Two helpful suggestions from readers mean we are now numbering the blogs, and promise to try to include a few pictures of us (other readers are now saying “Oh No”). We are happy to admit that we were excited and apprehensive in equal measures about coming to India. There were the obvious concerns of health, sanitation, ‘Delhi belly’ and of course the extreme poverty, contrasting with experiencing an ancient culture, rich in tradition which is so very different to our own. Delhi airport came as a surprise. Vast, modern and carpeted(!), it had the speediest and friendliest passport control we have ever experienced, and the first shop we saw in arrivals was WH Smiths! Were we really in India? Then we met our driver Vinod, and left the building, hitting (metahorically), a wall of noise, dust and people! The drive to the hotel was incredible. There are no lanes… everything goes where it wants to, including cars, buses, vans, tuk tuks, rickshaws, cows, bikes etc. See a space.. squeeze in. There is some smog, but nowhere near as bad as a few months ago. Hotel is classed is a homestay. 4 rooms in an appartment. Clean, comfortable and friendly.. and they supply ear plugs! Hooting your car horn is mandatory here. It means ‘Hello’, ‘I’m behind you’, ‘I’m coming past you’ (on either side, there are no rules about overtaking), ‘Get out of my way’, ‘Look out’, and ‘MOVE I’M BIGGER THAN YOU’. We have established that the traffic only calms down between about 1.30 – 5.30 am. This is a city of 26 million people, and they are all seem to be going somewhere! Our first day was spent in Old and New Delhi with Vinod and our local guide. Wow. Here are the highlights. The Fatehpuri Masjid a huge mosque built in 1650 at the height of the Mughal period, to contain a minimum of 25,000 worshippers. Note compulsory gown for ladies. Gorgeous sandstone architecture, with Koran verses inscribed on marble. Chandni Chowk, the vast network of alleys and streets that are the historic and current shopping centre in Old Delhi. We walked to see the narrow alleys and old Havelis – 17th and 18th century wooden houses – built as homes for the wealthier merchants. The wiring is unbelievable. The alleys containing the silks, ribbons and dresses were a riot of colour in narrow, dirty Dickensian surroundings. Yet each one proudly dusted his shop, washed the floor and according to our guide, did good business. Then a rickshaw through the spice market. The quantity of spices traded here is jaw dropping. They arrive in huge sacks, on hand carts, bullock carts, even heads, and are moved by ornate trolleys to each trader. It was deafeningly noisy, dirty and chaotic.. but so alive, vibrant and real. It worked. The chaos had a pattern. Business was being done as it had been for hundreds of years. Next – Humayans Tomb. Built in 1570 for Mughal Emporer Humayan, by his wife. It is in gardens, which contain other huge tombs of his favoured ones…including his gardener and his barber! Next our favourite place, the Sikh Temple, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib.Delhi. It was incredible. A beautiful temple, where they have a constantly changing group of people who sing the scriptures all through the day. It was a hauntingly beautiful sound. They seem to be a very kind and caring religion, and through volunteers they run 4 kitchens across the city for anyone who wants a free hot meal regardless of religion, caste etc. They serve over 20,000 meals every day! We saw the kitchens. It was so moving. It was fresh food, and they can have as much as they want. The hall was full, and crowds were queuing outside. Very moving. The beautiful holy pool is for healing immersions. Then to Qutub Minar… the tallest brick Minaret in the world. Started in 1192 as a victory tower when Muslims overthrew the Hindus to rule India. They demolished 27 Hindu and Jain temples on this site, and used materials from them to build a huge mosque and other buildings. Back to hotel. Earplugs in. Sleeeeeep. Early start for drive to Jaipur. 135 miles – 5.5 hours! Apparently that is a good day! We saw an 18 lane highway… very briefly. A road that pretended to be a motorway..until a cow walked across…people ran across … and it suddenly had barriers (with no warning) forcing you to slow down into 1 lane for a police check. Later, suddenly, everything stopped as the road was dug up. 3 lanes of lorries onto a single lane cart track for 2 miles. Some cars didn’t like that, so literally turned round and drove back… facing completely the wrong way! The road is shared by tuk tuks, tractors and rickshaws too. At times, suddenly, 3 lanes are 1, driving up a high street with a market either side. Unbelievably amazing! Near Jaipur we went into the hills, through villages to the Samode Palace. Built by a Maharaja in the 17th century, it is now a top hotel. We had a lovely light lunch which enabled us to have a guided tour. Oh my… the palace rooms were exquisite. No wonder the rich and famous stay here. Sadly… that’s not us, so on we went, but were very pleasantly surprised on reaching our hotel, Khas Bagh, the home of one of Indias best polo players, Ransher Singh. Gorgeous room with a terrace outside. Very very comfortable and good food! Happy! Tomorrow we go to Jaipur. Very excited. Zzzzzzzzz

