Shady deals and sunsets
Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Thu 14 Apr 2011 09:37
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Thursday 14th April 1403 Local time 0903
UTC
05:06.84N 076:52.15E
Good Morning
We are under way again and heading west to the
Maldives. Sri Lanka was interesting and like several other places we visited I
would have liked to have spent more time there exploring. We were also
accumulating invitations to peoples houses as is traditional at the Singhalese
New Year. That would have been really interesting and I'm sure we could have
built up a few more memories to add to the "files".
However we are on a mission and that is to get west
to the Maldives clear of the beat required to crawl uphill on a south west
monsoon wind and to avoid any heavy weather while my back is still recuperating.
It was nine weeks yesterday since my operation and I by no means have my core
strength back. While in Galle in Sri Lanka I scooted around on the back of
our agents motorcycle - a Hero Honda. Aptly named. The whole time we rode
around I had to support myself on the pillion on the balls of my feet and
the heels of my hands with my backside hovering above the seat. Any small bump
at all where the bike came up to contact my backside caused a real jolt of pain
up my spine. Up my spine to my head, to tell me "it's too soon to be
out on a bike again".... Anyway it seems the two thousand miles at sea I
prescribed myself to repair my broken back is going .......... so far so
good.
I have attached a small series of photos
showing a sequence of us approaching Sria Lanka with Dolphins on the bow,
Trish resting her twisted ankle while taking her "medicine" at sundown, the
first gun boat to check us out then the Gun Tower at the harbour entrance.
Inside the harbour there is an image of the large fleet of Galle fishing
boats in port for New Year we assume, the Fire Rescue Boat with anti boarding
defence with razor wire to try to deter Somalian pirates boarding.
Then there is an image of a "shady deal" going on
with me paying the agent Sri Lankan Rupees in cash for my account plus the
obligatory bottle of "hospitality" held off till the very last transaction to
extract maximum value for it!
Finally there is an image by the ship's
photographer of the lighthouse and the ancient fort at the Galle harbour
entrance and then - West again into the sunset once more.
I hope you enjoy these images as it is costing me a
bloody fortune to send them by satellite - but anything to keep you lot
happy!
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