Sri Lanka 3 - Elephants & Kandy

Pinnewalla, Sri Lanka

Monday, 9th - Wednasday 11^th January, 2012

A small, sinewy, grey-haired mahout with a determined eye, stands facing forward in front of a rather peckish group of around 50 elephants who want to get home for dinner. They are mostly females, infants and youngsters. He is wearing a checked cotton lunghi around his waist that comes down to his knees and is bare chested. He carries a thin wooden piece of wood or cane. He utters sounds that are one of the many command words mahouts use that all sound the same to me, a bit like a sergeant major on the parade ground, barking out something like “hutt, hutt!”. The u is short and the t has great emphasis.

All the elephants stand behind him looking up the slope towards home. They have all been in the river for about an hour and a half, the babies climbing over each other and trying to drown their companions in a constant game of rough and tumble. The mothers look on and patiently let them suckle whenever they want to before they rush back to their games. All the elephants drink deeply and sometimes spray themselves and each other with water. The teenagers still hang around with their mothers and the herd clearly has a top female and her sisters and aunts help to keep order.

There is nothing so enchanting as watching an elephant get up from having a bit of a lie down and a bath, to then hear the thwack of a wet ear hit the side of their head. The mahouts get them to lie down and they carefully scrub them from the tip of their trunk to the end of their tail with a piece of coconut husk that they frequently pare down with the huge knife they carry in their waist.

Mahouts are the only people in Sri Lanka who are allowed by law to carry a knife on their person. They also carry their stick and an ankh. The ankh is a short pole with a two pronged curving hook on the end that they use on pressure points on the elephant to give commands. Sometimes the elephants trumpet out if they have a dispute and the sound is thrilling and carries far. The mahouts are constantly on the watch as juveniles try and wander off and the mahouts have to dash around giving orders to get them back into the group area where they can be kept an eye on.

Picture the scene before us as we sit on the terrace of the Elephant Park Hotel drinking lemon soda or tea: a broad expanse of slow moving, fairly shallow, river that runs over great boulders and rocks with deeper pools for the elephants to wallow in. On the far side is jungle and hills rising in the distance. There are all sorts of river birds, cormorants, egrets, storks and lapwings. Also bee eaters and many other small birds we can't identify. Further up stream and also down stream people come to do their laundry and wash themselves, so you also hear the thwack of clothing on rocks and the sound of children laughing rising over the beautiful song of the river.

Most people visit the elephant orphanage for a couple of hours and then move on to their next sightseeing venue but we are staying for 3 nights and get to watch the whole day. Firstly, in the early morning, a special group are brought down to the river. This comprises 3 huge tuskers with the mahout riding on their backs. They have long chains hanging from their necks and, once in the river, are chained by one foot to one of the iron rings attached to the rocks next to a deep pool . They are kept apart from the others and given a good scrub whilst lying down. The rest of the group are very old, disabled, very young or ill.

Later, when they have gone back up the hill, the main group arrive. You know when they are coming because a klaxon sounds that tells everyone to get out of the way in the narrow dusty lane. At this time there is usually a crowd of tourists who then leave and we have the tranquil river scene all to ourselves. This is repeated all over again in the afternoon and is a source of endless fascination to us all, but particularly Celia, who can't really be spoken to when she is watching the elephants and which she calls 'Elephant Time'.

When it is time for the elephants to go home they are gathered in a group at the start of the lane leading away from the river. The old mahout holds them in check, just allowing them to move a couple of fee at a time, until he gets the signal that the lane is clear and the klaxon sounds and they're off, sucking up dirt and spraying it over their wet backs as they go. No matter what is going on the babies are always in the middle of the group and sticking close to their mother. Any onlooker with food in their hand or pocket will have that snaffled pretty quickly and the shop keepers up the lane often put their shutters down when the elephants go by as they are into everything. Did I mention the lovely smell of elephants? It's sort of grassy, dry and slightly horse like.

Up at the orphanage there are babies to feed with bottles, and fruit to be fed to the elephants – quite a commercial operation. There is no information at all to go with the rather grand entrance area. This means you don't know how successful they are or what work is being done to rehabilitate, release or care for these elephants and that would be a useful aide to fund-raising if people could see evidence of their plans, setbacks and successes.

“It's alright we've sent for the Monk”

One morning we went to the Millennium Elephant Foundation (MEF). A very small operation with around 20 elephants. As we arrived at the door we were told that we could not go in as an elephants had suddenly gone into musth and it was too dangerous to enter. As we were standing wondering what to do an elderly man came up to us and said that we could come in and stand at the back as – and I quote - “It's alright, we've sent for the monk”. Why this could possibly help the situation was a mystery to me. However, this man was clearly in charge and we were allowed in where we saw a huge tusker swaying restlessly on the other side of our small covered area in a sexually aroused state.

