20 Years; 20 Places: No.17 Sri Lanka
My 20th year of writing this Blog that began life on dial-up internet in a rented apartment in Chicago, that didn’t feel like home. My move to Chicago was the genesis for this Blog as was my long-distance continued love affair with Charlton Athletic.
To observe my 20 years of writing I am selecting 20 Players and 20 Places, in no order, that have stuck with me throughout my lifetime, just like that balmy Chicago evening did in June 2004.
I can’t quite remember how this holiday came about. I had not long been going out with this girl from Windmill Hill, and she suggested that instead of doing a dirty weekend in the Cotswolds, we go to Sri Lanka and the Maldives instead. That was quite a stretch from our favoured Pizza Express in Blackheath.
I had always been intrigued to travel, and she was like-minded and these sort of conversations used to fill the air over a Fiorentina and garlic dough balls.
I had never been this far away from home, but the trip excited me, and sure enough 29-years later the memories of that incredible trip are still very vivid.
The Maldives was of course stunning, but those chain of islands didn’t make my 20 Places, but the sensory assault of Sri Lanka just had to.
Back in the mid 90’s Colombo was amok with Tamil Tigers and therefore closed to visitors, so we didn’t make it to this now very cosmopolitan seaside capital city.
We formed part of a tour that took in the historic site of Sigiriya, the ancient capital of Kandy, the indelible elephant sanctuaries of Minneriya and then south to the mist draped tea plantations of Nuwara Eliya.
It was exhausting but such an eye-opener. It was a toilet door opener too, as we literally ate curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day!
One final enduring memory for this trip is that a really long delayed flight home meant I missed going to The Den to see us beat them 2-0 (Grant 2) in a snow blizzard. Addicks of a certain age still eulogize over that night, and I missed it!
Sri Lanka. Holiday with an ex-girlfriend 1995.
I wasn’t at the cess pit that night as I swore never to go back there again, but I was happily listening on the radio with the snow coming down when there was a yell from the living room. His lordship had dropped something very heavy on his head (don’t ask) so off to casualty we went. No smart phones to follow the game in those days but there was phone a friend when we eventually got home. And no, I didn’t wish we had been there. Hideous place.
Happy New Year CA. Safe travels and please keep writing. Xx
I won’t ask 🤕..
Happy New Year to you and thank you for your kind words.
Brought back memories of Sri Lanka was there 2012. . based in Colombo, went up to Kandy By Tuk tuk To see more of the country elephant sanctuary,ect, returning by very old diesel train,
My late accountant and friend was born and raised in Kandy his mother owned a tea plantation, and his father was the head of police and Kandy Before independence and told me many many stories about Sri Lanka, and I promised myself one day I would go and visit. I have been a Charlton supporter since my father took me when I was four years old to the very top of the great Terrace. I couldn’t say very much, so the next time we was on the halfway line at the bottom I have many many memories I am now, almost 78 but I have not been to the valley since they returned there, but still follow on the Internet. I am married and live in Thailand. Thank you for your blog. I find the places that you have visited very interesting. I have also travelled quite extensively.
Happy New Year to you and yours Richardwriedel@ hotmail.com. Incidentally, I grew up in Mottingham and bought my first house in Petts Wood the covert) married a bar maid From the Bulls head Chislehurst, the biggest of my life please forgive any typos my eyesight is very poor nowadays.
Thanks for your blogs. Best wishes, Richard
No, thank you Richard. Love this comment, great stories retold. That’s what I have been trying to do as well.
By the way my friends and I have spent many an hour chatting the bar maids up from the Bulls Head 😄.
never go back ?….wasn’t that one of our first games at the NEW Den ?
Correct. They moved in 1993
I was there at the New Den, a friend and I had agreed to go and so we met at London Bridge and a few beers later we set out for the ground in the belief that the match was never going to happen but what the heck.
Morts was superb, so was Whyte and Grant scored twice with Bow getting sent off after sliding into two early tackles. Given the cold maybe he was the sensible one? On the way home my friend confessed that he was waiting for me to chuck the towel in and go home when we were at London Bridge, I too was waiting for him to point out that going to Bermondsey for a match that was never going to happen was a stupid idea, since we didn’t have that conversation we ended up going.
Millwall were top of the table that night, that match saw them go on a run of defeats that culminated in relegation.
SP – was that the last time we beat them?
At the New Den…yes. We won the return/home match that season, also 2-0 completing (obviously) a rare double. I recall Bow and Carlo scoring I think.