Heritance Ahungalle Ahungalla

... the well-lit air conditioned shop we later saw the mounted stones – and a treasure trove of other stones. Dominika and I strongly resisted the urge to buy and we were pleased that we emerged without a purchase. This was a miracle.

Now I have only 7 working days below I leave for London and then a trip to France for some wine-tasting. I’m not looking forward to feeling the cool freshness of Europe again and to sock-wearing conditions.

Quite an interesting journey to Bentota. We stopped in Galle to see the fort, at Hidakkuwa to see the beach, at a natural moonstone mine to get talked into buying some jewellery and at a turtle hatchery. I think we avoided the rest of the tourist traps! In places the journey was a bit sad. We went through areas that had been badly hit by the tsunami. And the turtle hatchery even had stories of how ...

... There's not actually much to see within the Fort, though exceptions include the atmospheric Dutch Reformed Church completed in 1755, a still functioning but dilapidated post office with a very Dickensian-looking interior, the Point Utrecht Bastion which is topped by a slender white lighthouse built in 1938, and the early twentieth-century Meeran Jumma Mosque standing at the heart of Galle's Muslim ...

... their lives along with a further 1270 train passengers who were passing through at 9.20am on that fateful morning. Broken and smashed boats still litter the stretch, and whilst re-building work and plantation slowly proceed, the shattered walls and exposed footings leave a lasting and upsetting impression. The next stop was Hikkaduwa (Hick-ah-do-wer), Sri Lanka's original hippy hangout in the 1970's and a budget travellers' alternate to the fancier resort hotels ...

... is so magical, you just can't stay away!!! Been eating lots of gorgeous sri lankan food...........rice & curry, egg rotis, vegetable rotis, egg hoppers & string hoppers (can't really describe what these are but they're all delicious!!!) Been into Galle a few times but not yet been to the fort...........I really must do that sometime soon!! It's just so easy to get trapped in the Unawatuna bubble & not go anywhere! And lazing on the beach is so easy to do ...

... Since I have only been to two predominantly Buddhist countries before (and that was only for a week), I am still quite excited by all the giant Buddha statues and dagobas (like pagodas) that are on the side of the road. They are so massive and colorful that it is hard to resist the urge to take photos of each and every one. It was humbling seeing the long stretch of road that was obviously demolished by the Tsunami, and encouraging seeing all of the rebuilding that is ...

... to Bandarawela. 2. Relics from the Colonial Era: Nuwara Eliya & Kandy The British left their mark on Lanka in the form of Nuwara Eliya and Kandy. I visited both of these places and with their altitudes, resembled Scotland in the summer. 3. Cultural Triangle: Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa & Anurahhapura Lanka's cultural triangle is regarded as being world famous. It holds ruins of two ancient capital cities of Lanka: Polonnaruwa & Anurahhapura dated from the 1st ...

... on the political strife which afflicts the Country. Tamils, a Hindu minority in Sri Lanka, are fighting for a separate state in the north. Something, which I am told will never happen. Since the attack on the International airport in Colombo where 20 suicide bombers armed with rocket launchers and strapped with TNT blew up 6 airplanes a few months ago, tourism has suffered dramatically. "Last year this time, all hotel full" the bell boy at the Villa Guesthouse tells me ...