We had many problems trying to get onto the internet since last Tuesday. In part the problems have been with the my opera server refusing to accept photos. Also while in Colombo we had no internet at all, and Friday was spent travelling. Saturday was very full and it's only now that I have time and internet access to start catching up.

On Wednesday we travelled in the morning to Mauskeliya, a village out from Bogowantalawa.

The old village got literally washed away when the Government built a dam and neglected to tell the people in the flood zone. People were forced out of their homes and onto the roads. The tea plantations naturally closed their areas to the displaced people except for their own employees. Many starved to death. Some managed to slash out space in the jungle to establish new shanty homes. The Government eventually set aside land for a new township, but they have not issued title deeds so the people there have no guarantee of ownership.

All that is left of the village are the ruins ofthe mosque and Hindu Temple.

Here is a spectacular waterfall near Mauskeliya

The church at a village near Mauskeliya. The pastor has great dreams for extending his humble building.

In the same district there is a remarkable couple from the Barossa Valley in South Australia. Trevor and Cheryl Frost run a home for girls who are at risk of abuse in their homes and also orphaned girls. Trevor is in his seventies and Cheryl is 65, but they are very loving and joyful people. We spent over an hour chatting. Cheryl told us that she had been drawn to Sri Lanka for years and had a vision of establishing the house there, even seeing what it would look like. One day a pastor took her to see the house and she knew it was the one she had seen in her vision. She rang Trevor who was in Australia at the time.He shared in church the following Sunday and somebody gave him a cheque for the deposit. Within two months they has the full purchase price.

Here are some of the workers and the 25 girls in their care.

In the afternoon we attended the Compassion mothers' project that runs from Pastor Sylvester's house/church. Compassion is famous as a child sponsorship agency but it does far more than that. In this project young mothers are taught how to care for their children by nutritionists, child development experts and the like. They must attend each fortnight and they then receive a package of fresh food to feed themselves and their children. They are visited regularly by workers who help them to learn housekeeping and other skills.

I gave a short message at the meeting, at which most of the attenders are not christians. Then Grant and I helped to hand out the food parcels.

Here is Pastor Sylvester and his family.

It was decided that we would leave Bogowalantalawa early on Thursday so we could do some shopping in Negambo which is a tourist town on the edge of Colombo and close to the airport. We were booked into Silva's Beach Hotel which was nicely located as its name suggests across the road from the beach. The staff were very friendly but failed to tell us that there was going to be a wedding there- a very noisy wedding with lots of dancing to very loud Indian type music.

We had a stroll down the street and looked at the shops. We had many offers for a ride in the tuk-tuks or auto-rickshaws which are everywhere. When we declined the tuk-tuks we had several offers for "massage with nice boy or girl, your choice." While a back rub was appealing I don't think that's what they were offering.

We walked briefly on the beach but found the glare way too harsh to tolerate. It may be that the anti-malaria drugs which make your skin sun-sensitive also affect the eyes.

We went to bed hoping that the loud music would stop, and it did eventually about midnight.

So Friday we went to the airport and discovered that security is quite tight. Every car is stopped and its number plate recorded. You are not allowed into the check-in counters until 2 hours before departure and every passenger is not only screened but patted down several times before boarding. Friendly people the Sri Lankan military, always wanting to touch us.

We arrived in Hyderabad without incident and almost on time, the flight from Chennai being delayed as the pilots were late from their previous flight.