"It's alright, we've sent for the Monk"

Everyone was silent and you could have cut the tense atmosphere with a knife. As I glanced round the man who had let us in was standing behind me with a dirty great rifle, that I realised was a tranquilliser gun and he was moving around in the background, ready to fire if necessary. The mahouts were all a good distance from the elephant and bits of roofing and wall were lying around where the elephant had charged and battered bits off.

Then, as if by magic, a monk of about 50 or 60 was in front of the elephant. He was wearing his saffron robe and gold rimmed glasses and speaking in a very quiet voice, all the while feeding it bananas and sweet corn, being handed to him from a distance by a very nervous looking mahout.

We were all mesmerised by this very small person looking straight at the elephant in a casual way, talking, occasionally caressing his trunk and head and popping bunches of bananas straight into his mouth. This went on for about 15 minutes and then at a signal from the monk as he continued to feed the elephant, the mahouts began to put ropes around the elephant's legs and secure them temporarily. 

 The monk then led him a few feet and the mahouts started to chain him so that his legs were shackled so that he could only walk in small steps. When this was done the mahout climbed on the elephant's back and the monk led him off into the distance where he would be put in a separate enclosure for a while. Then everyone started breathing and talking again.

It turns out he has owned the elephant for 35 years and lives next door. Apparently in elephant hierarchy the monk was viewed as the leader and therefore had some control over him in this situation that the mahout did not. So telling us that “It's alright, we've sent for the monk” made perfect sense! The MEF had lots of information about their work and their successes which was really interesting. We also spoke to a couple of volunteers there who said they absolutely loved it and that the people running it were really kind and committed.

Late Storks and Early Bats - evenings by the river

Sunset was an absolutely fantastic time to be at Pinnewalla. The shops were shut, the tourists had left and there were very few guests at any of the two hotels where we were on the river. We'd meet up with John and Terry and drink gin and tonic or whisky and see all the birds coming home to roost: Paddy birds coming in one by one to roost in a particular tree. Egrets and storks going overhead and all the small birds whirling round before finding their spot for the night. All the while the sun was casting golden rays on the flowers and foliage, palms and tall trees around us. Then ,as the light began to fade, huge fruit bats started filling the sky as they came from the opposite direction to the birds to start feeding for the night, passing so close we could see them clearly as they swooped in. A quiet dinner and then bed – bliss knowing we could do this all again for two more nights.

Kandy – Wednesday 12^th January 2012

Watched the elephants for the last time amidst a wedding party at the hotel complete with loads of drumming and blowing of horns and everyone in rich, beautiful costumes. We got in the car and headed back to Kandy with John and Terry.

This time the weather was perfect and the golden roof of the Temple of the Tooth glowed in the sun and the lake sparkled. The air was fresh and warm and the sky a perfect blue.

We checked in to the Sharon Inn again and this time had room 9 at the very top of the Inn with the most spectacular views of the town, lake and temple.

We immediately set off in tuk-tuks to see the Botanical Gardens at Peradenyia and they did not disappoint. They are magnificent. Gigantic specimen trees, huge lawns, palm avenues, an orchid house full of exotic blooms, topiary garden, herb garden, medicinal garden, ferns, flower garden, rose garden and ponds, all bathed in sunshine and perfectly maintained and a great little restaurant. We stayed until closing time and then took tuk-tuks back to the lakeside in the centre of Kandy.

“Yes the eagles always fish here at this time”

As we got out of the tuk-tuks towards sunset there were two enormous fish eagles swooping and whirling out of the sky. One of them was pursued by a few crows as it swept down to try and grab a fish in it's talons and it succeeded and flew away. The upside of a sacred lake is that nobody fishes it so the eagles have easy pickings as it is teeming with fish. The second eagle was being mobbed by a huge flock of crows and they were relentless in their pursuit of it, never stopping for an instant to harry it every which way it turned. Once we got the binoculars out we could see why – it had a crow in it's grip! The boatmen told us that this sometimes happened when a crow got too close. 

 This marvellous aerial display went on until the light went and we needed a drink then and repaired to the bar of the Queens Hotel for cocktails. John and Terry's presence has definitely increased out booze intake! We then had to go into the adjoining pub, as it's the only proper one we've seen in a few months and drink more. Thought we would be late for dinner at the Sharon Inn but needn't have worried as we had a pair of insane tuk-tuk drivers who shocked all the alcohol out of us by the time we arrived in time for our delicious buffet. John then borrowed the owners guitar and played a few songs for us – very lovely.

