I've been looking forward to your Sri lanka report, Thursdays. I had to chuckle at your first impressions - ("Have I gone deaf?"). We met a British family at Glenburn (in Darjeeling) who are living in Delhi and her reaction to visitng Sri Lanka was "You could eat off the floor it's so clean!"

Having just returned from Sri Lanka myself, I'm looking forward to your continuing report. And jealous too, as I was mainly a 1,000-1,800 rupee/night Lonely Planet traveler!

Good to read your report thursdaysd - we stayed at the Ice Bear in March - sadly the service had not improved. Our dinner was over an hour late in arriving, Still, at least they only took 30mins to serve the beers!
looking forward to more

Thanks!

Kathie - not only was it cleaner, the sidewalks were much safer.

nutella - that's how I SHOULD have been traveling! The car and driver were certainly convenient, but another time I think I'll go it alone, at least some of the time.

crellston - how were the rooms at the Ice Bear? The location looked good, but what about AC and hot water?

The AC was, well icy! The water lukewarm (par for teh course really). We had a nice spacious room with large bed and separate sitting room but a bit noisy as we backed on to the kitchens. We were quite pleased and then we made the mistake of going for breakfast at the Jetwing Blue Hotel - what a place! A match for anything in Thailand and superb food.

Jan 11 - Splish, splash

I had paid Boutique Sri Lanka deposits for each of my hotels, and for the car and driver, which they booked thorough E.C.D. Global. My second morning in Sri Lanka I paid Villa Araliya their balance in cash, and the representative of E.C.D. Global by credit card. It would likely have been cheaper to make the arrangements separately, certainly for the driver, but for once I was paying for convenience. Although I wasn't entirely happy with all the hotels, I had no complaints about my driver, J. R. A Ganiori (at (0)71 49 50 890). He was extremely careful, in fact at times I thought he drove too slowly, and he took almost obsessively good care of me! Usually I travel on public transport, with a backpack (admittedly it usually only weighs around 10 kilos, but still). Now my driver wanted to carry my day bag for me when I visited sights, and wiped my feet for me before putting my sandals back on when I had to take them off for temples. I thought I had traveled back in time.

Perhaps as a result of the bad weather Sri Lanka had been experiencing, the road from Negombo to the Cultural Triangle area deteriorated as we got further from the coast, plus we hit a number of traffic jams, and so didn't reach Dambulla until 2:30, instead of 1:00 as I had expected. Not a problem for some people, but I have a blood sugar problem, and lunch was way overdue. Fortunately, for once I enjoyed a buffet, at the Gimanhala hotel. Although I was sad to see the Sri Lankan dishes confined to a small section of their own, I ate plenty of the delicious fried prawns.

Besides the need for lunch, I was in Dambulla to visit the cave temples. Now, I should perhaps preface my opinion of the caves by saying that I am not really a paintings person. I preferred Ellora (sculpture) to Ajanta (frescoes), and in London I head for the V&A (decorative arts), not the National Gallery. So when I say that I was not that impressed with Dambulla, I'm aware that mine is a minority opinion, although I certainly think that the wikipedia author who claimed they are the finest caves in Asia had either been drinking or hadn't traveled very far. Dunhuang outclasses them easily, and so do Ajanta and Ellora, and even Yungang.

The bad weather didn't help, of course. What I saw of the setting was impressive, but the far view was obscured by mist. Nor was I happy about having to walk barefoot over the wet rocks outside the caves - I don't mind taking off my shoes inside, but after six weeks in India I was really tired of getting my feet dirty every time I wanted to visit even the outer perimeter of a temple. I don't even walk barefoot in my house any more - after several lectures from my chiropractor I keep a pair of "indoor" Birkenstocks. So when I say that I found the Buddhas repetitive and not particularly appealing, don't let me keep from going to see for yourself.

When I gave up on visiting Yala I added one night to Negombo, and one night to the Cultural Triangle, so I would spend four nights at my next hotel, the Deer Park in (well, more accurately near) Giritale. I should have read the description of the hotel more closely, as I wasn't really prepared for a place with 77 cottages that was home to tour groups and big buffets. On the one hand, I had a sizable bedroom with a nice window seat and a desk, although no view. On the other hand, it came with an indoor/outdoor bathroom. Rant alert! I really cannot understand this fad for outdoor bathrooms in the tropics. I live in central North Carolina, with a semi-tropical climate, and believe me, everyone who can afford it has a fully indoor bathroom and central air conditioning! The problem for me wasn't the lack of AC as it was quite cool, it was rain. True, only the shower area was actually uncovered, except by wire mesh, but it was decorated with potted plants, and the heavy rain splashed off the leaves into the rest of the bathroom. Plus, even when it didn't rain everything got damp from the humidity. I stored the towels in the bedroom.

