Thank you for your report, Robbie. I really enjoyed following along with you. Sri Lanka is a place I plan to return to, and it was great to read about places you visited that I didn't.

Thanks you Robbie. This was a teriffic report. Sri lanka was not high up on my "list" but since reading your report ( and Craig's too), it has moved up higher!

And I appreciate the bad along with the good... It's rare when all goes as planned on my trips, so it's nice to hear someone as organized and well-researched as you have blips as well!

great report robbie....hi to fred and we look forward to seeing you at the LA GTG..

bob

Great job with the report. My apologies to Dogster, but I can't wait to follow in your footsteps .

Thanks to all of you for your support and feedback concerning this report and to Kathie, Craig and Dogster for invaluable help in planning.

I forgot to mention what I read on Sri Lanka in advance of our trip. Years ago I'd read Michael Ondaatje's Running in the Family. From brother Christopher I read The Man-Eater of Punnani. Both novels are beautifully written personal memoirs. Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje is a novel in which my interest waxed and waned. It does give a feeling for the turbulence of life in Sri Lanka in the 1980's and some interesting LTTE history . Just before leaving I stuffed my brain with as much as I wanted of Paradise Poisoned by John Richardson, a respected academic. Its a 600 page scholarly tome that traces the development failures that coalesced to give rise to the conflict and terrorism from which Sri Lanka is, hopefully, emerging.
I’ll let you know when my photos are up.

And I, too., look forward to seeing you Bob, and Karen and many others at the LA GTG!

dogster /robbie - in fact 'Miss Taru', the creator/designer, original owner/manager of these boutique hotels is no longer involved with the company that now runs the 4 boutique hotel properties including taproabana and river house. You can confirm this by visiting the website www.taruvillas.com

Wonderful trip report - thank you. I am starting to plan 10 weeks in India/Sri Lanka in early 2012 and this has given me so many ideas. On to Kathie's, Craig's and Dogbert's reports as well.

I was so hoping there would be a link to photos at the end - do you have a link? Thanks!

Read some and will be back for more!