The end of the tour and we're stii all friendly!

On our last day, we drove to Colombo, did a city tour and had a couple of hours downtime before a walking tour which went on so long that we went straight on  to dinner. 

After almost 2 weeks together, we have managed to stay on good terms.

Our guide - George - has worked hard - not always successfully - to deliver all the elements of the programme despite some floooding and closed roads. However, he also managed to misread the group on a couple of occasions e. g. taking us to a rooftop bar on our last evening for a sundowner looking out over Colombo port when he knew they didnt have a licence - and could only serve soft drink - obviously we didn't stay long!! 

Some of you know our friend Debs in Singapore - being from Lancashire she can be direct and sometimes loud in her conversation. However, our Met Police Detective Inspector - who is originally from Yorkshire but studied in Lancashire - is at a much louder level with an annoying nervous laugh. Every conversation is peppered with 'literally', 'basically' and 'actually' and she seemed to switch off when anyone else was talking - I was quite glad when she disappeared yesterday evening to catch a train for the next stage of her journey

I think I'm done with this sort of tour now. It was a good intro to Sri Lanka and we will definitely plan another visit but think we'll organise it ourselves.

We have an overnight flight to Doha with a connection to Cape Town - arriving just in time for a Burns Supper. That may provide material for mote blog - who knows 🤔🤔

A day in Galle.

I'd forgotten that Sri Lanka had suffered such huge loss of life - 36,000 - and properly damage as a result of the 2004 Tsunami. We visited Peraniya which was the site of the train disaster where 1700  people died and the site of a photo musem with some fairly harrowing images. 

There's a Buddha on the site which is the height of the Tsunami wave and a replica of one of the Buddhas of Bamiyan which were destroyed by the Taliban

We were on our way to Galle for some sea kayaking / paddleboarding - 5km across the bay to a small beach for a rest and then paddled back to town for lunch. 

Having mastered the art of exiting a kayak in the surf,

Linda decided to try her hand  at Paddleboarding 

After a short break to shower and change, we were back inside the fortress at Galle to see the evidence of Portuguese, Dutch and British rule and walk the fortress ramparts and watch the sunset.

Back at the Seaside

We're staying on the beach for a couple of days - resort hotel where everyone else appears to be Russian. Usual mix of fat ladies in thongs, and large men with even larger bellies.

However, there was a good pool, a cocktail bar and miles of beach. 

The receptionist had clearly identified me as the old man of the group and upgraded us to the ground floor disabled access room - extra wide door, shower with a fold down seat and a raised Pedestal toilet - Linda almost needed a set of steps to climb on to the loo.

Hadn't realised it was Saturday, but the live band and cocktails at £3 each made for a lively evening. 

No one mentioned Leeches

Our guide was waiting for us as Reserve gates opened at 7.00 am. Wearing shorts in the presence of a guide wearing leech socks meant that I quickly added legs and tucked them in my socks.

We enjoyed the 7km hike through the reserve, but the forest was quite dense

 and we only spotted a pair of Frogmouth Owls, 

a Malabar Trogon and an Asian Paradise Flycatcher along with a selection of LBJ's - no sign of the Blue Magpie! 

However the overriding memory of the hike will probably be the leeches which were on the path waiting for anything warm-blooded. They were tiny but persistent, latching on to shoes and heading for any access to skin. 

Think Linda was the only one who escaped - maybe because she's cold-blooded 😂😂 Unfortunately we were so busy getting rid of them that no one even took a picture. 

Back on the bus for a long drive to the southern coast with a rest stop for Durian, Rambutan and fresh Coconut water on the way. 

white-water rafting at Kitulgala

No time for hangovers this morning - 6.30 breakfast, packed and on the road by 7.15.for a 2 hour drive.

Greeted with a cold drink and space to get changed and collect life vests, helmets and paddles and transported to start point. Only grade 3 rapids but its been a long time since we last did this.

All went well - nobody fell out - photos to follow as I can't upload Go-pro disc till we get home.

Then into the water for a 20 minute float down river before arriving at our lunch stop.

Another long coach ride to our hotel at the Sinharaja Rainforest Reserve. It would be polite to describe the Blue Magpie as rustic but it was only a few minutes from the reserve entrance so convenient but basic. 

Another Rice and Curry buffet with a bottle of Chilean merlot to wash it down. Early bed - the Mortein room spray was very welcome. 

A night on the town

We had volunteered to check out dinner venues for the group - somewhere with a varied menu and a view 

So we started with cocktails in the hotel rooftop bar to see a sunset which was obscured by a bank of dark cloud.