My other big problem with the Deer Park (aside from its isolation - don't visit without a driver) was internet access, which I needed as I was in the middle of confirming my arrangements for Vietnam with Tonkin Travel. Back in the 1980s, my then husband and I bought one of the very first PCs that IBM made, along with a modem, which delivered a stately but frustrating 1200 bps (maybe less). I think the Deer Park's connection was even slower. In any case, it proved quite unusable, and I felt fortunate to find an internet cafe, complete with copier and fax, in Polonnaruwa the next day.

Jan 12-13 - Rainy Day Ruins

Polunnaruwa and Anuradhapur. Multi-syllabic must-sees according to the guidebooks, each once the capital of a Sri Lankan kingdom. Anuradhapur was off-limits recently because of the civil war, but both are now firmly ensconced on the tourist circuit. Having realized that I'm not a fan of very ruinous ruins I had originally intended just to visit Polunnaruwa, but when I gave up on visiting Yala I added Anuradhapur. One day each, although as you can't leave for lunch and re-enter on the same expensive ticket it turned out to be more like half a day each.

While I didn't have to worry about getting caught up in fighting, I did have to contend with very unfriendly weather. The unseasonable January storms had been so bad that a good part of east central Sri Lanka was flooded. While the worst effects were east of me, I felt more than normally unfairly privileged driving past drowned fields and houses with water over their door sills. On the way to Anuradhapur we had to ford a small river that had overtaken the main road, and some of the side roads were washed out, but otherwise the main impact was that I saw the sights by car, and from under an umbrella. Perhaps that affected my response.

Of the two sites I preferred Polunnaruwa. The museum had good English signage, and I liked my guide. However, the ruins were very ruinous - lots of low brick walls, and the carving was good but sparse. The signature carvings were moonstones and guardstones, both at the entrances of temples. Moonstones could be thought of as stone door mats - half circles at the foot of entrance steps, while guardstones stood to either side.

At Anuradhapur the ruins were supplemented by dagobas - stupas - mostly plain and undecorated, which I found rather boring. Of course, if you believe in the power of the relics supposedly housed inside, I'm sure your response would be quite different. For me the absolute top sight at Anuradhapur, which made the trip there worthwhile, was the bodhi tree (http://srimahabodhi.org/ ), a 2,000 year old descendant of the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment. Unfortunately, without special arrangements you can't get very close to it, but it's still a remarkable sight, and looks remarkably youthful as well.

Unlike the meal in Dumbulla, my lunches the next two days did nothing to brighten my outlook. The first day I picked the Polunnawura Rest House, once host to Queen Elizabeth II, with every expectation of good service and good food. Boy, what a let down! I passed on yet-another-buffet in favor of deviled chicken, only to be presented with a dish that appeared to have been concocted from scraps intended for the soup pot. The diners across the room, who had opted for the rather scanty buffet, didn't look much happier. A complaint had no effect whatsoever. I needed an afternoon stop for a cheese sandwich and fries to last until dinner.

The next day my driver took me to a small, local place next to the Abhayagigi Museum, but while the food was much tastier, the chicken was cold, and I wasn't willing to risk it. I topped up with another cheese sandwich at the Tissawewa Rest House: better food and service that at the one in Polunnawura (hard to be worse), but also looking tired and run down.

I had chosen not to visit the elephant sanctuary that shows up on a lot of itineraries - I had ridden an elephant in Thailand, and didn't feel a need to do it again. But on the way back from Anuradhapur my driver suddenly stopped the car, because up ahead of us a wild elephant, perhaps flooded out of its usual grazing grounds, was feeding by the side of the road! Now that absolutely made my day.

loving this section...

did it occur to you that your driver may have had a foot fetish?

I'm sorry your views of the ruins were marred by unrelenting rain. We had a nice meal at Polunnawura, but, as you know we also had a meal at another resthouse that was the cause of Cheryl's visit to Bumrungrad. We had a couple of good meals at Gimanhala - even got them to make it spicy for us. The resthouses were meant to offer, good safe food for travelers, but that seems to have fallen apart.

