Sri Lanka 7- Unawatuna and Galle

We spent six nights at a great guest house called Kahuna Club in Unawatuna. It's quiet- and this is the buzziest of any place on the whole West or South coast! Most of the coast is not very beachy and a lot of the shore is not that great for swimming. The beaches that are sandy are often very small. There are hundreds of resort hotels ranging from cheap to ultra luxurious along the coast. It's worth popping in at one of the Geoffry Bawa creations. ( Sri Lanka's most famous architect ) Unawatuna was once rated in the Top Ten Beaches in the World, but some of the sand has been eroded away during monsoon season over the last few years, leaving the beach quite narrow in places. It's still a great place for swimming with beautiful, warm, turquoise ocean and still far better than anything on the Med I've ever seen. Every evening all the bars and restaurants put tables on the sand, a very chilled way to while away the evening .We went diving on two days. We did a day trip to Galle and I would recommend staying a night. The whole Galle Fort area is enclosed in ramparts built by the Portugese and the Dutch, which has prevented urban sprawl from encroaching and also saved the town from the Tsunami in 2004. There are loads of renovated colonial buildings and plenty of hotels, restaurants and shops. The Fort Printers Hotel and the Galle Fort Hotel are wonderful places to stay and eat, but if you want a cheaper guesthouse try the Frangipani. We spent two weeks in Sri Lanka; a good length of time for a first visit. My advice would be not to linger too long in any one spot and don't plan on a whole week at the beach- unless you really need to chill.

Sri Lanka 6 - Tea drinking and Bird watching

One surprise for us was the wonderful birdwatching in Sri lanka, so we decided to extend our car and driver option for a few days to go to the Hill Country and Uda Walawe National Park. Nuwara Eliya is an old colonial town high up in the mountains where the tea grows. The old Brits went to town creating England in the only place in Sri lanka with cold, drizzly weather. There are still some old buildings around and a good golf club. We stayed at the Grosvenor Hotel- nice old place but lousy food and went for drinks at the Grand Hotel. Of course the surrounding tea plantations make for very pleasant scenery and a tea factory visit is basically compulsory. Many tourists stay at the town of Ella; especially good for hikers and climbers; but just like all over Sri Lanka rather dull in the evenings. Despite a few cloud bursts, Uda Walawe did not dissappoint. We saw 45 different species of birds on one game drive and didn't have to work too hard on  identifying them because our guide was excellent. We also saw loads of elephants and water buffalo who lie around in the water all day like hippos. We spotted two jackals as well. In all we saw about 80 different bird species in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka 5 - Polonna Uwe, Sigiriya and the monk with the i-Phone 5

Don't be looking for any nightlife in any of these towns around the cultural triangle - you'll be disappointed. The guest houses are outside town in the suburbs or the jungle with nowhere to go. There are upmarket eco- lodge type places too. You sit on the verandah drinking beer and a few more car loads of tourists turn up for the night. By 7 pm dinner is served and by 9 you are heading for bed. We ate omelettes for breakfast and the staple rice and curry for lunch and dinner every day. Rice is served with 3 or 4 vegetable side dishes and accompanied by a small portion of curried fish, chicken or beef. Veggies vary but some of our favourites include dhal, beans, okra, breadfruit and a sambal of shredded spinach, coconut and lime. Polonna Uwe is the third ancient city of the cultural triangle,with plenty of ruins, temples and history to explore. The next day we climbed Sigiriya Rock, a very sacred site in Sri lanka. It's thousands of steps up to the top, at times by way of rickety metal staircases attached to the side of a cliff, but with great views once you make it up to the top. More than 1000 years ago the monks managed to build temples and dwellings up on top. A group of visiting monks in saffron robes took photos of each other at the top using their i-phone 5s!

Sri Lanka 4 - Hot-Footing it around Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura is an ancient sacred city in northern Sri Lanka, founded a few hundred years BC, with most of the current stupas and ruins dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries. It is surrounded by three man-made lakes called Tanks that are 2000 years old. Ruvanvalisaya is a fully restored Stupa, painted white, 55m high and encircled with a 300m long orange ribbon. Being a Sunday hundreds of worshippers were visiting; chanting, saying prayers and making offerings. My new word for the day was "quincunx" - a formation of stupas like the five dots on a dice. The tallest stupa is Jetawana, 120 m high and made of 90 million bricks. That's the largest brick-only structure in the world! Abhayagiri is under restoration and we watched guys clambering all over rickety scaffolding. The whole site is extensive, with so many ruins, many of which are overgrown by jungle. Because it's a holy site you cannot wear shoes and as the day wore on the sand and paving got hotter and hotter, until we were literally hot footing it around Anduradhapura.

Sri Lanka 3 - The Cultural Triangle

The easiest way to travel in the rural areas in Sri lanka is with a car and driver; which costs about 70 US$ a day depending on distances. Our first stop was the Hindu temple in Matale and then Aluvihara Temple with grotesque and torturous depictions of Buddhist Hell. Who knew there was even a Buddhist hell?  The next stop was the Dambulla Cave Temples, dating back as far as 77BC. It's a steep climb up to five caves filled with Buddha statues from various eras. All the walls of the caves are painted with beautiful Buddhist designs. Then on to Anuradhapura. Our guest house was called The Grand; with a good view over one of the lakes. They were feverishly preparing for a 350 guest wedding the following day, draping everything is swathes of cheap, silky material, erecting marquees and even completing paving at the last minute. We sipped our beer and watched a worker using an angle grinder to saw through asbestos sheeting with just his t-shirt tied over his nose and mouth for protection.

