Afterthoughts on Sri Lanka Sri Lanka's long history has been largely characterised by cultured civilisations and technologically-advanced kingdoms. It was our strong sense, however, that several decades of largely self-interested (or misguided) government, extensive bouts of outmoded socialism, rampant corruption, growing Sinhalese nationalism and religious tensions, and a simmering civil conflict with the Jaffna Tamils, have combined to deny Sri Lanka the economic success it once seemed well-positioned to achieve. Back in the nineteen-fifties Singapore's Lee Kwan Yew looked at Sri Lanka as a role model; today, Singapore has a GDP per capita on par with many developed countries while Sri Lanka's languishes at the level of many in sub-Sahara Africa. In many respects, it seemed to us that the nation is still fixed firmly in its past rather than addressing the challenges o... read more

South Coast - Yala and Tangalle We reluctantly left the relaxing and self-indulgent Norwood bungalow at eleven for the drive to the south coast and Yala National Park. With a few brief stops in Nuwara Eliya, Ella and other villages, it would take us eight hours to complete the 230km trip. At first our route took us through rolling tea country, the steep-sloped plantations perched often precariously above the Nanu Oya river far below, but on the higher slopes around 2,000m, terraced vegetable gardens predominated, punctuated by farmers' cottages. As we began to descend towards the plains, deep and heavily-wooded valleys plunged away at the edges of the narrow pot-holed road until eventually we hit flat land again for the first time in six days, and were able to occasionally reach 70kph. At dusk we turned ... read more

Relaxing at the Kandy House Heading off south from Sigiriya to Kandy, we stopped about 20km from Dambulla at the Nalanda Gedige, a little-visited temple (Ervin had never been there) that, uniquely, blends the design of south-Indian Hindu temples with traditional Sri Lankan Buddhist architecture. It is a thousand or more years old, very beautifully proportioned, and sits in a delightful spot on a peninsular jutting into a large artificial lake. Some sources say that the gedige (image house) is also built at the geographical centre of the island, but very little appears to be known about it. Carrying on south we stopped to explore one of the many spice gardens along this road where Lisa made several purchases of Ayurvedic potions and we had a "light lunch" of rice and nine different curries; it was ... read more

Colombo to Dambulla Just before midnight we arrived at Sri Lanka's only international airport, north of Colombo, where we were met by Ervin Alphonso - our driver and guide for the next seventeen days. Twenty minutes drive from the airport is the coastal resort of Negombo and we received a warm welcome at the pleasant, minimalist Beach Hotel where we were soon tucked up in bed in our large room overlooking the pool and - through the silhouetted palm trees - the moonlit beach and the Indian Ocean. For thirty years I had been telling myself that I must visit Sri Lanka, but it was the relocation of our friends Ashleigh and Yves Ogier from London to Kandy that provided us with the impetus to actually go. And here we finally were, about to embark on ... read more

Wat Preah Vihear In the morning, one of the staff took Donna’s bags off to reception, and she was astonished to have the same guy serve her coffee on the terrace about 20 seconds later. This completely freaked her out for a few minutes, until what turned out to be a pair of identical twins stood smiling by our table. Why we had never seen the two of them together over the past couple of days is hard to imagine - unless they deliberately played this trick for departing guests. But it just added to the Fawlty-esque quality of the place. Leaving Pakse in the Hi-Ace, we crossed the new Mekong bridge and arrived at the chaotic Lao-Thai road border by about 9.15 am. While Udon checked us out of Laos, we browsed the vast market ... read more