Respectfully paying homage to the reclining Buddha statue at Gal Vihara and moving over to a shady part on the rock opposite to gaze, lost in wonder; plonking down before the Isurumuniya lovers and admiring how in stone a craftsman had captured the totality of love of man and woman so that it was palpably felt by those who gazed on this woman on the knee of her man; struck as always by the pure symmetry of the man with his horse, so relaxed; following a hitherto untrod path from the Tissawewa Resthouse to Isurumuniya and coming to the park wherein Prince Saliya supposedly set eyes on Mala gathering Asoka flowers and gave up kingship on being presented by his father, Great Dutugemunu, the choice between love and the throne; gazing at the Dry Zone night sky; luxuriating at Heritance, Kandalama; paying Rs 500 to hold the hand of a young man who kindly helped this woman climb up to the Lion’s Paw; and having the heart lighten with hope each time a group of foreign tourists was seen.

All this and much more because a holidaying son said he wanted to be out of Colombo during the SAARC conference and me readily agreeing for fear of restrictions to movement in the metropolis. A friend joined us, arriving from London just before the SAARC business started. A good van and excellent driver added comfort and confidence as we followed our plan of visiting Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, and Kandy.

We had planned to go to Anuradhapura via Kurunegala but just before setting off, waiting for the young van driver who was caught up in two check points, my son sees my coffee table book on Padeniya and suggests we visit this ancient temple. Another serendipitous change to itinerary was visiting Namal Uyana, the hill of Na or ironwood trees with the spread of quartz to be scrambled over or gazed at once the knees gave way.

Comments - positive

Tourists seem to keep coming, notwithstanding travel warnings from their governments and the SAARC tightening of security and of course acts of violence mostly from the LTTE. It was hope-lifting to see these groups and couples. Of course with the Kandy Perahera starting, tourists would have been here in droves in normal times. Yet, to see them around was, as I said, hope-giving. The invariable thought was how much thriving tourism there could be with its horizontal and trickle down benefit to so many and the country, but for the LTTE menace. A noted fact was that the more expensive hotels were full while the less costly had rooms readily available. Heritance Kandalama and Cinnamon Lodge Habarana, to mention but two, seem to enjoy full occupancy most of the time.

Yet, despite a low in tourism and lull in even in-house travel due mostly to cost of fuel, hotels keep improving in building and furnishing. One example is the Tissawewa Resthouse, which Quickshaws Ltd have renovated and refurbished to make it an excellent old world resthouse with the charm of good service by obliging staff.

Most of the roads we travelled along were marvelous. We wondered how on earth the government and departments concerned had turned their attention and money to the roads connecting the ancient sites and cities until the green, red, blue bunting thrust in our face the forthcoming elections. Aha, we said, another speedy job of road renovation, this time to catch votes for the party in power. People are expected to marvel at the smooth newly surfaced highways and say: "This government is spending money to improve infrastructure to help us travel about." Of course there is a negative inbuilt in this positive. Roads are allowed to get pitted and rutted, harbor gaping holes, so vehicles bump up as much as they travel forwards at reduced speed. Then a quick job is done on them. We know what that connotes: rapid deterioration. Let’s see how long the roads repaired in Colombo will stray thus. Urgent road repairs were done so the SAARC delegates would be ensured smooth travel with passersby, vehicles, road side boutiques and of course illegal dwellers all having been brushed aside or forbidden to make an appearance.

Dignity was evident in the places visited. The guides at Sigiriya waited until they were engaged – no persistent offers. It was almost the same with vendors of trinkets and picture postcards. They told us of their plight with no foreign tourists and the lessoning of local sightseers, but with no whining. The people who wait on visitors and the front desk young ladies were excellent at the Royal Lotus, Giritale and Tissawewa Resthouse, and of course at Kandalama.

A woman vendor at Polonnaruwa, seeing us pitching into some mandarins, offered us precious water to wash our fingers, this in spite of her having to haul buckets full from half a mile away. Kindness and generosity were evident all around.

Comments – negative

SAARC, and elections scheduled for the NCP curtailed in-coming foreign tourists and the local ones. The first was a prestige builder for the government in power – no doubt about that, in spite of the immense amount spent and the horrendous inconvenience caused to the ordinary man and woman. If it brings in good repute, factual coverage to our land, a denunciation of accusations made against us like unbridled contravening of human rights, then all the fuss and bother is justified. It must be reported that some who arrived at Katunayake International Airport said driving to Colombo was a breeze. My experience in meeting a returning son was not that good. I phoned the Katunayake Police on the morning of Sunday 27th and was told the Katunayake Highway would be closed at 3.00 pm. The previous day’s newspaper gave the time as 4.00 in the afternoon. The question as to how long the road would be closed brought on some hemming and hawing followed by an annoyed female police officer saying how did she know! Finally we managed to escape to Colombo before the three hour shut-out but went all over the city to reach home two hours later, one hour and fifteen minutes spend in traffic jams.

The Hotel Suisse in Kandy, having changed managing company, has lost almost all its old world charm and colonial ambience. The service was poor to the extent that some papaw spilled at the entrance to the breakfast hall and seen by the many, was cleaned off only after a woman guest slipped and fell, luckily with no injury. The service staff were sullen. Rooms were allocated with no consideration to age, and of those like you and me who have kept the hotels going with very few foreigners coming on holiday. The hotel had barely any occupants when we checked in, but we were given rooms on the fourth floor, which called for climbing of steps since the lift went only up to third. The newer rooms are not half as good as the old ones. The suspicion was that the better and lower floor rooms were reserved with no prior application for specific rooms. Is it that the foreign tourist and travel agent are still given preference? Time was when it was a treat to stay in the Suisse. Not so now. It did not even have a Greater Colombo telephone directory.