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Negombo
Sri Lanka travelogue, part 7: Negombo
Ben van den Anker2006-05-02 01:58:43
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she says. Let’s hope she’s right! My neighbour, a young Japanese woman, introduces herself and we chat a while. She takes an evening course in English and hopes to get chances on promotion back home. English is very important in Asia, as a teacher of English as a foreign Language (TOEFL) one shouldn’t worry about finding a job in Asia. Most countries only accept native speakers though; it seems not that important that one had some education, a native speaker is what they want.
In the next days the evening start with a thunderstorm. I spend my time swimming and trying to relax a bit. My stomach problems have worsened; I never have had this kind of diarrhoea before. I can walk for hours without problems. Feel all right for some hours till it starts again. I hope it will go away in the next days.
The fishing boats people use here are really special, they look like a catamaran, can take up to eight people as far as 50 km offshore.
After three days here I have to leave tonight. I’m still not feeling well and I don’t want to feel sick in the airplane, by now I think I know that I attracted the parasite Giardiasis that lives in contaminated water. I can’t reach a doctor, as this day is a special celebration day.
I read the health facts in the travel guide that many times that I can dream the texts now. I take a rickshaw and ask the driver to bring me to someplace to buy medicines. All shops are closed because of the celebration. Then he passes the hospital and I ask him to drop me there, I hand over my recipe with my autograph on it. They accept it without asking and hand me over the metronidazole. Just for security I also take ciprofloxacin in case my diagnosis should be wrong.
Luckily I was right. The rickshaw driver that promised me to pick me up at 8 pm to drive me to the airport had probably found more interesting business. I negotiate for another one and after ten minutes someone else drives me to the airport. Security is strict here, my driver has to show his passport and “car” papers several times. Before I can enter the building I have to show my tickets. I don’t know exactly how I feel about this holiday; first I need to get some rest urgently.
It is relatively safe to travel, but the government doesn’t have any control over the terrorism. Till this problem has been solved, it’s best to be careful where to go. The North, with Jaffna as a centre of Tamil rebellion, isn’t safe. Almost every bomb attack happens in Colombo, in the Fort. Try to avoid these places when you can. Military everywhere doesn’t contribute to a normal “holiday” feeling. The country though is beautiful and has so many interesting sites to visit. To me the ancient cities and Galle were the highlights of this tour. I wonder where the road leads me to in the next trip…
See photographs from:
Sri Lanka Gallery
