The Walters Two Sri Lanka Roadtrip

Friday 15th June, Colombo to Kalutara   Our last few days in Sri Lanka were to be spent relaxing at the Royal Palms Beach Hotel in Kalutara. Only Shane and Karen would be going with us. Mum, Andrew and Welsh Dave we’re going home. Sharon, Dave Sussex, Chris and Anne were off to Another Hotel north of Colombo. And Pat and Dave Suffolk had a few days in the Maldives to look forward to. We all breakfasted together for the last time then waved the others off before a man with a van with air-con drove us four, with only a few hairy moments, to our R and R base.  The Hotel is very nice, although it has no bath, no Robes, and no Slippers. Luckily I stole the Amaya Hills slippers. The beach is littered with people trying to sell you saris and day trips so we avoid it, the sea is too rough to swim anyway. The food is great. And VERY plentiful. I had decided to do nothing (so not much to blog about) but was persuaded I needed to rise and be out for 8am one day to do a day tour. Good dec...

Thursday 14th June, Thissamaharama to Colombo We woke on our last full day in Sri Lanka with a little sadness in the knowledge that our best friends forever group (except Chris) would soon be fractured. Ravi had set the alarm for 6.30 so we breakfasted and left. It would really be a Dave coaches day, with a walking tour of the Dutch fort of Galle. Ravi immediately stopped the bus to show us another humongous colony of fruit bats in the trees. As it pulled up, the vibrations startled some and they took to the air. It is a marvellous sight. As per usual the clan soon nodded off and Ravi had to wake us at our tea and toilet spot, our first chance to dip our feet in the Indian Ocean. Welsh Dave was straight on there.  As we carried on toward Galle, Ravi entertained us with the process for finding a wife/husband in Sri Lanka. He is very knowledgable. It involves lots of horoscope reading and an advert in the paper. He also explained about the Tsunami that devastated the area in 2004....

Weds 13th June, Yala national park Selfie time, hotel balcony On safari day we had a free morning, so we took the opportunity to use the hotels lovely pool. Everyone else did too, it was nice to swim with good friends. Chris was off somewhere, probably complaining to Ravi. We lunched, Deeted and sun lotioned up, before Dave Coaches came to take us to Yala. I have found out everyone’s name and there are three Daves! Welsh Dave, Dave Sussex who bought his wife a bracelet, and Dave Suffolk who bought his earrings. So to distinguish it has to be Dave Coaches. Welsh Dave had arrived in full safari outfit with a camera lens the size of a small planet. Dave Suffolk, Andrew, and Ian were all so jealous.  It took half an hour to arrive at the gates where we transferred into jeeps. We were in with Sharon and Dave Sussex, and Welsh Dave.  The driver spoke very little English but started spotting things straight away. Monkeys, some deer, various kinds, a lovely little Green Bee-eater Dave...

Tuesday 12th June, Kandy to Thissamaharama So, the party is bonding quite nicely, everyone gets on Well now. Apart from Chris who knows everything, has been everywhere, and is always moaning. Here we are outside the Amaya Hills Hotel, except Dave who was at the loo! Today would be a bus day. We had to get from Kandy in the middle of the country, over the mountains to Thissamaharama in the South for our visit to Yala National Park. Due to the school run ( must be the same in every country) we had a latish start, leaving at 8.30. We started to climb up and soon came to the first of the many tea plantations. Ravi knows everything about tea. We stopped off to watch some ladies plucking.  They need to get 25k of leaves each day before they get paid. It looked like backbreaking work. Apparently they don’t automate it to ensure these families still have work. We then had a tour round a tea factory, where all the machines are old and lots of the work is manual, for the same reason.  A...

Monday 11th June, Kandy The group is bonding a little now. In my reservoir dogs style photo from left to right. Chris, who I like less every day. Unamed as yet And Dave her husband. Formally not keen on but now like. The other unamed couple. Set back Andrew and mum. Karen and Shane. Set right back Welsh Dave. I am endeavouring to fill in the missing names.  The 7am wake up call was a relief as we got a lie in. This was the scene at breakfast. The photo is from the dining room.  A panoramic view First stop was the botanical gardens. Dave dropped us off and we crossed the main road (😱) I have found that Ravi knows everything about everything! He knows all about trees. Here he is with Ian and some giant bamboo.  As we walked along we spotted the fruit bats hanging around in the trees. Every now and again one would take flight for a bit.  It was very pleasant in there till a young girl advised us to avoid a certain path because of the big snake. We never saw it thank go...