I forgot to mention in the last post that I got an email from the US State Department informing me of communal unrest and a state of emergency in Sri Lanka. When I travel I register with STEP, which is the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, where you notify the state dept of your travel plans and they will update you with info on problems, disasters, dangers and so on, it also lets the embassy know you are in the country in case you need help. Anyway I’d forgotten I didn’t put an exit date when I registered for Sri Lanka (we were still waiting for our Indian visas at the time I registered), so they sent me the info even though I’d left already.
There are riots and violence in Kandy, and the army has been deployed to restore order and a curfew instituted. We were in Kandy just a week ago. According to Wikipedia the problems actually started while we were there, but didn’t escalate until we left. I didn’t notice any signs of trouble.
Anyway after a short stay in India we are moving on. India doesn’t work well with a multi country itinerary like ours. It is too huge. I think you really need to plan a dedicated trip and plan on visiting several cities and regions. We got a taste of India anyway, and no diarrhea!
Next stop, we’re keeping the left hand driving streak alive. Can you guess it?
David