Sri Lanka – The final week and back home

We made our way slowly . . . very slowly . . . to the beach resort at which we were to spend the final 6 days of our holiday. Along the way we visited the historic city of Galle which has an old Dutch fort that we visited.

Lighthouse and walls of Dutch fort at Galle

We also stopped at a sea turtle reserve where we saw this albino sea turtle:

When we were checking in to our beach resort hotel it became obvious that there was a problem since they couldn’t find our reservation. With the language difficulties, it took some time and the help of our driver before we discovered that the tour company hadn’t finalized our reservation. After contacting the tour company, they faxed the reservation and we were checked in – but for only 4 days instead of 6 days. We had to work with the tour company to straighten things out. In the meantime, we had to bid our wonderful driver goodbye, but not before we got a photo of us all with our vehicle:

CJ, Tuwon, Kathy & Lisa with our trusty tour vehicle

The rooms were pretty nice and the cleaning staff surprised us each day with a different towel sculpture on our beds each day:

We did enjoy our time in the Indian Ocean, but we quickly realized that we were not enjoying ourselves as much as we had hoped, s0 when our discussions with the tour operator to get the last two days of our reservation straightened out led us to the fact that there was indeed no room at the inn for the last two nights, the suggestion to move us to Colombo seemed a good one. Well, not so much . . . the only good thing we can say about Colombo is that when I am having a bad day in Doha, I can say, “At least I’m not living in Colombo!”

Crazy Colombo street

But we couldn't leave without having a ride in a tuk-tuk:

Self portrait in a tuk-tuk (can you tell I'm holding the camera?)

On New Year’s Day we headed home to Doha; and yes, I’m thinking of Doha as “home” now. Doha is lacking the family and friends that make Calgary and North America my true home, but for now Doha is where I am making a pretty interesting life. In fact, as we drove from the airport to the apartment I was struck by how pretty and modern Doha looked. In comparison to Colombo, Doha is pristine! As we drove onto our street we were pleased and surprised to see that they had graded and were re-paving the street! All three of us said very loudly, “Oh, my god!” and the taxi driver wasn’t quite sure what was going on . . . I think he nearly drove off the road.

We headed back to work on Sunday, and everyone has been sharing stories of their travels – Thailand, Greece, Switzerland, Spain, France, Nepal, Oman, Dubai, the Seychelles, Bali, and Germany were some of the destinations my colleagues visited. The chatter in the lunchroom for the past two days has been non-stop with everyone exchanging stories and information. Indeed, it is all about travel here!

So 2010 has begun. It is so hard to believe that Y2K was 10 years ago. I am looking forward to getting more knowledgeable about my work, getting to know the students better, singing in a choir – practice starts in two weeks, sailing lessons, golf, and a trip to Chicago in March. Lots to look forward to. I hope 2010 will be a healthy, happy and prosperous year for all!