Not in the plan

Today I’m back in Kandy and I got to check out the local hospital. Yesterday evening the owner of the guest house in Polannaruwa said I should cycle into town to get dinner from a restaurant. I wasn’t happy about that because a) the guest house advertised itself as having a restaurant and b) the bike didn’t have lights and it would be dark by the time I came back. But I was hungry so I took my head torch with me and went. And on the way to town I was surrounded by 4 or 5 dogs all barking at me and one bit me on the leg.

It hurt, a lot. But it wasn’t a bad bite as it didn’t bleed. I cleaned the bite, researched the risk of rabies in Sri Lanka and decided I’d better see a doctor today. I was supposed to go to Trincomalee today but decided instead to come back to Kandy. I thought the medical facilities would be better than in Trincomalee and having spent a couple of days here, I sort of know my way around. I also have a contact here, someone I know through a former job. I sent him a text message asking for advice on which hospital I should go to. Although he was away in Colombo, he arranged for two of his colleagues to take me to the hospital.

They were brilliant. They helped me navigate the bureaucracy. The hospital obviously sees a lot of people who need anti-rabies treatment because they have a special section of the out patients department dedicated to it. I first got a registration number and then saw a doctor who looked at the bite, asked a lot of questions and filled out some forms. Then I had to go pay for the injection and then go to the vaccination room. It took about an hour and a half in total. I have to have more injections but I can get them at any government hospital.


This was the last of the sunset from my guest house after I got back from the hospital. I didn’t take any other photos all day.