Day Fourteen - Bentota

If anyone is still reading this, this is the last day!  Phew! 

Went for a long walk this morning in the opposite direction to the town. Had to pass through some mangroves and over some rocks to get to the beach. The mangroves were thick and spooky, with the inevitable wildlife trying to hide from us. 

Watched the waves crashing on the rocks. Sea a bit dangerous to swim in at this time of year, best time is November, apparently. 

Howard did the climb up the rocks but wouldn't go to the top for me to get a good photo. 

Beach was quiet. An old guy got chatting saying he was a fisherman, like his father and grandfather before him. Spoke amazing English. He'd been out fishing that night and had caught lobster and prawns the size of his hand. Said he had a restaurant further up the beach that we had to come to. We agreed we'd try and come later (while someone's stomach gave another lurch!). 

Beautiful empty beach but lots of debris washed up. Not sure if it's locals or tourists that dump the rubbish but there has been loads of fly tipping everywhere we've gone. 

Found another jellyfish that didn't realise it's the wrong season for him to be out. 

Lazy afternoon again. 

Chilled around the resort. Hot but not too sunny. One of the waiters was telling us that the weather is not typical for this time of year. There should be more rain by now. He said the well in his village is very low and rain is badly needed to fill it.  Felt guilty about the twice daily showers we've been having. 

Back to the room to find that we'd been invaded by a 'lobster'?  That must be deserving of a double tip. 

Night, all! 

Day Thirteen - Bentota

Risked life and limb (leaving the toilet) and ventured into town as there is a Monday market on. Walked along the beach for about 1km, passed this lady,

crossed the railway line, literally, and into Bentota mayhem. 

As we were assessing where we were, someone came up and asked what hotel we were from. He explained he was a chef at our hotel, worked in the Palms restaurant etc etc. He told us he'd show us the way. It took us a wee while to realise that we were walking totally in the wrong direction and were in the middle of nowhere. He got out his mobile phone and started talking tuk tuk. Eventually we could see the market, on the opposite side of the river, so realised we were safe but had walked for about twenty minutes in a circle. The guy then started talking about a tip. Howard gave him 40 rupees - about 20p - to which he said he'd not be able to buy anything with that! Who got the last laugh? 

Anyway we did see the sights. Crossed the wide river via a disused bridge which meant another crossing over the not so disused railway line. 

Health and safety, tut tut!

Onto the market which was very busy and very smelly! The smell coming mostly from masses of stalls of dried fish. Didn't buy anything there. Looked around the shops and bought a few souvenirs, things much cheaper here. Howard embarrassed at me bargaining to save 50p off my purchases!  The shopkeepers treat it as a sport and like the banter! (I hope!) 

Streets are busy with heavy traffic and lots of run down buildings.  The shopkeepers come rushing out if they see you looking at anything but don't give any real hassle to buy. 

I managed to spend all my pocket money in an hour. Couldn't find the beer store so Howard returned with all his pocket money intact. (Actually it was me that was desperate to find it!). 

Uneventful, but hot, walk back. 

We did use this pedestrian crossing over the railway line. 

Back to hotel and straight to the poolside, not for a swim but for a BEER!

(Beer faces)

View while drinking of the said beer. 

Rest of day was lazy, reading under coconut trees. Two days and we start the journey home! 

Day Twelve - Bentota

Another day in resort. Cloudy, overcast day but very humid. Still a necessity to stay close to home.  a walk along the beach in the morning. Not many people about. 

Apart from this little sucker!  Warning signs about jellyfish being around but we were told it was safe this time of year!

In the afternoon got chatting to the young guy who put out the sun beds. He was desperate to chat. Said he was really good at reading and writing English but needed more practise with speaking!  He gave me the low down on all the guests. Basically the only people that talk to the workers are the Europeans! Blotted his copybook by saying that the ocean was like women, always unpredictable and always changing!  That's when I told him his English speaking was rubbish! 

