FIRST VIEW OF THE FAR EAST - SINGAPORE DAY #4

Friday 7th December 1984 – Singapore

We had a happy time in Singapore

 

Woke up lateish this morning, but had a substantial breakfast nonetheless before setting out again – this time for Lucky Plaza a seven storey shopping complex. Our intention was to have a look around Lucky Plaza, maybe make another check on the videos and then go on to Centrepoint to pick up the camera, pop into the office to say cheers and then have tea at Raffles Hotel. Not that it was a firm plan, but it certainly didn’t work out that way.

We got hooked into Lucky Plaza and the jewellers there. (Both Rab and I loved fine jewellery. Regrettably men could not wear many items, so she tended to double dip and get twice as many pieces). What lovely stones and pieces they had there. How they all make a living I’ll never know. They must have millions of dollars worth of stock and there were very few customers about. Perhaps credit is easy and cheap? IT was decided that perhaps an amethyst or two and some small diamonds may make a good buy, but not in Singapore. Perhaps Bangkok where they and gold are said to be very cheap.

A chance visit at another video shop produced the startling news that there was another VHS model available which combined recorder and camera, made by Telefunken. (The excitement here is because until this time, the camera and the recorder had been separate items. Early models were so large and heavy that the recorder had to be wheeled around on a trolley. They had become smaller and lighter, with better batteries, but they were still two units. This was a single unit with the tape cassette cunningly reduced to half size to make the unit smaller. I’d been waiting for this for some years.)  New on the market, it was not easily available, so the story went, and this was why everyone was unloading their videos and recorders at special prices before Christmas. Made sense, although of course the reverse could be true – failed prototype model being unloaded to unwary tourist as the latest! Time will tell which version is correct because after a lot of humming and hawing and some grievous doubts we bought it (after three visits to the shop). The bloke may well have been a conman, but he didn’t give that impression (but then they never do, do they?). We bought the set rather than his selling it to us. Another thing which gave us a bit more confidence was that his prices were a little higher on the other sets, so he wasn’t really a cut price merchant and he also had a later model JVC than any other shop we went into. Hope we did the right thing at S$3,150! (It turned out to be a good decision. The camera worked well and gave us years of good service, so all concerns were simply wrong.)

In between visits to the  video shop we wandered through the rest of the complex looking for shoes for Rab as her sandals were packing up. We must have found thirty shoe shops alone and she finally managed to get a pair or to. We also found a shoe repairer who said he could fix the sandals and also managed to have a pleasant snack lunch of Singapore fried noodles with little bits of prawn and sundries in a warmish chilli sauce – very nice.

Of course, having finally purchased the camera, I could hardly wait to get back to the hotel to get it set up and read up on the instructions, but it was not to be! In the first place, it was raining again, which meant a 25 minute wait for a taxi (we couldn’t face the walk as we were pretty pooped and had many parcels, including another twelve cassette tapes). Secondly we had to get the packing started and thirdly, having just done the packing, Lynn phoned us and asked us if we’d like to join them all at the Satay Club in Elizabeth Park. We considered it might be regarded as a little anti-social if we declined, although we had intended to try and get some night shots of Orchard Road. In the final event we did both, walking down Tanglin into Orchard and I managed to get some that I think will be good. We also got the guarantee for the video stamped as a matter of  form, although  what good that will do I just do not know. The queue for taxis was longer than ever, but there were plenty about and we were soon on our way  to the Satay Club.

The chef at the Satay Club fans his fire

Satay is a local dish and consists of spiced minced meat of various varieties – chicken, beef, veal, mutton, pork – impaled on thin bamboo skewers. These are then grilled and resemble mini sosaties (a South African kebab) in appearance if not in taste. There are various sauces in which to dip the meat, the most popular being a chilli peanut combination – zehr gut as my friends in Germany might say. We got a very pleasant old driver and we were so busy chatting away that we overshot the Park. Fortunately I spotted it and he stopped amid profuse apologies. We soon found the rest of the gang by the decibel count and had a very pleasant evening for about Z$15 including a few beers.

