Redemption in Paradise

"THERE ARE NO right or wrong choices. If your choices do not lead to wisdom, you will get other chances. In this life - or in another," says Gunananda, a fi fth century sage, somewhere in Sigiriya.

This prediction follows a motley collection of tourists arriving in present-day Sri Lanka on a four-day tour. Aggressive Australian journalist Sarah has troubling visions of a past life. She desires John, an idealist from Vancouver writing a thesis on fear. American expatriates Margaret and Robert Keane are embroiled in a love-hate relationship, haunted by the memory of their dead son. Returning emigrant Lionel is anxiously seeking the country he left behind. And burly Jefferson conceals the secret that brought him east, whilst liberally indulging an appetite for prostitutes. Escorting them is hard-drinking Asoka, struggling to survive the hardships of life in the war-torn island. As they step on the tour bus, each traveller unknowingly makes an appointment with destiny.

Beginning with a roadside shooting of terrorist suspects, the tour meanders through Kelaniya, Dambulla and the rock fortress of Sigiriya, culminating in Kandy. Then things go terribly wrong and unexpected events force them to a temple in the jungle and a meeting with the mysterious Buddhist nun Gunanandani.

Mix in psychometry, a ghostly image captured on camera, arms smugglers and a tattered band of military deserters, and the travellers are swept into a confl ict that was never part of their itinerary.

In the tragic climax at the crumbling temple, valuable lessons are learned, leaving lives indelibly changed. And the prophecy of Gunananda is fulfilled.