The guesthouse was simple, but quaint, with all the rooms overlooking a lush courtyard. I was exhausted, so I took a nap before deciding to take a look around on foot. I barely made it around the corner before a man on a scooter stopped beside me and started chatting to me. I immediately got a nice vibe from him. He had seen me in the guesthouse as he had the room beside mine. The man, Upul, owns a small piece of land on top of a hill just out of the city in amongst all the rice fields and he was going there to watch the sunset. He asked me if I would like to join, and I accepted. The idea of going somewhere peaceful and quiet was much welcomed. I was happy to find that he was also very chatty, so all I had to do was sit back and listen to him.
We had a nice chat, watched the sunset and then went back to the guesthouse where I had a much needed early night.
The following day, Ikzath from Colombo came to visit me in Galle. We took the bus to Unawatuna where we swam and ate and then he took me back to Galle before heading back to Colombo. It was nice to be visited; it made me feel like less of a stranger in this land.
When I got back to the guesthouse I saw Upul and his brother, Sandun. I told them about how I was planning on going to Hambantota to watch the world cup cricket match between Sri Lanka and Canada (Canada has a team?! Yes, yes we do... news to me too). Upul and Sandun were driving to Kataragama the next day to visit their family and it turns out that Hambantota is on the way, so they offered me a lift. It seemed like the universe was giving me a lift, so of course I accepted, and boy am I glad I did!
The next morning we all left in a van for Kataragama via Hambantota. On the way Sandun and Upul showed me a few sites and we stopped for a coconut. It was super fun. In Hambantota we found a guesthouse for me in a slightly dingy, but acceptable place. The cost was more than it was worth (1500 Rs with cobwebs above the door and no mosquito net), but I took it anyway. I left my passport with the woman running the place and Upul and Sandun drove me to the cricket match.
When we got to the stadium I suddenly got cold feet about going to this match alone. I barely wanted to get out of the car, but I knew I had to... Upul could see I was concerned and said that if I had any troubles to call him. He said, if he wasn't too far away, he could pick me up and I could go with him to his family's home in Kataragama. I was grateful, but doubted I would take him up on the offer, and off I went into the mass of men...
The walk to the entrance was quite far and it was scorching. On the way I asked some people about how to get tickets, but it seemed that either no one spoke English, I didn't need a ticket (?), or there was no way to buy one. I was certainly confounded by the time I made it to the first security check where they took away my cigarettes and lighter (with a smile... it was a new pack and it looked like they would enjoy those cigarettes of mine). I tried telling them I didn't have a ticket, but they spoke no English and just ushered me through. Amidst a huge crowd of people I noticed that someone was, in fact, checking tickets, but I managed to stay in the centre so that I could go undetected.
Once past the first check, there were some lineups to get into the standing room only (which is where I figured I should go), but they were checking tickets there, so I just slipped under the bar behind the person checking tickets. I mean really, are they going to stop the only foreigner? Maybe, but they didn't. And that was it, I was in... except I don't know anything about cricket, and I was on a patch of lawn surrounded by SL dudes, many of whom were already drunk. It was intense, not the game, but the people, and I think I lasted about 20 minutes before I realized that there was no way I could stay.
I called Upul and he said he could meet me at the guesthouse. Bless him!
Well, it took me half an hour just to find the exit. I staggered around sweaty and unhappy looking for any way out, until I found one nice police guy (the only one it seems) who walked me all the way out to the bus stop. All the other cops I asked for help from were real jerks, so it seems SL is similar to Canada in some ways. Then I caught some weird free bus which didn't take me to where I wanted to go... anyway, long story short, Upul ended up having to come and save me from some small village bus stall where I was stranded. Seriously, what would I have done without him?!
He drove me back to the guesthouse so I could pick up my bad and retrieve my passport. I asked the woman if I could just pick up my bag, and that I'm sorry I'm not staying blah blah blah... but she said I had to pay the whole fare for the night. I thought that was a little ridiculous, so I asked if I could have at least some discount. She called her manager while I went up to the room to get my bag. When I came back down she said the manager said I could have 500 Rs back, and she handed me my passport with 500Rs in it. The thing is, I had never paid... so here I was getting 500Rs from her, instead of paying 1000Rs. I really didn't know what to do, so I took the money and left. I actually felt really bad about it... but what would you do?! And you have to think fast.
Okay, enough for now... I'm drinking a beer while I'm writing this and I think I may be too tipsy to make much sense soon.
Wow.
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