Annhig, thanks for the tip regarding the itinerary. I will make sure that our driver understands in the beginning. Like you, we're getting a "people carrier" as well, although there are four of us.

thursdaysd - you won't derail me, don't worry, i can do that all by myself!

and I think that i forgot to mention you in the earlier credits, so belated thanks for your help in the planning of the trip. We actually had world's End on our itinerary, but the drive up to the place we were staying in above Nurewa Eliya was pretty tortuous, so once we got there, we didn't rally want to go anywhere else. So we walked from there a couple of days which was both lovely and free!

crellston - I appreciate the encouragement. We had a most terrific time and really the costs of the sites did not impinge on us at the time, though in retrospect they do seem high in comparison to others in Asia. Our driver was pretty down on politicians, and when we found out that they [and people like doctors, all of whom are very well paid compared to the average sri lankan] don't have to pay the 400% tax on new cars that ordinary people have to pay, i could see his point.

tripplanner - because I realised that the itinerary that we started off with when we booked wasn't really what we wanted to do, I e-mailed BSL about a month before we travelled with a revised version. this didn't change any of the hotels, but it did re-arrrange the activities that were planned. I wasn't entirely clear that our driver had received it - at times i thought he had, then he'd day something which made me doubt this. so i think that it's worth doing this, but also having a copy for the driver when you arrive. and being very clear about what you want to see, and don't want to see, or do come to that.

To be fair to Ajith, once we'd got used to each other he proved to be a terrific resource, and he was invariably polite, punctual and professional. These drivers get a different lot of people to look after every fortnight or so, and when the trip starts they have no idea what sort of clients they've got!

Thanks again, Annhig. I've given BSL a rough idea of what we want in terms of an itinerary and they've given me a quote based on that. I hope to spend the next couple of months going through guidebooks and emailing them with a more detailed plan. Now that you mention it, I will definitely make sure I bring a copy with me for the driver.

tp - that sounds very sensible. i have left a specific comment about your itinerary on your other thread - if you want to e-mail me when you've read it, please feel free to do so - [email protected] should find me.

I do think flexibility in your guide is essential, We had a few problems on our trip and ended up with a replacement guide. The first was very nice but hopeless and in retrospect was a bit lazy. He would rather sit in the car and wait for us than show us around. Fine as it happened but it would have been nice to have had the option! The second, by contrast, was amazing, he would constantly make suggestions for variations of the set itinerary all of which proved to be great. He also took us to numerous places exceeding the set mileage allowance and did not charge. In the end he became a good friend.

With any guide I think it is essential to build a good relationship from the off and set out clearly what you expect. It worked with our second guide but failed miserably with our first! Other travellers we met had wildly varying experiences with their guides. I guess it is pot luck. SL is just one of those places where the more planning you do in advance, the better.

Crellston, you're spot on regarding the guide. I've had so-so guides and really good guides on my previous travels, and that really made the difference in numerous cases.

Annhig, thanks for your offer. An email is coming your way.

tp - a response should now be winging its way to you.

i agree so much with Crellston - the more research you do, the more it will pay off. That said, however much you do will not entirely prepare you for the reality! [good and bad!] in the first few days you are bound to make mistakes [well, we did] - and then it's a case of going with the flow and not letting minor niggles spoil your enjoyment of a lovely place.

as Crellston says, you are very reliant on your driver, and a good one can make or break the trip. taking all into account, Ajith was pretty good at explaining things as we drove around, but always maintained a professional reserve, so I could not describe him as a friend. He certainly tried as hard as he could to make the trip a success, and to be responsive to what we wanted, though occasionally, it got lost in translation!

Thanks so much Ann. Agree with you and Crellston 100%.

Annhig: It's great to "meet" you on this forum! I've been concentrating on Europe lately so do not often check t he Asia board but when I did just now, and when I saw your name right up at the top of the column, I knew that I was in for a good read!