At the end of the meal, we walked down the embankment past the Merlion, Singapore’s emblem, and on past the  quay to see if we could find Change Alley. We did but it was closed as most places were in Singapore after tennish, except restaurants. Quite surprising really considering they only open at 10.00 – 11.00 in the morning. We made our way to a taxi rank and waited for ages, third in line for a cab. Two came by after a while, so we went to the head of the queue, but then we waited in vain. Eventually a bus came by and we all leapt about and shouted so much that the driver stopped and let us all aboard. Strictly against regulations, but we were very glad that he did. We rattled and wheezed our way home and got to the hotel with no more ado.

Some of the Christmas lights

FIRST VIEW OF THE FAR EAST - SINGAPORE DAY #3

Thursday 6th December 1984 - Singapore

Shrine to Ganesh - my favourite Hindu deity

Woke up late – 06.45 – and finally made it to breakfast at about 08.30! had a substantial American breakfast. It really is a delightful spot to eat, surrounded by the most exquisite orchids.

We started our day a little early by local standards as most of the shops only open at 09.30/10.00 and some as late as 10.30. anyhow, we browsed around Tanglin Centre, just behind the hotel and gradually worked our way down Orchard Road, bargaining furiously but buying nothing! The trip of about half a kilometre took about two and a half hours and then I had to leave Rab to go down to the local office to meet our man in Singapore, Steve Moffat. (At this time I was working for a large British international insurer. This was a fortuitous meeting with Steve as three years later when were trapped in Britain on our transfer to Australia by bloody minded bureaucrats, he breezed into town on leave and, as he knew the Australian Ambassador in Britain well, we acquired, in twenty four hours, the visas for which we had been waiting for three months.) He had tried to take us out for dinner on Monday when we arrived, but because we had changed hotels, we never got his letter – I gave TFC a bit of a rev (as Duncs would put it) for this oversight. I was able to phone Matt from the office. He seemed to be OK, especially when I said that I would buy his radio here. He was flying off to Cape Town today. Steve seemed to be a very pleasant chap and I was sorry we had not seen more of him. He took me to lunch at a very nice Japanese restaurant. The food was very tasty – raw fish (tuna, cuttlefish, A.N Other) – followed by prawns and beef washed down with a bowl of soup (and a couple of beers).

Steve lent us his driver Ali to get me back to the top of Orchard Road where I had agreed to meet Rab at the Baskin Robbins. I was a bit late because the traffic was pretty heavy, but she wasn’t put out. Ali then took us back to the Peoples’ Park, so Rab could get a bit more material. We also went back to pick up Matt’s radio, only to find there had been a change in shift and price. The quoted S$150 of yesterday had been upped to S$220. although this was reduced on bargaining, it only came down to S$180. (Since this was our first trip outside of Europe and the US, the concept of almost infinitely variable pricing was strange. We also found that the price quoted on a return  visit was always higher than that quoted initially. Some encouragement to buy right away – if the price was right!) we told them to stick it, although from later enquiries it appeared that the S$180 price was probably the market price – at least for foreigners! The fact that we didn’t really like the people at the shop also weighed in the decision – they had tried to sell me time expired film in the first place.

Having been on the go for several hours, we joined the taxi queue – mercifully short – and caught a cab home to the hotel. I didn’t mention yesterday that in orderly Singapore one queues for taxis at a taxi stand. No hailing of a passing cab for the citizens of Singapore; no stealing another’s ride! Yesterday of course it had been raining – was raining – so as is the case in cities all over the world, everyone wanted to catch a cab. The queue was yards long, but the taxis came by pretty swiftly and we didn’t have to wait too long.

While we waited, we were watching some little kids motoring around in small battery powered cars in the nearby square – how Matt would have enjoyed that a couple of years ago. We also watched a couple of lads selling cakes and then nipping off smartish – it turned out that they were illegal salesmen who just make enough cakes to sell in five or ten minutes and then get cracking before the police arrive!

More Hindu Statues

In due course we caught the cab back to the hotel quite happily and then, having refreshed ourselves, set off for another shopping centre – Centrepoint. We spent a few hours dickering about video cameras because, having e established a basic sort of price in the morning, we were now looking for the best buy. We had established a “going price” of about S$2,900 and finally got this down to S$2,700 but decided to sleep on it before committing ourselves. 

