sri-lanka – Hereandthereclaire.com

Thursday 6th – Wednesday 12th February 2025

It was very strange going to sleep knowing Tracey was on her way home and equally strange waking up in the morning without her here!

I have another full day and a night in Kandy before going to Colombo.

These last 5 or so days have been tricky to organise. I didn’t really want to go back to where I’d already been, Ella, for example, which is gorgeous! Or head too far down the coast just to come back for my flight.

Unfortunately due to the dates for all of my visas starting in Australia where I left on the last possible day! 😬 Then my dates for Sri Lanka, which I’d already messed up and had to change my outgoing flight! And my dates for India, where I didn’t want to spend too long on my own before my Tour starts, all means that I am kind of marking time for the last few days in Sri Lanka.

With all this in mind I have opted to stay in Kandy one more night then spend 4 nights in Colombo at a nice hotel, chilling before India.

I decided to do a short tour of Kandy in a Tuk Tuk, it took rather less time than I’d anticipated! This in part was because Tracey & I had visited a few places already.

We went up to the Kandy Viewpoint, which was exactly that, then made our way across Kandy to a large Buddhist Temple and Monk School.

This was a beautiful building with lovely views across Kandy. My driver then took me to a Herbal Garden, which had I been thinking clearly I would have realised exactly what this was. I visited one in Hikkaduwa, it’s essentially an Ayurvedic business that also has a herb garden.

It is really interesting hearing what all the different plants are used for but the main purpose is to sell their products, which are not cheap, I’m sure they are amazing, I just don’t have space in my case for anymore stuff! From here the driver wanted to take me to a Gemstone factory, but I declined. He dropped me back into the centre of town and I had a little mooch around, stopped for cold drink then walked back around the lake to the hotel.

My new room has a lovely calm, quiet private patio area so I sat there and read my book! I also had to sort out my nails, I had managed to tear a nail very low down, which I’ve been trying to allow to grow up before cutting but it keeps catching and I’m scared it’s going to rip off!! Ouch! 😩

I’m traveling to Colombo by train, it’s so cheap and I’d loved the Train journey from Ella.

The hotel staff said that traffic would be bad, so organised a Tuk Tuk to collect me at 15.15 for a 16.20 train, I felt this was a little early but hey Ho. Needless to say the traffic was fine, I arrived at the train Station by 15.25 to be told my train was delayed by 30 minutes! 🤦‍♀️ Normally a 90 minute wait would be a nightmare but I’ve kind of got used to waiting and sitting around, so it wasn’t too bad.

The train arrived and I found my seat, I was sitting next to a lovely young Japanese guy he was trying to take photos out through the window, I explained that he could go the the end of the carriage and open the doors to get clear pics and video. He then spent the next hour doing exactly that and was so pleased and grateful. The journey was nice, not quite as spectacular as the Ella to Kandy one, but pleasant.

I arrived in Colombo 30 minutes earlier than I’d thought, grabbed a Tuk Tuk and came to my hotel.

I’m staying at the Marino Beach Hotel, it wasn’t cheap but it looked fab.

It’s big, beige but clean and comfy. The rooftop pool is gorgeous and they offer a free City Tour and have a Beach Lounge further down the road, with a free shuttle. 🥰

As it was late I just grabbed a beer and some food and headed to bed.

I’m quite happy to be in a big hotel, being a little anonymous and just relaxing.

The pool is amazing, a really good size for swimming, with lovely views and lots of Sun loungers!

I’ve visited the Beach Lounge, nice. 👌 I have also been into the city, which was OK.

I visited a large Shopping Mall, which was interesting. Quite a few of the high end shops selling Imported goods only had a few items in.

I’ll talk about the reasons for this a little later.

I took a Tuk Tuk back to the hotel and the driver was trying to sell me a city tour, which I explained I was doing with the hotel, he then tried to convince me to go to a Gem shop, I explained that I’d already visited Gem shops and factories, but thank you. This conversation happened twice. He still drove me to an area of the city which is full of Gem stores and tried quite aggressively to convince me to go. I told him loudly & assertively to take me back to my hotel immediately or I would get out and he wouldn’t get paid. This did the trick. Whilst I understand that the drivers make commission on people that they take to these places it is frustrating and concerning when you are traveling alone, especially as I was already paying him double the going rate!

I took advantage of the free city tour, which was great. We visited The Colombo National Museum. Which was really interesting, and on the way I spotted 2 elephants being transported on the back of a truck! One of the exhibits had artefacts that had been returned to Sri Lanka by the Dutch, I wonder if The British Museum will ever do the same!?

From the museum we visited the Independence Square. Built in 1948 to celebrate Sri Lanka’s independence from British Rule. I visited a few of these on my travels.

We then headed to Gangaramaya Temple, the largest Buddhist Temple in Colombo. It was fabulous, as they were gearing up for a huge procession & Celebration, Nawam Maha Perahera. Which is why there were elephants being transported to take part in the parade and lots of people in beautiful costumes and traditional dress.

The temple is a treasure trove, literally. Full of an eclectic mix of items gifted to the temple. Including some huge and very old Tusks. 🥺

The temple also houses the smallest gold Buddha, encased in a moonstone jar. It’s tiny!

I managed to get a photo of the Colombo Lotus Tower, the tallest structure in South East Asia. It’s very pretty and even more so at night.

Then a quick stop at Galle Face Green and back to the hotel.

