I heard in the meantime that there is no contact to another friend in Sri Lanka (also a travel writer). I hope that it is just the connection that does not work.

And I am thinking of the cat shelter in Langkawi (Malaysian island close to Penang where I know the waves hit). It is very close to the sea.

It makes such a difference if you do not just hear the numbers but you know people there (of course it shouldn't make a difference but it does ).