I've not been to SriLanka since the last year that the island was named Ceylon (scary thought, that one!) so I guess there have been a few changes since my own visit! I'll buckle my seatbelt and join you as you recount your adventures!

hi, ek,

glad to have you along.

hoping to post the next segment this weekend - especially if I continue to operate on SL time!

What a great report. I'm enjoying reading this and will consider a trip there in our future. For those who have been to both Sri Lanka and India, how do the two compare?

thanks, dgunbug. from what I've read, India is definitely noisier!

dgunbug - the late, great dogster described SL as "India lite". He was right.

India has more of everything. If SL with BSL is Asia 101, India is a senior thesis. Maybe a graduate thesis.

Day 2 - Ordeal by monument

Our original itinerary had us going to Sirigiya today, but we’d been advised that would need a 6 am start, and being our first morning in SL, we thought we might want to sleep in, [BST being some 4 1/2 hours behind SL time] so we had opted for Polunawara instead - a longer drive, but not requiring such an early start. So it was a surprise to wake up bright, breezy and well-rested at 6am - the equivalent of 1.30 am at home. We pottered about for a bit, watching the sunrise, the birds flying over the lake, and having a cup of tea [there were tea/coffee-making facilities in all our rooms except the one at Warwick Gardens, where you could ask for tea or coffee whenever you wanted]. We also had an amusing moment when we caught the monkeys trying to open the balcony door - we had closed but not locked it and watched with astonishment as a macquake managed to open the heavy door, but got no further after we shouted at him. We always locked it after that!

By 7am we were ready for breakfast and went along to the dining room to see what was on offer. Wow! You want curry for breakfast? or ham and eggs? or a full english? toast and croissants? Whatever style of breakfast you wanted, there it was. Having read about egg hoppers [a sort of pancake made with rice flour and coconut milk with an egg cooked in the middle] we were eager to try them, and they did not disappoint - very tasty. [the highest accolade a sri lankan can give to food, so far as I could tell]. With fruit, fruit-juice, and some toast, plus the terrific tea, we were well set up for the morning and all that it might throw at us.

We easily made the 8am time we’d agreed to be picked up by Ajith, and soon we were back negotiating the traffic on the way to Polunawara. Ajith had said the journey should take about an hour, but from memory it was actually more like two - it certainly felt like it after the day before. And the heat! We’d barely noticed it in the hotel as being built into the hillside it was relatively cool; out here in the dry plains of northern Sri Lanka as soon as we opened the door to the van at 10 am it was already baking.

First stop was the ticket office and museum - U$ 25/3025 rupees each was indeed a bit steep [just over £15 each]. Sadly they have suspended [or abolished] the combined Cultural Triangle ticket which was U$ 50, and don’t take c/cards, so cash it had to be. Thankfully the museum was air-conditioned and provided information in [what we assumed were] Sinhalese, Tamil, and English. I suspect that it would have made more sense if we’d seen it after visiting the site, but that didn’t seem to be an option, so after 30 mins or so, and a use of the very clean “facilities” [we made sure we “went” even if we didn’t need to “go”] we stepped out into the searing heat again, and were ferried round to the start of the monuments, which I vaguely remember being a statue [of the king?] and the library. We tried to find out what the 5th century books were written on which would have survived the heat and damp, but sadly never discovered the answer. [anyone?]

Then we were whisked to the next site which was a much larger area where a palace had stood. We dutifully wandered round trying to make sense of the ruins, but our main focus was on getting the various touts to leave us alone. “You want hat, madam? you want elephant? where you come from, you come from England? Why you not want elephant? very cheap!” In retrospect, I rather needed a hat, but I had an instinct that once you bought something from one of them, all the rest of them would see you as fair game, so we kept up our constant streams of “no, Cornwall, no, thank you, no,” until they got the message that we weren’t buying and went to pester someone else.