A very pleasant tour.

I grabbed a cocktail and watched my final Sri Lankan sunset, very pretty. And that’s almost the end of my time here in Sri Lanka.

I last visited Sri Lanka in 2018 since then the country suffered a devastating terror attack in Colombo and nearby Negombo in April 2019 which killed 269 people. A change of Government in 2019 which many believe were corrupt and inept and COVID!

The country began a swift decline towards economic crisis which peaked in 2022, when Sri Lanka defaulted on their sovereign debt. This resulted in blackouts, fuel and food shortages. A terrible time for the Sri Lankans.

Things are now starting to stabilise, a new President was elected in 2024, the left wing politician Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

I feel these things have resulted in an increased level of pricing particularly for tourists, which I understand completely, because when I’m moaning that the Tuk tuk should only be 1000 rupees not 2000 that’s still only a difference between £2.70 or £5.40, which I obviously wouldn’t quibble about if I was at home.

Sri Lankans are still struggling out of the economic and political mess they found themselves in, but manage in the main, to be helpful, kind and friendly. Has it changed over the years, most certainly, some areas like Hikkaduwa have changed a great deal, with the massive influx of Russian Tourists & money. However It is a beautiful country with wonderful people that is definitely worth a visit.

Thank you Sri Lanka for a wonderful visit.

I’m off to the airport soon on my way to India! 🇮🇳 I’m excited and a little nervous. I think it will be different to anywhere I’ve been before.

I will let you know how it goes!
Have a great week.

🩷💚🩵💙❤️

Books read.

The Village. Caroline Mitchell. It was OK.

Her Last Walk Home. Patricia Gibney. No 7 in the Lottie Parker series. Not my favourite one.

Sunday 2nd February – Thursday 6th February 2025

Once again I appear to have totally messed up the dates in my blog!

I was obviously going to write more, but figured Yala deserved a post all on its own!

Tracey and I left Tissamaharama and drove the 2 hours up into the hill country and our next stop, Ella.

It’s great to be visiting places in Sri Lanka that I haven’t been to before and to be doing it with Tracey is fabulous.

The drive was great, very picturesque.

Our hotel, ‘Ella’s Edge’ was exactly as described, on the edge of Ella with a magnificent view.

Once we had figured out the slight issue with the rooms, we settled in and then went by Tuk Tuk to a café overlooking the fabulous 9 Arch Bridge, also known as The Sky Bridge.

The viaduct was designed to connect 2 mountains on the Badulla to Colombo railway. It was envisaged by the British shortly before the outbreak of WW1 however but when it came to construction all the steel needed was diverted back for the war effort. It was then constructed and built with stone and cement largely by Sri Lankan engineers and workers, it was completed in 1921. It is a stunning piece of architecture and design. It is an iconic & popular landmark in Ella.

The Tuk Tuk, with our driver, Kumarah took us up quite steep, bumpy and somewhat scary dirt roads to the spot where he could leave the Tuk Tuk then walk down the steep steps to the café, Café Soul.

This route down was a little steep, which I didn’t love. But it was worth it as the views of the bridge were spectacular. We were also lucky enough to be there when not one but two trains crossed the bridge!

Most of the trains stop on the bridge to allow passengers to take photos.

It’s quite scary seeing people sitting on the edge of the bridge, with a long sheer drop to the valley below! 😳

We were there on a Sunday which meant it was very busy, lots of Sri Lankans visiting Ella for day trips.

We climbed back up the hill, and stopped in Ella for a bit, had a refreshing cocktail 🍹then went back to our hotel, chilled, got changed and back into Ella for dinner. We chose a place recommended by The Lonely Planet, The White Rabbit, it was busy, but great vibes, live music and delicious food. I had a Sri Lankan Jackfruit curry, so good.

Then back for a good nights sleep!

I set my alarm for 6am so I could see the sunrise. It was wonderful!

I looked, enjoyed, photographed then went back to sleep! 😴😍

For our second day we had asked Kumarah to take us to a little place outside of Ella, called Demodara. From here you can get the calypso train the short distance to Ella, crossing the 9 arch bridge! All for the princely sum of £3!

The train was fabulous, we snagged a couple of stools in the open carriage, sat back and enjoyed the odd and vaguely mariachi band playing music and the fantastic views!

It was so much fun! 🤩🎉 Being on the bridge was amazing. Fun seeing it from a different angle.

The whole thing only took around 35 minutes, but it’s definitely worth doing.

Kumarah picked us up at Ella train station and we drove to Halpewatte Tea Factory for a tour.

Again, stunning views, and an interesting and informative tour of the tea factory, who knew how much work goes into your daily cuppa! 🫖 ☕️ 😮 Fascinating.

We went back into Ella for dinner and ended up leaving one quite fancy place which couldn’t seem to get our food order correct after numerous attempts we cancelled the food and found a much less fancy but fabulous place that served good, tasty Sri Lankan food! Winner. 🏆

As a special treat Tracey & I had booked an afternoon at Ravana Pool Spa, handily this was on the route to climb ‘Little Adam’s Peak’ which Tracey wanted to do, I had said I’d do as much as I fancied, which turned out not to be very much tbh! 😳 There are a lot of very steep steps, and lots of people. Going up is hard work, but coming down for me is a nightmare, both for my knees and my worsening fear of heights and falling!

