Nuwara Eliya, traffic, tuktuks, sharing the road

I have been impressed by the driving and roads in Sri Lanka compared to Thailand and viet nam and OMG Egypt. There is a certain civility that is surprising. Proper, tuktuks, trucks, move over when someone wants to pass. In speaking with the manager of the Trivene Hotel, I mentioned driving and he said the police have very high traffic fines for trucks that don't pull over. What a concept!

Mark played golf today, while I wandered around town. Not much to do. I wanted a tea plantation tour, but didn't know ahead of time that Mark could out on the course. It turns out that he only saw a about 7 players in the 4 hours he played - and it was a Sunday! After wandering around the commercial streets, looking vainly for an Internet cafe, walking through the Victorian Gardens - better in the spring, when all the English flowers will be in bloom. I saw young plantings of snapdragons, cosmos, marigolds, etc etc. roses in bud. Earlier, I had tea in the garden cafe - basically, I was desperate for a bathroom. Then after my stroll through the gardens, I saw above the gardens, several elegant hotels and thought, aha, maybe Internet. It was a long and sweaty walk uphill to the Trivene, but the manager took pity on me and offered me respite, Internet and a beer. I needed that.

Tomorrow we head to Sigiriya and the ancient cities. We hear its hot. We got a hotel with pool. Never have I appreciated a pool so much as in this hot and humid climate. We were very lucky today with sun and mild temperatures, and then rain in the evening. But we are leaving these mist shrouded mountains tomorrow.