Here's one for all those people who consider themselves intrepid runners. There was a 10K run yesterday here in Kandy. Now this may not seem like anything to most people. However, you have to realize that Kandy is very hilly. The only flat areas are around the lake in the heart of town and along the river. From there all roads are very steep and twisting. This run was nowhere near the flat areas. Add to that the fact that April is a very hot month. In fact, stinking hot. Although these people started early in the morning, by the time I saw them at 0900, it was already very hot. I was sweating just sitting in the tuktuk. Now comes the kicker. Almost everyone was running in bare feet. I only saw three pairs of runners. The pavement is hot and rough. There are more pot holes than pavement in some places. So good for those who ran.
It seems that 10 days or two weeks after new year, a day is set aside for sporting events. There was the 10K and almost every sports field was full of people playing some kind of games. They are fun things like an egg toss, pillow fights, three legged running, etc. In any case, every field was full of participants. I had no idea that Sri Lankans were so active.
I went out to have a look at the house for rent. Holy smokes! Mano wasn't kidding when he said it is palatial. To begin with, it is huge. 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms. The master bedroom is almost as big as the entire first floor in my current place. There is a proper servant's room with full bath so that makes 4 bathrooms. All windows are full glass, so no louvres that allow in a lot of dust and bugs. The floors are tile, marble and wood. There is a proper garden room with water and drainage. There are ceiling fans throughout. The garden is not huge but big enough to do something with. Luckily, there is no lawn to cut. The house is build into bedrock which surrounds 3 sides and there is even an area inside the house that uses the bedrock as the wall. Very attractive. Huge verandas and covered balconies. One is big enough to set up a full gym.
The only fly in the ointment is that the kitchen is a disaster. I could not believe that they left the kitchen in such a state when the rest of the place is so amazing. I told the owner so and he said he would fix it up however I wanted.
He is contemplating for a couple of days, but it seems that he will agree to a 5 year lease with the rent guaranteed at Rs. 30,000 (C$253) for the first 2 years going up to a guaranteed Rs. 35,000 (C$295) for the last 3 years. No damage deposit will be asked for. He will put in a proper kitchen, a wet bar upstairs, finish the 2 bathrooms that are still under construction. He is currently erecting a 6' parapet wall for security. Plus the area is regularly patrolled by a security company.
The area is about 6 km. from Kandy town but it has everything I need. Grocery store, vegetable and fruit vendors, clothing shops, hardware stores. The best news is that is unlikely there will be power cuts as it is less than a kilometre behind the Provincial Council complex and the huge Buddhist studies centre. You can bet that the government is going to make sure those places have power and water. Plus there is garbage pickup. That is huge as I am always struggling with my garbage.
It is much closer to Veenitha, so she only has to take one bus. The other piece of good news is that it is only 2 km. from my tuktuk driver's house, so I don't have to go looking for a new driver.
Now I just have to wait a couple of days to see if the owner is going to go for all this. He is most anxious to rent to a foreigner as we have a reputation for taking good care of the property. So keep your fingers crossed for me. If it goes through, I will have pictures to post.
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