 However, we had a great view over the city even if the cocktails were not brilliant. 

Moved on to the Sky Lounge for dinner where they only had Lion Lager available - food was quite good but the ladies wanted more cocktails so we had a nightcap in the bar at the Queens Hotel - Kandy's old colonial hotel. 

Settled on their House special cocktail - made with Arrack - which was excellent. 

Unfortunately we attracted the attention of the three wandering musicians who entertained?? us with Neil Diamond songs. 

A day off

After yesterday's rushing around and not achieving very much, we decided to skip the tea plantation visit - already done that - and give ourselves a day off to see the sights of Kandy.

As we walked around the lake we came upon a street trader that Linda couldn't resist - after a week of rice and curry it was worth 5p to step on the scales. 

We were heading for the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya when we noticed a viewpoint called Arthur's Seat so obviously had take a detour. 

Negotiated a fare to the Gardens with a Tuk-tuk driver while declining his offer for a city tour. The city traffic seems chaotic but while they all seem determined to keep moving, there wasn't anything aggressive about it 

The Botanic gardens were excellent with some interesting plant collections and an Arboretum with many very impressive trees - an oasis of calm.

Another Tuk-tuk ride back to the centre and a quick lunch. Checked out a couple of dinner venues and retired to the hotel pool. 

Not what we expected?

Our 3 - 4 hr trek through the Knuckles mountain range turned out to be a 90 minute stroll along a mountain road between terraced paddy fields - hardly worth putting on hiking shoes - let alone full gear, walking poles and 2 litres of water.

Interesting stop to chat with a family who were planting their paddy - whole family involved including eldest daughter who was on leave from college just to help.

Learmed about 'parachute planting' which was much easier - and no bending down required.

Typical lunch in village followed by long drive through the mountains on a busy single track road which took nearly three hours and meant we had a very short visit to the Spice Garden - although there was enough time to get a head, neck and shoulder massage from a trainee ayurvedic masseur to demonstrate the efficacy of their lotions and oils.

The rush continued as we drove to Kandy and a visit to the Temple of the Buddha's Tooth for the scheduled unveiling of the relic.

 Noisy, very busy with tourists, couldn't see anything and felt like we were intruding on the lival people who had come to pray so we left early to find a meal which wasn't curry and rice.

One of our group was up early the next morning and had a much better view of the ceremony

Lion Rock, Sigiriya

1200 steps to the top of the rock - 200m gain. - some on stone steps but quite a lot on steel staircases - not good for anyone with vertigo. Definitely got the heart rate up! 

Amazing to see the foundations of the King's palace, and other buildings and  reservoirs on the top of the rock and impressive water gardens at the base with hydraulic fountains which are still working after 13 centuries. 

It was a public holiday so lots of local visitors but also bus loads of Chinese / Taiwanese tourists which destroyed the peace and quiet. Apparently, they have sometimes even disturbed the Hornets which nest on the rock to the extent that there is now a hornet-proof shelter at the mid-level. 

We visited another temple site in the afternoon - even older temple bikes this  time. Fairly speedy visit so Linda and others could get back for their spa treatments.

Sitting on the terrace with a cold beer watching the sunset

when our Met police Detective Inspector jumped up and screamed as a Toque Macaque which had climbed on the bar, while she was taking pictures, was busy sipping her Singapore Sling (??) through a straw. 😂😂

Elephants

Another early start - packed, breakfasted and on the road by 7.00 am.

First stop was a sacred site at Mihintale with 300 steps to the site and then another 100 each to the Stupa, the Buddha and the rock upon which a monk appeared to the king (in the 4th century BC).

Then we stopped at a small Eco lodge - The Other Corner - for a tour of the vegetable garden and a cookery demonstration. Picked and cooked long beans in spices and coconut milk to add to the 7 other dishes that were already prepared for lunch. Interesting to see how simple the recipe was - came away with a cook book to try at home

Moved on to Minneriya National park for another Jeep Safari - this time looking for Elephants in Mahindra Jeeps. 

Fairly chaotic set up - apparently there's a restriction on the number of jeeps in the park but didn't seem that way. Elephant sightings were few and far between and each time there was a crowd of jeeps jockeying for position.

After a couple of hours in full sun - and 5 elephants - we agreed to head home and, of course then had our best sighting. 

Think we saw more elephants along the highway than we did in the Park and we managed to get to our hotel in time for a sunset swim. 