Masks for sale

At one of the shops a most pleasant Chinese lad with whom we were haggling mentioned in the course of a conversation that there was a very good Indonesian restaurant upstairs and even wrote out a suggested menu for us! We took his advice and had a splendid meal. The thing that stood out, apart from the food, was the table mats, which were made to look like banana leaves. (We also realised as we looked at the plates of food that we had ordered and the equipment available to eat it, that we were as at sea as the Sri Lankan women had been on the aircraft. What went with what? Which was the custard, so to speak, and which was the gravy?) As I said, the food was excellent and we felt quite guilty that we didn’t buy the camera from the lad. (Mind you, Rab had form in this regard. A charming saleslady at a shoe shop in Rio de Janeiro had directed us to a local restaurant and we left with promises to return and never did.)

We got Matt’s radio/tape player for a good price at another shop and I was pleased to find that it all worked well when we got back to the hotel. There were pirated music cassette tapes everywhere for which we paid S$2.50 each – about Z$1.80 – which also sounded fine, so it was a good day’s shopping altogether. There were a few other things that we bought too – a new suitcase, two handbags for Rab etc.

When we came out of Centrepoint, there was such an enormous queue of people waiting for taxis that we decided to walk back to the hotel and take in the foyer of the Dynasty Hotel on the way as Lynn had recommended this to us. What a place! – truly stupendous, with the piece de resistance being sixteen sixty foot wooden carved panels from floor to ceiling plus a huge gilt and crystal chandelier and Chinese carpets on the marble floor. It was a shade too much for us, especially with the Imperial Red lacquer abounding, but it was quite some place. The hotel and the shopping area had some excellent Christmas decorations too and we were glad that we had walked that way, tiring as it was.

Wrote a few postcards and got to bed quite late.

FIRST VIEW OF THE FAR EAST - SINGAPORE DAY #2

Wednesday 5th December 1984 - Singapore

We slept like logs last night and only the 07.00 alarm woke us up. Had a substantial American breakfast, including pancakes with maple syrup, and then set off on our free tour of the city. What a bunch we are travelling with!! Most of them were moaning about how cold it was in their rooms (as if the air-conditioning was not controllable!) while others were muttering about our guide, a very pleasant Chinese girl called, phonetically anyway, Nee. We found her very pleasant and informative. (But even those who travel still tend to think in racial  stereotypes – something we found lingering 16 years later on a visit to Vietnam when there were South Africans in the party.) 

The tour took us first to the Botanical Gardens and the orchids in particular. They are Singapore’s national flower and grow in great profusion all over the place. So many of them are truly beautiful. Seemed a bit lost on some of our philistines however. Incidentally, before I forget, I must just jot down a couple of fine malapropisms. One was Margaret last night – “I don’t mind prawns  but don’t like squib at all.” The others have slipped my mind for the moment, but there were some other beauties.

The cows outside the Hindu Temple - no not the ones on the pavement - the ones on the pillar!

From the gardens we went into town via some splendid suburbs with huge houses and substantial gardens, most of which were owned by embassies. We had a quick tour of the town, stopping off at a large Hindu temple right in the middle of the city. There was not much traffic about because shops only start opening at 09.00 – 09.30 and some later still. There were a few trishaws though, with their peddlers/drivers, mainly elderly, looking very solemn and wearing, more often than not, a ‘hard hat’ from a building site. Not that it would be difficult to get hold of one in Singapore. Never seen so many buildings going up all over the place.

The Hindu Temple

Next stop was Mt Faber, the local high spot which is about as high as the Kopje in Harare. There wasn’t much to see from there but it gave us a bit of a view of the city. Back in the bus we set off for Tiger Balm Gardens. I could have spent a lot of time there, but we had the statutory twenty minute stop and a return visit was out of the question as Rab was not at all keen, to say the least. The Gardens are like an early prototype of Disneyland, but with no moving parts. There are statues everywhere, some of everyday scenes in different parts of the world and some of unusual animals. Then there are various mythological scenes as well. All fascinating I thought, even if it is all a little tatty and run down now, with paint peeling etc. there were three or four snake charmers at the entrance to the Gardens but they weren’t performing and Rab wasn’t too keen on watching them. You could have your photograph taken with a snake around your neck, but no one in our group was that keen – and I was forbidden to be so stupid!

Chinatown

That was the last call of the tour and after getting back to the hotel we set out for Peoples’ Park where, Rab had been told, she would find a good selection of material. (Rab was an inveterate collector of material to feed her sewing habit. A very skilful seamstress, she enjoyed making her fine quality clothes with material garnered from all over the world. It is amazing how heavy material can be when packed in luggage.) The cab was quite reasonable we thought at S$2.30 but we went first of all to the Peoples’ Place – the new one – which was full of very interesting little shops selling everything. We soon found our way to the older building and, since it was about 15.15, had a very tasty sweet and sour pork with a couple of Tiger beers for S$15.00.