So Tracey did the last (steepest bit) on her own, and whipped up there like a mountain goat!! Impressive 😍

I waited for her and spent the time enjoying watching people doing the ZipWire and a little 6 year old boy doing the climbing wall!

Once Tracey had returned we walked back to the Rana Pool Spa. We were a little early for our booking so we had a Cocktail, obviously 😁 I had a really tasty Bloody Mary.

Our VIP pool experience was fantastic. We had a nice big bed area and a wonderful infinity pool!

We went a little mad and ordered a bottle of French Rosé Wine, which was great, it appeared to start a trend though as then everyone around us started ordering it, which meant when we wanted a second bottle they’d run out!! 😮😁 We compromised on a nice bottle of dry white!

It was a brilliant afternoon, and towards the end we got chatting to the 2 couples next to us. They were in Sri Lanka on holiday from India, New Delhi, they were great fun and super friendly (the wine might have helped!) we exchanged numbers and they have told me I must contact them when I arrive in New Delhi! Which I most certainly will! We are also also invited to Anupam’s sisters wedding in November! 😂

All in all a fantastic day!! Finished off with more delicious curry at the same restaurant as the previous night and finishing Tracey’s Gin back at the hotel! 🤣

Getting up for our train to Kandy the next morning was a little challenging 😜 But we made it to the station for 8.30ish!

It’s a little chaotic on the platform but once the train arrives it all gets sorted. We had reservations in 1st class, comfy seats, air con, they also came around and asked for our food order, result! We both ordered Veggie rice. When it arrived it turned out not to be part of the ticket price! But still enjoyable.

The train journey from Ella to Kandy is another ‘Must Do’ in Sri Lanka.

The train takes around 7 hours to wind its way through miles and miles of lush green hills and tea plantations. The views are truly spectacular. I was even brave enough to do the obligatory leaning out of the open train door!! In fact I think I spent most of the journey at the doorway as the views were so incredible.

Up there as one of my favourite experiences in Sri Lanka.

We arrived in Kandy at around 4pm and made our way to the hotel.

We had opted to change our hotel in Kandy for one with a pool. The one we chose was quite fancy, and very gorgeous, the pool however was tiny! 😂 It really didn’t matter because everything else was perfect. 😍 The comfiest bed on the whole trip! 😴😴😴

We opted to go out for dinner to a place again recommended by The Lonely Planet. Another hit! Great live music, good grub and the most delicious cocktails! 🍸

Sadly Thursday was Tracey’s last day with me! She was heading to Colombo at 10 pm that night for a 4am flight!

We spent the best part of the day at The Royal Botanical Gardens, which were simply gorgeous. A really large area of lush planting, stunning native trees, flowers, wildlife, completely glorious. 💚🩷❤️

We saw loads of Fruit Bats or Flying Foxes roosting in the trees, they are huge. A strange little man offered to sell us one for £1! random, we declined. A decision I somewhat regret! 🦇🤔🤣

We then went back into Kandy to visit the Temple of the Tooth. A very holy Buddhist Temple that holds part of Buddhas a tooth. It also has a museum dedicated to Raja the Tusker, a very beloved Elephant used for important processions. He died and was then preserved and kept in the museum.

For our last nights dinner we managed to persuade the hotel to make us a Sri Lankan curry, which wasn’t on the menu. It was fabulous.

Then it was time for my beautiful friend to leave! 🥺

It was a tad emotional saying goodbye and just felt all kinds of weird to be saying goodbye in Sri Lanka and not going to the airport together!

It has been unbelievably fantastic to share our time together in Sri Lanka, seeing and doing things that will stay in my heart and mind forever.

Thank you my darling Tracey for everything. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I will try and catch everything up tomorrow.

No new books yet!

Happy Sunday lovelies.

💚💙🩵🦇🩷

Friday 31st January – Wednesday 5th February 2025

So, a couple of amendments, I put the wrong dates on my last blog and also forgot to post pictures from the Whale watching. I think I was just so concerned trying to post anything at all with the dodgy wifi!

The hotel in Mirissa had organised a driver to take us to Yala at a really good price. The lovely driver was called Mahesh.

We are staying just outside of Yala in a place called, Tissamaharama.

The drive was around 3 hours and we were on the highway most of the way which had some very interesting “Beware of the Peococks” signs! 😁

We arrived at our hotel, “My Village” which was absolutely gorgeous, possibly the best place we have stayed in so far. Small but beautiful, the pool area was fabulous and we had a cute little patio area outside our room overlooking the pool. As we were quite far from anywhere we had opted to just chill and eat and the hotel. We had a quick jaunt into town to get cash, as everything has to be paid in £££.

Then a wonderful swim and an early dinner as we have to be up at 4.15 to leave for our Safari at 5am!! 😳😴

We managed to get up on time and we met our driver, Chumara, got given our very substantial packed breakfast, climbed in to our vehicle and off we went into the darkness.

It’s around a 30 minute drive to Yala, we had a quick wee stop then joined 100s of other jeeps waiting to enter that park at 6am. The wait was lovely, as the sun was rising and the colour changes were stunning.

Our driver was in the queue but decided to overtake Everyone to get to the front, he did this at around 25/30 mph.

I was busy taking a picture so was oblivious to the water buffalo that ran out in front of us, until we hit it! It was an almighty crash! 💥

It was a huge shock, especially as I hadn’t seen it coming, Tracey had spotted the buffalo running. Thank goodness everyone was OK, even the water buffalo seemed OK, it got up and ran off. I bashed my knee a bit, but nothing too bad.