Curry, curry and more curry

Having curry three times a day may not sound appealing but the curries here are much lighter than those we have at home.

Egg Hoppers with fish curry and fresh coconut sambal for breakfast was a great way to start as is a Sri Lankan Omelette with tomato, onion snd green chilli.

Lunch is generally a selection of spicy vegetable dishes and sambals sometimes with chicken or fish curry while dinner will often be a buffet with two or three meat curry's and 4 or 5 vegetable dishes.

Had a cookery demo at one of our stops, so have a few new recipes to try when we get back. 

Lion Lager appears to be the only beer available so far although we're promised a craft brewery in Kandy 🤞🤞

Even managed a bottle of South African Merlot from Wellington last night, not sure I'd have paid  6000 rupees (£15) for it anywhere else but a change from the lager! 

A Busy Day

The floods are still disrupting our programme with the entrance gate to the National Park still blocked. Instead of an early morning safari, we went first to the temple site at Anaradhapura - two hour coach ride with picnic breakfast - and then on some fairly ancient bikes for a ride around the site and visits to a number of Stupa and other holy sites.

Visiting on a Sunday was very busy with hundreds of people - mostly in white clothes - making their gifts and praying to Buddha.

One of the sites included the oldest recorded tree in the world - a ficus that came from Buddha's place of enlightment. Venerated in Buddhism but not hugely impressive with trunk and roots hidden in a building - made me think of Trigger's brush.

Our guide assumed - correctly - that the group was not interested in ABT - another bloody temple - and we headed back to the Wilpattu National Park via a different gate for an afternoon / sunset safari.

Slightly under-whelmed by 3 hrs bouncing around in the back of a Toyota Hilux with limited wildlife on view

until we came on a male leopard wandering along the trail in front of the truck - very calm, checking and marking his territory and apparently oblivious to the 7 or 8 safari trucks all jockeying for the best camera shot.

 Eventually he turned off and headed for the bush and we headed home, arriving at our hotel by 19.30. 

Wilpattu National Park

We are staying at Backwaters Lodge just inside the Park. A small Eco-Lodge on the banks of the Kalu Oya backwaters with six upcycled containers which have been fitted out as guest rooms - simple but comfortable.

Due to the recent unseasonal rains, the flood waters have reached almost to the lodge building itself which has restricted access to the forest trails but made for interesting kayaking with a strong current making us work hard on the upstream leg.

We had started the day with yoga and after kayaking and lunch we had a boat trip on the lagoon watching a  local fisherman running his lines

and stopped on a sandbank to see the sunset.

We had an  excellent dinner of BBQ crab, fish and prawns at the next door hotel - slightly irritated by the loud young Englishman who was telling the neighbouring table about his travels to almost everywhere in the world - 20 years of back-packing - despite looking about 15 years old!

Day three started with a boat safari through the mangroves

 - didnt find the bat colony but saw a family of Monkeys - Grey Langurs - and quite few bird species - White-bellied Sea Eagles, Brahmimy Kites, Grey Herons, Great and Lesser Egrets, 

Caspian and Little Terns, Black-headed Ibis and a couple of different Storks. 

Another meal, afternoon nap, cycle ride and dinner before we are packed and ready to go at 05 45 tomorrow for a jeep safari in the National Park. 

Our Explore group

After an early morning swim and a leisurely breakfast, we were headed north to Negombo - a seaside resort town on the west coast - about 90 mins drive and the starting point for the trip. Not quite as grand as Mount Lavinia! 

The first night consisted of introductions and a short briefing from our guide followed by dinner in a local restaurant - good food again.

Our guide - George - is Christian Sinhalese ex-teacher. This part of the country has a significant Catholic presence as a reminder that the Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive.

Our travelling companions are Paul and Hillary - a retired English couple - also ex-teachers; Vicky - a single 50-ish Police Officer from Surrey; Matt - a 40-ish from Cheshire in the events business ; and Mel- a 30-ish teacher from Sydney.

Could be an interesting two weeks🤔🤔

 

Day one started with a bit of confusion because George got his baggage spreadsheet mixed up and insisted there was a bag missing - even though we all confirmed that all our bags were accounted for.

Then we mounted our bikes and headed up the coast to Chillaw - about 35km on the flat. 

We cycled through a number of villages each with their own fish markets on the sides of the road and managed to stay safe through the traffic which got busy in places - everyone happy to give way or give us a wide berth.

As a result of the sun and the headwind, we were all glad when we reached our destination and could pop into the supermarket for an ice cream.