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A peaceful week in Sri Lanka for Vietnamese guests

The visit to Sri Lanka left many memorable memories, especially impressive for Lan Dao readers about an island nation in economic crisis.

We, three adults and one child, set out for Sri Lanka in the early days of May, when the remnants of Covid-19 were still there. We took an Air Asia flight, transiting in Kuala Lumpur. While checking in at Tan Son Nhat airport, we were informed that we needed to buy insurance to complete immigration procedures in Sri Lanka.

Landing at 9pm, we stayed at a friend’s house in Kirindiwela, about 40km from the capital Colombo. The Sri Lankans greeted us shyly but thoughtfully and delicately. Knowing we don’t eat spicy, they didn’t put pepper, chili, and at the same time boiled a plate of vegetables, cabbage and carrots.





A Vietnamese girl (centre) plays with her new friends.

A Vietnamese girl (centre) plays with her new friends.

In the days that follow, your family won’t eat with us, partly because of different meal times – their meals are all very late, partly because of different eating habits. They often eat by the way, so each person will have a separate plate of rice and food, not sitting around together.

The only baby in the Vietnamese delegation quickly got acquainted with friends near home. Every night, they gather to play with balloons, hide and seek, and sing Vietnamese and Sinhala songs – one of the two local languages.

Sri Lanka These days are filled with a melancholy color between Economic Crisis, protests and blackouts due to power cuts. But that did not stop the innocent smiles of children and affection. When I give the kids candy, they only eat half of it, and give the rest to their parents and siblings. That scene reminded me of my childhood in the early 90s of the last century in Vietnam, thinking about what to eat for you.

Prices in Sri Lanka are quite cheap but still high compared to people’s income at the moment. According to my friend, who is working for an Anglo-American company manufacturing aircraft components, the engineer’s income at his company is only about 300-350 USD a month. His uncle has an auto repair garage, can be considered as a rich man in Sri Lanka with five cars, but now has almost no income. He still tried to hold on to his business, partly because he hoped for economic prosperity in the near future, partly because he could not help but pay wages to workers who were already too poor.

Restaurants in Sri Lanka are not too diverse and it is not easy to find a roadside restaurant. For a week, they will be closed for a few days to protest against the government. But like the human character here, the protests mostly take place in peace and order. The street is only crowded at gas stations, where a long line of vehicles waits. Before we came here, our friend had more than 50 liters of gas at home to take us out. Each liter of gasoline is sold for an exorbitant price of nearly 5 USD.





Daily meal of Sri Lankans.

Daily meal of Sri Lankans.

The people of Sri Lanka are mostly Buddhist, they eat well, go barefoot, have a gentle disposition, are honest and hospitable. The four of us stayed at their house for a week, drank three coconuts, ate four watermelons, bananas, pineapples… My friend’s mother had to cook for nearly a dozen people every day, but she couldn’t. when I see her complaining or looking tired. The people, though poor, are very generous and enthusiastic. As long as you say Hallo (Hello) to them, they will surely respond; as long as you smile with them, they will surely smile with you; you give them a cake, the next day, they will come over to your house to give you some coconut sugar, a bag of whips or a gift…

Because the baby likes to stay at home and play with friends around, we only visit Kandy city, go to Buddha Toothache temple, visit elephant park, see fish world. These places almost all lose entrance tickets, tickets for foreigners will be more expensive than locals. At Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, the ticket price will be reduced for visitors from Buddhist countries (excluding Vietnam).

Sri Lanka is very hot these days. Hot because the summer weather is always at 33-35 degrees Celsius, hot because of the evenings when the electricity is cut off with all the buzzing of mosquitoes. The people here do not smack the mosquitoes, just drive them away, but these persistent guests certainly do not falter because of that. Hot because of the protests, there were even arson. But the hottest thing is human love – kind, warm, emotional people. When we left, the whole family of my friend cried, the children in the neighborhood even tried to run after our car to wave to Ta ta (Goodbye)…

Lan Dao

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