Now where was I? Ah, after the safari and seeing the all elusive leopard. The next morning we left Tissa for a beach called Dikwella. Sam certainly knows where the best places to stay are. This small 8 roomed hotel was right on the beach with beautiful gardens and friendly staff and dogs! The Kadolana Beach Hotel had been hit hard during the Tsunami and there were photos of the devastation to prove it. Hard to believe now. The beach had beautiful white sand and rolling waves, I loved it. I was there for the full moon and it was a huge yellow ball rising up over the ocean and the glow reflected on the foam of the waves. There were large bats and lots of glowing fire flies, very romantic, well it could have been. ... read more

On the way to Tissa we visited an ancient site of a Buddhist temple from the Mahayana tradition, the one that I am more familiar with and I got a kick our of seeing carvings who’s names I knew. Theravada is the tradition here in Sri Lanka and although the philosophies are not that different, the religious practices are. Tissamaharama is a lively little town and a lot bigger than Ella. It’s hot and dry, but luckily at the hotel, by paying a little extra, I got the remote for the air con. A good move! A huge lake called Tissa Wewa (3rd century BC) dominates the town and makes it at least feel a little cooler than it really is. The important thing here was to organise a safari into Yala national park. I had ... read more

Nurawa Eliya was FREEZING! I couldn’t believe it. Maybe for that reason it didn’t impress me. It says in the Lonely Planet that Nurawa Eliya can be a bit like Scotland, damp and wet. Yes, it is. We drove through many tea plantation along the way which are always pretty and did some tea tasting too. Trust me to like the most expensive. I bought just a small amount. The hotel we stayed at in Nurawa Eliya (pronounced Newrelia) was old fashioned but lovely and they had a pool table. So after dinner Sam and I decided to have a few games. Naturally he beat me every time although I didn’t disgrace myself too badly. But the room was far too small and half the time we had out cues up the wall. It made for ... read more

Much smaller than Polonnaruwa or Anuradhapura but spectacular just the same. The entrance is very, very kitch. The Japanese built a museum and a huge golden Buddha with a row of bright orange monk statues leading up to it. Tacky to say the least. Then there are the usual hundreds of steps and I love the way they manage to make every step a different size so that you can never get into any kind of rhythm! It’s hot and hard work but my trick is to stop and admire the view every few minutes, that way people have no idea that you are so unfit and that your heart is thumping as if it is trying to get out of your chest. There are the usual sellers of trinkets along the way but you can’t ... read more

And there's more............................. read more