A watchful eye in Chinatown

Rab was in her element after that because there must have been between 600 and 800 little cubicles in the building, all selling a variety of materials, with very little apparent duplication. We had covered a quarter of one of the four floors when we had to stop to get back to the hotel for our evening excursion. I fear that we will be going back there!!

We all gathered in the lobby at 17.15 for our  starlight cruise on the harbour. This was an optional extra at $28 each. As we set off the heavens opened and it came down in buckets., as it did when we arrived. It is now clear that it does this every evening. The traffic downtown was pretty horrendous and it took us about one and a quarter hours to get to the quay. Peter, Margaret and Jennifer (who is a matron at Edenvale Hospital as it turns out) seemed to have been celebrating something because they were very merry and festive. Got on my tits a bit actually because they were very giggly and were mocking Richard in a most cruel way behind his back.

Our junk finally arrived and we set sail, after having transhipped “due to technical reasons” to another vessel. There was a bunch of Italians aboard plus other odds and ends but our group was the noisiest by far. So much so that I beat a retreat to the upper deck since the rain had stopped and enjoyed the view. It was not really that spectacular but it was very interesting with hundreds of ships anchored in the roadsteads. Unfortunately the sunset wasn’t too good as there was still a lot of rain and thunder about but I got a couple of shots which should turn out OK. We had dinner aboard, which was sweet and sour pork (again!) but it was pretty poor quality. As we passed the container dock, the fire boat was practising which made quite a sight. All in all we felt that the trip just wasn’t full value, although I think it was worth doing.

FIRST VIEW OF THE FAR EAST - SINGAPORE DAY #1

Tuesday 4th December 1984 - Singapore

We arrived here last evening in a tropical downpour, which soon cleared up. So far it looks a lovely place – the airport certainly lived up to its reputation as the most beautiful one in the world – plants everywhere surrounded by attractive garden and lots of running water – little fountains tinkling away.

We had a pleasant flight over from Sri Lanka in a SwissAir Jumbo. The plane was pretty full and Rab, to her annoyance, was sitting next to a bloke who said he was a Pakistani but who Rab swore was an Arab. She always claims not to be a racist but has condemned the entire Arab people based on her experiences in Cairo many years ago. For a Muslim, he certainly dived into the booze! (And there was something rather odd about his passport and his story which didn’t quite match!) He had five bottles of wine (125 ml each) and a beer during the flight which lasted about three and a half hours.

We took off at 11.00 and landed here at 17.00 gaining two and a half hours on the way. The food was excellent although I spent a good deal of time helping my two seating companions, a couple of pleasant Sri Lankan women who had no idea how to deal with the strange food or the cutlery. They were headed for domestic service in Singapore and we got on pretty well despite the fact that they spoke no English. I must say that Sri Lanka would not be high on my list of places to re-visit, although the countryside may be worth seeing and it is said that there are some lovely beaches. I would imagine however they would be pretty tatty like the rest of the place.

It turned out that everybody went on the tour to Kandy except us and David and Chris. They all said they wouldn’t have missed it for the world, but on cross examination by Mrs Rab QC, it seemed to have been rather an awful experience in a hot car with poor suspension over ghastly roads to see a slum town. The entire trip took over 12 hours. Thank goodness we didn’t go!

The drive out to Colombo airport was interesting – plenty of bullock carts – but what I found fascinating was all the little businesses along the side of the road. Obviously one man-shows (or one family), but with, for example, enormous stocks of tyres. Or a panel beater operating out of the garden in the front of a house! Plenty of wrecks about too, which is not surprising given the standard of driving.

Rab in the Boulevard foyer

Singapore is a complete contrast with a skyline like New York, modern highways and disciplined traffic. Actually, the whole place is very orderly with substantial fines for littering, jaywalking etc. The hotel we are at is fine-looking. It is the Boulevard and the wing we are in was only completed in September. The building is semi-circular and, like so many new hotels, the walkways to the rooms all give a view into a deep atrium. Difficult to describe but magnificent with orchids on the ledges. The foyer is beautiful too with orchids everywhere. They have the latest in security locks, with no keys, but a security card to be inserted in the door. Once in, the card is placed in another slot which “activates” the room, turning on the lights and aircon etc. Very futuristic. 