Bob - lol! He must have been a really happy guy, in that case, because there were an awful lot of places I had to go barefoot - and it was no weather for that. (After the first day I took along a wash cloth from the hotel so I/we could dry my feet. I didn't want my sandals getting too dirty.)

Kathie - yes, between my problem in India, my memory of dogster's problem in India and my memory of Cheryl's disaster, I was really leery of that cold chicken. Pity, because it was the most "authentic" place I ate in Sri Lanka. It was also a pity about the rain, I do think I would have liked the sites better if I had been able to wander around in good weather, although they would still have been no competition for Angkor or Bagan in my mind.

Ahhh, I'm enjoying this MUCh more thurs... no time traveling. I got completely lost in the last post. So I'm settling in.

At last; the truth about runious ruins. I, too, found all of Sri Lanka's historical sites dull beyond all comprehension.

Mrrrrmgph!Zzzzzz. Snort.

Oh, sorry, I nodded off just thinking about them.

i got that face cloth in my room the next day...THANKS A LOT

Hi dogster - nice to see you. You've been conspicuous by your absence lately. Hope your legs are doing better. Bringing T. S. Eliot into the India saga may have been a mistake...

Jan 14-15 - Climbing Sigiriya

The Cultural Triangle's fourth and final key sight is Sigiriya - either a very large rock or a smallish hill, depending on your point of view. Formed from a magma plug from a long-gone volcano, the rock was briefly home to a fortress-palace, and for rather longer to a Buddhist monastery. It's impressive from below, rising abruptly from a flat plain, but the tourist is encouraged to climb to the top - all 200 meters (660 feet).

I tackled this on my last day in the region. The good news: it was a grey, cool, windy day, I didn't have to worry about heat stroke and carrying lots of water. The bad news: it was a grey, cool, windy day that turned to rain - fortunately not until I reached the top, but that was no place for light-weight umbrellas. I was pleased to reach the top without finding the climb too much of a chore, but then I wasn't doing it on a typical Sri Lankan day.

Unlike the other Cultural Triangle sights, Sigiriya lived up to my expectations, although the view was hidden by clouds, and then my camera lens fogged up. I enjoyed wandering through the elaborate former gardens at the foot of the rock, and breaking the climb with stops to see the caves near the bottom and the lovely frescoes part way up. Unfortunately, only the paws of the immense lion that guarded the final stairway remain, and the ruins of the palace on the flat expanse at the top are very ruinous.

I followed a successful, if damp, morning with another good lunch at Gimanhala, but wasn't sorry to leave the next day for Kandy. On the way I stopped at the small, old, and very atmospheric Nalanda Gedige temple, and the newer and not very exciting Aluvihara cave monastery, finishing with a Hindu temple close to Kandy. The Hindu temple was a poor shadow of those I had seen in India, and I left when I discovered admission cost 200 rupees. My driver said he had never been inside a Hindu temple before, and I assured him that it wasn't very representative.

A good tourist would also stop on the way to Kandy at the spice plantations and batik workshops along the road. I chose to do this as a separate trip while I was staying in Kandy, but I have to say not only wasn't it worth a separate trip, I wouldn't bother on the way to Kandy either. When I visited a spice plantation in Goa in 2001 I was taken round the actual plantation to see the spices growing, here I was just shown the harvested spices - it was a pure shopping opportunity, with the spices sold at inflated prices. Similarly, while some of the batik pieces I saw were attractive, the prices were much higher than I remember paying in Indonesia a few years back.

Jan 15-18 - Liking Kandy

Kandy came as a bit of a surprise - bigger, noisier and more crowded than I had expected, but I liked it anyway, not least because I finally had dry, sunny weather. I recently read "A Covert Affair", by Jenner Conant, supposedly about Paul and Julia Child's wartime service in the O.S.S., but actually centered on one of their friends, later found guilty of espionage. Although I thought the cover and the reviews misrepresented the book, I did appreciate the descriptions of life in Kandy in the 1940s, at a time when my father would have visited. Much had changed!

I enjoyed strolling round the central lake (although not being accosted while doing so), but my favorite spot was the Botanical Gardens further out. I happily spent several hours wandering around, admiring the formal gardens, checking out the flock of fruit bats, and lunching with a view of the huge lawn. The next day I made a pilgrimage to the iconic Temple of the Tooth, along with plenty of local devotees. I got no spiritual vibe from the place, but did enjoy the buildings. That evening I attended one of the dreaded "cultural shows" along with a large roomful of other western tourists. I thought the dancers looked bored and under-rehearsed, but had to admit being impressed by the fire walkers.