We sat in the vehicle a little bemused and entertained by every single jeep that went past, all the shocked expressions on people’s faces. When we saw the damage to the front of the vehicle it made sense! Wow! 😮 Poor Chumara had to explain what had happened to every single driver who went past, poor guy!

The vehicle was no longer drivable, so we waited around 45 minutes for a new vehicle to arrive.

We opted to go back for another wee, even though Tracey had been behind a bush already! Brave. 😂

So it was around 8.15 when we finally entered the park. The benefit of this was that we were alone, and not in a massive queue of jeeps!

Our new driver, Mudrah, was great and our new vehicle had seat belts….handy!

The park is stunning, full of beautiful wildlife. We had seen a troupe of very cute black faced langurs on the way in. So many Peacocks! 🦚 and lots of these gorgeous little green Bee Eaters, which seemed quite inquisitive and were so pretty.

We spotted a few Mongoose, which are very cute! We also saw deer and land monitor lizards.

Then after about 45 minutes we ended up in an area that was very busy with vehicles, but apparently there were Leopards around!!

Mudrah managed to manoeuvre the vehicle into a spot next to the edge of the road and then magically a leopard appeared from the bushes into the open space right next to our vehicle!! 😮😍 She was literally a few feet away from us! It was truly breathtaking.

I took a couple of pics, then put the video function and then just tried to be in the moment. Watching this magnificent creature saunter past all the vehicles with her tail in the air was amazing. We watched her until she disappeared back into the forest. As soon as she disappeared I cried!

Due to the number of vehicles we couldn’t go backwards to follow her. Mudrah then said she was a young female and that there was another older female, possibly the mother in the area. We inched our way forwards and I just caught a glimpse of her through the trees, they are so well camouflaged, before she also disappeared into the forest.

We hung around for ages and then as we moved forward we came to a break in the trees and you could see the older female lying on a rock! (I took a pic, but she was too far away)

It was honestly such a beautiful experience, one I’d wished for but realistically didn’t expect to have. Magical.

Unfortunately, what should have been a very good video, was in fact completely rubbish, several minutes of footage of my legs, Tracey’s hair, the vehicle but not a single bit of Leopard! But I’m glad I just focused on being in the moment. Luckily Tracey got some great footage.

The safari vehicles can only access certain parts of the park, and have to leave for 2 hours in the middle of the day. I think this is a great idea, giving the animals some space and peace.

After the Leopard excitement, we headed off in search of Elephants. Once again Mudrah came through and we found a fabulous group which had several young elephants with them. Once again we were very close. They are such magnificent creatures and It’s incredible how easily they can disappear! If they are behind a tree you simply wouldn’t see them, especially as they are very quiet even when they are moving.

Absolutely stunning.

We were very close to a mother and 2 young ones, when the mother started making a deep rumbling noise and all three headed towards us and then passed by and walked up the road to join the others. Wonderful. Mudrah stayed as long as he could, but still allowing others to see these amazing animals.

We enjoyed a leisurely lunch, which is provided by the driver/safari company. Yummy rice & Dahl and a ginormous fruit platter.

The lunch spot is down by the beach which was great, with a very welcome breeze.

After lunch Mudrah took us to see Crocodiles. He pulled off the road down by a water spillway and pointed to our right and said ‘Crocodile’ Both Tracey and I looked and were like, nope can’t see it, so he pointed again, again we couldn’t see anything, on the third attempt we saw a huge Crocodile lying out of the water sunning himself. How we didn’t spot it is a mystery! 😁

There was also a smaller one half in half out of the water. They were surrounded by painted storks, Herons, and Ibis. It was stunning.

I got a little twitchy when I thought Mudrah was going to take us and the vehicle down a very steep muddy slope, right near the huge Crocodile, luckily he was just repositioning to back up! Phew!😮‍💨

After this we drove around for a while without spotting any more of the bigger animals, sadly no more elephants or Leopards.

I think mornings are obviously the best time to see anything.

At around 4.30 we said we were ok to head back to the hotel.

Miraculously after we left the park we saw another very large elephant by the road! 😍

We arrived back at the hotel, hot, dusty and a little sore after being bumped around for 12 hours! But super happy and thrilled with what turned out to be a very adventurous day!!

A nice long & refreshing swim and dinner and it was time for bed!

We left Tissamaharama the next morning after a lovely breakfast. Our driver from Mirissa, Mahesh organised a driver for us at a really good rate.

We were headed to Ella, up in the hills.

Our time in Tissamaharama and Yala have been exceptional.

So, so happy to have shared this wonderful experience with Tracey.

That’s it for now guys.

I know I’m a bit behind with the blogs, but I will catch you all up very soon!

Books read.

The Bee Sting. Paul Murray. This was recommended by Michelle from The Bookclub, I really enjoyed the book itself, just not the ending! 😟😳

That’s all I’ve read in the last week!

Have a great weekend everyone.

💚🩷💙🩵🌟🐆🐘

Friday 24th January – Monday 27th January 2025

Thankfully the weather cleared up on Saturday and I was able to go for a lovely long walk around the fort.

