5th March

Unbelievable van journey

Having been given different advice from different people - "Don't go to Trinco by train!", and, "Don't go to Trinco by bus!", we decided that we should hire a van and driver to take us over to the East coast. It was going to take about 8 hours no matter how we were getting there, and we were concerned about our equipment on public transport. Apparently there is virtually no luggage space on trains and none at all on the public buses. Seeing the buses and the trains during our van trip reassured us that we made the right decision! The van picked us up at 7.30 am so that we could get to Trinco at a reasonable time beore darkness fell, as it is apparently not good to be out after dark there at the moment.

The van journey accross the centre of Sri Lanka was unbelievable! The scenery ranged from tropical jungle to vast lakes, and was absolutely breathtaking, despite the often bumpy and pot-holed roads. To contrast with all the beauty, there was the very visible presence of the military. From just a few miles out of Colombo, all the way to Trinco, there were armed soldiers - either standing at the roadside or dug into the ground in bunkers. There were groups of soldiers literally every 500 yards. It really was a little unsettling, even though they never approached our van. Well, they stopped us once - but they soon waved us on.

Old and new technology

The journey also showed how this country mixes old and new technology - there was a certain area that had most of the houses built from what looked like mud or clay, yet on the roofs there were solar panels!

We eventually arrived in Trinco at about 3 pm, and thankfully the hotel is excellent - not just air con but hot water too!

And a very reasonable price.

Contact with I.O.M.

We made contact with I.O.M.'s Trinco office, and we are due to meet an I.O.M. man called Chandra later this evening, so that he can give us more details about the venues we will be working at over here in the East.