I’m sitting in the open air dining room, looking at the pool and Indian Ocean, drinking a cup of reasonable coffee. The waiter knows to just bring coffee ! Smooth 80’s pop in the background and a lot very fruit platter, I feel like I’m halfway back to my backpacker days.

Yesterday was very quiet, reading my book by the pool, walking up the beach and going for a very good massage. It was an Ayervedic massage with various spices and oils, I felt like a well tenderised and marinated piece of curry meat by the end. I chatted to the masseur lady, she was happy to talk and it was a good reminder of the reality of the workers who bring the luxury we tourists crave, into our reality. She travels 2 hours each way, every day, and is worried about the price of water after a very dry and hot season here.

I went for a sunset beer on the beach, and was surprised how quiet it was. Then listening to a few people from Europe, and chatting to some of the Sri Lankans, I realised the impact of the Gulf War. Tourists stuck in Sri Lanka, but many more are not arriving with flights cancelled every day. Everyone here is praying for a quick resolution, have a read of a very good article here https://www.themorning.lk/articles/VtENsEbaslkNi9IBbWpZ

I hadn’t appreciated the impacts on a small nation like Sri Lanka

• Tourism dropping off, reported a few days ago 30% down
• Fuel prices going up, which leads into everything going up
• Overseas remittances drying up, as overseas workers lose their jobs. That’s actually one of the major sources of income for Sri Lanka, all the money people send home
• Tea exports going down, due to the cost of shipping increases ng, so again incomes going down

I’ll keep spending my tourist dollars here, so far it’s a friendly, welcoming and very non-threatening place.

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