Negombo – Friday 13^th January

We took the train from Kandy to Colombo Fort. It is a breathtaking ride through tea estates, and lush hills andmountains, past quaint old stations and villages. The usual food and drink sellers coming through the train all the time.

However, as we neared Colombo a parade of beggars came along and it got crowded with commuters. 4 hours later, and with numb bums, we spilled into the whirling mass of Colombo and got a car to drive us to Negombo - it's not far but the traffic in the city is pretty bad and it took 1.5 hours. However, drinks and food soon revived us all at the ever reliable Swiss restaurant.

Our Last Day in Sri Lanka - Saturday 14^th January 2012

Spent a lazy afternoon with John and Terry at the Jetwing Blue Hotel as you can pay to use their pool. We had a lovely time lounging, swimming and chatting and although very excited about our next hop to Thailand, will miss being with them as it's been great spending time with good friends – especially drinking and having a laugh and hearing all the news from home. Sri Lanka has been a fantastic experience as the island holds so many terrains, climates and wonderful wildlife. The people here have invariably been most kind and helpful and we've had lots of fun.

Suddenly it's 10 p.m. And we're off to the airport with John and Terry waving goodbye to us – felt quite emotional suddenly but soon got over it and got all wound up with anticipation about Bangkok!

Sri Lanka 2 - Induruwa, Negombo, Unawatuna

Induruwa, Sri Lanka - Friday 30^th December 2011
As we drive north along the west coast the devastation is still apparent from the 2006 tsunami in many places, however Sri Lankan recovery is robust and there are plenty of places to stay and visitors to fill them. We arrive at Long Beach Cottage – an unprepossessing entrance through a gate on the main road, to find a charming guest house with a small garden. At the end of the garden a small shaft of brilliant light shines through an opening. Stepping through it you are standing on a wide and incredibly long expanse of golden sand and blue sea. This little place is less developed and doesn't have anything going on except quiet and relaxation. There are a couple of hotels near by but not huge or noisy.


We're welcomed by the owners, a Sri Lankan man and his German wife. They have been running this place for at least 20 years and are thinking about retiring in a couple of years time. The dinners are Sri Lankan buffet style – light and delicious without any grease or oil, although they tone down the heat for the likes of us.

The Sri Lankan owner tells me of the difficulty in getting good staff who will stay for longer than a few months. A lot of work is to be had in the Gulf or in the big 5 star hotels, so quite often someone will come to work for him while they are waiting for their next assignment elsewhere. This means as soon as he has trained them they leave – this is all told to me with a sorrowful countenance and air of resignation. I suggest perhaps employing women who are local? The response is that twice he has employed local girls and both of them then promptly met and married his guests in quick succession! So this idea has been abandoned. Nonetheless, they manage to run a very welcoming house.

New Year's Eve 2011

The day was spent quietly. Went to the hotel next door for a sundowner and managed to procure a bottle of Shiraz to take back to have with dinner as Long Beach only sells beer. Our fellow guests were a mix of Germans and English, only ten or twelve of us in all. What can I say? The evening started in a sedate manner and I thought that was how it would go on – however entente cordiale broke out and John Pendlington started talking to everyone and before we knew it we were drinking too much and having fun. A bonfire was ready on the beach and we all went down and sat under the stars drinking and laughing and attempting to sing in tune, the owners included.

As you looked up and down the beach you could see other fires here and there. From around 10 – 12.30 there were fireworks being set off up and down the beach – the big hotels further up had really spectacular displays and we felt as if we had the best seats in town. Looking at that starlit sky and thinking of our loved ones under that same sky was lovely and when midnight came we sang “Should old acquaintance ….” and felt absurdly emotional, shedding a tear or two – must have been the drink!

A bit of fighting broke out at a nearby hotel – we could hear the Sri Lankan beach boys shouting and brawling with each other and decided it was time to retreat back to the garden around 2.30 a.m. Then the Arrack came out – coconut whisky – that was the beginning of the end for John Pendlington's evening. This stuff has a kick like a mule and at John's instigation and a few shots of that and we were playing parlour games! You cannot imagine anything more ridiculous than explaining the rules of 'Who am I?' from one drunk to another in smatterings of German and little comprehension of English on their part. Having said that, the games went brilliantly and all credit to John that he managed to explain the rules successfully – it was hilarious.  Bed around 3.30 am congratulating ourselves on still being able to stay up late and whoop it up sometimes.