Orchids all the way down

After checking in we nipped off with Peter and Margaret (from Botswana) to an ethnic food place just around the corner in Tanglin Road. It is run by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board and consists of a whole lot of specialists in various dishes. I had a fine old time wading in with both trotters and had a couple of nice draught beers. Our companions were a bit more restrained and had a very plain and dull looking chicken dish. On the way there we popped into a supermarket to pick up some beers (Aussie Green it was called) as those in the mini bars in the room were so damn expensive.

Having eaten, it was about 20.30 so, since the shops close between 21.00 and 21.30, we strolled down Orchard Road. All very interesting. Landed up in the American fast food area with McDonalds (second biggest outlet in the world ) Wendy’s etc. had a good Baskins Robbins ice cream …. and so to bed.

FIRST VIEW OF THE FAR EAST - COLOMBO

Monday 3rd December 1984 - Colombo

Always have a good breakfast

We woke up at leisure. There was an optional tour to Kandy and although I would like to have gone, it meant leaving here at 07.30 and getting back at about 19.00 – too long a day for us in a bus. A pity because I would have liked to have seen a bit of the countryside.

Anyway, after coffee and a read of the local papers, which were full of news about the rebels in the north, we had a pleasant breakfast in the coffee bar – just fresh fruit and a couple of boiled eggs with toast which is what we needed after the rather rich food yesterday. Rab was fascinated by the egg cups which were shaped like an upside down chalice with one egg in the top and the other keeping warm underneath. We tried the local tea but I could taste no difference.

Heavy haulage bullock cart!

We left by taxi and went downtown past the beach to a general store called Laksala - run by the Sri Lankan Handicraft Board (a government institute promoting traditional craft skills). Bought a couple of things for Matt there but there was nothing we really fancied for ourselves. We spent the next couple of hours just wandering around the shops. Very dirty of course with uneven dug up pavements and buildings being knocked down, built and altered everywhere. Although our guide yesterday – Bennet – had said the traffic congestion was frightful, it wasn’t too bad although of course the hooter is used a lot. Certainly nowhere as bad as Rio for example, although admittedly there are no bullock carts there.

Rab at the bazaars

Rab got her supply of cloves from the State Co-op (if I hadn’t restrained her she would have bought half a kilo which I reckon would have lasted her the rest of her natural life). We gradually made our way down to a bazaar we had seen yesterday – Day and Night Bazaar – near Slaka post office – on the way passing through an alley with foodstuff in it including what looked like kapenta and other dried fish which stank to high heaven. There were a couple of fruit we had never seen before, none of which was tempting enough to try. The bazaar was a bit of a disappointment although there was some nice leather. I bought a belt plus a bag for Matt - $6.00 the lot.

Our first experience of a tuktuk

We were pestered all morning by various vendors pushing their wares who really annoyed Rab. But I told her to treat them like flies and just ignore them. Talking of flies, it is quite surprising that there are not more of them around. In fact the only time we have seen them is in the food alley and on the mangos and pineapples which are sold on the roadside. The one lot (of salesmen that is not flies) who were particularly annoying were those who were trying to sell me batik shirts which were far too small for me – just wouldn’t stop!! Once we had enough of them we caught a motorised trishaw (know better known universally as a tuktuk) back to the hotel. Just like a delivery three wheeled scooter in Zimbabwe but with a bench seat in the back and a canvas hood. Great fun, weaving our way through the traffic and a darned side cooler than the air-conditioned car we went in into town this morning. Not a lot of difference in price though – they each cost about a dollar.

I found a very nice batik shirt here in the hotel – quite reasonable at Rps 225 or $9.00. we lazed around the pool and had a couple of beers – I prefer the Three Coins, a lager, to the Lion Pilsner, but Rab prefers the latter. We were not all that hungry, so just shared a bowl of delicious chilli con carne – the latter being goat, we suspected. It was quite interesting watching all the types around the pool and also the crows which were having a great time bathing in the fountains. Damn cheeky they are too. Swipe your food if you give them half a chance.

Rab bought herself a pair of shorts (rather garish striped ones, I thought) and then we just lay around and read for a while. A very pleasant way to spend a day.

