Sri Lanka 2025

 Well things seemed completely different today. For a start we woke up to blue skies, and then the guide told us that we might be able to get out today or tomorrow – and that he’d report back later. We’d heard that we could get phone signal on the hillside at the hotel’s farm garden, so after breakfast the group of us walked up the hill, following a stream of hotel staff. At the top we got some mobile signal. This was patchy at best – some of my texts went through, others didn’t, and there was still not mobile data. This was frustrating so after a while we gave up and walked around the town. It was very different from yesterday there, too. The ground was mostly dry and the cleanup was in full swing, with trucks carrying away the litter and debris that had accumulated. There was a long queue for petrol at one station, so either they were running out or other places had already run out. But on the walk back there was a food market that had largely resumed normal business. Aroun...

  We got up this morning fairly optimistic that we’d be going today; it was very windy overnight but the rain had stopped. However our guide had been to the police station and the one place in town with Starlink satellite internet and over breakfast he reported that it’s still not safe to travel. Very disappointing as it means we won’t get to Yala at all, which was our chance for another safari and to see leopards. But that may well not have been possible anyway, we have no idea what infrastructure is intact. Luckily the hotel isn’t running out of food. Apparently the problem is that the same staff have been working for many days now, as they can’t get home and other staff can’t get in. We’re also unable to pay for things as we don’t have much cash and the ATMs and hotel credit facilities are down, so we are relying on the guide’s personal cash reserves. That means we’re spending as little as possible. As the weather is better the group went for   walk around town at 10am....

 This will need to be posted when internet is restored. This morning things were, if anything, less clear than yesterday. No wifi or mobile signal, and our guide had walked down to the police station but they were also cut off. Over breakfast he got word that the road to Yala was clear, presumably from a car that had come that way, and so we were off at 9am. And back at 10am to check back into the same rooms. We tried two ways out of town and both times our bus driver talked to people coming the other way, who said the roads were closed. There was talked that they’d open up in a few hours but with no certainty they’d be safe or would stay open, so a decision was made to stay in Nuwara Eliya another night. The day was spent re-packing, reading, there wasn’t much else to do as we can’t really leave the hotel and we still have no internet access. It could be worse – the reports are of record rainfall and people dead or missing. The day we arrived there was about 420mm of rain here, ...

 Today hasn't run quite as expected. The plan was for a scenic train ride then to visit a couple of waterfalls. However the rain has persisted - the road we took here from Kandy yesterday is now closed due to a risk of landslides. As we st off, our guide explained that he had checked the warnings and the route we were taking was all okay. I suppose it's okay until it's not okay; the bus was fine through some mildly flooded streets but as we left the town a small landslide occurred right in front of us and we narrowly avoided a displaced tree. This was a warning in itself but also sufficiently blocked the road that we couldn't go on. We turned back to the hotel at that point - and on our way back the road flooding was visibly deeper than when we set out. So by necessity we had a quiet day. There was a high tea in the hotel mid-afternoon – the hotel is known for it and the restaurant was quite full. Wifi was intermittent during the day, but by late afternoon it had stop...

 It has cooled down a lot since the rain has set in properly. It's all long pants and enclosed shoes now. And it will get cooler for the next couple of days as it gets higher and wetter. But to go back to this morning, on the way out of Kandy we stopped at a batik workshop, because one woman in the group wanted to get some material. The usual deal, show us the crafting process and some people at work, then on to the showroom where we're shadowed by staff. It was actually quite impressive though, seeing how proper detailed batik is made, not the stuff we did in school. Anyway, we didn't buy anything, never do. Then we wound slowly up into the hills, stopping at the occasional view point. Afte a while we stopped at Glenloch tea plantation. We were walked through the factory to see how the tea is processed; lots of old machines that looked like they were from the 1950s and required a fair bit of manual labour by diminutive Sri Lankan woman. At the end there was a modern machin...

 This morning was spent at the botanic gardens, which was very pleasant. Once we arrived and shuffled in through the Foreigners' Entrance we piled into an oversized golf buggy which took us around for an hour or so - this minimised the inconvenience of the rain and let us see the whole gardens in comfort. It was picturesque and interesting with many varieties of palms, bamboo, orchids and various other things, and a number of trees labelled as having been planted by visiting dignitaries. Around midday we left the gardens and were bussed into the middle of the city. We got out and wandered through the markets and some adjacent streets. The markets were interesting but discourage meat eating. A quick lunch and then we were taken to (sigh) a gem factory. This follows the same pattern as silk factories in asia, carpets in Turkiye, glass blowing in Venice and fabrics in India. There is a demonstration on sourcing the product, then tradesmen at work and finally the showroom, where there ...

