Hill Billy

Friday 4 August 2006

This week we have seen:
Lots of fevers
Miliary TB
Suspected typhoid
Dengue fever
Malaria
Possible non Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Beta Thalassaemia/ 2º Fe overload
Sudden onset cough and dyspnoea in a 15 year old
Chronic cough/clubbing
Pleural effusion/suspected lung ca
Pleural effusion/encysted lesion
Printzmetal’s angina
Post MI angina
Hepatomegaly/epigastric mass
Obstructive jaundice
Chronic diarrhoea
Idiopathic chronic renal failure
Glomerulonephritis
Chronic headache
Wrist drop
Paracetamol overdose
The grand round centered on an interesting case with a large list of differentials to exclude. Tonight was our elective night out. A group of 10 of us met at the 5 star Taj Samudra Hotel near Galle Face and had drinks in the hotel bar. I had a Lion beer which came in huge bottle equivalent to two pints and a local drink suggested by a Sri Lankan, which tasted like cough mixture. The guests were all middle aged tourists or locals with cash to burn. ABBA resurfaced again and the house band played Elvis and 80’s classics. We moved on to the basement club called Onyx which is equivalent to a trendy London club playing r’n’b and hip hop. I was actually convinced I was in London and it took a while to adjust. It was a blast and I left at 2:30a.m because we planned to set off for Nuwara Eliya (Hill Country) at 5:30 a.m.

Although I slept through my 5a.m alarm our ride did not show up till 6:45 a.m so I wasn’t pleased. It was a 5 hour journey from Colombo to Nuwara Eliya on steep winding roads. We had several near accidents and one collision with a black Toyota which thankfully left no obvious damage to our vehicle. We stopped at scenic spots on the way to take pictures. The scenery is full of luscious greenery, tea plantations and waterfalls steeped into the hills. We stopped for breakfast at Kitugala Rest House with views over the river, Kelaniya Ganga where Bridge on the river Kwai was filmed in 1957. We also stopped at the entrance to a Buddhist temple where I obliged in removing my shoes to take photos. Nuwara Eliya (City of Light) with its colder climate has many British country houses with large gardens befitting its nick name ‘Little England’. We passed the golf club with its luscious greens, the 5 star Grand Hotel and the race course where wealthy locals take their children for pony rides. Our hotel, the Windsor in the centre of the town overlooked the luscious hills. After a wander round the town we had dinner at the Grand Hotel. The meal can only be described as the best in SL so far. Starter: Melon and bacon (I was skeptical but it works), salmon, feta cheese and squid salad. Main: Spicy fish and Cajun prawns in white butter sauce with mashed potatoes. I had no space for dessert despite drooling over the dessert cart. It got very cold at night and I was shivering in the car despite wearing a summer jacket.


Our day began with pastries at the Milano Restaurant in the centre of town after which we visited Victoria Park Botanical Gardens. I was disappointed because my hosts were more into dining and wandering the town than visiting the tea plantations and Horton Plains as discussed. The 5 hour journey back could account for the bias or the complacency of having visited these sites on childhood holidays. Lunch at the Hatton Rest House left a lot to be desired. I have to return to Nuwara Eliya to visit these famous sites. As we drove back to Colombo, I felt I hadn’t seen as much as I wanted- lovely scenery and food but not enough site seeing. This has been a learning experience thankfully early on in my stay in SL. I will sight see in Kandy, Galle and the rest of the south before I leave.