Never did find out why Jaws featured here alnside the Buddha. Perhaps bad karma reminder?

We went down to the foyer at about 18.00 to collect my photos, have a last look around the shops and then have a drink whilst we listened to a local string octet playing away quite happily. I had a couple of arrack and ginger beers. We had dinner in the Ran Malu again, but by ourselves this time. Rab had the beef curry with mint roti and saffron rice while I had chicken tandoori, cajun curry and noodles (string hopper as they are called) with butter roti. Washed down by a Lion for Rab and a bottle of Three coins for me, it was again a most pleasant meal. Whether it was the arrack or the curried cashew nuts I had for dinner, I don’t know but when we got up to our room, everything went rushing through me with great velocity!

This has been a lovely hotel to stay at – one of the things that impressed Rab was the profusion of orchids everywhere.

FIRST VIEW OF THE FAR EAST

We were living in Zimbabwe in 1984 and had been bitten by the travel bug, despite the significant problems that we had in paying for services outside the country. Exchange control regulations were such that we were only allowed to spend $360 per annum outside Zimbabwe – and that didn’t buy many hotel rooms. Although we had (illegal) funds in South Africa, it was difficult to access those too because of the Regulations that applied down there. In the pre-Internet days it was also difficult to make bookings in the Far Eastern countries but we really wanted to see them after we had been to Europe and the Americas a couple of times.

The simple answer to our problems was to take a Group Tour, but we’ve never been very good at mixing with crowds of strangers. Happy to meet people, have a meal, have a drink, have a chat – but to be in a tight Group for a couple of weeks??? Not really, we thought. But….needs must when the devil drives. We finally accepted the fact that this was going to be the only way of doing it so we signed up for a TFC Tour out of Johannesburg taking in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. Should give us a taste, we thought. Matt, who was thirteen at the time declined to come with us, saying he would rather travel around South Africa and stay with friends and grandparents.

We almost didn’t make the trip because there was the first of many financial crashes in South Africa and most of the people who had booked on the Tour cancelled. We were told that there had to be a minimum number or it would all be off. They managed to get the number - ten as it turned out – so we could plan to be on our way.

It is interesting to see the currency exchange rates when we left home. A Zimbabwe dollar was  worth about 80 US cents and 1.10 South African Rand. Against the US dollar there were 25 Sri Lankan Rupees; 2.13 Singapore dollars; 26.25 Thailand Baht and 7.82 Hong Kong dollars. Interesting to contrast the rates with those applying now, in early 2013. The Zimbabwean dollar hit hyperinflation and there were about $10 million to the US dollar before new rules were applied and it is now back to an official rate of 362 Zimbabwe dollars to the US dollar. The South African Rand has fared a little better but is still low at R8.87 to the US$. Others – all against the US$ are  126 Sri Lankan Rupees; 1.23 Singapore dollars; 29.8 Thailand Baht and 7.75 Hong Kong dollars.

Here we are (or most of us Jennifer was missing). From left to rightL Widow Pat, Chris, Lynn (Tour Leader), David, Rab, Sam (Thailand Guide) Patty, Terry, Peter/Piet, Richard, Margaret

 

Sri Lanka 2nd December 1984 - Colombo

At long last we arrived! Not that there were any real problems in the end, but the lead up to our departure was so fraught with difficulties. Anyway, these were overcome one by one and we finally left Harare at 08.30 yesterday morning. Matt accompanied us to Johannesburg where we parted ways as he had decided to spend his holiday in South Africa. I suspect that he was sorry in the end that he had made this decision, but he was determined and must learn that all decisions have consequences.

We checked in very early as Jen and Matt wanted to get cracking and we got what are technically very good seats over the wing in row 31. the only problem is that we were surrounded by children, since the area is one set aside for mothers and their young offspring.

Once again we were surprised by the lack of goods in South Africa – we couldn’t even get a film for the camera – they were out of stock!! Anyway we killed an hour or two in quite congenial surroundings before boarding British Airways flight BA 026 – City of Bristol – and taking off on time at 14.00 South African time.

Our courier’s name is Lynne and as soon as we were in flight she came forward and told us that there were a lot of seats in the rear of the aircraft. Although they didn’t have as much leg room as our original ones, we took them because it gave us a chance of lying down to sleep. Fortunately, although we were in a smoking area, not many people were smoking, so we were quite comfortable.