Tried to have a game of badminton!!  The 'court' is close to the beach so there's a constant breeze. Poor equipment and the prevailing wind caused lots of air shots and swearing!! It gave the gardeners a laugh anyway!

Buffett calls!  Starting to tire of it a bit but the quality of the food is amazing (although I've gone veggie for the holiday!). Didn't know you could curry so many different things - beetroot, cucumber, bamboo leaves etc etc. All delicious. Diet starts when we get home although one of us has started theirs early! Hopefully tomorrow we'll get to the Bentota market - I'm missing all the banter! 

Day Eleven - Bentota.

Patient not fully recovered so today as yesterday!  Only difference was it rained through the night. Got sun beds by the pool, lying under the shade and the rain started again. Just moved in a little under the umbrella and within half an hour back to the sun splitting the skies. 

View from the sun bed! 

Afternoon went for a swim in the sea. Flippantly asked the life guard if he'd rescued anyone today. He said three locals had drowned yesterday at the next beach. With the full moon, lots of people were celebrating and lots out swimming. Seas are quite rough, good for jumping the waves but strong under currents. Quite sobering. Sploshed about a bit, not venturing too far! 

Tomorrow we might leave the complex ...

Day Ten - Bentota

Started the day with a dosa. (Indian pancake filled with potato curry - available from Rishi in Aberdeen!). Had tried to have one last night but was told they were only available for breakfast!  Got talking to one of the buffet waiters and was asking him about how to make the brinjal curry. With that the chef came out and gave me a step by step account of how to make one. I asked about cooking lessons in the hotel and he virtually told me to save my money. He gave me his business card and told me to contact him about anything else I wanted to know about the food. Just one example of how friendly, and kind, the Sri Lankan people are. 

We spent another day on site. One's fever gone but still 'delicate' so we spent the morning by the pool and close to the 'facilities'!  Weather hot, about 30 degrees, but always a nice breeze. Read books and just chilled. In the afternoon went for a swim in the sea.  Nice big waves close to the shore. Very relaxing!  Both got the sun though and are now smothered in Millie's after sun cream, ready for tomorrow! 

No alcohol allowed today in the restaurant or shops or room service. It's a full moon and there's a government ban on all alcoholic beverages. Who needs it?  Eek!

Might not keep blogging. This could be it for the next five days!  Hard to believe that less than 1 km along the road Sri Lanka exists! 

Day Nine - Bentota

From the sublime to the ridiculous or vice versa?  From having every minute planned for the last eight days to, today, nothing to do!  So that's what we did - absolutely nothing! One of us has been afflicted with a fever and worse.  Stayed more or less in the room all day. Too lazy to even get out the camera to take photos of the complex! Just wandered off the balcony and snapped with the iPad! 

Half the building!

The other half!

Our room in the middle, ground floor.  Half a case of washing almost hidden on the veranda. 

Sea view from the veranda! 

Lazy, lazy, lazy. Nice to relax and read a book but hopefully both will be fully recovered tomorrow or the next day to start exploring again and get back into busy busy Bentota. 

Day Eight - Udawalawe to Bentota

Last day of our tour!  8.30 start again for the long drive to our relaxation place in Bentota, on the south east coast. Traffic was at the craziest we've seen. Buses particularly barge their way through at breakneck speed intimidating drivers. Not Mahesh though! 

This guy drove right on our tail peeping for about 15 minutes driving at about 50mph!

Drove for about an hour and a half before having a brief stop to photograph these fishermen. They look as if they really are fishing but are really staged for the tourists. There was a lot of negotiation between Mahesh and one of the fishermen before we could take some snaps. 

We also had the option of wading out and putting on the gear but declined!

Had a lunch stop in a little town called Galle. Run by the Portuguese in the 15th century, the Dutch in the 16th and British in the 17th. It's a fortified old town surrounded by fancy villas and hotels. Had a brief wander on the ramparts and through the streets of the World Heritage Site - Galle Fort. 