Unfortunately I was less pleased with my hotel. In fact, I was so little pleased that I spent one morning driving around Kandy looking for an alternative. I didn't find another place to stay, but I did get to see plenty of Kandy and its serpentine streets, including lots of good views from the hills surrounding the lake. I liked the look of the Serene Garden enough to make a reservation for dinner, although the resulting buffet didn't live up to the building.

So, what was wrong with the Serendip Stone Bungalow? First, for me it was too far out of town. In fact it's in a place called Kundasale, not Kandy. Presumably the people giving it rave reviews on Tripadvisor just wanted to chill out by the very small pool, or on the verandah overlooking the river, but I both wanted and needed to get into town. Needed to because the hotel only served vegan food, and that wasn't enough protein to last me. Add in the lack of AC, the lack of driver accommodation, and the five minute wait for hot water (only available from the shower head) and I thought the place way overpriced.

Jan 18-22 - World's End

I liked Kandy but I loved the Hill Country. It turned out to be my favorite part of Sri Lanka, although next time I think I would stay in Ella rather than Nuwara Eliya. I stopped briefly in Ella on my way down to the coast and the scenery was even better than around Nuwara Eliya, plus it seemed that tour groups stayed in Nuwara Eliya while backpackers went to Ella.

On the other hand, Nuwara Eliya was a better base for hiking to World's End. The truly energetic hike Adam's Peak, at night so they are in position for the dawn, when the mountain's shadow travels across the clouds below the peak. I simply wasn't up for four hours uphill in the dark, whereas I thought I might mange the shorter, flatter hike to the World's End viewpoint.

I still had to get up at 5:40, arriving at the entrance to Horton Plain's National Park at 7:30. Once again I was taken aback by the cost of admissions in Sri Lanka - $30 to get me and my car and driver inside. I was also not fully prepared for the hike itself. While nowhere was really steep, a lot of the time I was hiking along dried up stream beds, over uneven rocks, and was very glad of my boots and hiking stick.

Most everyone else on the trail moved faster than I did, but I still finished the full circuit, including two viewpoints and Baker's Falls, by 11:00. I had started out shivering, but finished sweating in the sunshine - definitely a place for dressing in layers. I was more than ready for a rest as I trekked up the final slope, but still in better shape than my driver seemed to expect.

This was the most exercise I'd had since Lynn Canyon in Vancouver and I was relieved that my bad ankle held up. But besides a sense of accomplishment I was rewarded by remarkable views and an excellent waterfall. I am easily mesmerized by falling water, and would have made it back a good bit earlier if I hadn't tackled the steep slope down to the falls.

Why is it called World's End? The Park is at over 7,000 feet, and at a one place the ground drops straight down to the plains almost 3,000 thousand feet below. If you're lucky with the weather you can see for miles.

While the hike was the highlight of my stay in Nuwara Eliya, I also spent some quality time at the Botanical Gardens - bigger and wilder than those in Kandy - and ate a couple of good meals at the colonial era St. Andrew's Hotel. St. Andrew's hovers over the west end of town, surrounded by lovingly tended grounds. I stayed at the much newer Governor's Chalets at the other end, down by the lake. Clear, sunny days gave way to freezing nights and my log cabin definitely needed a heater.

Even better than lunch or dinner at St. Andrews was the one meal I ate out of town at Heritage Tea Plantation. The food and wine were excellent, and the hotel conversion - the building had originally been the tea factory - looked good, but the room rates were in the same class as Tea Trails, and I'm sure Tea Trails would be nicer.

Nuwara Eliya itself, aside from a park and the lake (where a new path was under construction) had little to recommend it. I checked out the shops, since I needed a new umbrella, and wasn't impressed.

I'm still following along with you, Thursdays.

Thanks, Kathie! It was seeming awfully quiet in here. Quiet on the Asia board as a whole, actually. I thought maybe everyone but dogster was traveling.

I'm following too.....and enjoying every bit.
A very different trip to ours, but also, remarkably similar.
Very similar itinerary....in many ways.... just done in another way.
We have no experience of India,.........yet,.....but I think I get the dogster classification of 'India light'.

We stayed at the Heritage and yes it was wonderful....quite expensive.....but MUCH cheaper than Tea Trails.

