A Thank You Note.

Only afterwards did it hit me.  Only when standing in the midday sun, no shade, in the middle of nowhere did I realize it’s quite an assumption that when you say to a total stranger, “Can you pick me up in 2 hours?” and he says “Yep!” that he will, indeed turn up for a fare worth roughly 2 bucks. What if he picked up a bigger fare? Fell asleep? Rolled his tuk tuk? We had no phone coverage, no way of getting back other than a 10 km walk on dirt roads under the blasting sun. But I only had 2 minutes to wonder about this because we were approximately 2 minutes early and our tuk tuk driver was approximately exactly on time. Of course he was, because the people of Sri Lanka had been so helpful and reliable and eager to help us see and appreciate their beautiful country that after a week we had very comfortably made such assumptions that we would be totally OK. And we were.

My extremely brief moment of concern made me realize what a total lack of concern I had experienced over our travels through Sri Lanka. Despite strangers leading us through the city to their school, giving us tours around gardens and unexpected massages while drinking a cup of tea, we never felt any concern. A little bemused at times but mostly we just enjoyed a very interesting, sometimes crazy ride which occasionally led to us handing over cash for a bit of shopping we didn’t even realize we were doing.  Over the last 4 months I had felt very much pummeled by the concerns of making decisions about where to go and what to do and how to pay for it but now I was smiling and laughing all over the place.

I have been in situations where I felt quite a bit of apprehension – often in my own country in the city I know best, but I have also had to teach myself to not be held by fear and to trust more rather than expect everyone to be out to rip you off or lead you astray. I remember how defensive I was when I first arrived in Istanbul over 10 years ago and how I eventually realized that the majority of people genuinely want to be helpful and want you to have a good experience in their home. I have met far more people who love their country and want you to love it too than people who want to take advantage of you.  I have shared really wonderful moments with people wanting to know about my country and my life, and who are so generous in sharing part of theirs.  I wonder though whether this is how tourists find Australians?  It is a real national pride when you want to appreciate and share your place and culture with others, I’m not sure this is the case with many Australians who seem to think patriotism is about proving why only some are worthy of a place in such a huge space. Except in the Northern Territory, there live people as keen as any Thai, Sri Lankan, Guatemalan, Turk or Nepalese person to help you love love love their strange, exotic world. 

In Sri Lanka we were humbled by a man who thanked us – as Australians- on behalf of all of Sri Lanka, for the help our country had given theirs after the tsunami. He didn’t know us, we weren’t buying anything from him, but as our well-fed, holidaying first world selves were drinking tea and getting a massage he thanked us profusely. He summed up for me why I had not felt any reason not to trust the people we met and what a wonderful thing appreciation is, for what we have and what others give us. The Sri Lankans gave us so much; jumping in a tuk tuk and asking a stranger to recommend the best off the beaten track beach or restaurant, being shown through physically and culturally amazing places, shaking the hand of a Buddhist teacher and getting some insight into his – and his students- lives, watching 6 year old entrepreneurs rap dance for cash on the top of a mountain, learning about cricket and curries and their history and beliefs are the moments that make me want to travel for the rest of my life. I love that I have had the opportunity to be in places where I can be so trusting in the hands of the locals and it’s one thing I can take with me when I go home in the hope I can help someone love my country as much as I do.  And when I meet a Sri Lankan in Melbourne or Darwin or Jan Juc, I’ll shake their hand and thank them on behalf of their country for making my heart smile again when it had been a little concerned.