OUR JOURNEY NOW BECOMES 3

We had ordered a taxi for 11.30pm to pick Chris up from
airport.  When we went downstairs, no taxi came, manager of hotel out and old boy who did not speak English just
shrugging shoulders.  After a bit of sign language he went down the road and woke a driver up who kindly too us to the
airport (for a price of course).

Off to the station for a 3^rd class journey to Puttalam (135km 4 hour journey (timetable was 2.50)).  Not too bad at all and lovely scenery along the way. 

Love the old trains, they look bad, some go and some do not

We had planned to get a bus from there to the junction of Wilpattu NP but the bus had far more people on it than it could fit and there was no way another 4 people (we had got talking to a dutch girl) and back packs would fit.  2 tuk tuks had to be the go.  This 43km trip was fairly quick and turned out to be a godsend as we would not have found the place we had decided to stay without them.  It is a very basic guest house for locals, right on the edge of the National Park and has large grounds and many birds.  No English spoken here. (occasionally an elephant too, although not while we were
there).  It’s amazing how a theoretically 4 hour max journey ends up taking all day. 
We left at 8.30 and finally arrived at 4.00. 

Early start with safari jeep picking us up at 6am. The park is usually quite empty and had been when we got her yesterday but today is a pubic holiday and there are lots of locals on safari.  We where about car number 3 off the rank and as there are many paths we were alone most of the time although often passed other vehicles.  Early on we saw Muntjak deer, many peacocks, eagles and other birds.  The scenery was stunning.  There are huge lakes everywhere and we say tracks of leopard paw prints and what looked like the Sloth Bear (guide had no English so hard to confirm). 

There was a lot of Elephant dung around one water hole too – still very fresh as it had a strong smell.  We came across many Large deer, wild boar and some amazing Eagles really close.  Around midday we came across a parked vehicle – they had found a leopard.  It was about 70 meters away under a tree, we watched it first sleeping then sitting and finally it rose and sauntered off. 

The couple who were in the vehicle that spotted it were from the UK, they had also been in the park the day before and seen one even closer.  Unfortunately we were not that lucky and did not see another.  There were very few westerners in the park and most do not see anything so we were very pleased.  A great day but very very long.  We bounced around in the truck for 12.5 hours and were exhausted and achy when arriving back.

Tuk Tuk to Anuradphura,  picked a hotel from lonely planet in the end as so spread out and we luckily got the last 2 rooms.

Tuk Tuk around temples, surprisingly most were not very interesting, and worse you had to walk a fair bit without shoes on very hot sand and after first 3 temples our feet were too burnt to go inside any others.  No big deal, the outside older
ruins ẃere far more interesting.

 In fact the pictures of them prior to restoration in late 90’s were far nicer.  The best part was an old ruined bath with
lots of monkey’s dive bombing and playing in the water.

Hire car (cheaper than other ways for three people) to Minneriya National park, via Sigiriya. 
Not that we walked to the top, far too claustrophobic to be enclosed with so many people in iron stairs.  It was interesting to still see the old path we climbed in 1985 (Look under the bright added orange concrete and see the rickety rail we went along to other end – then from there it was a chain to hold to climb the rest.  So glad I climbed it then, people do not see the best bits now – when we went up, only 1 other family were there.

See Gallery for pics of Sigiryia in 1983.

Surprised I had the guts to do it, especially with three children.  The imagined indestructability of youth.  Now not so scary with safe enclosed paths.  From here bit of an old con job.  Driver took us to different name hotel, very isolated, although nice.  Bit of hassle to get him to take us to right one, with many phone calls to supposed owner who
“owned both”  – not.  Got a fantastic safari guide but could not believe the numbers of jeeps, it was mayhem in the car park.  Not too bad in park until we saw heard of about 200, then everyone converged, with screaming idiots scaring the
elephants.  Still it was an amazing sight, especially when the “angry” elephant charged a vehicle. 

Apparently it got hit by a bus a few years ago and now hates white vehicles.

Early start, jeep picked us up at 5.15 for morning safari.  Very different to evening, hardly any people. 

Saw lots of jackals,
mongoose, birds and wild buffalo. 

Driver dropped us at tiny rail station for trip to trincomolee. What a shock when we got to upevelli. Never have we been anywhere where there are no rooms available (other than one we all had to share).  Whole place full of Europeans and very busy.  Unfortunately many of the Europeans were being very rude and disregarding the Muslim values of the area – and many were downright rude to the people to their faces too. Very overpriced and nothing but western food.  Such a shame as it is a beautiful beach ruined by modern tourism.  Room was the worst, noisy all night and very hot and stuffy.

There is still some local fisherman in the area and the best part of our brief trip here was watching how many men it took to get a fishing boat out over the waves.

Off again on same train as yesterday but connection to batticaloa.  This time we had booked a room last night.  Train very noisy and like being on a roller coaster but the scenery was fantastic. Great cheap way to travel, 5 hours for $1.90.  Treatoo Hotel overlooks water but is a little rough.

