This is Lake Lodge in Colombo where I am learning Tamil. I have a pleasant and coolish room. It's 30-40 degrees C at the moment so nowhere really cool unless you have air con, I don't.The thing about Colombo is there is no centre, the city sprawls along the Galle road running North to South and inland to the East.
The Galle Face hotel, one famous old colonial style hotel and the place to go and watch the sunset and be seen in, isn’t far from our hotel but well above VSO budget.
The main mode of transport is the trishaw or tut-tut as in most of Asia and in the heat is the best way to get around, as ever the negotiations for cost of trip are interesting, works out about 50 rupee a kilometre, about 25p(£1=RS180) but it doesn’t matter how many are in, so with 4 of us crammed in it’s a bargain!
We get breakfast at the hotel, banana, eggs as you like them, toast and jam and tea or coffee. Most people drink tea with masses of sugar and I mean masses, small cups and 4+ spoons of sugar and still have good teeth.
For lunch while training we get a local take away, it comes to the hotel and they sort it for us, costs 60 rupee each, it’s 3 packs of rice and 5 or 6 curries. You put the rice in the middle of your plate and surround it with a few curries, then eat with your fingers of one hand. You have to mix the food into a paste then make a ball and eat it, not that easy! I have been eating curry for at least 2 meals a day sometimes 3.
For dinner we sample the restaurants within walking distance, some expensive they cost RS 200-300 a head but we have found one at RS 100 a head including drinks. You don’t get alcohol so tend to drink ginger beer or water here.
