Tuesday 5 January 2010

Vacation Shmacation

We went to Srilanka. Still is a beautiful place, I remembered that part right. The last time we went, we had a wonderful time, just the two of us. We went with two backpacks. By the end of the week that we spent there we had
* knotted calves from climbing down Adam's Peak too fast
* nasty dirty clothes filling the backpacks
* a wonderful feeling of satisfaction in our bellies...
We took local transport except for one place where Pere, a friendly young fellow, insisted on driving us in his (rental) car. Buses. Trains. Standing in line at the train station. Exclaiming at the quaint-ness of it all. A gorgeous, slow, train ride through the hills. A bus to the Seetha Temple. The botanical gardens in pouring rain. Tea tasting. Arrack tasting. Bednbreakfast inns that were the cutest things ever. Watching in fascination at the shooting of a Sinhalese movie - all the ladies dressed in pink frilled frocks. All this was in early 2000. The last time we went there.

This time we had a planned itinerary. We went with friends. Of course the monster. It was much more organized. We did what was definitely a sensible route. We went to Horton's Plain (which I ran through of course, a wonderful 9 km trail). Guns & I ran on country roads and were chased by dogs. We ran on city roads and were hounded by buses. The gyms were fantastic. I did weights after eons. We hit the beaches too. We drank some poisonous tasting local stout beer. We stayed in at least two spectacularly magnificent hotels. All close to nature and rocks inside the hotel complex and a dude playing the flute sitting on top of rocks and everything. Food was great too, we nosed out several local places serving yummy veggie food. It was all wonderful, but in such a different way.

But, But, But. On day three or so, the monster rolled off the bed in the middle of the night. How? Why? No one knows. She injured herself pretty badly. We spend three hours in a hospital in Kandy. Getting her X-ray. Waiting in line for the very popular orthopedist. She is fine. It was a hairline crack. I would have expired of guilt if left to myself. But she recovered real fast too. She climbed rocks and played in the ocean just as if there was nothing wrong with her. And when she cried in pain, I was strong and held her (loosely, so as not to hurt her further). She lost weight. Her father took over the task of coaxing her to eat (May I say he did a wonderful job of it, its the most painful job ever).

I did not wallow and rue the ruination of vacation. Heck, it was NOT ruined. On hind-sight, it was just great. Children are that way such cool creatures. She wore this nasty clavicle brace happily with no acknowledgment of the stares she was receiving. We possibly relaxed a little more than we would have normally - I mean in terms of pushing ourselves physically, the gymming and running which are a good part of our vacation usually, was reduced, just so we could hang out together. For myself, I did not climb Adam's Peak as originally intended. But aside from that, we had quality family time. We met other friends (who were also there) - albeit briefly. We hung out drinking beers and listening to the IPOD several nights in our hotel rooms. The other child (who is a good eater) could be heard trying to teach mine to eat well. They were so cute together, those two girls! We have a billion pictures taken.

You learn from every experience. I learned to appreciate what a trooper my little monster is, over this vacation.

17 comments:

Serious Lounger said...

hey hope the monster is better now.. the brat and the seal pup are well very vocal and bratty as usual..

Perakath said...

I still think it makes as much sense as Ceylonese coming to Tamil Nadu to vacation. Or Russians going to Siberia to holiday. Y'know?

Perakath said...

Test

Choxbox said...

and yay to that!

and guess what we ditched sri lanka plans at the last moment - else you'd have bumped into us too at one of the veggie places!

and babe, i know what you did the last time you were there (my khandala (as you insist) = your sri lanka, right?!)

Parul said...

Ouch, poor kid. Glad she is all better now. Years later, there will be this story to tell....remember the time the monster fell off the bed in Sri Lanka?

Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm said...

SL- Yeah she is OK.
Perakath- Dude, Please. Its awesome. And yes, I would go to Yercaud on a holiday too. & Why not? Beats having to deal with jetlag.
Chox- Really? The timing is off. We went in December the last time as well. :-)
Parul- Ejjactly. Its been >1week so I am kinda cool about it. In a year it can even be a big joke!!!

Perakath said...

It's not about snobbery. Yercaud has better weather than most places in TN. Does Sri Lanka?

(The weather is very important to me in life, and particularly on holiday! The last time I went to Goa in the summer I sweated so much I had to wash all my holiday clothes by hand to have something to wear. And then they wouldn't dry in the humid air. Anyway.)

Choxbox said...

the khandala timing was off too dear. but does that matter? ;)

Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm said...

Chox- Sure!

Perakath- Please. Last year in Goa, we were in a place that had a washer. And I had packed SurfExcelomatic. This time, because it was hotel rooms and not a villa, I took rin bar, as more practical. But it was mostly because of gymming/running. Rest of the clothes were cool. I have a list, shall I email it to you for your next trip? :-) (& NuwaraEliya is a Hill Station, and almost cold).

Sands said...

Sounds like a blast. When I am planning a vacation to Sri Lanka, now I know who to call :) Glad the kid's doing fine!

dipali said...

I'm glad it was a satisfying holiday. Hope the monster is fit and fine now and has learned to eat better from her friend!

Airspy said...

Happy New Year. Sounds like fun inspite of the brief moments of tension provided by monster. Will send you a detailed questionaaire on itenerary and such. Please fillit up for my future reference.

Choxbox said...

same as airspy.

btw did you ever do whale-watching in SL? supposed to be awesome.

Poppins said...

Oh man, sounds tough but am glad she took it so well.

Happy new year btw!

IBH said...

Hope the monster is doing alright now, Kenny.

Space Bar said...

later she will learn to boast of the number of fractures she's had and will have adventurous stories to tell. good, brave parents you guys are.

Unknown said...

OMIGOD! Is she alright now? How long does it take to heal? God bless.