Postcard from Sri Lanka: Makhaya Ntini
Makhaya Ntini - 2 August 2000
When we arrived here in Sri Lanka on the 1st of July, there was
nothing much happening but as the tour progressed and the days
have gone by, we've ventured out a bit into the city of Colombo
to check out its features.
The Hilton Hotel has been a favourite place to visit for the boys
with the Blue Elephant club being our place to hangout and kick
back. Most of the team went out on the night we lost the final to
Sri Lanka and even though we had lost the match, we never allowed
this to dampen our spirits and we had a good time. Even better as
my baby boy Masimphe was born into the World.
It's amazing how most of the guys spend their free time browsing
the shops and markets looking for the elusive "real deal". I
found a place to buy a few CD's from as well as some really cool
material to take back with me and to have a suit made from.
Every tour has its difficult moments. In Australia, its the
continuous amount of flying one has to do; in England its
contending with the inclement weather, but here in Sri Lanka its
definitely the bus trips we have to take to get from place to
place.
Take for instance the bus ride up to Kandy where we are at the
moment. There is no keeping left and passing right, its just go
for the gap my China! We have a policeman who rides ahead trying
to direct the traffic out of our path but each time he makes a
gap, it gets filled by another Lankan vehicle also trying to get
somewhere through the maze of vehicles on the road.
I've never watched so much TV in all my life before. Here we have
Channel V (an MTV-type music channel), Star-Movies or Star-World
to choose from or for the nature lovers like Lance, there's
National Geographic. This gives you an impression of how we live
on tour in the sub-continent, playing cricket by day and watching
the box at night till you can't channel surf no more with sleep
coming slowly.
Tonight after play should be an interesting time as the Fizz has
challenged us twelthies to a 4K uphill run up the hill to our
hotel. Le Kandyan Hotel is perched atop a lovely hill and the
Fizz and Corrie did the run three days ago in 23 minutes.
Remember that there is no "keep left, pass right". In fact, these
roads resemble the ones I know back in Butterworth, Transkei. Nor
is there any level part of this hill climb to rest up or recover
again; its uphill all the way for 4 K's.
Something else that has bothered me a bit on this tour is the
nature of the Lankans when they want to get your attention. They
don't call or gesture to you or ask, "excuse me"; they just make
these sounds with their lips like a birdcall or a lip kiss as if
you're calling your dog or cat at home. At first it was
irritating and we thought they were making fun of us but then we
realized that this was just their nature and now we take no
further notice.
So far I've enjoyed the trip and will take with me some more
experience of touring the sub-continent. This is Makhaya Ntini
signing off for CricInfo. Cheerio.
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