The fort was originally built in the 1520s by the Portuguese In 1640 the Dutch East India Company captured the fort and built more fortifications and also developed the fort area with hospitals, factories, warehouses etc. In 1796 the Dutch handed it over to the British who set it up as a major administrative centre. (Colonialism at its finest! 🙁)

When the Suez Canal opened in 1869 it led to Galle became renowned internationally and it began to develop as a major tourist destination. In the 1960s the port activity moved over to Colombo Port.

It’s a very interesting place to visit, the houses and streets are full of interesting architecture and beautiful houses with inner courtyards.

My walk around the Fort resulted in spotting a Peacock in flight, it was escaping from a little dog! I also,saw another fabulous green turtle in the sea. The turtle was swimming just by the fort wall and was pointed out to me by a nice Sri Lankan gentleman, he pointed it out and gestured for me to step forward to the edge, which was then a shear drop, I declined! I gradually worked my way to near the edge just as he came up behind me and spoke to me and nearly scared me to death!!

When I had made my way almost to the end of the fort walls, I was approached by another man, who,asked where I was from and started telling me his daughter was at school and showing me what was supposed Tao be her lunch bag, which appeared to have nothing in except a leaflet about he dangers of Denge Fever in Sri Lanka from mosquito bites. He then told me I could buy ayuvadic red oil from a local market that would stop this, much cheaper than the shops. I assumed the market was by the entrance to the fort, which is where I was walking anyway, he continued to walk with me and to be honest I didn’t get a good vibe, when I got to the place I was heading I asked where this market was and he pointed vaguely off somewhere, at which point I said, thank you but no, I’m going the other way. He wasn’t very happy, but I felt safer and comfortable with my decision. I think sometimes we have to go with our gut feeling, even if it means appearing rude of offending someone.

I really enjoyed my final day in Galle Fort. The weather changed again in the late afternoon and we had more rain, but an umbrella sorts that problem out!

I left Galle early on Sunday morning to head to my next destination, Mirissa, a small place down the coast, this coast is very popular with surfers.

I got a ‘PickMe’ which was a reasonable price and arrived at my new hotel around mid morning.

The hotel seems ok, a little run down and tired looking. The room was big and clean. I asked for a fridge for the room, as Tracey said she was bringing some bubbles! 🍾🍾!

Once I’d dropped my bags I set off to have a look around, as with Hikkaduwa places are set off from one main road. I found a couple of nice places looking over the beach and enjoyed a pot of tea watching the ocean.

Then back to the hotel for a swim, the pool is nice and not many mosquitoes!! 👍 There are a fabulous troupe of Macaque Monkeys that came past and kept me entertained. ❤️❤️

Mirissa is really nice, the beaches look great, it seems less busy than Hikkaduwa and I guess if you love surfing it’s perfect! A couple of places along the coast, Weligama and Midigama were very popular with the younger surfers.

Tracey was due to arrive early Tuesday morning, around 7am, having landed in Colombo and been picked up by Buddi, the chap who had collected me.

I set my alarm for 6am, to be ready for the much anticipated and exciting arrival and reunion! 🎉😍

I didn’t sleep well and was then woken at 5.45 by a call from Tracey saying she was here! 😍

The reunion was therefore fabulous but somewhat bleary eyed on both our parts! Tracey went straight to bed as she hadn’t really slept on the flight. I slept then had breakfast and woke Tracey at 11am, when out proper, awake reunion occurred!

It’s so fabulous to see Tracey, whom I haven’t seen since April 2024, but it also feels so odd to be together in Sri Lanka!

We spent a couple of days just mooching, resting and catching up, which is wonderful.

We also spent a lovely half day back in Galle Fort, wandering, looking at art and exploring the shops, then chilled in a beautiful hotel with a beer! Joy. 🤩

Then on the Thursday we had booked a Whale watching trip. This meant another early start as pick up was at 5.45 am. We made it, with time to spare! We were picked up in a Tuk Tuk and taken to the harbour. Where we joined the others on the trip. We went with a company called Rajah & the Whales, who are very ethical and are also a small family run company.

We boarded our boat and set off by 6.15. The harbour was still busy with fishing boats coming back in and lots of whale watching boats heading out.

I was very hopeful that we would see a whale, a Blue Whale, Sperm Whale, Fin Whale I really don’t mind which, just a whale!

My previous whale watching trips have not been successful. One in Australia in Cairns wasn’t great as I took a sea sickness tablet and it made me feel completely out of it! So apparently we saw a whale but I don’t remember 😟 Then when I was in New Zealand in Kaikora the 2 days I was there the weather was so bad we couldn’t even go out!

So I’ve got everything crossed for today.

We met a lovely lady called Christine, who was traveling with friends, Rebecca & Adrian, who were from Falmouth. She has done a huge amount to traveling to places that are certainly on my bucket list, like an Antarctic Cruise! 💙🩵 She was fabulous company on the boat.

We were out at sea for around 6 hours, we saw a large pod of spinner dolphins, which was fantastic, we also saw some turtles and got up close and personal with a huge container 🚢 What we didn’t see were any Whales 🐳. I guess it’s never guaranteed, I was a little disappointed but at the same time we had a fabulous day out so all good in the end. I would definitely recommend Rajah & the Whales if you’re In Mirissa.

We headed back to the hotel, had a lovely swim and were once again entertained by the Monkeys.

Then an aperitif of Bubbles and crisps on the balcony before a meal in a fab little place called ‘La Mer’ we both had the delicious cauliflower curry, yummy. 😋

This was then the end of our time in Mirissa, on Friday we are heading down to Yala National Park, staying in a place called Tissamaharama.

