The journey home was long and exhausting. We had a layover in China and the security struck us as excessive in quantity and extraordinarily unfriendly in nature, and we were only transiting. The woman who was sat next to Caro on our second flight was clearly not a frequent flier; she kept leaning on the … Continue reading Going home to do laundry
Backpacking
Dragon, meet Dragon – Labuan Bajo and Komodo National Park
When we first started planning Indonesia, about a month before we actually got there, we had planned to visit Java first and then Lombok and the Gili Island. About two weeks before we left Malaysia northern Lombok was shaken by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake causing widespread destruction and hundreds of fatalities. Indonesians in general have … Continue reading Dragon, meet Dragon – Labuan Bajo and Komodo National Park
Bidding farewell to Sri Lanka – Wilpattu National Park & back to Negombo
We left Jaffna behind us and embarked on 6 hours of very slow train travel to get us back down to Anuradhapura, from here we travelled 30 minutes by bus to Wilpattu Junction and jumped off on the side of the road in what felt like the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, there were a couple … Continue reading Bidding farewell to Sri Lanka – Wilpattu National Park & back to Negombo
The far north of Sri Lanka – Jaffna and the Jaffna Peninsula
Whilst it is becoming more popular with tourists, Jaffna can still be considered to be off the beaten track and it has a very different feel to the rest of the country. There is a noticeably greater Hindu influence and a lot of the key sites are temples. There is also a more conservative attitude … Continue reading The far north of Sri Lanka – Jaffna and the Jaffna Peninsula
Some off-season beach time and a really really old tree – Uppuveli and Anuradhapura
Our first stint of beach time, though nice, had not been as relaxing as we'd hoped so we set aside a couple of days to spend on the east coast beaches. It was the off season but the weather forecast looked good so we caught a couple of buses to Trincomalee. We didn’t linger in … Continue reading Some off-season beach time and a really really old tree – Uppuveli and Anuradhapura
Exploring the ancient treasures of Dambulla and Sigiriya (with subtitles)
Our brief visit to Kandy ended with our host organising for his mate to give us a lift to the bus station on the cheap. Said friend dropped us in an alleyway, pointed at what appeared to be a far distant bus, said “short cut” and gestured down a set of steps. We were unconvinced … Continue reading Exploring the ancient treasures of Dambulla and Sigiriya (with subtitles)
Lingering in train doorways from Ella to Kandy
James was finally feeling ok and so we took the leap and said goodbye to Ella. Given that we didn’t know when we would be able to catch it we hadn’t bothered reserving seats on the very popular Ella to Kandy train. This particular journey has attracted incredible fame due, in large part, to Lonely … Continue reading Lingering in train doorways from Ella to Kandy
Welcome to Hill Country – Haputale and Ella
Rather than going straight to Ella, we took a slight detour off the beaten track and stopped for a couple of nights in Haputale. Tourists aren’t unheard of here but are very much in the minority. The bus journey is a dramatic uphill one winding through small towns with monkeys clambering along the electricity wires, … Continue reading Welcome to Hill Country – Haputale and Ella
The very real joy of Sri Lankan bus travel and an amazing morning with the elephants – Uda Walawe National Park
Our first bus journey in Sri Lanka was on a private bus. Every single bus in Sri Lanka is an old double windscreen Lanka Ashok Leyland but you can tell the difference between the state and private buses because the former are fairly non-descript red buses and the latter are usually painted retina-hurting neon colours, … Continue reading The very real joy of Sri Lankan bus travel and an amazing morning with the elephants – Uda Walawe National Park
Kicking back in Mirissa and Tangalle
We had long been looking forward to a few days R&R on the beach and could think of no better place than the famous beaches of the south coast of Sri Lanka. We booked ourselves in to a small family run guesthouse in Mirissa, just 5 minutes stroll from the beach. Disney Villa, which was … Continue reading Kicking back in Mirissa and Tangalle
The Rolling Stones 