Looking forward to more of your report.

Leigh - looks like we had similar reactions to a lot of things - like the spice shopping op - but you enjoyed Polunnaruwa a lot more than I did. While I enjoyed lunch at Heritage (no buffet, yeah!) it was a long haul out of town.

Another terrific report by Thursday! This one brings back memories of my single two-week trip many years ago.



Eager for more!

Hi eks - when were you in Sri Lanka? Sounds like it was before it got popular - I think I'm jealous.

Maybe - juuuust maybe - going to the main tourist sites at the height of the tourist season had a little to do with your perception, thurs. 'The Season of Greed' as one Sri Lankan hotelier described it.

The good thing is, now you've done the basics, IF you went back again, you could discover the other bits, which are, I suspect, what you're after. But, like I say - it's not really ring-your-bell, ga-ga-ga tourism, is it? It's verrry nice - and verry comfortable [upmarket] but not riveting.

That said, I'd happily go back - but not in peak season. I'd stay in lots of eco-resorts and sedate myself thoroughly.

Thursdaysd, Throughly enjoying your report. I have never had a huge in going to Sri Lanka, but now I can just check it off the list since I am traveling on your journey ; )

OK, why don't I use "preview" before I post?

What the prior post was supposed to say: "I have never had a huge desire to go to Sri Lanka, but now I can just check it off the list since I am traveling on your journey ; )

Thanks BH - I wouldn't say not to go, but it's not high on my revisit list. For that part of the world, northwest India and Ladakh are at the top (of the first time list). And Tibet.

I did realize I was visiting the major sites in fairly high season, but there were a whole lot more tourists around than I expected. If I were to go back, I'd start with Yala, which I didn't get to this time, add more time in the Hill Country, for hiking and riding the train, and then check out areas further east and north. But SL may be best suited to what dogster has in mind, which isn't my style at all. (Which is a good thing, since it's also outside my budget, lol.)

As you now, we absolutely loved Sri Lanka and have been planning to return. But I realize that going while the war was still going on, the places we visited were not crowded and everyone was hurting for business since so few visitors were going to Sri Lanka. Reading the reports from our four Fodorites who went to Sri Lanka this year does make me wonder a bit how it will be for us if we go next year.

I tend to agree with you thursdaysd, SL is not on my list of places to revisit either. Parts of it I loved, the tea country, Adam's Peak, the railway journeys etc. but other parts left me uninspired. Overall, there are a lot of places I would return to and new places I would like to visit before SL. So many places so little time!

Thanks for this trip report thursdaysd - I've been following along and have been gathering a list of questions for a trip we're considering to SL as part of our 10 week trip to India. I've read all the trip reports here (I think) and confess to having felt a certain ambivalence, and your trip report is crystallizing it for me. I'm particularly concerned about the food - we love spicy, flavourful food and don't have the budget for the upend places (although I'm not sure their food fits that description either)....dumbed down food where the only option is to add chili sauce isn't what we're looking for.

On the other hand we have found a great villa near Ambalangoda to rent where we can work with the cook and manager to shop and cook - perhaps we'll base ourselves there and do long day or overnight trips.

http://www.villananda.com/villananda/Welcome.html

I should start a new post - will do so.

thursdaysd, I can't believe your entire journey. Amazing.

I know I have followed in your footsteps on other journeys, and turn about is fair play. I just posted a trip report in "South America" for my recent trip to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. You would love if you haven't bee there already--you probably have been--twice, LOL.

One of the highlights of my report is, when, at the very start of my journey, I threw up going through the airport security line in Lima. Yep. I did.

http://www.fodors.com/community/south-america/lots-of-photos-april-machu-picchusacred-valley-trip-report.cfm I have lots of photos.

I'm beginning to plan my next trip which will be to Myanmar, so I will be looking for all sorts of insights from you and the other Myanmar lovers. Can't go wrong with this group.

Well, BH, I haven't been south of Mexico. South America is definitely on my list, and I nearly chose to visit the northwest quadrant this fall, but airfare was the same as Europe and I think I need to learn a little Spanish first. I was also getting cold feet about tackling Ecuador on my own.

Will definitely head over and read your report. That's a hell of a way to start your trip!!!

Just got back from Belize. I would definitely return to Sri Lanka. For the wildlife.