The food on the first leg was delicious – liver pate, grilled fish and a nice pastry – followed by good coffee and three Drambuies. There was time for a little snooze before touching down at Mahe in the Seychelles at 20.20 local time (18.20 SA time). We stopped there for 20 minutes for refuelling and as we were allowed off the plane we wandered around the duty free shop where I bought a tape of Sega music which I omitted to buy in April when I was there for a conference. There seemed to be a lot of people getting aboard but we still kept our seats. The evening meal was also very good and we each had a bottle of wine followed by a couple of liqueurs. Rab soon settled down to sleep but unfortunately we hit a bit of turbulence and, of course, sitting near the rear of the plane we were affected more than most.  In the end I made her sit up and belt up but in the end it calmed down and we managed to get in an hour or two of sleep before we landed here at 03.10 local time (23.40 SA time).

We got through Customs etc pretty quickly and then the group assembled at the bus. Fortunately there are only 10 of us, so it shouldn’t be too bad, but they look a rum bunch. There is another couple from Harare – David and Chris; an odd Chartered Accountant from Johannesburg – Richard ; a couple from Botswana (ex-Rhodesians) - Peter and Margaret;  a lone bird – Widow Pat; Jennifer, who, as she told us repeatedly, has done this trip four times already and her companion Patty. So….nothing of great interest there.

The bullock carts were a surprise

The ride into the city was uneventful – the bus was air-conditioned – but we saw a lot of cattle sleeping in the road and a lot of bullock carts, most of which had oil lamps as rear lights (no head lights though). There is a dusk to dawn curfew here because the rebellion is beginning to pick up steam and there was a pretty ineffectual road block on the bridge at the city limits. I noticed that the troops were still armed with ancient .303 rifles.

The hotel we are staying at – Lanka Oberoi – is magnificent. The entrance foyer is a hollow cube seven storeys high with three enormous batiks hanging almost full length. Our room is very large and comfortable and everything works. (Although Richard, who had an adjoining room couldn’t make anything work and appealed to me for help  – that was an early sign of problems to come.) by the time we had checked in etc it was about 05.00 local time (01.30 SA time) so we went to bed and managed to get a few hours solid sleep.

After a cup of coffee and a wash, we made our way to the Araliya Restaurant in the hotel where they were in the final stages of a Shrimp Festival. We had some delicious shrimp dishes with the whole meal costing about $12. the garden and pool area of the hotel are beautiful with coconut palms everywhere. There are also a lot of crows about – much smaller than the Zimbabwean variety – but very cheeky and raucous.

Many of the streets were not paved

After browsing around the shops in the hotel we all assembled for our city tour. Since it was Sunday there was no traffic to speak of and we got around pretty easily. The city is very dirty and scruffy with most of the buildings looking very derelict – although we did see some advertisements for paint, I would not like to try and make a living as a paint salesman here. (Twenty five years later there was an echo of this comment when we met an oldish South African in Venice on his first overseas trip. “Man,” he said “these people invented paint – why don’t they use some of it?”) Matt would have been interested to see how many Morris Minors there are here, operating as taxis. Must be the highest population in the world I reckon. (I didn’t realise then that these little cars and their companion Oxfords were still being made in factories in India where they existed by the thousand).

A better street, with Morris taxi and Buddhist temple

Mount Lavinia

Once we had driven around the city, we moved on to have a look at the suburbs, including Cinnamon Gardens, which was the suburb in colonial times. What magnificent houses there were, all looking pretty tatty and the worse for wear now, I regret to say. After a brief stop at both Hindu and Buddhist temples we went on to a beach resort – Mount Lavinia – and had a quick look at the very beautiful hotel there. We were in a bit of a hurry because Bennet, our guide, wanted us to get to the zoo in town for the elephant show. This we did and enjoyed watching the troupe perform. There were seven or eight beasts, ranging in size from a fully grown one to a little lad at the end and they all did their special tricks. The best was one of the fairly small ones who did a sort of hop, step and a jump and stood on his head!

 

From the zoo we made our way back to the hotel and had a drink with Peter since it was his 50^th birthday. Richard invited himself to dinner with us and we had some very good Biryani in the Ran Malu restaurant with an Indian trio providing background music – sitar etc. It was a very pleasant evening, although I would really have preferred to be on our own because Richard has so many hang-ups. A good day altogether.

All the good buildings had someone holding them up.