Kirinda

After some very late flights, and a stop in KL, we arrived in Sri Lanka in the wee hours!! We had only booked our first night in, but everything was in control, we had a Rough Guide, first hand knowledge, as Mitch has been before and, as luck would have it, the guy who owned the guesthouse we were staying in was a retired guide. That morning he helped plan our route and it went as thus….

That afternoon we were on a train up in to the hill country, heading to Kandy, a very busy little town, with a famous temple. Apparently a real tooth of Buddhas is guarded there! Being newbies we rocked up not realising all skin has to be covered, so we were sent packing like heathens! We took solace in the Botanical gardens and were amazed by 1000s of fruit bats all hanging out in the trees, very cool but a tad smelly! A tourist must see is the traditional Kandyan dance, thoroughly enjoyable and the kids loved the fire eating! We then tried our luck with the temple again, coverings at the ready! We were allowed in this time, but it was so busy with everyone trying to get a glimpse of the tooth! Which obviously isn’t really Buddhas, silly believers, we made a hasty exit. Otto was pretty disappointed, he’s decided to become a Buddhist, his first choice was to be the main man Buddha, but I explained that wasn’t possible! So he’s now following the main commitments to abstain from killing living beings, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxication and so far he’s doing very well!
We left Kandy, the kids had kind of become disinterested and disappointed on day 1, when they learnt it wasn’t a town full of Candy!

Our next few stops were primarily to take in some of the amazing wildlife that resides in Sri Lanka, starting with Kaudulla National park. Every year around this time ‘The elephant gathering’ happens. Most make their way from all the national parks around the country to hang out with other herds, sole purpose to mate with other blood lines. We saw a lot of elephants, 100s, in fact so many Otto was bored of them by the end of our safari. This area is also home to the awe-inspiring Sigiriya Rock, a very big and hot rock, which you are obliged to climb! We passed plenty of crying kids on the way up, all gasping for water and begging their parents to let them turn back!!! Luckily our kids knew better, stoically climbing the 1200 steps in over 35 degrees heat and not an ice-cream in sight!!!

Next stop was Trincomalee for a spot of Whale watching. They aren’t seen daily out there so we got lucky. It did mean yet another sunrise start, so 5.30 for us and then on a small boat for 4 hours! Totally worth it of course when 4 blue whales made an appearance. We chased them around for a while never knowing where they were going to breach again, it was very exciting. In the space of two days we had seen two of the largest mammals on the planet! Very special.

We hung out on the east coast for a few days with its wide, palm-fringed sweeping beaches. Here tourism is back in its infancy again, as this area was pretty much out of bounds during the war, which only ended in 2009. We lucked out and stayed in the sole hotel on a 40km stretch of beach, it was amazing, not sure how long they can hold back the developers though.

The kids have been amazing again, as we have done no more than 2 nights in each place, with long journeys every 2 days. Sometimes in a nice van, but more often than not in a cramped, badly maintained and extremely small taxi. Our longest journey was back into the mountains for a few days in Ella, a mountain town with very scenic views! But, scenic always means very windy roads, steep drops and scary taxi drivers! We did have a lovely day exploring the sights, from picking tea to climbing big peaks, we even fitted in some train spotting!

Next up Yala, Sri Lanka’s most famous National Park. Of course to do a safari you have to get up before sunrise!!! Really??? So Boring!!! Apparently you have more of a chance of spotting a Leopard before they sleep in the afternoon! Lucky them I say, Mitch and I were desperate for an afternoon nap after the whale trip and the safari, the kids however were not!!! Those kids it appear can never tire! Unfortunately this time we didn’t get lucky, so no leopards for us. We did see Elephants, and lots of other cool animals though, and got to stay in a tent in the bush, glamping style of course.Read more