Day 1 - I've been here before.

11:00
Literally. Gatwick North terminal in the depths of Winter, waiting for an Emirates flight via Dubai to Colombo, and some Sri Lankan sunshine. There are several things that are going to be different this time around though:

1) Vicki! I loved Sri Lanka SO much when I visited in 2024, that I said on my return to the UK that we just had to go together. The South of Sri Lanka gave me such vibes of Goa about 20 years ago, and we had some incredible trips to that part of India back then. Sri Lanka felt like all of that, and then some.
2) Friends! We’re travelling with our dear friends, Simon and Shenda. We’ve travelled pretty extensively together in the past, and we know we make good trip-mates. They’ve both had a really tough year in 2025, and I’m beyond delighted that we had this trip planned to give them a much deserved and massively needed break.
3) Employment! Long time readers of this travelog will know that most of my manic scribblings are from a 2 year sabbatical I took from work. Well, I’ve been back at work very nearly a year, and I think this is the first trip I’ve taken in nearly 4 years that I really felt I’d earned. I’m really enjoying my job, but the last couple of weeks particularly have been super busy, at times frustrating, and at others - completely chaotic. There’s a difference frisson of excitement that comes with a trip that follows an extended period of focused and hard work. Don’t get me wrong - I still got super excited about all the trips I took during my sabbatical, but there’s something that little bit special when you’re patting yourself on the back for a job well done.

I write this at 11:00, with a view over the runway, with a glass of wine in hand. Well, not literally while I’m typing, but… *HOLD PLEASE* …. briefly in hand when I need it to be.

We’re going to be revisiting some of my favourite stops from 2024, and finding some new favourites along the way. We had planned to stay in Ella for a couple of days, then take the stunning mountain railway up to Kandy. Sadly, the devastating cyclone that hit Sri Lanka in early December 2025 has laid waste to large sections of the track. Tragically, it sounds like the Sri Lankan government may not bother repairing and rebuilding it. If that proves to be the case, I’m just delighted I got to experience that magical journey before it was too late. As a result of the line closure, we’re firmly sticking to the South coast of Sri Lanka, with planned stops at Unawatuna, Mirissa and Tangalle.

We’ve not got tons planned outside of much needed R+R, and will see where the days take us…

18:00 / 22:00 - depending on your perspective…
We’re approaching the Turkish coast. The benefit of a 13:35 departure is that I’m not massively down on sleep. For this particular journey though, it does mean I may struggle to get much sleep, if any. We land at 20:40 GMT, which is 00:40 in Dubai, and depart a couple of hours later for Colombo. The upshot is that none of us are feeling super sleepy on our first, longer flight, and will probably be ready for sleep on the short, 4 hour hop into Colombo, when there isn’t really time for any. Ho hum.

Still - it gives us plenty of time for chats, movies, wine. It’s a very easy 7 hour flight.Läs mer