Sunday, 1st January 2012
NOT so hilarious this morning – with the Arrack head falling off the pillow and rolling across the floor. Our car and driver arrived around noon and we said our goodbyes to our lovely hosts and set off back to Negombo to stay at the Village Inn, on the strip opposite the Rodeo bar, where all the ex-pats get together to drink. We skyped James and Katie, John and Terry and called Mark in Spain – good to wish them all a Happy New Year. Ate Weiner Schnitzel at a quaint Swiss restaurant up the road and to bed early.

Negombo – Monday, 2nd January 2012

Nuts

Our friends Terry and John arrived this evening from Bristol and it was great to see them. We are spending two weeks together before we leave for Thailand and they will then spend another two weeks touring further in Sri Lanka before they move on to the Maldives for another fortnight.

The next day we went to visit Hilary and Buddika at the Serendib Guest House and had sundowners and they again gave us great help and advice and arranged a car and driver for us for the next day. We went for dinner at Lords restaurant, run by an English guy who is a dead spit of Neelix from the Star Trek Voyager series – especially when he bought the delicious dishes to the table and explained what they all were with a sibilant S in his speech. The entertainment was a Sri Lankan cowboy trio and every tune they played sounded almost identical – just the words changed. The lead singer had a good voice but was unable to pronounce any consonants and that made for interesting listening.

Unawatuna – Wednesday, 4th January 2012
We start our adventure with John and Terry. We go back down the coast to a turtle hatchery, which was interesting, and then on to the resort of Unawatuna. It's a beautfiul little golden bay with a reef, so the swimming is easy. Hotels, guesthouses and restaurants completely surround it and they are right on the sand. The tsunami swept a lot of the beach away so it is quite narrow and the place is full of tourists – some of them are the wrong colour entirely having underestimated the power of the sun here.

We have booked a guest house that is up the hill away from the main tourist area – only ten minutes walk – and it is like entering a different world. Purple faced black monkeys with the longest tails you have ever seen are sitting in the trees near the gate. They are not like the grey langurs as they are shy and not given to stealing laundry from balconies as in so many other places. They are leaf eaters and sit quietly snacking and are very beautiful and then move gracefully off through the tree canopy. 

 Kingfishers call and dart about and we realise we have arrived at Villa Inn Paradise. We go up to the terrace and look out on the trees and the garden and pool and are enchanted. The owners, Roger and Maureen, are from the UK and spend 6 months of they year running the place. They are retired and the place pays for itself so profit is not a big deal for them. It just means they get to live here very comfortably on the top floor and they like to be busy and meet people. They have a great team of staff and everything runs smoothly.

We see golden orioles, bird of paradise fly catchers (male and female), sun birds that are like humming birds with iridescent wings, red vented bulbuls, drongos and a host of other birds we couldn't identify. All the while we hear their calls making a sound-scape to match the landscape. Swimming in the pool is divine and relaxing and chatting is the order of the day. In fact, it was so quiet and peaceful that a  large brown snake slithered lazily across the terrace in front of us and disappeared among the plant pots. The silence continued for a while as we were too gobsmacked to say anything. 

There is a small monastery next door which is all a bit crumbly and the young monks play cricket in their breaks. Roger reliably informs us that the abbot is a drunk and has sold off anything the place had and has let it go to rack and ruin. Ooh! The things you find out when you scratch the surface.

Thursday, 5th January 2012
Roger has his own auto-rickshaw or tuk-tuk and takes John and John out shopping with him to Galle – not to the lazy quiet fort but the noisy bustling town itself. They come back looking as if they have been on a whirligig for a couple of hours – they enjoyed it but are glad to get off!
We have a Sri Lankan curry buffet at the villa with the other guests, a mix of Scandinavians, Germans and French as the sound-scape changes to all the night calls of crickets, other unidentified insects and bats whirl above us.

Friday, 6th January 2012
Set off around 7 a.m. To go on a boat trip to a nearby brackish lake that is partly salt and partly fresh water. It is very shallow and we get in narrow catamarans and are poled around past small coir works where the family business is to break the coconut husks up and dry them then turn them into ropes, matting etc. They wave and smile as we go by and I can't help wondering what they think of us and our lives as we look at theirs – no answers come to mind.


We visited a small sacred temple island with a Buddhist temple and monastery school - very quiet and serene. Then on to a small spice island where the villager made us cinnamon tea and showed us how they strip off and curl the bark from young cinnamon whips – it is raised in the same way as a hazel coppice so that they can cut and come again frequently. He explained that to hand cut and curl the bark is now only done for tourists and that all other production is mechanised.

Then it was back to the mainland for a quick look round a spice garden and turtle hatchery before breakfast at a beach side hotel where there was a Sri Lankan wedding in progress. They are such good looking people and were all dressed in fabulous outfits and we made rather a dull contrast to the colour and sparkle of the wedding. One little girl wearing a stiff netting party dress in pink reminded me of party dresses that my sister Clare and I wore when we were little - around 1960! She then twirled in a circle and showed off how it swung and swished just as we once did.