A 5.30 start took us to Kandy to catch the train south through the mountains to Haputhale. This is considered one of the great train journeys of the world. Tissa had purchased 2nd class reserved tickets. He kept saying they were very hard to get. We couldn’t understand why until the train arrived. There were 12 coaches. One first class reserved, one second class reserved, and 10 which I would class as ‘squeeze in if you can, and if not, hang on to the outside!!’. Thank you Tissa for our seats!

What a journey. 5 hours climbing through the mountains and the tea plantations. We climbed to 6,252 feet above sea level.. nearly twice as high as mount Snowdon, and the highest broad gauge railway in the world. All for £8 each!
Our hotel, the Melheim resort, clung to the side of a mountain, with stunning views, an abundance of birds, and great food eaten on the terrace. Next morning we climbed yet another hill, up through the tea plantations to Liptons seat. At 4,700 feet high, we, like Thomas Lipton, had a commanding view of his tea domain.

We also learned that only the two newest leaves are harvested each time…the ‘tips’. In the rainy season these regrow every 3 days, in the dry it is every 7 days. So the plants can be continually re-harvested, and are just replaced every 40 years. It still has to be done by hand. The tea pickers must pick 20kg each per day for which they are paid 600 rupees.. about £3. For each extra kg they get a bonus! Many are Hindu..brought over from India by the British. Some live in very poor conditions. Your tea comes at a price, although we suspect conditions are worse in other countries.
Following our dawn walk we visited the stunning mountain area of Ella, and its waterfalls.

.

Then down to the southern part of SriLanka to Udawalawe for our safari in the National park. Oh my, elephants galore, including one tusker who was a little close for comfort.

My shot of the day! The birds too were amazing… some great close up encounters.

Tonight we sleep in our mosquito dome for the first time!

Next morning a visit to the elephant orphanage. Great place… no elephant rides or exploitation. Any orphaned elephant is brought here. Currently they have 46 babies under 5 years old. They receive a milk feed 3 times a day, but return to the jungle in between. It was funny seeing them queuing at the gate. Babies as young as 3 months! They form their own herds.
The most remarkable thing was an older elephant who had lost part of his leg when he stepped on a land mine. They had made a waterproof lower leg for him. That must have been an interesting rehab programme. He stays at the base, but was so happy to greet the others. At one point, he laid down. Immediately 2 of the older elephants went across and
orked together to lever him up onto his feet…and support him there. It was remarkable to see.

From there we headed west to Yala. Our final safari was to be in search of the elusive leopard. Very few remain in Sri Lanka and our chances were slim. Yala national park is huge. It has many lakes and even beach. – our first view of the Indian Ocean. Tragically this is the coast where the Tsunami swept ashore in 2004. 47 people were killed at just one site here.
The abundance of lakes meant more amazing bird life, and more elephants. Dusk was approaching when, as we were leaving the park, our driver slammed on the brakes. Leopard in the bushes. He edged forward and we were rewarded when a magnificent leopard leisurely walked across the track. It was magnificent. A truly Triumphant moment to end a great day.

Well not quite end it. We got back to our eco b’n’b to hear that Jen and Menna had skied brilliantly in the World Cup to get a silver in the giant slalom.. woo hoo. Go girls. Another Triumph.

And Chris decided that from now on he would like his Lager served like this….

Tomorrow…to the seaside… buckets and spades at the ready😊

Home from work Sri Lankan style!

