Great Expectations
I hate packing. I always forget things and curse myself all along afterwards. It’s doubley difficult when you have no idea what sort of facilities to expect on your journey. The plan is to leave tomorrow morning for Unawatuna, spend 2 or 3 nights there at one of the little rest houses that line the beach. From last weekend I remember Upul’s Rest looking reasonably attractive, offering fresh Lobster and Calamari. We will be in a serious mess if all those places are full, but then it isn’t tourist season till November so we ought to be safe. From Unawatuna we go to Tissa for 2 nights to spend some time in Yala and Bundala. I’m trying not to have too high hopes for Yala bc we won’t get much more than 2 rounds in the park so the chances of seeing Leopard and Bear are fairly remote. But these days there have been loads and loads of sightings, particularly on Akasa Chaitya Para, or so I’ve heard. Friend of mine had seen 3 cubs and a Leopard with a kill on a tree! A total of something like 15 sightings in 4 days. Oh well, fingers crossed. From Tissa we go to Ampara, spend one day there and then slip down to Pottuvil and Arugam Bay where we spend another couple of nights hoping to see some of the ruins in the area, Lahugala and maybe squeeze in Kumana if we’re lucky.
Just had a lucky break, we stepped out to meet ammi’s old prof before I go back to uni and on the way back realised that i hadn’t taken malaria tablets! Apparently the East is teeming with Malaria these days. Pretty much done with packing, got my CD set packed and ready. We will be in the distinguished company of Messers Hendrix, Dylan, Guns n’ Roses, Pink Floyd, Nirvana and a bit of Buddha Bar, Cafe Del Mar thrown in. Just the thought of chilling on the beach, star gazing and enjoying the smooth sounds of the ocean sends a few chills down the spine. Hope I’m not expecting too much.
Only a couple of things stand in the way of a fantastic 7 or so days. Rain, security concerns and car trouble. We’ll be in the East of the country for some time so one can never be too sure about the security situation. It’s just started raining in Colombo so I’m a bit concerned about it raining down South too, that would be quite a spoiler. Car trouble, well i’m hoping my friend’s jeep doesn’t have too many ailments besides its alleged affinity towards petrol consumption. I for one would be lost if something were to happen bc i’m one of those ppl who gets into a car and expects it to go from A to B, and if it doesn’t do so i usually am a tad helpless.
Right I’m done, 5 hours sleep and off in the morning. Here’s to a week of bliss.