On the way back we stopped to see the local fishermen balancing on stilts to catch their fish, though they seem to make more of a living from tourists by posing for photos and carrying young ladies back and forth in the surf so they can have a try at landing a catch. However, they did catch a few small ones - the fishermen that is.

Saturday, 7th January 2012
It's a beach and swimming day and very nice it was too – John and Terry tried to snorkel but the sea is rather milky here so they had to give it up – you need to go further out beyond the reef to get clearer water. On the way down the lane Terry was startled by a big land monitor lurching from a ditch next to her and scuttling past with a lizard in it's mouth, off down the road to find somewhere quieter to eat it's lunch - that woke us up. Later we took two tuk-tuks into Galle Fort for a walk on the ramparts and sundowners at the Rampart Hotel. Dinner at Mamas rooftop restaurant listening to the call of the mosque.

Sunday, 8thJanuary 2012
Plague strikes us all – except Terry. We believe the cause is last night's dinner but you never really know. Well enough in the evening to go back to Galle Fort and eat the best pizzas in town at Anuras restaurant. Back at the guest house we meet Dan from Canada – he works for the Canadian Embassy in Cairo – so that was an illuminating conversation on the scene there right now. He is a fluent Arabic speaker and struck me as a great example of an enthusiastic young person working hard in a difficult world to improve things.

Trotters Independent Traders, Galle

Sri Lanka 1 - Negombo to Galle Tour

Serendib

Negombo – Thursday,15^th December 2011

Flew in on the morning flight from Cochin and stayed at the lovely Serendib Guest House in Negombo just north of Colombo for 2 days, run by the fantastic Hilary and Budika, who then organised our trip around the Sri Lankan “Cultural Triangle” of Polonnaruwa , Sigiria, and Dambulla.

Detail of the Day: Negombo is mainly Christian in this predominately Buddhist country, and the run up to Christmas was in full swing with shop and TV promotions, sales staff with Santa hats, blue and red inflatable Santas, and, most worryingly, Cliff Richard's Christmas Hits playing at the restaurants – Bah! Humbug.

Polonnaruwa – Saturday,17 December

Polonnaruwa

Set off with our driver Indika, a charming man and an excellent driver. Arrived in the afternoon. This is a huge site with the remains of the ramparts clearly visible to a height of about 4 or 5 feet. Beautifully built walls and the ruins of assembly halls and palaces, water gardens and walkways. Some carving remains on the ruined buildings and it was clearly detailed and refined – elephants going all around the base of the assembly hall and carved pillars. 

Polonnaruwa

 Once again we had the duff guide – chewing betel and mumbling and chuckling – who was then brought extra supplies of something in a paper wrap by a boy on a bike when we were half way round. Whatever it was he had taken didn't improve his diction. That's the last guide we are having!

Polonnaruwa

The last part of the site we saw was the most wonderful part. In a tranquil space are the huge Buddha carved from a granite cliff. Sitting, standing and recumbent. Even the pillow that the head lies upon has a beautiful indentation – carving of the very highest standard shows the peaceful expression. Monkeys run around and palm squirrels run up and down.

Polonnaruwa

Onward then to stay at the Peacock Solitude Guest House – no one else there. A vast and gloomy dining hall where we sat in lonely splendour and were served dinner and then gazed at continually by the manager and his staff as the rain fell. An equally gloomy though clean room amongst the palms to sleep in.

Sigiria - Sunday,18 December

Up early and a quick breakfast as the owner said prayers in front of a small shrine with a Buddha and a couple of Hindu gods for good measure, with incense burning.

Sigiria

The rock fortress of Sigiria suddenly rises up out of the plain and dominates the landscape and it is a daunting sight. The approach is through water gardens with ancient rock carved small fountains and rills of water running through everywhere – most enchanting. There were very few of us making the early climb, so it was quiet and peaceful.

Then you enter through a cleft in two huge boulders to start the ascent. It is about 650 feet and the stairs are very steep, particularly the last part, where you pass through the lions paws. These are all that remain of a lion statue where the mouth was the original entrance. The paws are huge and give a feeling of awe that these ancient people created such wonderful carvings from these rocks. The remaining stairs are the steepest and are like iron fire escapes – definitely don't look down!

The reward is the most incredible views across the country in all directions. In the distance a gigantic gleaming white statue of the Buddha, forest all around us, lakes and mountains wreathed in moving strands of cloud. The top of the fortress is full of extensive ruins to look round too. 

