Nuwara Eliya

Saji collected us at 10.30 as arranged. We said a fond farewell to Wasantha who had accommodated our every request with a smile. We set off for Nuwara Elia knowing the it would be at least a three hour drive as it would be mostly up the mountains. Leaving Kandy central area was very busy as usual. As we reached the outskirts Saji asked if we would like to visit the National Botanical Gardens. You can guess the response and he pulled over. He suggested we would need an hour and went off to find parking. Even roadside parking in such busy places is managed by a patrolling ticket seller. An hour was just seeing the very central area of the gardens which were extensive and beautiful. Our first stop was the orchid house. The flowers there were stunning with a huge variety of flowers and colours that we would never see in Australia. We did see some everlastings in a border planting and a magnificent Peace flower which has barely survived in Walpole. We took photos galore which we can show you when we get home. Just as we arrived back at the car we saw our first accident. A collision between a motorcycle and a Tuktuk. Fortunately no one seemed to be seriously hurt but the Tuktuk driver had taken the impact on his knee when he was spilled out. He was bloodied but hobbling. His passengers seemed to be mostly shaken up. Saji seemed to think the motor cyclist was to blame and took an interest in the proceedings for a while until we indicted our wish to move on. The road wound ever slowly upward. Our little Suzuki a was mostly travelling at 40km although we did manage 60 km on a couple of short straight stretches. It is not the healthiest little vehicle and there were times when I wondered if it was going to make it up a steep section. Bob even asked Saji if the surging was a petrol filter problem but his rather short response was that it is a gearbox problem. I consoled myself with the thought that even if it developed a problem they would be sure to keep us moving. Tomorrow we are back on the train with a reservation we made from Australia. Saji will drive on with our luggage and meet us at Ella. From there we needed car transport anyway so he will take us through to Galle after which we have train reservations back to Colombo. We stopped at a Tea processing plant which Saji says is the largest in the area. It was a nice break from sitting in the car but the guide we had through the process was obviously burnt out and disappointed that we didn't look wealthier I think. She went through the process which we were already familiar with from Malaysia. The tea tasting was interesting and we bought a kilo in the appropriately sealed packaging so hopefully Customs won't think we are trying to smuggle in something altogether different. We are in a guest house here which has all the necessary facilities but doesn't come up to the luxury of Kandy. We are going out the explore now so more later.

Leaving Kandy

Yesterday was an interesting day of seeing some more sights around Kandy. We drove for about an hour around the usual winding roads which wasn't a very great distance. I think it was about 15 kms to Kadugannawa. Went past a Grade cricket match on the way which seemed unusual to us as it was a Monday. Our destination was the Railway Museum which is in the town where Bob's Great Grandfather was based. We saw through the Museum which was a display of all the types of equipment used since the early 1900's. Unfortunately no written records. Lots of old locos some of had been well restored. They still use the pre technology system of manually handing a "key" over to train crew which authorises them to continue on the line. When I say handing it is a snatch of a very large metal disk in a leather pocket attached to very strong stiff rope in a loop. We saw a handover in action as a train came through the station without stopping and it was a very skilful well practiced act. We also saw the remains of some old buildings but it was pretty evident that the old houses had been replaced and we only obtained a general idea of where Great Grandfather's house might have been. Bob took lots of photos to show the family. From there we returned to Kandy and due to some miss understanding between us and our driver we went to a gem shop. He had said we were going to a Gem Museum but we had placed focus on the word Museum and though we were going to a genuine museum. The Shop did have imitation mine pit and rustic liv8ng accommodation set up but of course a whole second floor of jewellery. We were a bit annoyed and told Saji that we had not asked to go to such a place. He was quite distressed and pointed out he had said that he told us it was a gem Museum. It was just an unfortunate outcome of his rapid speach and the difficulty of hearing clearly from the back seat. We got through the rough patch and continued on into Kandy for lunch followed by a walk around a part of the huge central lake in Kandy. we then went back to our accommodation for a relax given two fairly busy days. I need to point out that Saji is a skilful driver but the roads are hectic with huge buses, thousands of tuktuks, and drivers who don't follow predictable rules. There were Police managing busy intersections in central town but elsewhere is more interesting!

Kandy Day 2

Yesterday our car and driver had a very busy day. We began going about and hour out of Kandy through very beautiful countryside winding along narrow roads. Fortunately being Sunday the roads were quite quiet. The distance probably wasnt very far in kms. The temples were beautiful especially when you discover that they were first constructed in the 1740's. No doubt they have been continually improved and has the ornamentation increased. Each had an enormous Banyan Tree where the Budda was purported to have sat the deliver his counselling. The Hindu Shrine had a beaytiful forcourt constructed of carved ebony posts but the inside has not survived very well. Some damaged carving had been covered with a large wall hanging and I found the very modern face of the diety rather disconcerting. From there we went to a spice garden where they grow all our usual cooking spices. It was tempting to stock up on nice fresh spices but we were worried about having them confiscated by Customs. Instead we indulged in some of their cosmetic items as I haven't ever been harassed about creams. The Sri Lankan tradional dance exibition was held in the dining room of a large hotel. Interestingly the majority of the dances were performed by men though there were a couple of very decorative and supple performances by women. The musical accompaniment was entirely drums and the drummers must have very tough hands for they performed continuously through the performance. We were too tired to bother with a restaurant and ordered dinner with the help of "Pickme" which is the equivalent of Ubereats. We weren't hungry so ordered just one dish and it was incredibly cheap even allowing the driver a tip. Tonight we already have dinner in the fridge with a microwave upstairs. Our hostess persists in giving us huge accompaniments to our order of scrambled eggs as you will see by the photo. Bye for now

