Standard protocols dictated a 7.30 am departure (the nicer the hotel, the earlier we leave). We had a good breakfast and bid a sad farewell to the Jetwing St Andrews. It was a long (5 hours+) and very bendy drive down the other side of the mountain. I had planned ahead and taken some anti-motion-sickness medication so was fine - others on the coach, despite warnings in advance, were not so lucky. The large breakfasts and late night probably didn’t help. We drove down via a town that used to be nothing, but thanks to Lonely Planet is now on the young, budget travellers radar. Not entirely sure why but presume hiking, cheap accommodation and cafes recommend it. Ella was pretty enough, but truly, when we got there, there was no there there. Proof that it’s really nothing much - the coach didn’t even stop. We did however stop for a quick photo opportunity at the Ravanna water falls - a pretty enough cascade down the side of a mountain with an outlook over lush green mountains. Ravanna is famous for two things: 1) nice waterfall and 2) illiterate people dying. The theory is they must be illiterate because there is a sign in many languages saying with words to the effect of ‘please don’t climb on the rocks, they are slippery and you will die’. The total so far (also updated regularly on the sign) is 17 people. On the day we stopped people were climbing on the rocks. We thankfully left before any of our tour group could get themselves in trouble.

We continued our long and winding drive down the mountain and to celebrate reaching the bottom, stopped for the loo at the colonial and comfortable Bandawela Hotel. Our awesome guide Aktar shouted teas and coffees all round from the tipping kitty as it would have been rude just to trundle in and use the facilities. Bestest guide in recent history that’s for sure. We continued on (and on and on) and reached a large village that was having it’s market day. It was ‘only’ 38 degrees by this point and felt a lot hotter (missing the mountain climate already). We took a walk through the market in order to tick that box on the itinerary and people were so knackered they didn’t bother to listen to the instructions on where to find the coach... so walked themselves signficantly further than necessary (and back) and got very hot and bothered. The air conditioning on the bus at this point was sublime - but working overtime to cool everyone down. We eventually arrived, just in time for lunch, at the Grand Udawalawe Safari Resort, a short hop down the road from the Udawalawe National Park. We had the easy option, burgers in the restaurant, showered, changed and immediately got back on the coach to head to the park and go elephant spotting.

Whilst some of the national parks in Sri Lanka have leopards and a few different animals, Udawalawe’s claim to fame is Asian elephant herds in the wild. Lots of them. For the members of the group who had never seen elephants before (aside from the odd one crossing the road recently), this was an incredible experience. For those of the group who’d been to Africa, including us, it was a bit of a yawn. Nice elephants for sure. Saw a very cute one ripping up trees in order to eat the soft, young bark around the base. There were some cute monkeys. And some birds (the bird watchers were in heaven) - but we’re not frightfully worried about birds generally and every time the front jeep stopped to look at a bird, our jeep stopped and the leaking diesel fumes threatened to choke us - they must have been bad as this was an open jeep with just a roof. Anyway. Elephants, Schmelephants. A long, hot, fumy, dusty afternoon on rutted dirt tracks that would put India to shame (which is saying something.)

We decided against a buffet dinner and had room service, did our ironing and packed for the, you guessed it, long, long drive back to Colombo. Starting early. Pretty good hotel though - massive room, comfy bed, bathroom with large bath... only thing lacking was light to see it all with... the room lighting was so moody we were tripping over ourselves, using phones as torches and had a hard time finding anything as we were trying to pack. We checked repeatedly that we had all the lights on... we did. It seems to be a bit of a thing at this hotel, even walking to the lobby from the room at night was gloomy. Quite a few lumens beneath romantic or mysterious and verging on dangerous.

Ah well - tomorrow we will venture onwards, via a gem pit in Ratnapura, to reach Colombo for a tour of the city, diplomatic quarter, Galle Face Green and one, just one, final temple. The end is nigh. In a good way.