The Kakka (Crow)

I’m sitting having lunch
Under the mango tree
When a kakka flaps its wings
And sets its sights on me
I feel the dropping hit
Right upon my head
It would have been much worse
If it had hit my food instead

(continued below)

The Kakka continued

But I am smarter than the birds
And the kakka’s have moved away
Since I hung some CDs in the trees
And the wind makes the shiny discs sway
Now I can eat my lunch in peace
As I sit under the mango tree
No kakka’s noise to disturb my thoughts
And no extra cleaning for me

The Art of Travel

Alain de Botton's book was a thought provoking read. I read it after I arrived and now see travel in a different perspective. The photo of the wall outside my bedroom window may not have attracted my eye pre Alain

A Colombo day

Oskar wakes early and so do I. I have become expert in building blocks, I build them up and he knocks them down. At about 8am. its time for me to read the newpaper and he eats grapes, strawberries or pineapple as a pre breakfast snack. Kumari the house lady makes a great cafe latte for breakfast.

I have started typing my research notes, so spend a couple of hours at my $10 table under the window in my bedroom. It would be awful if any information got lost. Wednesday is yoga class and I have a one hour auyverdic massage every week or two (my feel good therapy).

My favourite shops which I visit in turn are Odels, Cotton Collection, Beverley St and Arena. I now have a famous brand money purse in a red cherry pattern as well as loose skirts, t shirts and good walking sandals. Its too hot to wear pants and you need very open sandals or thongs. When it rains the streets are just flowing with water.

I have a street map and mark off the areas I explore. It is safe to walk, (thats a bit of a misnomer), the footpaths have cars parked on them so people walk on the edge of the road, there are pedestrain crossings but cars don't stop, so I do like the locals, cross the road dodging buses, 3 wheelers and cars all tooting their horns. For my safety I make sure there is a local between me and the traffic. My photo shows Pettah and the Colombo railway station. There is an overhead walk bridge here or else you would never get across the road.

The coffee shops are good and the coffee is as well, though no 'flat whites' , I need a drink when I'm out to wash the fumes out of my throat. One of the newspapers has a Grafitti cartoon and I loved the one 'you have serious insomnia when you can't fall asleep at work'.

Talalla

Sunrise saw me at the beach watching the fishermen de-netting their catch. No one else in the family gets up at this time, so just see what they missed.

The beach here is beautiful and surprisingly clean sand with coconut palms and a hill on the western side providing shade during the day. The water is aqua green, calm and warm enough for me to enjoy a swim. After a 30 minute walk to the rocks at the other end of the beach I saw hundreds of sea urchins, something I hadn't seen since I was very young and holidayed at Shelley Beach near Gosford.

We had booked for two days but stayed for four. The Talalla Retreat is new and the accommodation is different, my room was open with bamboo blinds for half wall. the bottom half was concrete which allowed for modesty. The shower was open to the sky and stars. The restaurant was traditional Sri Lankan style building with no walls. The food wasn't anything to rave about but did improve with coaching from Christine. The pineapple and red papaya was too die for and the Sri Lankan curry was top class.