3 YEARS STOCK TAKE

I cannot believe it has been 3 years already, and I have to take stock of myself . Have I changed? What have I learned and what have I achieved.
Have I changed ?
I hope so, but not in a bad way.... I just think that new experience changes one's perceptions. I hope I have changed in a good way and in a positive way. I hope I have achieved some leniency towards others and other way of living and thinking. I know I have become more appreciative of friends and family far away, that I miss dearly. I cherish time spent with them.
I have changed into a "Marina Mary".... Every thing is delivered and you are served hand and foot in the shops. So yes I have become spoiled.... ( And I love it) Really like in the movies....
What have I learned ?
This list is endless......
I have learned to: Live in a high rise apartment, go every where by taxi (no own car) drive on the opposite side of the road, do my own housework (totally darlings), buy groceries and household products with strange names, live in a world city, live the expat life, respect other religions, respect other customs, few Arabic words, read real books (magazines are too expensive), not every one you meet becomes your friend (some fall of the bus....) I can survive anywhere and anything.etc etc etc
What have I achieved ?
My achievements have all been personal.  They have been positive and negative..... and not in a " certificate on the wall type"
I have traveled a little more, and seen very interesting places.
All in all it has been good and I look forward to the coming years in Dubai. We will not be leaving any time soon.
So my stock take after 3 years is THIS IS GOOD....BRING ON THE NEXT 5 YEARS.
We have decided to stay for another 5 years, and then make the next change or challenge. (But we all know plans sometimes change....so we just have to wait and see and take each day as it comes)

In the time I have not written I have been travelling and here are just some of the fantastic places I have been and seen. Remember this is MY DIARY after all....

SRI LANKA
What a fantastic country to visit. I was there for 3 weeks and spent most of my time in the south on the beach (OK where else....) I still believe that any one looks great with a tan... Sri Lanka is not very big BUT getting around is a mission. The roads are very narrow and way too many vehicles on the road ( not forgetting the sacred cows every where too). The traffic is a nightmare and it takes ages for very short distances. They also drive like lunatics... Hooters are a must. They are used for every action while driving. Speed limit is 50km/hour.
Most Sri Lankan people are very poor , but always smile and seem happy. They are all well fed as they tend to eat from the sea (if living on the coast) or inland they are mostly vegetarian and grow their own veggies in their back garden. They all live in houses. TV antennae is seen everywhere...
Their food is very very spicy, and the Sri Lanka is known for the hottest curry.
The Tsunami was about 10 years ago and damage can still be seen in some places. I met baja drivers (similar to a tuk tuk) who had lost their entire family in the Tsunami. They are all very religious, and seem to accept tragedy like the tsunami as "Gods will" .
In one temple there was a Buddha which was taken by the Tsunami in Thailand and ended in Sri Lanka.

MANGROVE GARDEN BEACH CABANA.
This was my cabana...It was fantastic.  It is an Eco resort so everything is natural. Right on the beach. It is also very cheap. The bathroom is in the "basement" of the room. Lift a door in the floor to go to the bath room. No hot water....never needed as it is tropical and very hot. I love it. The beach was white, long, deserted and full of bird life AND COWS..... Very funny to see a cow, no sorry plenty of cows, strolling on the beach.

MY CADILLAC
I rented this scooter as everybody has one and I thought it will be easy and good to get around in. If ever I had a bad idea, this was one of them...... Only problem was... I had never ever handled one before..... I fell off twice (separate days) and on loose sand, BUT my third time was not lucky... I came off hard in the road......had some roasties on the knees and elbow and NEVER got on it again..... I also think I do not look good with a helmet....
It was fun while it lasted, but never again. I will go the "driving miss daisy" way.

MAX AND OLIVIA
I met max and Olivia at the hotel where we were staying. They were on honeymoon and we just clicked and after minutes seemed as if we had known each other for years. We had many nights, no every night, of conversations and laughs....(and Arak...local drink which tastes very very bad) That is what makes traveling so great. You get to meet new friends and people who enrich your life.

NEW YEAR RITUAL
I found this very interesting. I cannot remember the name, but every new year, they have a ritual where the parents or employers give new clothes to kids or employees, and a certain leaf is given ( as in the picture) to show that your "slate is wiped clean" and all the bad of the old year is forgiven and you start a fresh. Their are no feuds lasting longer than a year......Sound good to me.
On the left is Prasad , hotel manager (employee), and on the right is the hotel owner(employer). Special foods are also eaten and it is very festive and lots of family time. It also is a 3 day public holiday.