Polunawara is a very large site and the system seems to be that the driver transports the guests from one part to another until a) they have seen everything or b) they get fed up. We had reached point b). [already? you ask. what wimps. But we’re from Cornwall where if it gets above 20C, it’s headline news!]. We asked if we could go and get some lunch and come back, but that apparently wasn’t an option - no passouts. [a bit much considering the cost] It was much too hot to take off one’s shoes to go into any of the temples except one which had a roof, so the interiors of the temples will remain ever a mystery to us. One we thought we would go into turned out to be completely solid like a bee-hive, which we only realised after we’d walked all the way round it. No joke in 35C without a hat. [DH had one though, but he wasn't lending].

Being our first day we’d just about had enough by then, and not being great afficionados of ancient Sri Lankan monuments, we decided to call it a day. So we sadly decided to forgo the rest of the treasures of Polunawara and asked Ajith to take us somewhere for lunch. The ensuing conversation went thus:

Ajith: What about your elephant safari this afternoon? [we looked in horror at each other].

Us: WHAT elephant safari?

Ajith: The one that’s on the itinerary.

Us: We think we’d rather go back to the hotel and rest for the rest of the day.

Ajith: But it’s on the itinerary.

Us: Could we do it another time? possibly after we’ve been to Sirigirya tomorrow?

Ajith: [clearly struggling with this] mmm - that should be possible.

Us: fine. How much is it?

Ajith: n U$.

Us: how much is that in rupees?

Ajith: 13,000.

Us: 13,000? [thinking that at this rate our cash was not going to last long between visits to ATMs.] How long does it take?

Ajith: 3 hours. There are many elephants. [and elephants were part of what we had come to see, after all]

Us: [doing the maths - mmm - just over £60 for 3 hours, this had better be good] OK - now can we please go and get some lunch?

Of course it didn’t quite go like this, but it was the first time that we had a clash of interests, and it was important to establish who was boss. [you may think that we did just that, but possibly not in the way we intended!]

The place that we were taken for lunch [and it was pretty impossible to have any control over things like this, especially at the beginning] was just about ok - with a Sri Lankan curry buffet, and other choices like sandwiches and fried lake fish. To my surprise, DH, who at home normally has curry whenever he can, decided to have a chicken sandwich, whereas I opted for the curry, which was pretty tasty, whilst the sandwich [which was the same price as the curry buffet] was truly awful, and the ladies’ loo wasn’t much better - I had to wash my hands in the gents! [the total cost for the two meals and 2 beers was about 2,500 rupees, BTW].

The journey back to the hotel took about 2 hours [there were several jams where they were carrying out much needed road improvements] so it was gone 5pm by the time we were able to dive into the hotel pool and finally cool off. [I say “pool”; in fact there are 3 and we tried each of them!] Then after dinner and a drink in the bar watching some of the cricket it was time for bed, ready for tomorrow’s adventures.

Tomorrow - you want elephants?

bring on the elephants

I want elephants...

You know, we absolutely loved Polunawara! In part, this was because we love ruins, especially Buddhist ruins, but our enjoyment was enhanced by having the best guide. Our driver asked us if we wanted a guide the day before and we did, so he called his friend. A good friend had their driver (who said he could guide them) show them around and they weren't impressed. I think this is a place where it helps to have a great guide. Given the heat, you might have wanted to stop early anyway.

Did you eat at the rest house constructed for Queen Elizabeth's visit back in the 1950s?

i wasn't much impressed by Polunawara either, but I saw it in the rain.

Kathie - our driver suggested a guide and we thought that we'd said yes, but then none materialised. [we had one the next day which did make a difference but that's another story!]

we are not, truth be told, great ones for ruins [at home we would rather visit an inhabited stately home than a ruined castle, and if it's got a garden, even better!] but we were open to the experience, and if I've given the impression that we were not having fun, then that would be wrong. But for us a few ruins can go a long way!

The rest home is being renovated else I'm sure we'd have stopped there. it has a beautiful position over-looking the lake and when it's finished will be lovely.

Hi annhig and great to read you report so glad you have enjoyed the trip albeit some interesting interludes too, will await to see more... (I am currently in London here to drop my daughter off at University)