Sri Lanka 2 - Kandy

We just used the tourist office at the Fort Station to book a train ride to Kandy and a three night car and driver excursion through the Cultural Triangle. They only take cash payments' so go prepared. Pre-booking a seat in the air-conditioned carriage means it's a very civilized journey. It's a pleasant three hours up into Kandy, with beautiful mountain scenery once you get out of the Colombo city limits. Kandy Station is a step back in time; just like being in an old movie. Our driver was waiting to take us to our guesthouse. Guest houses are generally very local with good clean en-suite rooms with air-conditioning. We like them because you do get a glimpse of normal life; not being stuck away in some elite or bland tourist hotel . That said, if you do want to upgrade, try the historic Queens Hotel for a bit of old colonial charm. Kandy is set around a man-made lake, which makes for a great stroll into town, past the Hotel Suisse, where Mountbatten had his Asian headquarters during World War 2. The main attraction is the very holy "Temple of the Tooth", housing a tooth relic of the Buddah. The door onto the room housing the relic is only opened during pujas; held three times a day. People bring offerings and hold prayers at the open door.Tourists pack in to get a passing glimpse of the large gold container housing the tooth. Shoulders and knees must be covered; hats and shoes off when entering any temple area. We spent time wandering through the Market area; looking at saris and buying spices. People are so friendly and always interested in Neil's arm decorations. There aren't many restaurants and practically the only bar in town is called The Pub; a grimy upstairs place with a nice balcony and a few tourists drinking the local Lion beer. All alone, in a cavernous, dingy back room with a dodgy air-conditioner; we watched Super 15 rugby. Don't come to Kandy for the nightlife.

Sri Lanka 1 - Colombo

We flew Tiger Airways from Singapore; a three and a half hour flight. You can get your visa online for US$ 30 before you arrive which we recommend to save you queueing at the airport. Take some US$ in cash as an emergency but there are ATMs .
Remember to inform your bank of your intention to use cards overseas or they may be blocked .  The exchange rate is about 100 rupees to the Singapore Dollar. We booked the first two nights accommodation including airport transport online to save the late night hassle. The flight gets in after 10pm. We stayed at the cheap and comfy Colombo City Hotel which is very central and right next door to the Old Dutch Hospital, an area of restaurants, pubs and shops with branches of Odell and Barefoot for tourist shopping. One day in Colombo is probably sufficient and getting around is cheap and easy in tuk-tuks which charge between 200 and 300 rupees a ride depending on journey distance. We lunched at the Cricket Club Cafe, an expat favourite with an old colonial atmosphere. Our love of exploring local life led us to spend a few hours wandering around the Pettah Market area. It's busy and chaotic. An evening stroll along the boardwalk through Galle Face Green is a must; where locals are out in abundance watching the sunset over the sea, exercising or snacking on vendor food. Follow this up with sunset drinks in the garden of the historic Galle Face Hotel built in 1864. This is the other good option for accommodation too. There is a lot of new construction going on in Colombo, with Hyatt and Shangri La hotels on the way. Of course you could also stay at the Taj or the Cinnamon Grand if your budget stretches that far. We had dinner at the Palmyra Restaurant at the Renuka Hotel . Excellent Sri Lankan food and more locals than tourists, which suits us.
Hoppers are thin pancakes made with rice flour and coconut milk cooked in a small, deep wok-like pan so that the edges are crispy and the middle thicker and softer. They can be plain or have a filing such an egg. Pittu is a Cous-Cous like grain cooked in a bamboo stem with various additions like nuts, veg or fish served with coconut cream. Poriyal is a very spicy curry served with rice. For dessert we had a Wattapannan; a dark caramel custard.

Up The Creek Musical Festival

If you are going to do a music festival in SA, try this one on the Breede River (literally) near Swellendam in the Western Cape. It happens over the first weekend of February, when the weather is warm and dry. And try glamping! A crowd called Heartbreak Motel sets up camp at all the festivals in SA; with varying tented options with ablutions and a good breakfast. A world away from all the poor suckers camped in the car park.  We went went with Carol and Jane who also loved glamping after their last mid winter camping experience at the Oppie Koppie festival. Perhaps we are just getting old. Friday afternoon and evening the bands play at the onshore stages. We enjoyed comedian Nic Rabinowitz and Karen Zoid. Saturday the bands play from a stage erected in the middle of the river and all the festival goers float all day in the river on all manner of lilo, pool chair or blow up toy. The best way to enjoy bands ever. The night session is back at the outdoor onshore stage. One of Neil's fave  bands was the Black Cat Bones and I liked Desmond and the Tutus . It's a family friendly festival; not too big and loads of fun. We will do it again, for sure!.

Addo and the Garden Route

We did a side trip to the Garden Route and Addo Elephant Park with Nick and Kerry,Rebekah and JJ. We stopped in Swellendam for breakfast and drove to the Tsitsikama National Park to stay over at Storms River Mouth. The setting of the campsite and chalets here has got to be one of the best in SA. You sit on the verandah of your cabin and braai with the waves crashing literally a few metres beyond you. Sunsets are magical. Kerry said she'd stay put for the week until a big baboon visited her balcony while she was still in bed with the door open. We headed to Addo the next day. Our first night was in a bush camp at a waterhole, followed by 3 nights at main camp. Facilities are really good. We saw plenty of elephants and had sightings of lion,buffalo and jackal; as well as zebra, antelope and warthog. Bird watching was also excellent. The park is growing as they acquire more land and some areas are still rehabilitating. It's not as all encompassing a bush experience as Kruger but still worth the trip. Heading back we stopped for the night in Knysna at a guest house run by Nick's friends John and Tanya; who were great hosts. John took us out on the lagoon in his speed boat and to Thesen Island for drinks at the boutique hotel, The Turbine. It's a  converted power station with amazing interiors incorporating all the old machinery. Of course Knysna has developed so much since the days of my childhood family holidays at a resort on Leisure Isle but it really worth a stop on any Garden Route tour.