Writing this from Colombo (for a second time as Erandi unplugged the computer just as I was getting to the end of the last one!), where we have been for about a week. We decided that we had had enough of doing pelvic examinations in Kandy, so would head back to Colombo for a few days break before starting at our next hospital.

Me and Erandi decided that as we had a few days to kill we would visit one of the private hospitals to see the difference between this and the government hospitals, and what a difference - when we arrived the doctor we were supposed to be meeting was running late so we were told to take a seat in the VIP lounge where we could read the Financial Times (we didn't) or watch BBC News 24 - a different world from the dark dirty corridors of government hospitals. We took a tour of the labour suite which was completely different - separate rooms for the women, husbands were allowed to be present, and analgesia was used!!!! It was nice to see this, although also quite sad, as the majority of women couldn't afford it.

This weekend we were supposed to do a few more days in the private hospital (the seem to expect med students to work on the weekends. What do they think we are? Paid?) but I decided against this and bailed to go down south to Bentota with George and Sarah (2 other med students also doing their elective in Sri Lanka). This turned out to be a very good decision - the beaches down south are like a tropical paradise (although the seas were too rough to swim in, and the rubbish that had been washed ashore marred the view somewhat). As we are currently slightly out of season however, it was all pretty much deserted. We were the only people staying in our hotel, so we had the pool all to ourselves to go for midnight swims etc. We visited the Turtle Research Project while we were there, where they have lots of grown turtles (including an albino one) and lots of baby turtles. They allowed us to release some of the turtles into the sea. Apparently only 10% survive to adulthood, but I released 3 so fingers crossed!! (I also managed to drop one on its head so hopefully it's not going to end up just swimming around in circles).

We also found a Tuk Tuk driver in the local town with a map of the Lake District as his seat cover (fairly sure this will amuse you mum)

The weekend before this we visited Nuwara Eliya which is where they grow Ceylon tea. This is a very mountainous area and therefore cooler than Colombo, which was a big relief. While we were there we went on a walk in Horton Plains, which is some flatland at a very high altitude, meaning there is a completely different appearance to the rest of Sri Lanka - no palm trees!!! There's also some interesting wildlife like antelope and large monkeys. The walk is centred around 2 precipitous cliffs which give a magnificent view (from what I could see through the mist) over the neighboring valleys). I got very sunburnt. This added to my plentiful mosquito bites is a good look I feel.

On the way back from Kandy we stopped at an elephant orphanage called Pinnewala, where they have about 60 elephants, ranging from 10 days to 80ish years (the oldest elephant was blind). We went and watched these bathing in the river and I chatted to some people in French (the conversation was rather limited!). At the same place they also have a herb garden where they gave us a face massage with some cream guaranteed to make our skin younger and fairer (no thanks!), and assured us that their natural remedies could cure diabetes, acne, hypertension, arthritis etc. Really?! Has anyone performed a randomised controlled trial?

Anyway I think that's about all from me. About to start at a new hospital on Tuesday after going to the Colombo National Museum tomorrow. Love to all

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