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We have spent the last few weeks travelling in a vague circle around Sri lanka's hill country, south and west coasts. We have seen a variety of environments, sampled delicious food, met many friendly people and have found Sri Lanka to be a truly beautiful country!

We arrived in Colombo after our flight from Kerala to find it busy, hot and with crazy traffic - nothing we hadn't seen before! Our guest house was an old colonial mansion just set back from the busy road. Perfectly acceptable but we were faced with a shocking bill at the end of our stay when we found they had added a 10% service charge to the overall bill. This, it turns out is something more or less uniformly done across Sri Lanka and as the prices of accommodation in Colombo are already higher than in India, we were a bit bewildered!

After a short train journey out of Colombo we alighted at the small town of Rambukkana. We made our way to the hotel in Pinnewala elephant orphanage where we had decided to stay rather than commute from Kandy. This turned out to be not the best idea as the hotel was crazily overpriced and after about 5pm the whole town became deserted, everything closed and it was near impossible to find a decent meal or anything else to do! The upside was that for the first day we had a room with a great view of the river where we could see the twice daily bathing of the seventy or so elephants and you could also go down to the river bank and get as close as you liked, for a small tip of course! We were captivated for hours!

We also visited the Millennium elephant foundation a few kilometres up the road, taking the opportunity to go for a short ride on a female elephant called Lakshmi. It was quite an effort to hold on as we rode bareback, bouncing and sliding from side to side but such an exhilarating experience! We then scrubbed and bathed another elephant and received refreshing showers as she sprayed water from her trunk. It was the first time either of us have been up so close to these amazing animals and it proved an unforgettable experience.

Then on to the city of Kandy, set in the hill country in central Sri Lanka, it's elevation giving a much more temperate climate. It was a welcome relief to be able to stroll around without drowning in your own sweat! Here we saw a Kandyan dancing performance, a fantastic show involving talented dancers wearing beautiful costumes doing acrobatics and intricate dance moves to ear-splitting drumming! The finale was a brilliant sequence of fire eating and walking on hot coals. Keeping the heat going was a man with a bottle of alcohol causing the audience to reel backwards with each new ferocious flame. So hot in fact it felt like it was burning our faces from a few feet away. I am fairly sure they didn't have a fire safety certificate but that was half the fun. We both managed to escape with our eyebrows! A brilliant show!

After Kandy we headed higher into the hills amongst the stunning scenery of tea plantations and spent time in Nuwara Eliya and Ella. We enjoyed a tour of the Labookelie tea factory where we were given a free tour by a lovely lady who was very informative before enjoying a pot of free tea and some chocolate cake! The views were breathtaking and it was impossible to capture the beauty of the place in a photograph. We also enjoyed some nice walks in the surrounding countryside. It was a little like being back in England at the height of summer. They call Nuwara Eliya the garden city and it is hardly surprising. We were made to feel very welcome in our little family run guest house and by the end of our short stay we were in love with the place!

We also made the most of the countryside in Ella where we walked to the top of little Adams peak and had the pleasure of more captivating views especially of Ella rock. We were very lucky with the weather in both places as we had gloriously sunny days with a refreshing breeze rather than the more frequent grey skies and rain they apparently get. Whilst in Ella we sampled a home made garlic curry made with at least twenty whole cloves along with several other mouth-watering accompanying dishes, such as curried aubergine, mint mash-potato, dahl, coconut sambol, spicy rice, mango chutney and a few more! It was completely delicious but not without repurcussions it must be said!

After Ella we made our way to Tissamaharana on the southern coast and our base for a trip to Yala national park. We spent a full 14 hours bouncing around in the back of a jeep scrambling along rutted roads and negotiating large ditches. Leaving at 5:30 in the morning we witnessed an awesome sun rise reflecting off of the water as we drove to the park entrance and it wasn't long before we had a close encounter with a group of female and baby elephants. Unfazed by the jeeps they casually went about their business. This was the first of many elephant, deer and buffalo encounters as well as crocodiles, land monitors, monkeys and exotic birds and it was captivating to be just a few feet away from these wild animals. Later in the day we spotted a solitary elephant in the bushes who came over to the jeep to investigate us and got within touching distance. It is a completely different experience to see wild elephants instead of the ones in the orphanage. They were so curious and lovely to watch. We also chanced upon one of the parks elusive Leopards shortly after lunch. Something that seemingly everyone wanted to see but It seemed our sighting was to be the only one of anyone that day, good fortune indeed. Unfortunately this led to a ridiculous amount of jeeps chasing round in circles in a desperate attempt to catch a glimpse before the park closed. It spoiled the peace somewhat and seemed impossible that they would find any wildlife with the noise they were making!

Leaving Tissa we travelled by bus along the coastal road to Unawatuna. Local buses and trains have been a great experience for us and so cheap they are ideal for budget travellers like us. On route we drove past large stretches of coastline still awaiting rebuilding after the 2004 tsunami. Something which has affected just about everyone in the coastal areas of Sri Lanka but it seems they don't like to dwell on the past only look forward, not a bad philosophy I think (as long as you learn from the past that is). Unawatuna was gorgeous with perfect sands and turquoise ocean, slightly busier than most beaches here but nothing like as busy as Goa. We got caught in a torrential downpour along with thunder and lightning whilst walking along the beach. It was the first rain we have had during the day since we left England and we went back to the guesthouse, got a beer and watched it intently, thoroughly enjoying it!

Finally we spent a day in Galle before heading back to Colombo. The fort here dominates the shore line and actually stood up to the tsunami leaving it's residents largely unscathed. It is full of nice little guest houses and restaurants and an evening stroll along the ramparts rounded off another nice day in Sri Lanka. The serendipity cafe welcomed us in providing delicious rice and curry and service with a smile! One of the main things we have noticed here is the friendly and happy attitudes of the people which have made us feel very safe and welcome here. Everyone is approachable and wants to offer help if you need it. We spent the evening in Galle having a drink with an English man and a lovely Sri Lankan guesthouse owner who told us hilarious stories and also showed us a book filled with photographs of the tsunami aftermath. It was horrific and so hard to imagine experiencing it. What was most heart wrenching were the crayon pictures done by children who had witnessed the event. He told us that he had seen bodies piled high like mounds of sand. It is hard to take in but so inspiring to see the way the people have pulled together and got back on their feet.

So we are back in Colombo and will spend a day in Negembo beach north of the capital before catching our next flight to Singapore and beyond. Sri Lanka has been an amazing country to travel in and we have had some very memorable and enjoyable experiences. It is hard to believe that the north and east of Sri Lanka are still fighting a war. The people, the scenery and the weather make this a beautiful country and it feels as if we have only scratched the surface. Until the next time...

Jed and Sam x

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