 As we started our descent you could see the tourists walking in droves, heading for the rock – so early morning was clearly the best time to be there. Peering over the edge we saw a falcon hunting below us – quite a sight. Very wobbly knees when you get to the bottom of the rock and bathed in sweat but wouldn't have missed it for anything.

Dambulla

In the afternoon we arrived at the base of the climb to these rock cut temples. Quite a steep group of steps up and then it started pouring with rain – fortunately had umbrellas with us. 

Celia offered to share hers with a Japanese girl who was starting to get bedraggled and we toured the temples together.

There are five temples in all and you just walk around in them open mouthed. These are massive caves carved from the rock and they are full of statues of the Buddha. 

All the walls and ceilings are covered in beautiful frescoes showing very detailed scenes from history and the life of the Buddha in fantastic colour.

All this time we are walking barefoot in the warm rain on warm stone walkways between the temples – a rather enjoyable experience. By the time we climbed down our legs were really worn out and wobbly so we gratefully climbed in the car with Indika, who was highly amused by our fatigue, and made for Kandy in the hills.

Detail of the day: The lovely Japanese girl told us that the statues of the Buddha in these temples are very interesting for her as they are shown sitting and recumbent, whereas in Japan they are only shown standing.

Kandy - Monday, 19 December

We reached the ancient capital of the Kings of Kandy in late afternoon. A man-made lake in the middle of town and the temple of the tooth relic sits at the side – a most holy site. We stayed at the Sharon Inn on the hill overlooking the town and ate the most delicious Sri Lankan buffet – banana flower curry, chicken curry, red rice, dhal, coconut sambal, plus 3 or four types of vegetable of which only aubergine we recognised. The food here is very light compared to Indian food and not at all oily. It has a lot of heat but also an emphasis on variety and colour.

John developed a very bad cold that he caught on the plane from India so our sight seeing in Kandy was only in the afternoon. However, we managed a walk round the bustling town and lake, finishing off with a dry Martini in the old colonial style bar at the Queens Hotel, which seemed to lift the spirits! Bought an umbrella as it is a bit rainy although still warm.

Back at the guest house for another fab buffet and shared the table with two Germans, a Spaniard, and two Australians. The owner, Fais, brought out his guitar and he and John took turns to play songs and we all sang as the beer was consumed. Lots of Beatles and Paul Simon.

Nuwara Eliya – Tuesday, 20 December

Peradenyia Junction Station

Train from Kandy to Nuwara Ellyia (known as Little England). Our kindly host gave us excellent advice about the train service and arranged a rickshaw to take us to Peradenyia Junction, as this is the best place to get on board rather than Kandy and more chance of a seat. 

Peradenyia Junction is a step back in time, from the small cardboard printed tickets (just like you used to get on the London Underground) in a vague mauve colour, to the old signal box, the signalling equipment in the station and the furniture.

Needless to say, there was not a seat to be had so we propped our cases up by the open carriage door and had quite a comfortable journey gazing out on the wonderful scenery as we ascended to the higher hill country and the tea estates. 

 John describes it as every boy's dream to sit with the carriage door open and lean out and see the train snaking away ahead of you on the curve of the hill.

There was also an itinerant musician on board with a drum and harmonica and an appalling voice performing the same song (sic) in each carriage - we believe he makes his money from people giving him something to go away (just like John).

We were befriended by a teenage Sri Lankan girl but I realised that what she really wanted was to be introduced to Ziggy, the handsome Australian we were sitting with – I duly obliged. Her mother kept peering round from her seat and smiling in an encouraging way. The Australian wisely stayed friendly, polite and slightly distant and everyone was happy.

That train journey was just one of the best things ever - the tea and coffee seller came up and down regularly, as did peanut, baked goods, biscuit sellers. The conductor was very smart and clipped our tickets after careful inspection, then the railway policeman came and said hello and pointed out to everyone when a particularly good view was coming up, then the guard came by occasionally – each uniform was different and the caps were worn at a jaunty angle with more than a hint of braid.

Arrived at Nuwara Eliya in the middle of the afternoon and what a shock! We have been hot for nearly 3 months and suddenly it is really cold and raining. The hills are shrouded in mist and cloud and everything feels damp – including our hotel and the beds. Fortunately, the taxi driver that took us from the station said he had a guest house and we looked at it on the way to our hotel. So we called him back and stayed at the splendid Hill View Guest House instead. It was so cold we had to get into bed to warm up. John loved the fact that there was a duvet and you could snuggle under it – Celia wasn't so sure! A good dinner cooked by the lady of the house and sleep.

