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.