Thursdaysd- I've been reading your report with great interest as I have a dive trip to the Maldives coming up in October and have 20 days between the Maldives and diving in the Philippines early November. I was thinking of doing a trip to India or Sri Lanka for the interim as I haven' t been back to either since, gulp, 1974. I'll be posting about this on a separate thread soon, but would welcome any opinion you have as to whether that would be a better time to travel there and which places you would suggest given the time frame. Enjoyed reading your TR.

susncrg - I can't find my Sri Lanka guidebook, but LP "South India" says that the northeast monsoon affects Tamil Nadu and Kerala in November and early December, and I imagine also Sri Lanka. Definitely start your own thread!

Jan 22-25 - Back to the Beach

Although I'm not a beach person, Sri Lanka's perfect tropical beaches seemed to be so much a part of its image I decided I had to visit at least one. That's why I found myself getting up early so we could leave Nuwara Eliya at 6:30 am, as my driver insisted it was a long trek to Unawatuna. Turned out he was right, and I didn't make it any shorter by insisting on some stops.

A good breakfast at the Dream Cafe in Ella was enlivened by a group taking wedding photos, with the bride in a lovely red dress. Ella definitely made my list for a future visit, as I preferred the rugged scenery there, all steep rocky crags, to the gentler, tea-covered slopes around Nuwara Eliya. Just outside Ella we visited the Rawana Falls, but while they were pretty enough I had to share them with far too many other people. Happily I persuaded my driver to detour through a plantation to the Diyaluma Falls, where just one other car-load admired the 720-foot sweep of water with me. (Checking that I was spelling Diyaluma correctly, I found this place, which might be worth checking out: http://diyalumafallsinn.com/ )

I let my driver pick my lunch stop, and ate at a posh lakeside hotel in Tissamaharama where I passed on the apparently inevitable buffet in favor of OK spring rolls and tough chicken. The view of the hotel's pool and the artificial Tissa Wewa was good, though. While I did stop at the 2300 year old Yatala Wehera on the way in I decided I had seen more than enough under-decorated dagobas, and drove right past the Tissa Maha Dagoba on the way out, even though it is said to contain a tooth and bone from the Buddha.

For the rest of the afternoon the road followed the coast, where the 2004 tsunami had done so much damage. Sri Lanka's president came from Tangalla, on this coast, and both that town and the main road have been restored. Although I saw some pretty beaches on the way, I was a bit disappointed with Unawatuna, where I stayed at the Thambapanni Retreat. (http://www.thambapannileisure.com/ Cool hotel, but 108 steps to my room, and wifi only available downstairs, where I got badly bitten.)

The sea was a really beautiful blue, the sand was properly golden and assorted trees edged the perfect crescent of the bay. But. The crescent was lined with hotels and cafes, and the beach populated with over-large tourists in under-sized swimsuits. Rubens might have been happy, but I've never cared for Rubens. Despite the number of tourist shops I had a hard time finding a pair of cotton trousers to buy. The style of choice for female tourists this year looks like a long skirt, but is actually trousers, and looks seriously uncomfortable to me.

My hotel was located well back from the beach, and my huge if bare room came with a big verandah, although the view of the beach was hidden by trees - you'd need to climb one final flight of stairs to the topmost room to get the view. The sister hotel, Thaproban Beach House, had been rebuilt after the tsunami, along with a number of other properties, down by the water's edge, and this was already proving a mistake. As I stood on their deck, I could feel it shudder with every incoming wave. A little further along a set of concrete steps had already cracked under the force of the water.

I had chosen Unawatuna as my beach stop because I wanted to visit neighboring Galle and couldn't get a reservation in the town itself. Galle was as pretty as I expected, but too cute and touristy to be a really compelling destination. I did walk the walls at dusk, and I did see several good-looking places to stay, but the whole town seemed to shut down after dark. Of course, it probably came to life for the upcoming literary festival, but I would be gone by then.

I'm loving this. Firsty 'cos it's consecutive so I can travel along, and second 'cos I've been to all your places - if not the same hotels. I spent a week in Unawatuna, living on the beach. My feet got infected from the filthy water.

What you're not seeing is the circuit within a circuit full of lovely boutique places with lovely inflated boutiqiue prices where you can glide thru India-lite with style and grace, feet scarcely touching the ground. Those dreary nights in Galle are filled with fun and faux-laughter. And you won't meet a soul who isn't paid to be nice to you. Not a single soul.

But, I must confess, it's verrry nice.

There's the Tea & Crumpets circuit..