We are doing a Safari!

It’s now Sunday and we are leaving Yala, but it’s going to need its own post. Watch this space.

That’s is for now. It’s been so brilliant being together with Tracey.

Have a great week.

Books Read.

The Bookseller. Tim Sullivan. The latest in the DS Cross series. I enjoyed this. I like the series.

I am still trying to finish my next book, it’s taking a while, too much nattering to Tracey!! 😂❤️

Sunday 12th -Sunday 19th January 2025.

After a very stressful,start to my travel day, Rebecca, Chris & I made our way up to Perth Airport. It was a an uneventful drive and we arrived in plenty of time for my flight! I was not flying until 00.25 but needed to be there early enough that the guys were not driving back in the dead of night! Also, me being me, I like to be at the airport in plenty of time. To be fair being over 5 hours early is a tab over the top! 😂

It was incredibly sad saying goodbye to my beautiful Rebecca, and to Chris especially as we don’t know when we’ll see each other again, probably not until sometime in 2026! Which is forever away.

They have looked after me very well, and for me to stay with them for 3 months has been amazing. It’s not easy sharing your home for a long time and so I am extremely grateful. 🙏

I will miss them & Curly the cat very much.

Once they left and I stopped crying I made my way to the only bar in the airport and had a large JD & Coke and a portion of chips, very comforting. 😊

I was able to check in with 3 hours to go. My case was exactly 20kg, which is still heavier than I wanted. This is after sending a large 6kg parcel back to England (not cheap especially after DHL then charged me another £65 on top of the £60 I’d already paid! ) and sending clothes to the op shop! The lovely Tracey is going to take a few more bits back with her after Sri Lanka.

I had booked a lounge, it’s not very expensive and offers somewhere quieter to sit, it’s also right next to my gate, Handy!

I kept check the flight status and it started saying “Relax” (never seen this before) so I Relaxed and ordered another drink, checked again in just over 10 mins and suddenly it’s changed to “Final Call” WTF! 😳

I grabbed my stuff and legged it downstairs to find a completely empty gate, and the staff asking if I was Miss Claire! Oh dear. The only people behind me were those needing assistance! 😂 luckily for me there was still a short queue to actually board, so I didn’t look to conspicuous.

It was a 5.5 hour flight to Kuala Lumpur with Air Asia, so no screens for films! I read for most of the flight and tried to rest my eyes, but couldn’t sleep. We arrived in KL in the morning and had a short 2 hour wait then another no screens for films 3.5 hour flight to Colombo, again no sleep. I arrived in Colombo again first thing in the morning, and sailed through customs, no visa issues, thank god. I also managed to get a SIM card sorted in the airport, grabbed my case and then met the lovely Buddhi when I came through customs. Buddhi is the guy who organised my tour last time I was in Sri Lanka in 2018, I stayed with him and his wife, Sriyani, then and again this time.

They have a little B & B in Negombo.

I was absolutely knackered, having missed a whole nights sleep but managed to go for a walk and have some dinner, delicious homemade Sri Lankan Curry before crashing in bed at 7.30pm. 😴😴

I had a great nights sleep and spend the following day having a massage, interesting, 🤔 not a bad massage but the oil they used smelt weird, vinegary and not that pleasant tbh. The spa organise a Tuk Tuk to pick up and drop off, so as soon as I’d been dropped off I tried to shower away the oil, but it’s oil, so it took a while to get rid of the smell.

Then I spent the rest of the afternoon by the beach, sitting in a fancy hotel, it’s great you get to use their facilities but not have the expense of staying there!

Another early night then time to leave and head to Hikkaduwa.

Buddhi was driving me down to Hikkaduwa and asked if it was ok to take another guy, who was heading to Galle, I said that was fine. Puta was a great guy. He was currently hanging around in Negombo waiting to head out to his job as Chief Engineer in a massive Oil container ship! He had some pretty scary stories, one in particular about being in a huge oil tanker, which was empty, just holding ballast somewhere in the Ocean near South Africa and their rudder sheared off!! (Apparently very rare) This meant they had no control of the ship in extremely high seas, everyone was sick as dogs for over a week until they could be towed to safety!😳😱 He showed me pictures of the engines in these massive containers, they are beyond huge! Very interesting chap.

Buddhi was also telling me about changes here in Sri Lanka with Palm Oil.

When I was here last, in 2018, there were Palm Oil plantations everywhere. The government are now encouraging farmers to not grow them, and helping them financially to switch to other crops, mainly rubber trees. You can actually see the impact, with far fewer palm oil trees. The reason behind this change is that harvesting Palm Oil is very toxic, to both the people harvesting it and to the wildlife and surrounding flora and fauna. The toxicity comes from the pulp left after the oil is extracted. Together with the issues of deforestation due to Palm Oil Plantations, it’s really positive to see these changes.

It was a very interesting and informative drive! Everyday’s a school day! 😂

Hikkaduwa. I was last here 6 years ago and during the low season, it was very quiet and relatively peaceful. I was looking forward to seeing it in high seas on and a little bit more lively. Mmmm, be careful what you wish for!

My hotel is pretty nice, I’d booked a ‘budget’ room, no idea why I did that! 😳 The room itself is OK, tiny with no window, but doable, just, the issue I have is that it’s a “dead zone” so I can’t get wifi on either my phone or tablet, even though I have data on my phone. This is a tad frustrating. WiFi has been an ongoing issue for the last few months. (Anita! You know!)

