The monks and their boxes...
As the plane touched down in Columbo Sri Lanka, the air outside felt hot and humid even at the late hour of midnight. Growing up with almost no exposure to Asian cultures and other faiths, I was taken aback by the monks walking through the airport. I'm not sure I thought that monks would travel and if they were, where did they come from? Their robes of saffron and gold swayed as they walked through the terminal in deep contrast to the muted tones of other travellers.
I wondered if my guide would be kind... if I would be okay alone in Sri Lanka for a month. In researching the country as a place to stay in the month of February, I didn't dig as deep as others in my circle had done. " Lucy what about access to fuel and the impact of the wars"... what, I thought? I brushed off their comments as jealously or ignorance and yet I didn't know truly if I would be okay. I only knew of temples and elephants and I made sure my battery charger would work for my camera. I wanted to see the beaches.. I wanted to arrive with no expectations other than to be present and let experience be my teacher.
I had no idea of the lessons that were to come... and I felt a deep peace about the not knowing.
Walking out of the airport to find the luggage carousels, I couldn't help but notice the monks and their boxes, I wondered what was in them. Looking for my guide I could see a sign and awkwardly, a strand of flowers that seemed out of place with those around me. "Hello Lucinda"... (my real name). "Let's go get you a SIM card and some cash and get on our way". While my guide carried my freshly purchased Osprey backpack, he stopped me on the curb... " Wait here... Don't go with anyone else." and then he disappeared.
Go with anyone else, I thought... Like the monks? Although a great adventure I'm certain that I would wait for the right driver.
The roads surrounding the airport were filled with tuk-tuks and cattle were waiting over by the gate. I wondered if this was normal that cattle would graze so close to the airport. From my time in Bali I had witnessed that all modes of transportation were possibilities in countries where poverty was unlike anything I had experienced in Canada. Alive to the fact I was alone in Sri Lanka, I must have been lost somewhere between holding my breath and making sure my camera was safe that I didn't notice my guide had snuck up on me..
" Lucinda, let's go'.. I laughed feeling somewhat embarrassed as he pulled up in a 14 passenger van just for me. "Is this what we are driving just the two of us", I asked? It seemed given it was just him and I for the next 16 days, a bit of a waste. With the clock pushing into the next morning, I stepped into the van and strapped on my seatbelt in the backseat. I wanted to assume the safest position should something happen... Still aware of my road safety background in Canada and wanting to not end up in a newspaper back home.
The silver van wove in and out of dark alleys with deep red neon signs... Dogs, ox and local men lined the streets as restaurants were still open and I asked my guide if they ever closed? "Not usually"... he replied. The van moved past fences of barb wire while streets grew darker as we left the neon lights behind. Trying to get a point of reference as we approached Negumbo, I thought to myself, I'm not sure I had thought it would look like this when I arrived.
Reaching the accommodation I knew that I would be in the lotus suite. Like the tattoo on my back... growing out of the mud. It seemed like a good omen to start the month.
Sitting at the desk already covered in sweat and exhausted, the young man brought me a purple drink. Inside I felt slightly panicked, what is in this I wondered? I did my best to accept his hospitality while also feeling still very fresh off the North American continent with my limited beliefs... "Your room is this way" as we shuffled through the dark... He carried the orange backpack and I held my camera tight...
Walking past the suite with the sign that held a carved lotus symbol... his key unlocked the door with the flames. "You'll be staying in the Fire Suite". Of course, I thought... That's what I asked for isn't it? The dream where it all burned down except my hiking boots with my yellow laces. The sound healer and the medicine man...
"I'll see you in the morning Lucinda".
"Breakfast is at nine".