Car hire day today as only other option a very slow bus.  112 kilometers in car 3 hours. 5-7 by bus. Very unspoilt really rural scenery and although the road is along the coast there are no sea glimpses. When we arrived in Arugum Bay our booking of room with sea views did not materialise, just a pokey non sea view room.  Still the location was the best on the beach and there was plenty of character so we decided to stay.

Some very interesting guests, and staff offering to sell drugs.  Very surprising in a mainly Moslem area, pity.

Surf is great, most days just slow meandering, reading and swimming. Wednesdays and Saturdays there are all night parties along the coast a little, we can hear the beat of the music all night and the drunken revellers returning home. Even so it is an enjoyable place for a few days.  We found some fantastic little local eateries – one that did roti’s with their own home made chilli sauce to die for.  This ended up as lunch almost every day once found.

Dean’s was a popular place and we were so glad we booked it as people got turned away every day.  Sadly though nearer the end of our stay the sea tides were very high and washing away the bank – apparently it has never been this bad  before.

Overnight trip to Kumana National Park – we had a National Park Guide, driver, cook and an all rounder – 4 of them, for 3 of us.  Crazy.  They set up camp, cooked etc.  Stunning National Park, very different to the others.  A lot of water around and so many water birds and many animals too.  We did not get to see Leopards again – but did see the prints.  It was magical camping in the park and listening to the night sounds.  In the morning near the Lake another car came along with very excited rangers – they had just seen the Sloth Bear cross the road.  Even the rangers do
not see it often so we were very hopeful.  We climbed the tower looking out over the Lake and watched the amazing
array of life – but no obvious bear, disappointing.  At this point I will add that later (much later) I was re-editing my photos and found one taken from that lookout with a 35ml lens – low and behold in the background is a bear.  You can tell it is one but too zoomed to be any use.  If only we had seen it at the time we could have used a long lens. 
Teach me to be lazy with binoculars. We hired a taxi from Arugam Bay to Ella, 3 of us and another guy we had got talking to.  After leaving we also suddenly acquired another passenger in some weird deal with the driver.  Again we had booked in advance due to the lack of available accommodation in other places.  We arrived late, around 5pm and were taken quite a way out of time up a windy narrow road.  We could cope with that but not with a room with no toilet – not even a shared one.  The room Chris had booked had no facilities whatsoever – the owner did not care and just said to come through our bedroom to our ensuite – Possible, but in the middle of the night she would have had to climb over the bed, not really an option.  We refused to stay and luckily quickly got on line and found another place – there was little available so we hoped it was good.  The driver took us down and WOW, perfect for us, an old colonial building (in a bit of need for refurbishment outside) but huge recently renovated rooms inside and a great view of The Peak from our large balcony areas.  This is the kind of place we really enjoy. 

Hiking up Little Adam’s Peak was incredibly scenic, not too long but quite steep in places.  The views were worth it though – especially the one of the scary road we had driven in on, although the photo does not really show how windy, narrow and steep sided the road was.

We got lost trying to find our way to Nine Arches Bridge and ended up going through a long muddy jungle area and clambering down steep slippery banks.  Just before we arrived, the heavens opened and it poured – lucky our Olympus camera’s are waterproof. 

The train was not on time so we had to hang around for about 20 – 30 mins in the pouring rain – as were a few other hardy souls.   We soon dried when it stopped raining though. From the other people at the bridge we found the easier road walk back to town – much appreciated. Taking the Train from Ella to Kandy is a fantastic journey, known as one of the worlds most beautiful train trips – and it was.  Rolling hills, waterfalls, rivers, tea plantations, forests.  This trip has it all and even though for a good portion of our trip it was raining, it did not detract from the beauty.  The trip is around 3 hours long – try to get the open car for easier photography. Kandy – what can I say, it has changed beyond all recognition since 1986 when I was here last – funny, the South Coast had barely changed but Kandy has gone from a small village to a massive city. We stayed at the Suisse View Hotel as it was central to everywhere.  A Sri Lankan couple were getting married from this hotel and it was great to see them in their fancy outfits.  A visit to the botanical gardens is a must here – it has an amazing Orchid house and fantastic grounds.

Along with many colourful weddings too.

One night there was a festival on and whereas when I was here before they used many elephants, now they only use one.  It was brought in from somewhere by Flat Bed Truck, dressed up and used in the parade before departing on same truck

Everything done in Sri Lanka is bright and colourful. 

I love the sounds, smells and visual stimuli here.

On to Nuwar Eliya – Fantastic Botanic Gardens & Victoria Park. Scenic and lovely area.  Cold though as pretty high.  Very colonial buildings.

So sad, back in Negombo and Varnia’s guest house for the last couple of days before we leave. Nice to end a holiday relaxing by the beach thoug