We meet at 6am to travel north to the future plant site – some 4hrs north. None of the restaurants are open at that time in morning so we leave with empty stomachs. Of course we don’t stop along the way for any food or coffee and I am particularly hungry and in need of java. The site has prepared an elaborate breakfast for us – unfortunately they had prepared it hours in advance and everything is cold. Except for the local food which is so spicy I couldn’t eat it. All the Europeans want coffee but you have to keep an open mind in terms of quality. The first cup I pour is so weak as to be like water. So I ask for some powdered coffee (meaning instant). A bowl of powdered is produced and we all dump a spoonful of the stuff into our cups, only to find that he brought out real powdered coffee – not instant. Absolutely undrinkable. So we clarify our request for Nescafe and I get a number of packets of the stuff, which I put into my cup. It is pretty bad but grows on you, so I decide to have a second cup. I reach for the hot water which was stored in a normal tea pot (and I used five minutes before) only to find after taking a sip that someone had replaced it with tea. So I am left to drink a mix of instant coffee and tea. At least I get my caffeine for the day.
Wind turbines in distance
Chameleon at the plant
The future site of the project which is located near a national park (just what every national park needs - a cement plant nearby) and wild elephants are an every present danger (or so I am told). When we tour the future project site, a security guard, armed with a gun and explosives to make noise) is present to scare off any elephants that might emerge from the bush. Unfortunately we don’t see any. In the evening over dinner I am told a story of an elephant killing two people a number of years ago. They had built an elephant fence around the housing compound, but left the side facing a busy road open. After time the elephants discovered that they could get at the gardens if they just went around the fence and proceeded to do so. Unfortunately some people tried to stop them and got crushed in the process. I was informed that elephants can be quite pushy and will knock down house walls to get at food in the kitchen. However, for my soft hearted readers, you can be comforted in fact that killing elephants in Sri Lanka gets the death penalty.
The plant location was on the front line of the war between the Tamil and the government. No good stories were told to support this claim however. They did relate a story of an attack by Tamil troops on the international airport in which they blew up all the Sri Lankan airways planes on the ground. Now that would have been a bad time to visit.
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