The day we woke to continual rain and cold – still, this is the highest town in Sri Lanka. So we took a soggy trip round the Lovers Leap tea factory that had a wonderful smell and was very old. Sipping tea and looking out over the tea estate was great. The tea from these very high estates is of the highest quality and is expensive.

In the afternoon, our usual trick of finding the best hotel and having a cocktail was a success. We pitched up at the very posh Grand Hotel and made our way to the wood panelled bar and ordered a Margarita and a Dry Martini. It had a lovely aroma of tobacco and spirits with a most welcoming and expert barman. A second drink was required and a challenge to the waiter to a game of snooker in the adjoining billiards room – also wood panelled and containing 3 huge tables, lights, high viewing chairs and no people.

Needless to say the waiter won hands down and then he and another waiter showed us their trick shots. This prompted John to show them his table top magic tricks with coins and cigarettes. A very good way to spend a rainy afternoon in a tea hill station. We walked round town and admired the red brick 19^th century post office – got a bit wetter and retreated to our hotel for dinner.

Ella Falls

Surprised at how little we enjoyed the wet and cold weather and now keen to get back down to warmer climes. Sri Lanka is so varied though and up here they can grow pretty much any vegetables, fruits and salads, so the island benefits from this good earth and range of climates. The tea is very good here – actually it's very good everywhere.

Tissamaharama – Thursday, 22nd December

Hired a car and driver to take us down from the hills to Tissa on the coast. Fantastic drive down through beautiful scenery. We stopped at Ella and admired the magnificent water fall. As we stood looking Celia noticed a large brown snake basking on one of the rocks below the bridge we were on and were assured by our driver that it was highly poisonous – so John decided not to go down and get a closer shot after all.

Our driver found us a place to stay as we had failed to find anywhere ourselves on the phone or online. It was called Travellers Home and it was set in the paddy fields. Our sit-out looked straight out to them and we saw lots of different birds, including Black Headed Ibis, and white Herons, plus Langur Monkeys in the palms above us, just sitting there – although of course rice fields mean lots of water and lots of water means mosquitoes – so you really have to cover up and spray yourself carefully with repellent.

On our journey we had stopped at a roadside stall and bought the wonderful buffalo curd, that comes in rough earthenware pots tied up with paper and string, plus a bottle of home made kittul (palm syrup) also known as treacle. We had this for dessert – delicious!

Yala National Park - Friday 23^rd December

Up and out at 5 am to go on a Jeep safari to Yala National Park, sharing the ride with Arno and Sonia from Germany and Tom from Holland. Very rough roads on the approach and in the park. It rained pretty much the whole time, however we got to see loads of wildlife.

There were: painted storks with glorious colours, fish eagles looking magnificent and imperiously ignoring us even when we were up really close, monkeys, three elephants (what a pleasure to see them grazing on trees and shrubs in their own environment without interference in their lives), sambal deer and smaller deer, and of course great big mugger crocodiles.

As for birds, there were jungle fowl (the national bird of Sri Lanka and magnificent in their brown and red), egrets, herons, cormorants, storks, coots, great big mugger crocodiles, exquisite bee eater birds in glorious red, green and blue colours, two types of kingfisher, Brahminy flycatcher with red beneath his tail.

There was also a wonderful sighting of a jackal as he trotted through the bush and then out on to the track in front of us, skirted back into the bush to avoid us and then out again to carry on his journey. The highlight of the day was a huge Indian Python wrapped around a large land monitor – the struggle would take all day and the guide said the snake would probably win in the end.

We stopped for a break on the coast and were allowed out of the Jeeps to walk around but were given strict instructions not to leave the beach. We could see small fishing boats pulled up on the shore at the far end and a few recently built huts. This used to be a thriving fishing village until the Tsunami in 2006 completely destroyed it. The water went inland for a couple of kilometres as it is so flat. 

We didn't see a leopard – they don't like the rain, however we saw very fresh leopard tracks in the sandy soil on the road, alongside elephant prints, and that was good enough.

Galle - Saturday 24^th December

Suddenly it's Christmas Eve and our thoughts turn to home and we make the journey by car to old and venerable Galle Fort, (pronounced Gaul) where we are staying for Christmas. Staying at the Old New Dutch House, complete with wi fi so we know we can Skype home. To get to the fort you drive through the town of Galle, bustling, noisy, full of traffic and people, loads of shops and the big fish market on one side and the small fishing boats coming in and out with their catch, being hauled up the beach.  

