If the purpose of traveling is to learn about locals and their country, at what point does suspicion become paranoia, and when does it begin to work against you?
These were the questions I asked myself. Meanwhile my phone rang multiple times. I decided to eat breakfast and think. I read up on the "Peredeniya Botanic Gardens," which were the former royal pleasure gardens with about 60 hectares up against the Mahaweli Ganga (river). It's where heads of state are apparently taken -- the largest botanic garden in Sri Lanka, with spice gardens, orchid areas, herbal gardens, and royal palmyra palms (that according to a South Indian, Tamil, song has 801 uses). At breakfast I was given scrambled eggs, toast, jam, a papaya with lime, a banana, pineapple and watermelon slices, and a cup of tea. At the table next to me was a British couple named Rob and Sam (short for Samantha, I'm sure). They were also headed to the gardens. I chatted with them a bit, and decided I might tuktuk-pool with them. But headed to my room to think on it, and check email. Shan called for the third time, and I answered. I told him I'd just eaten breakfast and was going to figure out my plan. He told me he could pick me up, if I didn't mind joining him at the garden. I assented, and he said he'd be over in five minutes. I cleared out excess money and valuables from my bag in the meantime. Then I walked downstairs and chatted with the owner of the guesthouse. He gave Shan the way to get to the place on the phone. Then I spoke with him and the two Brits about my dilemma. The man said he has two sons, and he always protects his sons. But if he had a daughter he'd protect her even more. Then he told me a tale of two British girls who were about my age or younger (they always are), and how two guys had shown up to get them one day. I'd already packed my knife and decided that if the situation looked at all odd, or if Shan showed up with anyone else, I wouldn't get in the car. The garden is 6 km away from Kandy city center. As I had read the situation, I felt like Shan was genuine, and not a tout or a bad person, but I wasn't sure if he would be alone, or would take me elsewhere, etc. I had asked the hotel owner about the directions to the garden, and had a basic idea that I tried to credibly extrapolate into a knowledge of the area. I told the Brits I would see them at the garden and I gave the guesthouse owner some basic info about the guy.
I walked down the hill about 15 minutes late. Shan was sitting in his car and I got in. Then we were off. I told him I'd spoken with the guesthouse owner who was concerned about my traveling alone with him, then I went on to talk about my friends at the house, and my family that was continuously checking up on me (thanks for calling me while I was at the garden Mom!)...I had a feeling from his name that Shan is Muslim, and I was right. So I talked about my Iranian father and working in Iraq. We chatted a bit about "the prophet Mohammed" and other such issues, and I emphasized the concern my parents had for my safety and how conservatively I had been brought up. I also explained my regular phone conversations and daily emails. With that groundwork laid, and our arrival at the gardens 10 minutes later, I relaxed a bit more. Shan, who is 26, works selling insulin devices for a pharmaceutical company. He has six people working for him and he was continuously taking calls on sales and directing what should be going on. He apparently lives in Colombo, or lived, and he is working in Kandy, which he prefers for its atmosphere and cooler weather. Most of what he'd said, and his familiarity with the garden, checked out. He also previously told me, when urging me to try his friend's guesthouse should I need it, he told me to not tell the friend we'd met on the street, but that I'd known him for months so that things would look a bit better. These little hints of decency, along with the Arabic script from the Quran, made me think he wasn't out to kill me, or worse.
The gardens are beautiful. Nearly everyone there were Sri Lankan couples, and signs in Sinhalese and Tamil (only) instruct people to behave with a bit more decorum than is otherwise practiced, and not fool around in the gardens. Few seem to take this to heart, and nearly everyone is paired off in embraces. Families picnicked along the grass. It was beautiful. We walked over the suspension bridge, and basically walked the span of the garden. I saw multiple cinammon trees and some monkeys! Shan checked on me the entire time and when I was thirsty walked over to the concession stand to get me water (45 rupees) so I wouldn't get ripped off. He wouldn't let me pay. (Here's just one photo from the garden. I had dozens to choose from, and basically chose randomly...uploading takes forever.)
As we drove back traffic was absolutely terrible (one lane in each direction). He asked if he could stop by his friend's gym to say hi. He said it was on the way. I said okay, but was a bit apprehensive. As we turned off a side road I saw signs for the gym, "Combat Gym"...and then his friends were out chatting in the road. The other two young guys included the one who had sold me my phone charger. They were running the gym, which featured just three or four very rusted ancient looking machines in two dark rooms, plus a bunch of dingy mats for stretching. They seemed a bit ashamed as they showed it to me, but I tried to remain positive, and also tried to get out as quickly as possible. I realized it probably wasn't the smartest idea being alone in a very dark room with three young men. I got outside and stood around while one of them made a few calls off of Shan's cell phone. Shan, who is middle class, seemed a bit better of than these guys. He asked me if I was hungry, and I said a bit. So he said we'd get on our way. We headed out and were flagged to stop at a checkpoint. Shan knew one of the police officers and so we were shortly on our way. He knows most of the people around here it seems. But Sri Lankan is quite small and village-y, it seems. We stopped off at one of his friend's strawberry shops for some freshly mixed strawberry juice. It was ice cold and refreshing. Shan paid the bill, protesting when I tried to pay. Then we walked across the street to a shop because I'd said I wanted to look at buying some tee-shirts. Most of my shirts are pretty much dead from overwear, and I'd run out of clothes. It's time to do laundry, but because it's been raining on and off, it's not possible to hang clothes out to try. I decided it was time to get a few things. The store he took me to was really nice and quite cheap, with all fixed prices for locals. I bought a few organic cotton teas for about $6 USD each. It's not dirt cheap, but these were also the nicest of the shirts there (except for even more local wear), and many of the shirts were way too tight on me. People here are of much smaller stature, primarily because of nutritional reasons, I believe. The shirts I got fit well and were comfortable. I love buying tee-shirts.
We were still on our way back to the city center and decided to stop for lunch at "Chuties," which had clay pots filled with multiple buffet-style items such as rice, curry, vegetables, etc. We both ate our fill for 375 rupees. Shan showed off his skill eating with his right hand, but I used a fork and spoon, especially because though I'd washed my hands with soap, I've been a bit paranoid on the whole hygiene issue as of late. When the bill came Shan tried to pay, but I told him the meal was on me.
Then it was back to the car and back to Kandy city center (above a photo of Kandy and its lake, my guesthouse is the uppermost white splotch). Shan dropped me off at the bottom of the hill of my guesthouse and I hiked back. He asked me if I would forget about him when I was back in the States or Baghdad, I told him that the world was a much smaller place given the Internet, etc. He also told me that he'd try and figure out if he could hook me up with his friend in Trincomalee, where I might be able to stay for free in their hotel/guesthouse. Who knows. I saw the guesthouse owner on my way in and told him things were a-OK. "As long as you're happy..." was all he said. About 30 minutes later Shan called. I thanked him for a great day. He told me he missed me. I thanked him and said I'd catch him later. So, maybe it was quite innocuous. Overall it was a good day. Now I am pooped!
Hasta luego.
IJW
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