We arrived in Sri Lanka at 08.45 am after 2 hours sleep (Just a 4 hour flight from Dubai. They spent the first hour offering drinks and food, THEN suggesting perhaps you would like to sleep. Woke us up 2 hours later by opening the blinds and presenting Breakfast. I chose Sri Lankan porridge, lentil cakes and a sort of dhal. Delicious …if unusual)

Met by Tissa, our driver and chauffeur for the next 9 days. We agreed an itinerary with Ceylon Escapes, which we will now follow, entrusting ourselves to Tissa.
A very different way for us to holiday. We normally like to have freedom to drive ourself and change course mid trip!
Tissa is calm and polite and SPEAKS (more later) good English. He sorted us out with an ATM and a SIM card, and off we went to his car, a very comfortable Toyota Hiace. He presented us with a coolbox to put between us…”water for the lady, beer for Chris”, plus a gift from the company – a roadmap of Sri Lanka and a pashmina for me. Nice touch and both useful.
We headed North.
First impressions… Thank Goodness we didn’t hire a car. A small country road becomes 4 lanes in an instant. There is a hierarchy. Bikes move over for Tuk tuks. Both move over for cars. All move over for lorries and buses. Each one announces their presence by sounding their horn. So our car beeps to overtake a Tuk tuk, who is in turn beeping to overtake a bike. Coming the other way is a truck who has just pulled out to swerve round the tuktuk which just pulled out onto the wrong side of the road. Add to that 5 stray dogs and the odd cow and you get the idea! And this is calm compared to India!
Everyone seems friendly. We arrive at Ibis hotel, Wilpattu (not the chain). A 2 room bnb in the wilds, by a National park. Warmly greeted with cool towels and drinks we were immediately served lunch and taken ‘on safari’. No leopard but we did see Hornbills which for us was very exciting. On our return we were presented with ‘very refreshing drink’. Half way through mine I said…” this is lovely…what is it?” “Very british drink” came the reply….”Gin and tonic”!

I don’t really drink… that was my first ever G&T!!

Lovely traditional dinner on the terrace all prepared from local farmers produce. The curry had one hell of a kick! All we could hear were the calls of wildlife. Early to bed to the sound of some decidedly large insects scuttling around, and monkeys or giant squirrels on the roof!
Early start for a dawn bird safari around the villa. Oh my. Within 500 yards of the villa we had seen 2 different species of Eagle, a pair of Brahminy kite, pied cuckoo, Jacanas, crested swift, 3 sorts of bee-eaters, 2 sorts of kingfishers and so much more. Also gorgeous butterflies. All followed by a delicious breakfast served under the trees before Tissa hurried us to the car with our luggage…”We have temples to visit”. Very sad to leave.
We drove to Anuradhapura, the ancient capital of Ceylon built from the 3rd century BC. Tissa comes into his own. He searches out the hidden marvels, and tells us interesting anecdotes.

A stupa.. 2000 years old but perfectly symmetrical all around, pointing up to Nirvana.

2000 year old sacred buddha who has different expressions depending which side you view from.

We are given a full history lesson, and an in depth introduction to Buddhism! This places covers a vast area and we were there for hours. Our favourites were the ancient Bhodi tree grown from a sprout of the tree in India under which Budda received enlightenment.

The elephants pool, built 2000 years ago as a bathing pool for 5000 monks!!

Then onto Lion rock hotel, Kassopa, where we relax round the pool! The accommodation is more upmarket than I was expecting! Dinner was a great buffet. Again we sampled all the local dishes.
Bed at 10.00pm for a very early start! Apparently I had expressed a wish to climb Sigirya Rock. A Sri Lankan cross between Uluru and Machu Pichu. Sort of!
It is a very high rock which had a Palace built on the top, and frescoes painted on the sides.

The access is up 1207 very steep steps cut into the rock side. The last stage is metal laddering.

Those who know me will understand that this ticks none of my boxes. But what is the point of being here if you don’t try. So we did. Wheezing and gasping, and having let at least 3 octogenarian skip past me with their Zimmer frames, I dragged myself over the last step using NLP all the way to master the vertigo. (Posibly a slight exaggeration there). Wow was it worth it. Firstly for the 360° views, and secondly for the extent of the palace ruins, including a huge Olympic sized swimming pool carved from solid rock.

The descent down the metal staircases took all my concentration, but after that, no problems.

Lunch at a roadside cafe cost under £5 for soup, huge buffet main course, little sweet and drink. Next the amazing Dambulla cave temple, built by King Valagamba in the first century bc. Another steep climb up to a sequence of 5 caves, each containing huge figures and paintings on the rock itself. Indescribable, and impossible to really capture on film, it is a must see. Some are over 2000 years old.

The feet of the 14 metre Budda with carvings explaining the doctrine.

A tiny number of the 3 metre high carvings in cave 2.

What a day, rounded off by an Indian foot massage… quite tough but my feet feel great!

Now to bed for a 5.00am start… tomorrow we go on the famous Sri Lankan railway.