When I’m on my own, I need to plan things, book things, access news, social media etc etc. not being able to do this is frustrating and irritating. The lovely people at the hotel tried putting a router outside the room, this made no difference. Eventually they have agreed to move me to another room, which is much better and has some WiFi signal.

So, Hikkaduwa, well it is very different to when I was here before. First of all it’s very busy, which is a positive, especially for the Sri Lankan people who have had a rough few years. 90% of the tourists are Russian. This means that pretty much everything is geared towards the Russian tourists. I tried at least 4 different places to book a group Mangrove Tour, all the tours they offer were in Russian with a Russian speaking guide. A group tour costs £10 I have now had to book a solo tour for £30! ☹️

There is a beautiful beach here called Turtle Beach. It’s shallow with reefs and good snorkelling. It gets pretty busy. I was having a little wander along the beach and was thrilled to see 2 beautiful giants Turtles 😍. They were both right near the shore line just mooching about. It was a wonderful site. The less wonderful site was all the stupid people touching them, trying to move the and generally not respecting their space. It was heartbreaking. When people touch them with lotions or creams on their hands this can cause the turtles problems.

There was a Sri Lankan guy shouting from the beach to leave them alone, but one particular woman just totally ignored him, she was too busy stroking the poor turtles head whilst posing for a fucking photograph! Absolutely disgraceful behaviour and also very upsetting to see.

It’s a difficult dilemma for then Sri Lankans, because the Turtles come to the beach if their own free will, so how do you police it?

Personally I’d have armed guards and if you touch them you die!! 💀😆

On a lighter and much happier note I met up with some fabulous Newquay friends. Lovely Alex & Leah. I’ve know Alex since opening Coffee on the Corner, a lot of you will remember his amazing and delicious Biscoff Brownies!!

We realised we were in Sri Lanka at the same time and organised a meet up in Galle, where they were staying. I got a Tuk Tuk from Hikkaduwa and we met at a beautiful restaurant in Galle called Church Street Social.

It’s very surreal seeing people in a totally different place, but also felt really comfortable. We enjoyed a few beers some yummy food and lots of fun. A fantastic evening. Thank you so much guys. 😘❤️

I then made my way back with the Tuk Tuk driver, who had waited for me. I feel he might have waited in the nearest pub, because the drive back was a little scary, he was watching a program on his phone, trying to chat to me, slowing down for no reason and at times it looked like he was falling asleep!! 🫣 Hey Ho, we made it back!

I have decided to cut short my stay in Hikkaduwa and spend a couple of days down in Galle Fort, which is a great place. So I’ll be here until Thursday.

I have met some really wonderful Sri Lankan people here, who are very kind and helpful and I’m determined to enjoy my experience even if it’s a little different to what I was expecting.

I’m loving the food, back to my favourite Veggie Rice! The Sri Lankan curry’s are yummy and I tried a local favourite, Kottu! OMG, so good.

I’m also super excited about potentially meeting up with another friend this week and then Tracey arrives in 9 days!! 😍❤️😍

That’s all for now.

Love and miss you all.

💙🩵💚🧡

I’m going to limit the number of pics, as I don’t think the WiFi can cope with lots!

Books Read.

The Seven. Robyn Delvey. Interesting, a pretty good read.

Bricking it. Nick Spalding. Fun, light hearted and an easy read.

There’s something about Mira. Sonali Dev. An enjoyable read, something a little different.

Tuesday 26th November – Wednesday December 11th 2024

I don’t have lots to report for the last few weeks as I have been trying to rest and heal my ribs.

I was attempting to not take too many painkillers as I didn’t want to get too reliant and they can upset your tummy, this meant that I was still in a fair amount of pain. However after some stern words from a medic friend I gave in and started taking them regularly and properly 🙂. This resulted in a lot less pain and a speedier recovery!

They are not completely healed but are definitely feeling much better. 👍

Unfortunately I haven’t been back to the swimming pool, and am missing my swims. I think I’m going to try and go back next week, take it slow and get back into it.

I can also use the spa which will be great.

I really am enjoying seeing the seasons change here in Australia. I’ve only ever been here in the Australian winter before so spring and summer have been a revelation! So pretty.

I might have mentioned this before but Australia smells amazing!! 😍😍 I think it’s the peppermint and eucalyptus trees. 🌳💚💙

Rebecca and I had a little jaunt down to Busselton & Dunsborough last weekend. We wanted to go to a lovely craft market in Busselton , called Origins Market. It isn’t huge but the various crafts and goods were fabulous. There is an art stall with beautiful work, Rebecca had bought a couple of prints from there before for Georgia, which I loved. When we arrived on Saturday the Artist was actually there, Dylan, was such a nice guy and his work is great, we had a nice chat and I took his picture, I did also buy a couple of prints! I’ll pop a link into here for his website if you want to check out his stuff!

There were also some delicious smelling soap stalls which lured us in! All local, all handmade and such fabulous smells, very herbal and Australian.

