Sri Lanka

Gorgeous gardens. I had an Uncle who was stationed on Ceylon (Sri Lanka), he brought back some lovely local jewellery and other crafts for my Mum when she was in her teens. 

I  assume  then,  Moulesy,  that  you'll  be  doing  a  modicum  of  gardening  on  your  return.    Hoping,  of  course,  that  any samples,  cuttings,  etc  etc  are  taken  from  the  very  latest  Thompson  &  Morgan  catalogue    !!  ( Other  Gardening  manuals / suppliers  do  exist  of  course   )

After  that  little  'mickey - take'  I  thank  you  for  your  posts M,  almost  makes  it  worth  while  leaving  my  cuppa  to  go  cold 

Brian

Today we've come right up into the mountains to the town of Nuwara Eliya which is about 6000 feet above sea level. The town is about as typically colonial Ceylon as it gets! The hotel is like something out of an Agatha Christie novel, with sumptuous furniture in the public areas and wonderfully manicured gardens. In the town itself is a famous post office and post box, illustrating the origins of the place.

By contrast, there is a bustling fruit and vegetable market and an utterly chaotic bus station!

Along the way there were some spectacular views and we passed mile after mile of tea plantations. We visited a tea factory to hear a bit about tea production and it makes you realise just how much work goes into the making of a daily cuppa! We didn't see any pickers as it's a public holiday today  (they have one for every full moon) but we were told that the women have to pick 20kg of leaves a day to earn roughly the equivalent of $8 a week.

Great to see something more interesting of Sri Lanka, M.

We only got a glimpse of Colombo which was very hot and steamy, when we had a stop off there on the cruise.  

We liked it better than India.

Great pictures throughout your trip, keep them coming. The fruit on the market looks too good to eat!! Did you try some of the more exotic ones? How many more days are you away?

As you know M although not a twitcher I do enjoy the bird life and other wildlife during trips abroad. Are you seeing much of interest? Spotted your fruit bats mind! Any other photos?

More great photos and info, thanks M

Nellie - we didn't try any of the fruits,  but there were some interesting looking ones there. We've got another 6 nights yet, 3 down in the national park including a couple of safari drives and then the final 3 which will be a bit more relaxing on the coast.

Micky - I had a real stroke of luck yesterday morning. I was sitting out on our balcony enjoying a cup of coffee when this bird of prey swooped across in front of me. About the size of a buzzard but with a gorgeous chocolate brown coloured body and a pure white head. I had to Google it to identify it and it was a Brahminy Kite. Too quick for me but if you look at Google images you'll see what I mean.