Blogs from Sri Lanka, Asia - page 12

After last night's amazing spectacle, we thought we'd better check out the Sacred Tooth Relic in the Temple. So this morning we started with a walk via the station to the market and Temple. The station is this classic 1930s Art Deco building with a departures board that I think London Euston should adopt ! See picture below - same old delays though ! We found the market and a guy who worked in our hotel found us and very nicely escorted us to his stall where dad bought two rather nice Tommy Hilfiger tops - the factory is here and they obviously have seconds/ over makes / off the back of lorry stuff - they are very nice though and we think the real thing! I resisted any more scarves! the town was a cacophony ... read more

We'd booked a walking tour of the old part of Colombo which started at 11. So we thought we'd go via the train station to book our tickets for a train ride to Kandy tomorrow. Little did we know there had been a train strike last week and that the trains were now completely booked out - except you could rock up tomorrow and just pay to get on the 3rd class carriage and stand the whole way - it would be cheap but the thought of spending three hours or more wedged in to a steaming hot train was just a bit unappealing, especially as we had luggage. So we needed a plan B,....... We met our lovely guide Harold at a smashing little precinct called the Old Dutch Hospital - close to the World ... read more

Following a fairly uneventful flight from Abu Dhabi to Colombo - yes we did doze and I watched Kinky Boots film, dad watched shape of water! We were pretty rapid off the plane and surprisingly quick through immigration - luckily we'd got visas beforehand - luggage collected and a nice man from the hotel picked us up so before we knew it we were in the hotel - and there was a roof top bar - rather grainy picture below - selfie and flash don't go together After a drink and some tapas it was definitely time for bed!... read more

R: Polonnaruwa was a 90 minutes drive from Kandalama. We started the day with another Sri Lankan breakfast - hoppers, dhal, curries and bread. Mmmm. Then we hit the road. Polonnaruwa is an ancient city that was used by one of the kings of Sri Lanka as a capital when Annurhadpura became indefensible against the South Indian attacks. When this happened, they also had to move the sacred tooth relic which a new temple being built to house the tooth of Buddha that has been revered in the country for centuries. First stop - the visitors centre. Now we have learned that Ranjan doesn't like museums - perhaps because he wants to tell us all of the information himself. Perhaps he is worried that what they will say will be different to his version, or maybe ... read more

R: We started this trip in a way we were not accustomed to - a sign board in the airport with our name on. For the next 8 days we are being chauffeured around Sri Lanka by our trusty guide, Ranjan. We had had an overnight flight from London with Srilankan Airlines - a perfect opportunity to start the day with a spicy breakfast, and this was a sign of things to come. After accidentally misunderstanding the use of a decimal point in the currency, and subsequently ordering £1 in cash from the cash machine, we left the airport (*another transaction was also made after holding up the line for about 10 minutes). It was a 4 hour ride up to Kandalama Lake, our first stop. The drive was eye opening - and made me consider ... read more