Monday 21st May 2012 - leaving Jaffna heading to Trincomalee

After waking up at 4.30am I jumped in a tuk tuk to the bus station to catch my bus to Trincomalee.  Trincomalee was one of the places that had been recommended to me by nearly every local I had spoken to. As far as I knew it had one of the world's finest natural harbours. The bus fare was Rs289 and would take me around 6hours. My biggest mistake here was sitting at the front of the bus closest to the stairs as I was constantly being stood on my people getting on and off the bus. What was worse was that a very large lady decided to sit next to me squashing me right up to the arm rest. She took up maybe 80% of the seat and I could feel the arm rest bruising my leg.  After maybe three hours I eventually moved to another seat and did some reading on Trincomalee. Apparently there was a beautiful beach close by called Nilaveli which would make a good base for exploring the area. I was sold.  The bus took me to Trincomalee bus station and the driver kindly asked me where I was going and pointed me to the right bus to get.  The conductor told me where to get off the bus but once off the bus I was literally on a deserted dirt road with a sign pointing towards a very expensive looking hotel. I was just about to pull out my book when a smiley guy in a tuk tuk pulled up next to me asking me where I was going. I replied with the usual answer that I don't know but I need a cheap guesthouse. He told me he saw me getting off the bus and knew that this hotel was not what I wanted! Ermmm, thanks?! I obviously look like a proper traveller now. He told me to put my things into the tuk tuk and he would show me some places. He took me to one place where there was one bungalow that had a couple staying there but he said I would get the other room - the couples' things were everywhere and I didn't want to impose and I think Mohan could see that so he said come, there is another place. The next place he took me was locked up. He used his phone to call the number on the sign outside and was told to wait five-minutes and then along came an old man with an umbrella. Mohan made me crack up by saying that the guy looked like the Buddha. The room here was basic but a bit dingy and would cost me Rs.1400 per night. I gathered that was the rough price around here so I just agreed to stay there.  I asked Mohan where I could get suncream but he told me I would have to go all the way back to Trincomalee and that he would take me there and back for Rs.500 - apparently it was usually Rs.1200 for just one way. He had been nice so I agreed - I dropped my stuff in the room and walked towards the tuk tuk but he said "now?! I can't go now! 5pm!" It was now 3pm so I headed towards the beach to have a quick look seeing as I had no suncream. The beach was beautiful - a lot like the beach in Jaffna where I had been chased but a bit more occupied. There were a couple of hotels meaning that there would always be someone close by. It was really hot so I just stopped at one of the hotels to have a cold drink before heading back to get showered. When I got back to the guesthouse the buddha made me fill out a form and pay for the room - he had no change so couldn't give me my Rs.200 so I said he should give it to me later. His response was "I keep, I am poor man!" I said no, you pay later. I couldn't believe the cheek. He had already told me he has 10 children, one of which was a married girl of my age with a child - why was she not feeding him and why was he popping out children like a rabbit if he couldn't afford to feed himself.  I just got showered and then fell asleep until there was a knock on my door at 5pm from Mohan.' v.   So the deal was that he was 28years old, not married and no kids because he had been working in Qatar for the past 5years. He had only come back to Sri Lanka five months ago. He was Tamil and Hindu and had two older sisters and one younger brother.  I was under the impression we were just going to find suncream but he pointed towards a temple at the top of some rocks and said we were going there too. I thought that was really sweet. As usual we drove past many military check points before reaching the temple and then once at the temple we had to check our shoes in before proceeding towards the temple.  The temple was really nice and was situated on the top of a cliff with the sea down below. We stopped to look over the cliffs and Mohan pointed out a fishermen boat that had stopped below -there were two men praying up to the temple and banging on their boat - apparently they were seeking blessings from God before heading out fishing.  Once inside the temple Mohan prayed and rubbed red powder on his forehead and neck. The funny thing was that when I asked him what it was for he realised he didn't actually know but that he had always seen other people doing it since he was little so he just followed. I teased him for a while as we walked around!  After looking at the temple we first picked up our shoes, which Mohan insisted on paying for, and then walked back towards the tuk tuk passed a street lined with stalls. Mohan asked me if I liked jewellery, seeing as I wasn't wearing any, and then stopped to look at necklaces on one of the stalls. He pointed at a wooden beaded necklace and asked if I liked before buying the necklace for me.  We got back in the tuk tuk to start the mission for suncream. The search for suncream was ridiculous. The problem was that I had bought some in Jaffna but it had given me heat rash for the first time on this trip. It was a Sri Lankan brand called Fun + Sun so my mission was to find a brand I recognised for a decent price. I had spoken to my dad's girlfriend Angie while I was in Jaffna and told her of the suncream issue in Sri Lanka and she offered to send me some from England which is amazing but I need something until then otherwise I can't go outside!! About an hour and twenty shops later I finally found a St Ives sunblock which was bloody factor 60! Despite probably turning white with the cream I felt so bad having this poor guy drive me around so I bought this cream - along with other supplies. He dropped me back to my room where the buddha man was waiting for me and helped me carry my gallon of water even though I insisted that I didn't want his help. He jokingly said he was going to sleep on the floor outside my room to protect me and asked if I had eaten. When I said no his response was "Me hungry, me no money to buy food". I quickly went into my room closing the door to avoid getting involved in his rubbish. He was a working man at the guesthouse - he obviously gets wages and he clearly eats hence his name the buddha.  I did some yoga and went to sleep.