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Wake up at 7:00 AM in Kandy at the Thilanka Hotel. At sunrise we heard monkey racket. They were running on corrugated metal in front of, and over, our porch, but not in our room. Breakfast at 7:45. Buffalo curd (basically a rich plain yogurt, tasting of sour cream), with a spoon of “bee honey”.Continue reading “Sri Lanka – Kandy, November 3”

We are sorry to do it, but, today, we must checkout of this oasis, Water Garden Sigiriya Hotel. 9:30. On the road. Destination: Heritance Kandalama Hotel. We are stopping only to check it out, (en route to Kandy), particularly the swimming pools.  23 years ago, the hotel was built, more like affixed, onan elevated ridgeContinue reading “Sri Lanka – Kandy November 2”

Thursday. Up at 7:00. Cup of Ceylon black tea with milk, no sugar. Excellent day. The rain is gone. There is just enough cloud to temper the sun, still it will be hot.8:30. In the van. On the road to Polonnaruwa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Approximately 50 kilometers northeast of our Sigiriya base. TheContinue reading “Sri Lanka – November 1, 2017”

Sri Lanka is where the British established the tea trade in the early 1800’s.  The tea grown in central Sri Lanka is said to be the highest quality and commands the highest price from retail tea manufacturers.  We traveled through the center of tea country – from Kandy and Nuwara Eliya to Ella – inContinue reading “Ceylon Tea: November 4-6”

The British tea plantation owners built a network of train lines through the hills of central Sri Lanka now known as “tea country”.  A journey on the train is one of the highlights of a visit here so we scheduled a short ride on one of the more interesting routes.  The tickets were requested overContinue reading “Sri Lanka – November 5, Train from Nuwara Eliya to Ella”

We celebrated Marlow’s 60th birthday in Mirissa at the southern tip of Sri Lanka.  We arrived here after spending one week traveling in the hills and jungles of the middle of the country (e.g., Dambula and Kandy on the map).  Now it was time for the beach! We are staying in a small hotel directlyContinue reading “Sri Lanka – Mirissa, November 6, Birthday One”

We stop from time to time at various food stands that line the roads.  Sepali will have a hunger for a particular fruit, our driver will request a break for a snack and a stretch or we will see something that catches our eyes.  We have enjoyed many mangos, papayas, pineapples, bee honey, jack fruitContinue reading “Sri Lanka – Roadside stops”

Sigiriya hill on the right Tuesday. Up at 5:45 AM. The room is so nice. The vista is magnificent. Two hills jut out in the distance. One of them we will climb today. The sky is not blue. It is silvery and that is good for our two hour walk up the “Lion” Mountain, Sigiriya.Continue reading “Sri Lanka, Sigiriya, October 31, 2017”

Outstanding flight from Doha, Qatar to  Bandaranaike Airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka.  Note in the flight path below how the flight had to take a detour over Saudi Arabia because we were flying on Qatar Airlines which is unable to fly over the airspace of several neighboring countries.   Flight path to Colombo. We satContinue reading “Sri Lanka: Arrival, September 29 – 30”

It is our first trip to Greece. Athens is a good place to start. We have seen in Spain and Italy and Croatia Roman ruins from 2000 years ago. Hardly old at all. Here, old means 2500 to 3000 years old. Note Agean Sea and islands in distance Athens is a waterfront city. It hasContinue reading “Athens, October 23 – 28”