Places we’ve stayed, eaten at or visited
The brand-spanking new airport in Muscat was a fine sight indeed for the two weary travellers. We’d been on the go for the last day, having departed Maafushi in the Maldives in a speedboat and then onto 3 different planes from Mali, Colombo and then Dubai. We ambled like zombies through immigration where the local staff were obviously very proud...
After our little “Roadside” bus excursion the other day, we decided to fork out for a van to return from Trincomalee to Negombo to pick up our friend Teresa and so that Sharyn could take her plane back to Australia for her conference presentations. It’s a 6hr trip in the van with a short lunch break, so the bus would’ve...
Over breakfast, and after some study of the bus timetables, we decided to link a couple of buses up from Anuradhapura rather than wait till 11.50am for the express bus to Trincomalee. Buses depart more often for the small junction town of Horowupotana on Highway 12, about 60kms from Trinco (as the locals call it). From there you only need...
At breakfast Poala and Bruno gave us their address and contact details back home in Italy (we’d given our card earlier). It’d certainly be worthwhile catching up with them as they aren’t that far from our rellies in the north either. Travel is great! Janaka dropped us at Dambulla’s street-side bus stop and we didn’t have to wait long to...
We took the smaller, AC bus from the bus station at Kandy (360Rps ea) and began the slow procession out of Kandy and its surrounding districts. We found ourselves still going down to the north, central plains from Kandy, although at a much slower descent. The countryside was lush with rice paddies and thick stands of palm trees. The road...
Arriving 20mins early, we secured seats on the bus and we were soon heading out of Nuwara Eliya and just beginning to realise the extent of the golf course. The ride is a spectacular 2hr descent, winding down an endless series of switchbacks and hairpin bends that the bus was only just able to negotiate. Tea plantations and tiny roadside...
On arrival in town from our early morning jaunt to Horton’s Plains and onward to Nuwara Eliya, we were swiftly greeting by the Victoria Inn manager as he loaded our bags into an awaiting van. He seemed a bit anxious and the only explanation he’d give us is that the hotel was fully booked. I began to see red very...
Ever so sweetly, the family got out of bed to farewell us at 5 am as we piled into the tuk-tuk with all our bags. It was actually a bit sad as we’d nurtured a brief but warm relationship with these people in our time there. We gave Sonia a little Koala bear, and as shy as she is, she...
Namal, our Ella guesthouse owner arranged a tuk-tuk to take us down to the station. To my surprise, there was already about 100 people there and most were tourists. Fortunately for us, everyone was booking secondclass or the viewing carriage. When the train arrived we jumped quickly onto the third class carriage and secured a standing position next to the...
After breakfast, with the Dutch girls in tow, we all loaded into a new Toyota van and were on our way out of Tissamaharama. It’s about a 90km trip via Wellawaya where the A2 terminates. About 5 or 6 kms before Wellawaya you can see the mountains rising up through the breaks in the overhanging palm trees that shade a...
29 Sep, 2014
A lesson in hospitality. Turning things around
23 Jul, 2015
