Sri Lanka is so Vintage Chic! It's like stepping back in time! The last couple of nights we have stayed the most amazing Vintage hotels which still look like they did in the olden days, complete with antique furniture & old fashioned bathrooms! The Galle Face Hotel in Colombo has everything; faded decadence & vintage charm (for me) & a modern wing with infinity Pool & Spa (for Vish) it was perfect and the best bit was that it only cost $60! And we made it even more perfect by investing in a Duty Free bottle of Veuve Cliquot at Chennai airport (well it had been 2 months!) so I got 2 of my favourite things; Champagne & Vintage joy! Colombo itself is still very old fashioned, even the British colonial department stores are still in use & full of all the orginal 1900's fixtures & fittings, in total contrast with the Off Licences & KFCs that now inhabit them! We're now in Kandy & staying at the 150 year old Queens Hotel, last night we had a Lion (the local beer) in the Old Fashioned Saloon, (it even has swing doors!), I don't think it has changed since it opened in 1867!

Our first stop was Colombo, it was slightly unnerving landing here in such a high state of security, there are armed police & army everywhere, the roads are lined with army bunkers. You can hardly go anywhere without going through a checkpoint, which makes sightseeing very difficult! It's mad to think that such a beautiful country is in the midst of civil war. Anyway, before you start worrying, most of the fighting is in the North & we'll be keeping well away from these areas. We're in the Hill Country now & the train journey up here through thick jungle & tea plantations was breathtaking. We're prob gonna stick round here for a few days, do some rafting & attempt to climb a mountain, which is rather over adventurous considering the most active we've done for the last month was Mosquito Island! Yikes! Hopefully we'll be able to book into another Vintage Hotel afterwards though to recouperate!

I think I'm gonna like it here!