Saw a purple face monkey monkeying about with two babies. 

We passed lots of memorials to the victims of the tsunami!  Also evidence of where it had hit, with buildings destroyed or being rebuilt. Very sad!  35000 people killed in a 20 minute wave! Unbelievable!

 

Another couple of hours of crazy driving and we reached out hotel in Bentota. Said goodbye to Mahesh and got his email address in case any of our friends are coming out here.  We would definitely recommend him. Hotel is very plush and nothing like the town it's in! Photos to follow. Lots of tuktuk drivers offering to take us into town to buy beer and wine from the supermarket because 'hotel prices very expensive'! We'll see!

Day Seven - Nuwara Eliya to Uda Walawe National Park

Well, last night we did get into the formal dining room. My sandals were acceptable and Howard looked the part in his borrowed jacket and tie. 

(Doing his best Prince Charles impression). A real time warp hotel with Howard staying with the invisible woman. Only men are heard!

It was a really cold night - but my fault I was cold. I turned down room service hot water bottles when they were offered. 

Met Mahesh at 8am. Temperature 15 degrees at our hotel, 2000m above sea level. An hour and a half later it was 35 degrees. We were meant to be going to Yala Wildlife park but it was closed for 2 months due to refurbishment. Instead we went down to the south to Uda Walawe National Park. First stop was to see the baby elephants getting their daily milk - very cute!

Then onto safari jeep for a three hour (at least) trip round the national park. Lots of jostling and bumping in the jeep without seeing much. The park is very dry and the lakes almost non existent. Then we came across :

Just as we were heading out the park we saw a big herd of buffalo being marched through the park and at the side of the road 3 male elephants. Mahesh was a bit worried in case they might charge the jeep so instructed the driver to back off a bit. We sat and watched them for ages. 

Amazing animals but very dangerous. Mahesh told us stories of tourists getting killed by a big male elephant while posing for a selfie. Eek! 

Drove another 100 km in the middle of road chaos, turned off onto a side road and into another lovely hotel. Nice room etc. Went for a drink and a snake slithered past us. Had a shower and, as I'm getting out, realised I was sharing it with an enormous cockroach. Not sure who was more traumatised!!

I ❤️ this country! 

Day Six - Kandy to Nuwara Eliya

Today was mostly a 'travel day'. Not in our air conditioned Honda estate though. We were heading up to the tea plantations by train.  Mahesh was taking our luggage ahead by car.  He dropped us off at the station before Kandy 

Here we discovered we were travelling third class BUT we did have reserved seats, facing backwards and not at the window, in a carriage with 19 Chinese, some of whom were musicians.

The scenery was spectacular. The journey took four and a half hours. It was noisy both with our fellow travellers (the Chinese were drumming and singing AND hanging out the door of the train getting their pictures taken from the next carriage - outside)  and the ancient old train clanking up and down the hilly area. 

Hard to take decent photos as the windows only half opened and had bars across the middle. 

Four and a half hours later we got off the train, shaken and stirred!  We stepped off the train and it was Baltic. 17 degrees. After a bit of confusion we met up with Mahesh again. First thing we saw was a tea plantation with this sign

Mahesh took us to our hotel, The Hill Club - an old colonial stomping ground. 

Beautiful grounds with a golf course in front. Our room is enormous filled with old traditional furniture. Fortunately for me the gentlemen's drinking bar has been changed recently to 

Tiny gin servings though 😥😥😥

Howard has to borrow a jacket and tie for dinner - I've yet to find out if I am going to be turned away for wearing sandals. 

This area is known as Little England as there are lots of colonial houses dotted around the hillsides but the town itself looks like everywhere else we've been. Lots of traffic, shops, mayhem etc. 

Tomorrow we'll explore the tea plantations a little more and the waterfalls before heading south again to a wildlife centre.