Hotel Country Comfort Inn Ella

... things by organizing it for me but I constantly have the feeling it is more for his benefit than mine. I have checked out the rates for some stuff and he is in fact getting me a cheaper rate but I still feel like I am being forced into it. Like yesterday we went to the Yara national park and to go into the park itself you have to go by jeep. So even though it seemed expensive $50 (normally $60) I figured I had to do it cause we were here. The only problem was I then had to ...

... out the front untill my flight to Colombo at 6.30am. It was a restless night to say the least. After touching down in the Sri Lankan Colombo I chatted to another backpacker about where he was headed, it turned out we both had the same plan, get to Kandy, so we partnered up and took a number of bus rides before reaching the second biggest city in Sri Lanka. Throughout the bus journeys we were confronted with inquisitive smiles and gestures from so many locals ...

... Reaching the top we were both bright red and out of breath! The views were totally worth it though. Could see across to where we'd walked the day before and even down to Rawana Falls. <br><br>The guide decided to take us an alternative (and much longer!) way down, past a little cave temple. Both Rebecca and I managed some impressive falls on the way, Rebecca somehow ending up doing the splits down the hill at one point!<br><br>Spent the afternoon having a well deserved rest!

... them again they were still swinging! Went for tea in town to a restaurant recommended in the lonely planet. Ordered our food but then noticed a massive rat scurrying around so we decided not to eat (although andrew was very hungry so he managed a few mouthfuls before I told him off and reminded him about Plague!!!) So we went to the supermarket and bought crisps and chocolate, and ...

... a couple of days because there are several shelters for camping out in - which looked really uncomfortable and cold. As well as the footprint at the top and a couple of temples and shrines, there is a bell for pilgrims to ring and you ring this bell for every successful ascent of the mountain you have made. When we were there a lady who looked at a guess about 50 proudly rang the bell 32 times!! The quite unfortunate ...

... all perched on really steep hills. It looked exactly how i had imagined it. So scenic - many waterfalls too! Lank in its natural beauty. Coming around some stretches of the mountains you could see the cloud start to roll in over the hills - it was like it was engulfing it. We eventually made it to Mandrel where we hopped off and met our van to take us the short distance to the New Chinese ...

... his grave has been struck twice since he died. The highlight of the park is "world's end", a spot where the plateau of the park drops about 900 metres straight down. You have to time your visit, because it's only mist free for about 3 hours a day, and even then it's pretty hazy. It was definitely cool to see, but somehow not as abrupt as I'd expected. The weather kind of killed my afternoon, which was ok since I'd had to get up at 5 to make ...

... choices. Kandy is a great place to base yourself for tours of most ancient sites in the central plains as well as excursions into the hill country. Don't stay in Colombo any longer than you have to, other than the international airport, some discount clothes shopping, a few historic hotels, and a handful of museums; it has little to offer the traveler. Despite the fact that there is a guerilla war going on in the north ...

... placement (let alone the travels at the weekend) has been a great eye-opener and really interesting. Woking just isn't the same... 8) STANDING OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB - there is no-where to hide in Sri Lanka. It's obvious you're foreign. They know you don't speak the language. They can tell that you have no idea where the bus stops. But its nice. Anyone and everyone talks to you to practice their english. 'Your country from ...