THE EVERYDAY THINGS

Preparing a meal

The kitchen tap. (There are public water taps at various places around town. Twice a day, people who don't have water connected at their house can go to one of these taps to fill up with water to take home. The water is shut off at other times.)

Grocery shopping

Want a cuppa?

Central heating, hot water system and oven . . . all in one.

Cleaning the yard

Laundry time

At school

MIXING BUSINESS WITH PLEASURE

We recently had a visit from some friends who helped us with some odd jobs we had lying around the house. The following snapshots are our way of paying tribute to them and saying thank you for all their hard work!

ELEVEN DAYS WITH FRIENDS

DAY 1: A CROSS-CULTURAL EXPERIENCE

Guest lecturers at today's English class were Flicko, C-Train and Damo. Today's lesson: sharing life's experiences through photographs. Here our Sri Lankan students learnt that Australians like to jump: out of things; off things; just jumping in general; off jetties; out of planes. Yep, Aussies like to jump. Why? Well, that question from the panel of students had our guest lecturers stumped. Why? Well, why not?

DAY 2: GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS

Day 2 was a good day for visiting some of the small businesses in Colombo. Here you will see Flicko and C-Train checking out the merchandise produced by one of our small business owners.

DAY 3: WE'RE HAPPY;

FEELING GLAD

Well, Day 3 ended up being one of those days that can

give a Westerner a glimpse into Sri Lanka beyond the beaches, tuk-tuks and palm trees. The van we had hired had technical difficulties and ended up being 2 hours away at the time we had arranged to be picked up, causing us to miss our library appointments at the pre-schools. So we sent the fearless 3 off in a tuk-tuk while we waited for the van to arrive. However, the tuk-tuk driver thought he knew better and took them where they wanted to go via every touristy snapshot site he could think of, then charged them 10 times the price we had suggested. Of course, in

their excitement, they had not heard our advice, so they still felt pretty proud of themselves when they haggled the price down - until we let them know that the amount they had paid could hire them a tuk-tuk for the day! Add to that one credit card eaten by an ATM and we had figured that today was just one of those days that was going to refuse to go to plan. At least we mastered the art of changing plans at the drop of a hat long ago. Oh, and of course, ice cream goes a long way towards making things feel better.

DAY 4: BIRTHDAY ADVENTURES

Day 4 was a birthday for

the C-Train - a perfect day for white water rafting. The intrepid explorers successfully navigated the river and even had their request granted when

they asked, "Can we do that again?!" Sadly, however, the birthday boy did lose his glasses.

And how can you have a birthday without cake? That night, back

at the guesthouse, the management surprised the birthday boy with a cake and a hearty rendition of "Happy Birthday". An impromptu mini-concert in Tamil and Sinhala by the room boy (a one-time contestant on Sri Lanka's version of 'Idol') was an added bonus.

DAY 5: CONQUERING MOUNTAINS

Day 5 began at 2am. Fresh from conquering rivers, the fearless explorers decide it is a good day for conquering mountains. Sri Pada - Adam's Peak - was the goal for the day, all 4800 steps. After reading 'The Lonely Planet' we felt prepared and set off after our guide, all rugged up and with 5 friendly dogs in tow, who seemed quite excited about the

prospect of a 2am walk. Still, we hadn't even begun to ascend before the layers of clothing were coming off. We weren't to be needing those until we got to the top.

The climb to the top was a challenge, to make an understatement. In the dark, the steps seemed never-ending. The air was thin and the legs seemed to doubt themselves. And yet, at 6:15am we arrived, victorious, at the summit and were ushered into a small room - occupied by 3 young boys who were there to care for the temple - to rest before sunrise. And then we noticed the cold. We were wet from walking through cloud and it was freezing. We piled on jumpers and rugged the kids up in sleeping bags and Jay promptly fell asleep (even though the kids had actually bounded up the steps like mountain goats). Oh, and the leeches fell off.

At 6am we went outside to watch the sunrise. We had been told that from the top of Adam's Peak the sun seems to rise three times, like it is bowing to the mountain. We had also read that it casts an amazing shadow. Unfortunately, we had come at off-season and there was nothing to be seen but cloud. The climb had exhausted us and we were freezing and this concrete block in the middle of clouds seemed like such an anti-climax. I was so disappointed . . . and then the sun peeked through a break in the clouds, disappeared, and then peeked through another couple of times. And with this small change, it all seemed worth it. I turned from a tired, cold mess to a mountain-conquerer. The sense of victory became tangible. We made it! I had seen the sun from the top of a mountain!

Of course, the next logical direction was down but it was done with renewed vigour. We survived up, so down was never going to beat us. The sun continued to climb and the cloud dispersed. We were treated to the majestic scenery of the world spread out below us; giant hills and distant waterfalls. And when we turned around we could see what we could not in see in darkness - thankfully! - this mountain towering behind us, and the sense of accomplishment rose anew, aside a sense of amazement. Mountain conquerers! (Don't think I'll do that again for a while though!)

DAY 6: HAIR OF THE DOG!

By day 6 we had moved on to Haputale. Although all intents were for a quiet day, in the end the decision was that there was nothing better to follow a walk up a mountain than . . . more walking. Well, it is hill country. All the best views are found at the top!

DAY 7: A PAUSE . . .

Well, there's gotta be a day of rest sometime! Time to meet up with some locals.

DAY 8: . . . AND BACK INTO THE VAN!

Day 8 and it was time to get back into the van for the drive out of the hill country and back to Colombo - but not before goodbyes to friends.

By now the crew knew what a drive in the van in hill country meant - a long drive; a windy drive; a not-feeling-so-great drive. Up the front if you get car sick!

DAY 9: BACK TO SCHOOL

So day 9 meant a second attempt at making a library visit to the pre-schools - and today we were to prove succesful. Hooray! There were gifts for children and our crew even got to help give the lunch to the hungry children - all 100 of them!

DAY 10: SHAVE & A HAIRCUT!

So now we're back home and in the mood for something slightly less adventurous. The crew figured it would be a good day to visit the barber (and hairdresser) for a bargain that just couldn't be passed by. A few hundred rupee will get you a shave, haircut and a head massage. Well, if you're the C-train, a shave is a haircut! For our ladies it will cost a little extra for a style and some highlights. Then it was onto the hunt for cheap DVDs.

DAY 11: THE GRAND FINALE

Well, you didn't think we'd finish our adventures with haircuts and shopping, did you?! Of course not! We were off for elephant adventures. First to the elephant orphanage at Pinnawala - following the elephants down to the river. After the elephants returned to the orphanage, it was time for an elephant ride and a bath for the elephants - and our friends! Day 11 was a day for awesome elephant photos but, in the end, I still couldn't go past this one!