 Today was essentially taken up with travel from Sigiriya to Kandy, a town some way south. The first thing to note is that it has rained today without stopping. The whole country is essentially water logged. This is a constant, like monkeys and peacocks. Our first stop was fairly soon, maybe after half an hour, at a place where the many uses of coconuts were demonstrated to us. I suppose you can look up the details if you wish. Then we carried on for a while and stopped at another place where they explained the uses of various spices. On the upset this was in a pleasant garden setting. On the down side, most of their uses related to ayurvedic medicine and they insisted on coming around and rubbing lotions into everyone's arms. Then at the end they tried to sell us very expensive concoctions. There was an associated cafe where we had some lunch. Then a fair bit more driving until we reached Kandy mid-afternoon. We stopped at an old colonial hotel then walked a short distance along t...

 An early start today - a 4.45 pickup by the bus. This meant Lynn was one of those who opted not to come. We went to the ruined temple/palace complex of Sigiriya, quite nearby the hotel, and the early start meant fewer crowds and we were back before the heat and humidity really hit. There are gardens and various structures around the base, but the main feature is the central rock. I think it opens at 5am, so it wasn't crowded when we walked up. It was a mixture of stone stairs, some of which were narrow and uneven, and welded staircases which were straightforward. The whole thing didn't take too long and we reached the top soon after sunrise. My the time we left the summit the area was getting quite crowded. On the way down we passed more structures, including some cave paintings with buddhist themes you can't photograph. Which leads to the existential question of our century - if you don't have photos, have you actually been there? We were back before 8am, which meant ...

 It was kind of just one destination for today's excursion, albeit one in several parts. And we're starting to get Temple Fatigue, which is potentially a big problem so early in the holiday. I am finding the bus rides quite pleasant now, I can recline my seat and lose myself in an audiobook. Lynn definitely doesn't have that skill yet. She got frustrated that the guide's bus speakers were too loud and changed seats several times while trying to find a quieter spot, something that obviously doesn't exist. It was about an hour to Polonnaruwa. Our destination was a large network of ruins, a previous capital of Sri Lanka 800 years ago which was fought over various kings (we weren't listening, but you can look it up on Wikipedia if you like). They were quite beautiful in themselves, regardless of history. Royal Palace Swimming Pool It was big enough that we'd look at a few ruins then get on the bus to be shuttled to the next part. Some of the ruins were Buddhist ...

 This is just a collection of photos and videos from our afternoon: Freshwater Crocodile Land Monitor Lesser Adjutant Common Kingfisher We spent quite a while watching this family group of elephants grazing. They would twist of a clump of grass and then flick it about and whip it against their foot to remove the mud before eating it. Occasionally they'd throw some grass onto their back or kick some dirt onto their trunk and then throw that onto their back, presumably against insects. Water Buffalo Lesser Adjutant Grey Headed Fish Eagle White Bellied Sea Eagle Painted Stork White Breasted Kingfisher Things we saw but were not fast enough to photograph: two mongooses, a jackal.

 Back on the bus after breakfast, and out for the day. Our destination for the morning was the ruined Buddhist monastery at Ritigala. This involved a 45 minute bus ride and then transferring to jeeps for the last 15 minutes as it was a very potholed track up to the base of the hill. The monastery complex is about 2000 years old. At the base was the remains of a reservoir, currently being manually cleared by labourers. Stepped reservoir walls From there a series of stone paths wound up the hill. Every hundred metres or so was a cleared area with the remains of a stone structure. Some were baths or areas for houses, some were circles of stone for walking in meditation. It was all clearly chiselled by hand quite precisely. It took a couple of hours to walk around and make our way back to the jeeps. These took us back to the bus and then followed us to Kaudulla National Park for the second part of the day. Back into the jeeps, which had soft sides and roof that could be rolled back. Ka...

 We both woke up early this morning, so maybe the jetlag will take a bit longer. It was fine as it gave us plenty of time to have breakfast and finish packing for our morning departure. First stop was the fish market. It seems strange that most organised tours we're on seem to incorporate a fish market; is it such an important part of a culture? They're not necessarily pleasant places, usually hot a smelly. And they're a bit like churches in being a place I'd never think to go at home. Fortunately this one was better than most. The variety of fish was fairly interesting and it smelt more fresh than foul. It was adjacent to the beach which is where we ended up. Fish are brought ashore directly to the market and the beach is also where fish are salted in barrels and laid out in the sun to dry. Interesting, at least up to a point. Then we headed inland, north east. Our guide started explaining Sri Lankan history, pretty much from the start, and Lynn became horrified when s...

A good night's sleep has gone a long way to getting over our jet lag... but we'll see, sometimes the first night is okay and then it catches up to you. It seems we're in a large hotel that caters to lots of westerners starting their Sri Lanka tour, at least based on the people circulating at breakfast. After having something to eat we retreated to our room and re-packed and organised after the flight, so we're a bit more sorted out for the coming days. By this time it was late morning and we were due to meet the tour group. We decided an organised tour was an easier and more efficient way to see the country, and Bunnik is an Adelaide based company. It turned out there's only ten people on the tour. They're from a number of Australian capitals and all seem reasonable so far. We met, were given an orientation for an hour and then cut loose again for several hours.\ It is pretty hot (30 degrees or so) and humid; everything drips with condensation. So our time was s...