Sri Lanka

 Meeting people on the road in Sri Lanka has been fun, straight away I found myself in the company of a fellow traveller on my plane when arriving in Colombo. My first few days were spent in Negombo unfortunately so far i only have the photo above as my digital memory card got corrupted and lost all the photos from my first day exploring, could have been worse as it could have happened at the end of my holiday and therefore no snaps. This happened to a friend of mine on there hols in OZ now i know how gutted they must of felt. Fredrick and Patrizia a couple i met who live in Brussels have kindly said they will email a copy of their photos to me as we had a great day exploring the fish market with a local fisherman. Also took in a few local beers and a great crab supper.

Next we were off to Kandy, got ourselves on a busy local bus for the 3 1/2 hours journey inland, thankfully we all got seats. I found Kandy very peaceful and enjoyed strolling round the lake checking out the odd kingfisher, monitor lizard and monkeys up to mischief. The views were spectacular as you can see in the photos. My negotiations for cheap room rates were also going quiet smoothly.

 

I also managed to take in a Sinhalese Cultural show of dancing and drumming, not to mention the fire eating and walking on hot coals.

Next unawares of the enduring day I had planned i took a local bus to Sigiria 3 hours later i find myself climbing this rock in midday sun using metal steps overhanging the rock face. Had a couple of bouts of Nausea but made my way up and it was worth the views on top as well as the rock carvings on the way up.

Back onto a bus on the same day travelling now with a English girl from London, Sarah we decide to go to Dambulla to see some Buddah's. Another tremendous climb up some never ending stairs was not in my mind when we decided this. However you cant have Buddah's without them. So off we went our second trek for the day.

After this i was definitely up for the rest of my holiday to go at a more sedate pace, so I headed back down the coast to a place called Galle via Colombo which to me looked a bit chaotic and like any Asian city so didn't stick around. I found myself a quaint Dutch villa to stay in very cheap and took myself on a tour around the old town and fort.

The last four days of my holiday i spent by the beach not far from Galle I got myself a Tuk Tuk and headed to Unawatuna crescent shaped bay for a well earned break. This place was beautiful, many of the guesthouse's and restaurants are right on the beach. The swimming is safe no currents and turtles join you in the water. I spent a lot of time reading, swimming, relaxing, eating and drinking.

 My cabin was surrounded by palm trees and gardens where fire flies came out at night. I spent my evenings down on the beach supping beer and reading my book.

It was really weird flying home as I wasn't flying back to the UK, I was off to my own home in India now. I had to endure 3 plane transfers to get back home. Indian airports are crazy, it made me laugh watching Indian women take there valuables out their bags or keep their purses when going through security, many of course were sent back to put all these things through the x-ray, so it took awhile at each place. When I actually arrived back in Ranchi the plane and airport were so small that I almost went to the back of the plane to collect my bag myself. It was a great trip and im at home now thinking what's the next one, so keep an eye out.