Sri Lanka

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Sri Lanka holiday has been fantastic! What a beautiful country.... First of all we headed to Dambulla to stay at the famous Heritance Kandalama, a unique hotel. Second day we visited Sigiriya - one of the major reasons I wanted to come to this country! The site is fantastic, ruins a top a huge rock on an otherwise flat plain. The climb to the top was difficult, not because of the distance or steepness, but purely because of the humidity! Everyone, tourists and guides alike, were struggling. I thought an English family was on the verge of fainting, with several people having to hold their arms and give them an occassional push! Some fantastically preserved frescos halfway up are well worth the small detour. Views from the top are great, but no shade so we didn't stay long.

Then we did a local village tour, which was surprisingly good! We had a boat ride on a lake and then got to watch (and taste!) some traditional food being made - delicious! The sambal and coconut rotti was some of the best (and freshest) food I have ever tasted.

Then to one of my favourite experinces, we did an afternoon safari where we saw numerous wild elephant herds (including babies!), along with lots of different birds and reptiles.

The next day we went to the Dambulla Cave Temples - quite unique again and then did some shopping - I ordered some custom made sapphire earrings.

The next day we left Dambulla for the Knuckles Ranges area, we arrived at our accommodation after a long drive. In thenafternoon we did a 2hr hike though the local tea plantations and came across the local tea plantation workers. These women are impressive, plucking the best tea leaves by hand on very steep hills with bare feet, walking kms on gravel roads to drop their loads at the local factory, just to repeat again and again!

Then it was on to Kandy Town to visit the Temple of the Tooth and Botanical Gardens - a nice town surrounded by water. Also visited a tea factory where we had a short tour. I've started drinking tea on this holiday and quite enjoy it. Had a fantastic dinner at our b&b of prawn cakes, fresh fish baked in banana leaf with pineapple and tomato salad, finished with flour less chocolate cafe and ice cream... breakfast the next day was nearly even more impressive, with freshly baked bread, homemade jams, carrot cake and hot food! And of course freshly squeezed juices..

Then onto my favourite place, we saved the best til last - Norwood House of the Tea Trails near Hatton. A beautiful tea plantation lodge in even more beautiful countryside. We arrived to be greeted by the lodge butler and chef and served a delicious 3 course lunch. Then we headed off for our major challenge of the holiday, to climb Adams Peak (Sri Pada). The hike starts from around 1200m and in 5kms climbs 1000m to 2243m. We moved fast, passing many locals - but it was quite tough going in the humid air. The climb in very steep with very little relief! But we made it to the summit in 2hrs. Our plan the view the sunset quickly dissolved as a monsoon moved in... it poured consistently for the hour and a half back down the mountain, the locals hid within shelters but we continued, keen to get back to the lodge. The hour long drive back to the lodge felt like an eternity until we were able to run a hot bath to recover and soothe our sore muscles. Dinner was a superb 4 courses of international food.

Next day we were up early for the long drive to Horton's Plains National Park. We did the 8km loop to worlds end, a 1km drop off to the valley below... the hike was nice with many different eco systems, from jungle to large grassy plains. We saw some local tourists attempting the hike in high heels! And met a family with a son in Perth, they got their mobile out and were about to call when they remembered their phone wasn't working?!

We were back to the lodge in time for afternoon tea of sandwiches and sweets, before a delicious authentic Sri Lankan dinner.

An early morning to make our midday flight from Colombo to The Maldives!

In summary, Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with some fantastic sites and delicious fresh food. Roads really need some work and the political system/government needs a shake up. Will be a great place to visit once the tourist infrastructure is improved...

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