Dr_Ralph

Kathie,

The 1,202 step climb is up to the Sigiriya Rock. The frescoes were right out of the cover of an old Lonely Planet Guidebook. The day before we were at the Lion's Paws, our guide said people had to be rushed to a hospital from a wasp attack.

Kandy is a lot more than the tooth. When you are there, take a big walk around the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens. The fruit bats and the Seychelles Coco de Mer palms are worth seeing. It is a beautiful place for a stroll. We have a fabulous botanical gardens near our house and we still loved spending time at the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens.

glorialf

Sounds like a terrific trip. I have a friend who is planning on moving there in two years so I've been waiting to go because I'd love to be able to be able to stay with him a few days and perhaps have him accompany me for part of the trip.

Mohammed

Hi Kathie so glad to read your reports and that you are having a good time. As you continue your tour you will come to understand why travellers over the eons referred to this island as the "Pearl of the Indian Ocean".

Oh - I hate the local towels too, I get mine from Mumbai!


Regards
Mohammed

Kathie

Back from the climb of Sigiriya. We went very early in the morning to avoid the worst of the heat. We have been fortunate everywhere in that the sites have not been crowded. Dr Ralph, there is a sign about the hornets. We saw an Italian foursome where one of the women panicked when she saw the hornets nests. Again, we had an excellent guide.

We leave the Kandalama for Kandy tomorrow. (By the way, the towels at the Kandalama are lovely - perhaps they get them from Mumbai like Mohammed!) We really have a full schedule at Kandy. Our driver wants to make sure we get the opportunity to see everything we can. We will be visiting the spice gardens (I really want to buy some vanilla beans as gifts and for our own use) and the botanical gardens near Kandy. The temple of the Tooth, of course, the famous Buddhist bookshop there, as well as lots of shopping. Kandy is supposed to have the best crafts shopping. Of course, we'll also be attending a dance performance. With such a full schedule, our driver has promised to send us to a great place for a massage.

The scenery is gorgeous. I certainly can understand why Sri Lanka has been called the pearl of the Indian Ocean.

Dr_Ralph

Kathie,

When you go to the dance performance sit in the second row; please do not sit in the first row. When we got there, we plopped ourselves down in the first row. Our driver came running over to us and said it would be much better to sit in the second row to see the performance. He was right on in all of his tips to us on our trip. We reluctantly moved back one row. After the dance performace was over, the fire dance moved off the stage directly in front of the first row. I think the people in the first row had singed hair from being too close to the flames! Stay warm and enjoy sitting in the second row.

Kathie

Hello everyone! We are back in Bangkok after 12 days in Sri Lanka. What a fabulous trip! We had an amazing time there. I will post a long and detailed trip report when I get home to Seattle. Cheryl took a couiple thousand photos (she will edit!) and hopes to have the photos on her website a couple of weeks after we return.

Now to settle in to some Bangkok agendas - jewelry shopping, fabulous Thai food, relaxing, massages...

rhkkmk

kathie---have you seen andy..he is at ROS in the cheap rooms..

Kathie

Bob, I'm afraid we missed each other. They were leaving this morning and we were arriving.