TANGALLE BEACH
The beaches are beautiful with powder white sand and palm trees. These were the hotel loungers on the beach. I think this was a sunset foto on a very cloudy day. If you walk a little further on this beach you get to a beach where the turtles come to lay eggs at night. I did not do the walking....I took a baja... Saw one turtle and had Japanese tourist in the group who grabbed their camera's...flashes going off as if it was a celebrity arriving, and the turtle hurried back to sea.....

PANSY SHELLS
On one beach in Tangalle yo can pick up these pansy shells every day. In one afternoon walk (no more than 20 minutes) I had picked up about 9. They are very delicate but beautiful.

LOCAL STORE

This is a local restaurant. It is family run and dad Mom and kids  are in the store . It serves  coldrink, some household items and food (I did not venture into eating here.

STREET VENDORS

These stalls are all over Sri lanka. The fruit is fantastic and varied and all local.

TEMPLE IN GALLE

Temples are all over but this one is in the sea. You reach it via a suspended foot bridge.

TYPICAL STREET SCENE IN TANGALLE

aLL OF THE TOWNS LOOK LIKE THIS. In the foreground of this picture is my scooter......foto must have been taken very early in the holiday as I was still riding that THING. The street are narrow, crowded and full . 

BEACH MARKET

This must be the nicest place to work. On the beach.... The pots in this picture are all made by hand and are used by all the locals daily. Either for water or milk or what ever.

TYPICAL HOUSE.

This house is typical of all the houses, but it was a little more upmarket as it is tiled from the ground up. It also has fancy awning work on roof trusses. gardening with lawns is not big in Sri lanka

SNORKEL BEACH

I organised a local fisherman to take me with his boat to this beach to snorkel. I did not want to go with a tour operator, and this was magic. The fisherman fetched me from our beach after his early morning fishing and we motored to this beach. The snorkeling was not great, but the experience with all the locals in the water too was fantastic.

MY ENTOURAGE...

EVERY ONE WHO HAS TRAVELED WITH ME KNOWS THAT i DO NOT TRAVEL LIGHT........Here are 2 Baja's which I used. The blue one had all my luggage and I had to take another one for myself..... Now you have to realize that in the luggage was a water floating device (Lilo) which took forever to blow up , and I was not going to do it again.... I just love myself when I do these slightly crazy things...Don't you?

YOUNG GIRL IN TEMPLE
This little girl was sitting with her mother at prayers. She was so sweet and did all the rituals mimicking her mother. She was dressed as if she was going to a party. The locals also love having their foto's taken.

HOTEL LOUNGE/DINING ROOM AREA

This is where we hang out most of the day and night if not on the beach or shopping. The hammock was a favourite of Hannes and the table was where we all had coffee and cocktails or read books.... All the furniture is made from the local trees and is beautiful.

MY BANGLE

Hannes spoiled me, and he had this bangle made for me in Galle. It is all semi precious stones and the silver is hand carved. The jeweler delivered this bangle specially to me on the day our flight left Sri lanka. He had to do a 6 hour journey to get it to me. I was really impressed. I love the bangle as it goes with anything I wear.

WINE COOLER.

The wine at a hotel one evening was served in this as a wine cooler. I just thought it was ingenious... It is a plastic jug with ice, but it has been jazzed up with a napkin for style....

LIQUOR STORE

Alcohol consumption amongst the locals is a huge problem. They tend to drink way too much. All the liquor store look like this. The serving counter is behind a steel mesh. You see what you like and ask for it. After you have paid it is slid to you below the steel mesh. Note the stalls for queuing

BEACH DINNER

On our last night the staff surprised us with a beach dinner. They carried the table and chair onto the beach. Lit torches and served us dinner. Very special. After dinner they all joined us and had a Sri Lanka sing along. All their traditional songs and clapping and whistling. It was just great. The staff were all young and there is very little in the hotel. We knew them all my name. It felt like visiting family.

THE WHOLE HAPPY BUNCH TOGETHER AT BEACH DINNER

THE FOUR MUSKETEERS.
Hannes, Barbs, Ettiene and myself did the Sri lanka together. Waterfall are all over.

ELEPHANT ORPHANAGE

They have an elephant orphanage where the elephants are cared for. Here the Ellie's are taken to the river by the mahouts for their daily bath and romp In the water. This one Ellie stopped at every shop and checked out the merchandise.....

I will go back to Sri lanka. I is a wonderful country.

THE NEXT EIGHT WEEKS I SPENT IN  SOUTH AFRICA....  IT WILL ALL BE IN THE NEXT BLOG ENTRY.   ...