Then there's the eco-yoga-cool circuit...

There's an 'eccentric hotelier' circuit, too. Nobody ever mentions Helga's Folly in Kandy, for example, truly one of the oddest hotels in the world...

Then, thank God - there is the Thursday circuit.

Thanks, dogster. I quite enjoyed the tangled skein of the India thread, but then I always had some notion of where I was in real time.

"My feet got infected from the filthy water." - Yikes!!! I feel even better about not getting wet now.

Alas, I was blowing my budget as it was, the boutique circuit was way out of my reach. I do rather like crumpets, though, and saw not a one. I did check into Helga's Folly, after reading something you wrote, but it too was out of my price range.

Jan 25-26 - Uncool Colombo

Alas, aside, possibly, for the view from my renovated room at Galle Face, the best part of my visit to Colombo was the drive from Unawatuna. All those recommendations to skip Colombo? Spot on, except I wanted to see where my father had been during WWII. Galle Face was good for that too, I feel quite sure he would have patronized the Verandah Bar.

Colombo was close enough I made a late start from Unawatuna, beginning the day lounging on my balcony in the comfortable robe I had found in my room, with a cup of Nescafe and a book from the hotel's library. Once again we drove a rebuilt road barely inland from a coast that had been devastated by the 2004 tsunami, and we stopped to pay our respects at the memorial to the victims. The effects of the crushing wall of water were more evident than they had been along the south coast, and I was once again very grateful for the impulse that had sent me to Laos for Christmas that year instead of to a Thai island.

The drive took three hours rather than the two I expected, not helped by a stop at a mask museum (shop). Then I had to wait until after 2:00 for Galle Face to check me in, by which time it was hard to find anything to eat in the hotel. Although my room had been nicely renovated, and I loved the view of the sea and the hotel's main courtyard, I was otherwise unimpressed. I thought the food, when available, overpriced, the unrenovated room I moved to my second day was way, way overdue for some TLC, and the duvet on my bed made sleep impossible. Who on earth thought duvets made sense in Sri Lanka?

I found the older part of Colombo also in need of TLC, and not at all atmospheric, while much of the newer part was off limits, access blocked by security guards. I did visit the Dutch House Museum, a total waste of 500 rupees, and the National Museum, slightly better but gloomy. I preferred the cafe in a blissfully air-conditioned mall close to the hotel (Colombo was miserably hot and humid) where I found some much needed free wifi, and enjoyed a chat with a woman whose husband was a doctor with Operation Smile (http://www.operationsmile.org/ ).

I needed the wifi to confirm the time of my flight to Singapore - I had thought it left at 02:06, but then found the rather worn copy of my eticket said 12:06 (am, fortunately, not pm!) Then Cathay Pacific's website said it was actually scheduled for 00:45. I Skyped an urgent message to my driver, and retired to the Galle Face for an early dinner. While I was glad to have finally visited Sri Lanka, I was more than ready to move on.

Well, obviously, that's it for Sri Lanka. I spent the end of January and all of February lazing around southeast Asia. I don't think I'm going to post that on Fodors, it was all well-known places at a slow pace, but I will still be blogging. Just put the first Singapore piece up - do take a look at the the rabbit photo. http://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com

Thanks for posting your reports, Thursday. Reporting on your whole trip was quite a task!

Enjoyed your report, Thurs! I too like Kandy very much, as far as cities go I found it very pleasant. And Ella and the hill country was definitely the highlight of my trip - I spent one night in Dalhousie, two in Haputale and four in Ella but could have spent more. I'm surprised you couldn't get reservations in Galle - I found it to be pretty deserted when I was there. You're very fortunate that you had a driver and got to see Sigiriya. After a few scary experiences on Sri Lankan long distance buses, I decided against one more, and that's the one place I hadn't seen but wish I did.

Hi Nutella. I was trying to book Galle for January, right before the Literary Festival. It did look fairly deserted when I day-tripped even though I couldn't get a room.

Hmmm, interesting about the buses. I seldom spring for a car and driver, but sounds like it was worth it this time. Although if I go back it will probably be buses and trains!

thursdays- thank you for this "warts and all" TR, which I have now read at least twice!

the Serendip [which I thought from the map was a quite a way outside Kandy] is one of the places that the agent I am talking to at the moment has recommended, and i wasn't sure about it, so you've helped me decide.

I'm going to start a new thread with our proposed itinerary [probably one of many] - hope you'll chime in!