Restart Sri La

, Good Morning I have been having trouble with the blogspot site this morning so have decided I just have to leave yesterday's post slightly unfinished and move on. Our driver is a competent young man but when we asked him to take us to somewhere we could have lunch we were not specific enough in our requirements. I began to worry when he took us away from the city block and climbed a mountain. It was a magnificent view but the restaurant was magnificent too and not what we wanted. We took a look at the menu and left much,to Sanjay's astonishment. We told him the food was too heavy and too expensive and he took us to the Cafe area down town where we had a delicious light lunch. Our accommodation is also up a mountain because Kandy is surrounded by them. The home is magnificent with an amazing central wood staircase over about four levels because the house is build down the side of the valley. Our hostess is an Australian of Sri Lankan birth who resides in Brisbane except for about three months of the year. All her other guests had left so she insisted on showing us three room options including the biggest of them all which was a family apartment with a small childrens bedroom. It also a balcony with great views. She said we could have it because we were staying three nights. So we are quite luxuriously ensconced. This was a good thing because Bob became quite unwell which we put down to the omelet he had for breakfast which was laced with unrequested chilli. We weren't hungry because of our late lunch so we skipped going our to dinner and just relaxed. Today our driver is collecting us at 11am which was to give us time to do our laundry. However our hostess has whisked it away to be done by her staff. It will be added to the bill of course but all expenses here are well below Aussie costs. Our later start is also because our driver suggested that we go to the traditional dancing exhibition at 4.30 till 5.30. This means we will miss our usual pm cat nap so we may have another early night. Our driver has a list of places to visit today in and around Kandy so more later.

Sri Lanka Sept 2025

 Hi, travelling again. This time three weeks in Sri Lanka. We arrived here at the hotel at 1-30 am. The flight went well but with a stop over in Singapore it really drew things out. It was only two hours, just long enough to grab a bite to eat and was the shortest stop over available. No direct flights to this small country.

We are staying at a small hotel on the outskirts of Colombo for 3 nights (2and 1/2 really). It is an interesting building almost looks like a restored British era church with very high pitched ceilings. Owner is a  busy, busy man and didn't get the chance to ask him in our brief conversation this morning.

I planned on having a nap this afternoon but crashed while Bob was wrestling with Boost  this morning. He says I was out for about 2 hours. We have just had a tasty seafood lunch  overlooking the water with a cool breeze blowing. There was heavy rain this morning while Bob was still asleep which has kept the temperature comfortable. Gentle introduction..

I will add photos when I can remember how.

Friday 26/9/25

Yesterday we took a TukTuk tour with a young English speaking Sri Lankan. Let me just say at the outset that although we are up at Negombo which is the Northern outskirts  of Colombo I was very grateful that he was skilled at managing the traffic. It has a semblance of road rules here but really it is "he who dares rules". I was holding my breath quite often at intersections.

Our first stop was an undercover, open air fish market where there was an amazing quantity and variety of fish. Everything from white bait to the largest deep sea fish. Outside on mats was at least an acre (Bob says a hectare) of fish drying in the sun. The. Birds were taking a great interest in them but there seemed to be a system of keeping them moving on which wasn't overtly apparent. The two varieties we have seen are a crow like brownish bird called a Growk (?) And small white herons.

From there we visited a locally famous beach which was a yellow sand replica of Scarborough. We dutifully went for a walk,  saw some young men having swimming/ surfing lessons and the adjourned to a very nice restaurant for a traditional lunch. This was cheese Koffta which was vegetables, chicken and melted cheese stir-fried into a tasty mound.

After lunch we moved on to a very beautiful Buddist temple complex which was an interesting mix of traditional and British influence architecture. After that the heat, which is not too bad and traffic exhaustion meant that we opted to go home to our comfortable hotel for an afternoon rest. .

Found a very nice restaurant for dinner last night with a great coffee and cake shop next door. Relaxed and listened to the thundering rain until it eased off and we caught a tuktuk home through very quiet streets. The distance wasn't far but pavements are non existent and the puddles were extensive.

Sat 27/9/25

Well yesterday was not really exciting  as it was travel day to Colombo Central. Our host had offered to book a car for the trip in and we accepted. However  he obviously forgot. I think a comment that he is a real  wheeler dealer might give you the picture. When we queried the non arrival of the car he obviously couldn't get one and rang back to ask if we would like to go by TukTuk. I said a definite no! He then phoned again and said we would be collected at 10,30. This was really no inconvenience as we had no fixed schedule for the day. He then came to drive us himself a bit later than the promised time and we set off in his electric Honda. It took an hour and a half to get into the city and as the traffic built up I was very pleased we had been firm about nixing the TukTuk.

More later Bob is anxious to get to the station.

We are now in Kandy after a 2 1/2  hour trip which took three hours. The train was posted as an EXPRESS and it did get up to 65kms/hour from time to time. However there were frequent stops to let passengers on and off. Some of the stations were tiny and some quite impressive. When we arrived we were me by our car and driver as booked which was a relief as this was booked yesterday with an agency based at the railway station. The sign above the windows in big gold letters said 

"Railway Travel Service" and being suckers we believed it. After agreeing to book all our car travel and our last train section with them, handing over the money(which was reasonable fortunately) we realised that we had been hassled. There was no identification of the agency's but we are convinced they were independent operators occupying Railway premises and delberately

 they