Then you pass though immense walls and you are in the old fort and into a completely different world - a world heritage site in fact. The whole place is crammed with Dutch colonial buildings and most of them are exquisite, however it is the life you glimpse through the open doors, past the wooden pillars on the porticos, into deep and cool rooms that lead into interior courtyards that fascinate. You see and feel the rhythm of life that has not changed much in 100 years or more, apart from the advent of electric light. Everyone knows their neighbours, elderly men cycle past in a stately fashion, children scamper around. Muslim women walk slowly in dress that varies from the full black total cover to just the head covered.

 The ramparts, wide and imposing, encircle the fort and at dusk everyone is out taking the air on them. Children run kites, women gossip, men stroll with arms round each others shoulders. As the sun starts to set the mosque calls to prayer and the lighthouse starts to glow. Meanwhile, at the top end of the fort, in the army barracks they are bringing down the flag while a bugler plays”Sunset”. 

 In the Rampart Hotel, a vast and echoing colonial creature, we sit on their roof terrace, drinking gin and tonic and watching the amazing sunset. There isn't a huge amount of traffic as the roads are narrow and the street vendors have small handcarts that they push around ringing a bell. There are some tourist shops and guest houses, plus a couple of rather posh hotels.

We decide to book Christmas Dinner at Galle Fort Hotel – very classy. The very friendly manager, Oliver, has just taken over and tells us he has inherited a great team of staff. We are very excited about calling home to the family on Christmas Day as Clare has just told us that the parcel of presents from Leela's stall on Varkala Cliff we sent from India weeks ago has arrived.

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We meander through the fort, drinking in the atmosphere and architecture. Everywhere, buildings are being carefully restored to their former glory. Clever ex-pats are buying places to renovate as private villas or as rental homes or boutique hotels, plus the Dutch government have contributed a massive amount of money for infrastructure like new road surfaces in keeping with the fort, and maintaining the ancient walls and sewer systems, and restoring one of the massive garrison sites as a maritime archaeological museum – the building is wonderful but the content is very disappointing.

It feels strange to be so hot on Christmas Eve. Around 10 pm as we pass the old Dutch Church, and the Baptist Church at the top end of the fort, all lit up and having beautiful cribs inside, the hymns echo into the quiet streets and the memory of the other end with the mosque fades away. It is a strangely blended world, where the magnificent cricket pitch, just outside the fort, forms a buffer against the busy town on the other side and binds everyone together in the national passion.

Christmas Day 2011

A morning like any other – breakfast then out for a walk on the ramparts. Many people wish us happy Christmas as we stroll around and it is very, very quiet – hardly any traffic and only a few tourists and a couple of shops open. It is enchanting to be here and we love it. We put on our best threads and Celia indulges in some make-up for the first time since we've been away. John, of course, looks very smart as always – he seems to be able to fold his clothes in a way that makes them look as if they have been pressed. Then it's off to the Galle Fort Hotel for a delicious dinner of crab cakes, duck, Christmas pudding ice cream and Dundee cake – there are lots of other little dishes but that's the mains. We had a bottle of very good white wine and got talking to other travellers doing the same as us – a couple from Maidenhead on an extended 5 month honeymoon and then a couple from Easton in Bristol, so all good fun.

Back to our hotel to Skype home who are 5½ hours behind – the main event for us. It went brilliantly and we saw and spoke to everyone gathered at nephew Daniel's house in Bristol. The parcel we sent from India was opened by Katie and handed out with their cards and everyone immediately put on their scarves and sarongs and paraded them for the camera and it made us both very happy to see them all enjoying themselves – even without us there! (Note to self: are we missed enough by our nearest and dearest?)

We will remember this Christmas with great fondness.

26 – 29 December

Spent our days mooching round the fort and ramparts – immersed in the atmosphere. We moved hotels a couple of times and stayed in a lovely old place for a couple of nights called Ocean View. The room looked out over the ramparts and had a lovely balcony and a rooftop garden with real grass, flowers and a resident tortoise. This was £25 a night for the sea view and £20 without so we had a night in each sort of price range. This compared favourable with the £60 a night for the New Old Dutch House – mind you it was the Christmas rate and a special treat for us.

We met Christine (New Zealander) and Lucy (Australian) who had both also been travelling in India but up in the north east and said it was fantastic. We shared some great evenings of sundowners and dinner with them – swapping travel tales and they have both been to so many different places.

We met a couple of charming French Canadians over drinks at the Galle Fort Hotel, when the bar was crowded and we offered to share our table with them, so that they could get a seat. They were having a month off and were going on to the Maldives and the Seychelles after Sri Lanka. They were great fun and told us all about Montreal and it is tempting to include it in our already extensive list of places to visit in Canada! 

Galle Fort is just so interesting but we have to leave our bubble and get out to the beach for the New Year festivities. So tomorrow we get a car and driver and head west along the coast to Unduruwa.