hr stay!)
4 +1 - no of times sick (Carolyn 4 Me1)  i.e. Rangoon Runs, Delhi Belhi
11 - different beers
6 - wines from Oz, France, Spain, SL, India and Chile
5 - No of security checks at Kathmandu airport on departure
4 - dodgy bus trips
4 - No of Lonely Planet guides
15 - forms of transport used on the trip

16 - books read by me
2 - times walked out of dodgy guesthouses/hotels
1854 - No of photos taken

... and finally the number 1 - the number of arguments we had and yes it was the wrong street to head down in Kathmandu!

 ONE LINERS
"No more steps Lhakpa" - to our Nepalese guide  on our trek

"You want taxi?" - I never want to hear this again. If I want a taxi I'll hail one you muppet! It wears after the 1000th time each day.
"Opium, hashish, marijuana sir? - I got asked this all over all over India and Nepal
"Please slow down" - to various taxi and bus drivers in every country we visited
"How do you want your eggs? - every b'fast for 3 months you are asked this whether yuor slumming it or flashpacking
"Where you going?" - every tuk tuk driver thinks it's ok to ask this
"Real Pashmina Maam" - yeah ok fella!
"Maybe tomorrow" - when you say no to look at something this is what shopkeepers say

and in closing I had some advice to pass on to would be travellers but I realised it would sound pompous so I'll just say this - get out there and do it, book the ticket, jump on the plane and enjoy the journey and the destination. See you.

Carolyn the lifesaver - Serious!

The beach here in Mirrisa is idyllic - palm fringed, white sand, clear water and good waves but it can also be dangerous  as Carolyn witnessed yesterday (Sat).
 Carolyn was lying on the beach when she saw an American guy get dumped by a wave in the relatively shallow water. When he came up he was face down and not moving. She went to the young SL lifeguard who didn't understand and she then ran into the water to rescue the bloke. With assistance she got him out of the water and noticed he was foaming at the mouth (water in the lungs), she stuck her fingers in his mouth to clear his airway, checked his pulse, put him in the recovery position on his side and then had to tell the gathered group not to lie him on his back as they were attempting too!! She then slowly melted into the background and came back to the room. Others had noticed Carolyn's actions and told the family who were overwhelmed with what she did. They took him off to hospital where he remains in a stable condition but will survive. When his wife came into the dining room last night she walked up to Carolyn embraced her and said "do you realise you saved my husbands life today?" she went onto say that in the hospital he told her that when he was face down in the water and unable to move (temporary paralysis) he stated to think of their 2 daughters and that this was it. At this stage we were all bawling - Carolyn, me and the guy's 3 family members. Talk about powerful.
All Carolyn kept saying was that she did what anyone else would do - true but she did do it and she saved another person's life. Carolyn can't understand the fuss and wants to forget it but I am so proud of her and how she handled the whole thing and I don't mean that in a patronising way. Even writing this I'm emotional!
All those years at the beach, 1st Aid courses and watching Bondi Rescue paid off!
As for me I was asleep on the balcony of our room! I saw the guy karted off and when Carolyn came back to the room I asked if she saw what happened - her reply was priceless. "I think I might have saved his life: she then asked for a sugar drink to calm her nerves. What a woman!

I'll post the promised list tomorrow as there is no A/C in here and I'm drenched. I'm off for a swim and I can only hope Carolyn  is keeping an eye out for me!

Sri Lanka - Cultural Triangle / Death by Temples

Days 63 to 68 saw us traversing SL to look at what's  called the Cultural Triangle. We spent most of the time looking at Buddhist relics and statues as well as ruins of the various conquerers of the island. It was all very interesting but our interest levels we starting to wane - over 6 countries we have seen every stupa, dagoba, pagoda, church,  museum and everything inbetween. In the end I told our driver (no public transport) that we didn't want to see anymore temples etc. Both Carolyn and I just wanted to lay on a beach! We had been to Anaradapuya the ancient capital, and Sigariya with its 600m high magma  rock, that was an adventure to climb, before ending up in the the hill town of Kandy for a couple of days.
In between we had walked out of a guesthouse that was filthy and ended up in another that was only marginally cleaner! During the night Carolyn killed 3 ants, we both had insects in our ears and the shower was a trickle! Ah the joys!
After Kandy we caught a train and a bus to the fort city of Galle which is quite interesting - spared from the tsunami by its 20m tall ramparts it's going through a huge makeover with boutique hotels springing up everywhere. A great place to while away a couple of days but the rest of the town is pretty average.
For the last 2 days (2 Nov onwards) we are in Mirissa a very quiet beach 40 kms east of Galle. Our room is 30 m from the ocean, the food is brilliant and Corona's for $3. There's even a good wave for body bashing.
The deal we got includes meals and last nite we witnessed the Germans at the buffet. There were 4 of them dressed head to toe in black, all seated together, the dessert table had a choc mousse dish that each of them had a bowl of. That was just the start! Each time the large bowl was repalced you could see them nudging each other and then jumping up to refill their bowls! It was a sight to behold and very funny to watch. Carolyn said I spent more time watching them than looking at her - oops! Mind you people watching is a great holiday activity.
We'll stay here before heading north to leave the country and as such you don't want to hear about the coconut fringed beach with white sand, warm water and a bar man just a click of the fingers away so this will be our last post - nearly.
Tomorrow (or the next day) I'll put some lists together i.e. the trip by numbers, best food, advice for travellers, best one-liners etc.
Again no foto's, the issue with my card is terminal but I've still got the pics I just can't upload them.
I'm off for a swim!