Page 56 - Michael Frost-Voyages to Maturity-23531.indd

being available, whereas this seemed not to be the case in the capital, and the
buildings and the lake around which the main buildings cluster presenting a
picture of tranquillity that reflected the reality of following what is probably the
most gentle of the world’s great religions.

While forty-two days in one port, and one of the less salubrious at that
(even the Seamen’s Club was run-down) is not the sort of thing that one gener-
ally expects on scheduled voyages, I have found that few experiences in life are
of no moment, and in many respects the most unlikely situations can lead to
the most unlikely of consequences, unforeseeable and random. So it was with
this unfortunate breakdown.

One should not, however, simply dismiss Colombo as a cultural desert, nor
as one deprived of access to more esoteric pursuits. I noted, for example, that on
one evening the Colombo Symphony Orchestra was playing a program of Mozart
and Haydn. This was to be held at the Lionel Wendt Hall, a cultural centre located
close to the ship. I decided to give it a try and was quite surprised at the venue. A
relatively modern, though small, concert hall, I quickly saw the great advantage
of Mozart having composed twenty-seven piano concertos and Haydn having
composed one hundred and four symphonies; there was an endless supply of mu-
sic for a small stage and what was almost a chamber orchestra. Such an ensemble
was unlikely to ever run out of music of the highest quality. I not only thoroughly
enjoyed the evening for its own sake, but it opened one’s eyes to the elegance of
the sari when properly worn, and to the fact that in the right places, there was
no shortage of beer and wine, as the cream of Colombo society came out in force
(probably all expected Mrs Bandaranaika, the prime minister, who apparently
lived nearby, to appear. However, I did not see her).
I also took the opportunity to walk around that part of the city and realised
that the grubbiness of the port area was by no means symptomatic of the whole
of Colombo. This was in reality a garden-like setting which treated its wealthier
citizens quite well.

After a few engine trials, now apparently as good as new (which in many
respects it now was) Khyber departed for Malaya, shortly to become Malaysia.

Of the two large bodies of water either side of South Asia, the Bay of Bengal is
probably the more reliably benign. But to set against that is the fact that it is in effect
a funnel for shipping coming from the rest of the world into the Strait of Malacca,
one of the world’s busiest waterways. For the burgeoning South-East Asian nations,
the annual growth of trade and the volume of shipping was staggering.

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