Ellerton Kandy

... s Peak, il faut 4-5 heures pour monter, c’est un lieu de pelerinage tres celebre pour les boudhistes. C’est l’endroit suppose ou Adam est descend du paradis après avoir croquet la pomme, l’endroit ou Boudha a depose son empreinte de pied au sommet…. Mouais. Bref il y a un temple en haut mais avec la pluie qui tombe pas moyen que je marche 5 heures our me faire pourir la gueule. En plus il fait tres frais ici, donc c’est un coup a attrapper la ...

... mais heureusement j'avais prevu une serviette...
Belles danses accompagnees de percussions, les filles sont jolies et gracieuses et les mecs paraissent solides. A la fin danse du feu, ou ils se passent des torches sur tout le corps, marchent sur les braises ou avalent du feu, le tout sous la pluie, car ils ne peuvent bien evidemment pas faire ca a l'interieur. Voila, marche sous la pluie pour trouver un internet d'ouvert, il n'y en a pas beaucoup ici, et 20 mn apres il ...

... average growth rate of new shoots of 30cm a day!! I always think of Hellfire Pass (Kanchanabury, Thailand) when I see large creaking (or in their case I think moaning) bamboo.

There was also a medicinal garden, beautiful rock borders, a fernery, cactus house, plant house, mini lakes with marsh plants and Sri Lankan ebony trees (another favourite). There was a lot of rain at varying intervals, but it didn’t matter to me at all!! I’m in paradise in ...

... that they worked at our hotel / carried our bags in etc, which was astounding seeing as our guesthouse is run by just a Sri Lankan husband and wife! We soon learned that this was a ploy to earn our trust then sell us spices - shocking! We also went to the temple of the Sacred Tooth - a big deal for Sri Lankan Buddhists. This ...

... tropical downpour with very low visibility. Eventually we arrived at the marina safely. A great (but tiring) 25 hour trip! The next day I explored Georgetown - as I had done 11 years before and it changed quite a bit. But Georgetown is still a fascinating mix of Chinese, Malay, Indian and colonial buildings (and people). I walked around for a few hours and then took the bus to the Kek Lok Si temple, a huge Buddhist temple complex - where I arrived too late to go inside. Luckily ...

... the day before we travelled, quite an event for us; there is, you see, booking in one circumstance on Sri Lankan trains; in first class (only available on the Kandy line). Perhaps it is extravagant to pay twice the second class fare but we felt the budget could stand the £5.60 cost of two tickets. After a shaky start with the usual mixture of no information enhanced by misinformation about the missing train we connected with our luxury express. The ...

So wigan rob and myself managed to get a tuk tuk to the train station, but in our haste to sample brekkie lanka style (waddy, dahl, and roti), we missed the train so decided on the bus to colombo so as to get a train to kandy. The bus dropped us away from the train station so another tuk tuk ride later and we were at the station, not without some handbags at 5 paces between mr tuk tuk and rob.....it was a beny hill type sketch minus the ...

I found a nice guesthouse in Kandy to crash for a couple of days. Kandy is in "the hills" here so it's actually cooler than what I expected from Sri Lanka. The Indian consulate was closed today on account of some holiday I can't pronounce, so I wandered down into town to orient myself and take some pictures. Once I got to the foot of the hill where my guesthouse is, I was "befriended" by about 6 different people who all wanted to sell me something, take ...

... handmade candles &insense and Odell's own brand clothing line called embark which donates money to stray dog projects) and then at 7pm it was time to make the return journey to MEF. The roads were a total nightmare due to the upcoming public holidays, as we sat at a totally gridlocked junction and listened to every car horn blaring consent I could not help but think the whole thing looked like a scene from a disaster movie when all the residents of a US city are trying ...

... after. Right, back to it. So the two boys talked me into changing my plans and heading off with them down the west coast to a surfer/travelers hangout called Hikkaduwa. After we spent a morning by the pool after an all nighter at the local club, I ended up chasing a squirrel around the hotel pool next door to mine as the sun came up trying to feed it Bombay mix while the two poms looked on in bewilderment. They branded me the crazy Aussie. It was time to move on. The train ride down to ...