Rebecca then dragged me around a shop called Red Spot which I guess is a bit like B & M or Home Bargains, but not quite as good 😀

After that we drove down to Dunsborough. The town centre isn’t big and it’s really nicely laid out. To be fair we didn’t go into all the shops (thank god, as shopping isn’t my favourite pastime!) We did find a few beautiful artisan shops, which all smelt fabulous! We managed to get a couple of items. Then stopped for a delicious Italian lunch of Bruschetta & pasta which we shared with a cheeky little cocktail! 🍸

We then had a little drive around admiring all the gorgeous ocean front properties and wishing we could win the lottery and buy one!!

Rebecca had bought a piece of German pottery online which we needed to collect from somewhere near Dunsborough, but inland.

It wasn’t very far but felt like we were right in the bush! The area we went to was again full of the most amazing properties with lots of land right in the bush. We then managed to see a kangaroo family right by the road! The male was very large and the female had a joey in her pouch, they were also very close to the car! 😀 It was fantastic. They stared at us for a bit then hopped off. It made my day! 😍❤️ We were also lucky enough to see a big lizard and some pelicans! All in all a great day!

I said I my last blog that I’d applied for my Sri Lankan visa. I did this online and it was a much simpler process than I had imagined. I received a confirmation email, saying that I’d hear back in 24 hours. I didn’t! I waited a few days, nothing, I checked and re checked my emails, my junk folder, still nothing. I went on to the site and found a link to check the status of your application, I did that and it popped up saying there was a problem and to check with the agent! The only information I was putting in was my passport number & nationality, both of which are correct, I checked numerous times 😳 I don’t have an agent, so after about 4 days of continuous checking, I found the number for the Sri Lankan embassy in Canberra and gave them a ring.

It took a while to explain my problem, initially I was told to apply again, but I explained that I’d already paid, and if I applied again and there was already an application in place it might be a problem! The person I spoke to tried checking the status her end and also got the same message, I was getting a little agitated (Bloody Visas, I knew there was a reason I don’t like doing them!) We went back and forth, then they said they would try something else and magically I was informed that my visa had been approved!!

The problem was that on the drop down menu for your nationality, there are no less than 6 options for the UK! (WTF! 😳) I had chosen “UK – British Citizen (Great Britain) GBR” when apparently I should have chosen “UK – British Subject (GBS)” I find this very confusing! I don’t know if it’s because that’s what I chose on my application, or if that’s what I am now, a Subject not a Citizen? Either way I’m in, hopefully 🙏

After all the drama of the Visa, I thought I’d do something nice and look to book and plan a few more things in Sri Lanka. Whilst doing this I was checking when I’d need to be back in Colombo for my flight to India, which was booked for 14.02.25. It was then I realised that I had slightly miscalculated my dates/days. My Sri Lankan Visa is for 30 days, I arrive on 14th January but if I leave on 14th February, as booked, that’s not 30 days, it’s actually 32 days! 😩🤦‍♀️ I’m not sure how easy it is extending a visa, or what the consequences of overstaying are but I’m not sure I want to find out! This meant more farting about changing my flight to bring it forward by 2 days, online faffing, then more phone calls. Eventually I did it, it cost me a few quid, but it was worth it for peace of mind!

I have now booked more onward travels from India, I will be going to Thailand for some R & R! I’m going back to Hua Hin, it’s lovely and peaceful, and cheaper than Phuket. I would have loved to go to Chiang Mai again, as it’s my favourite place, but unfortunately March is Burning Season and the air quality is shocking. 😳 🔥

I have been enjoying some quintessential Aussie activities, drinking beer at the beach, cooking on the BBQ and last weekend we had a great meet up with friends Lorraine, Jason and their girls, Tia & Holly.

Lorraine is the daughter of my old childhood neighbours, Chris & Norman King. Lorraine and Jason moved to Bunbury a little while before Rebecca & Chris. I happened to bump into Norman in Stevenage town centre and as we chatted I said that Rebecca & Chris were emigrating to Australia, possibly to Busselton (1 hour from Bunbury) and he said Lorraine and her partner were in Bunbury! Norman gave me their contact details, Rebecca & Chris contacted them prior to moving out here and they have been friends ever since!! ❤️ Such a small world. 🌎

Anyway! We met up with them for breakfast down at Koombana Bay, this meant bringing all the food and cooking it on the free, clean, well maintained public BBQs right by the ocean and the park! It was such a lovely morning. 🥓🍳🏖️

The only little inconvenience is the flies! Apparently the beginning of summer always brings with it lots of flies.

Anita, Chris’s mum arrived on Saturday 7th December! Which is lovely, I haven’t seen her properly since our trip last year to Thailand.

It appears that she has bought the sunshine with her and the weather is beautiful. We have had a fabulous few days, chilling by the pool and I have actually been in the pool for the first time 😍 It was a little chilly but so refreshing absolutely wonderful. I think with Anita here now it feels a bit more holiday like! ❤️ 🏖️

We had a trip down into town on Sunday for a Christmas parade and fair with lots of food trucks. It certainly is odd celebrating Christmas with bright sunshine and everyone in summer clothes!

We’ve now started to spend most evenings outside, there is often a lovely breeze, last night we also had a 3 hour power outage! Interesting but at least the night sky looks amazing!

On Friday 13th we are all off on a week’s holiday down south to a place called Esperance. It looks absolutely stunning, white sands, turquoise waters! I think it will be fantastic. 🩵🤍💙

That’s all for now.

Have a great week everyone.

Books read

The One in a Million Boy. Monica Wood. A lovely book. Really enjoyed it.

1st Case. James Patterson. Ok, a quick read.