The very last day for us in Australia was Australia Day, which was spent partly in hospital, due to the fact that Bobby split his eyebrow open while playing cricket at the party we went to. He had to have three stitches, and it looked pretty bad! We went to a barbecue/party at one of Bobby's friends places, but had to go to the hospital about an hour after we got there. Australia day is probably their equivalent of our May 17th, but I never really understood why they are celebrating it. Any reason for a party is good enough in Australia!

Next morning, we were off, and headed for a long trip on the way to Sri Lanka. We had to catch a ferry to get to the actual airport, which was on one of the small Whitsunday Islands. From there, we went to Melbourne. From Melbourne we went to Perth. From Perth up to Singapore. And finally from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, which must have been the shortest flight I have been on, 35 minutes. Finally, 30 hours after we left the house in Airlie Beach, we got to our hotel room in Kuala Lumpur!

We stayed in Kuala Lumpur for 23 hours, we got in at 7 am, and our flight to Sri Lanka left at 6 am, so we had to stay the day. Which was totally fine by us, it was nice to have a break, and a bed to sleep in. Did some shopping, and a lot of eating in Kuala Lumpur. I have lost count of how many times I have been there, but I always love coming back!

Friday morning, we arrived here in Sri Lanka. Left some luggage at the airport, so now I only have one big backpack and my handbag ( I usually have a small backpack too). It is very refreshing and good to not have a small backpack as well, I think this is the future! Next time I go travelling, only one backpack!What we didn't know, is that it was a national holiday in Sri Lanka that day. The Poya day, full moon. And appearantly, when it falls on a Friday, it's even busier than any other Poya days. Lucky us! We caught a taxi into Colombo's train station, and bought a ticket to Kandy, 3 hours away. Colombo isn't much to see, just a dirty, crowded city, probably much like Jakarta and Manila. The train was jam-packed, and there were no seats available for us when we got on, so the next 3 and a half hours were spent sitting on our backpacks by the train doors. It wasn't all too bad, because at least we got lots of fresh air!

Kandy is the second biggest city in Sri Lanka, and the biggest up in the Hill country, that is up in the mountains, and colder than the rest of the country. It was a very beautiful landscape on the train ride up there, very green, with lots of valleys and mountains. Kandy itself wasn't that much to brag about. Just another city, but it did have a nice lake to walk around for some peace and quiet.

Next morning, we decided to take the bus to our next destination, Hatton, instead of the train. Not such a good idea, as we would find out later. But at least by taking the bus, we could spend the morning walking around Kandy's markets. It was suddenly extremely crowded with people as opposed to the day before. And all of a sudden we heard something that sounded like gunshots, which were in fact firecrackers, but it still scared me. After all, we are in Sri Lanka and there are armed guards everywhere, and an unstable civil war situation going on (well, not since May last year, but it still is tense). Turns out, the very newly elected president was coming to town! Not a safe place to be for us, or anyone really. We got our backpacks and got a tuk-tuk to the bus station. We soon realized this was going to be a long day. Traffic stood still, luckily we had a sneaky tuk-tuk driver who went past the cars, and got us to a very crowded and manic bus station. After some time, a guy showed us the bus to Hatton, and we even managed to get a seat! Score! The bus was still so incredibly full, that it is unexplainable to anyone who hasn't been on a bus in Asia, and for those who have, it was worse than any other bus I have ever been on! (Even the jeepneys in Philippines!) That was a very long and sweaty bus trip, especially, seeing as it took an hour just to get out of the city coz of all the traffic.

Arriving in Hatton, we decided to just get a taxi to Dalhousie, which is where we wanted to be that night. No more buses, and it was definitely worth the extra money to sit in a taxi by ourselves. Dalhousie is a small town, and the reason people go there is to hike to the top of Adam's peak, which is 2243 m tall. It is an important religious mountain, where apparently Adam first came on this earth, and Buddha has left his footprint there too. (He did that in Laos too, and it was one big footprint!) This is the pilgrimage season, so lots of Sri Lankas climb the mountain for religious reasons. Us, for touristy reasons! In this season however, there are lights all the way up to the top, and little shops and tea houses open all night. So we got up at 2.30 in the morning, and started walking. 5200 (!!) steps and 3 hours later, we were at the top, watching the sun rise. It was very beautiful, and also very hard. A lot harder than climbing Mount Kinabalu. We are still in pain, and can barely walk!

There was no point lingering in that town any longer than necessary, so we got back and had breakfast, then took a taxi to Embilipitya. We were going to take buses, but it seemed like that would take two days, and we didn't want to waste two days travelling. So even though it was expensive, we decided to get in a taxi. In Embilipitya, we stayed out of town, in a nice eco lodge by the river, as the town was no place you'd want to stay. The reason we came here in the first place was to do a safari. So the next morning we went on a safari in Uda Walawe national park.We saw lots of elephants, babies, mothers and fathers. They we were cute, and we got really close to them. We also saw many peacocks, and other birds, but not so many big animals. We were there in the wrong season though, so we were kinda prepared for that.

Seeing as we were back at the hotel by 9.30, we didn't see any reason to stay another day, so we jumped on a bus to Matara, this time, a not so full bus. It was actually quite pleasant. In Matara, we bought a train ticket to Galle. And the train wasn't even half full, it was wonderful! Getting off in Galle, we got a tuk-tuk ten minutes to Unuwatuna, which is where we are now. It is a small beach town, with lots of tourists. We live right on the beach, and it is great to stay a place for more than just one night. The weather isn't all too good though, this is supposed to be dry season, but it is raining every day. Mostly in the afternoon, so the mornings are fine, but still, I want my sun!

Today has been spent in Galle, Sri Lanka's fourth biggest city. Just walking around the fort there, and looking in the shops, doing a little shopping. I am not too impressed by any of the cities in this country, they are all much of the same, crowded and dirty. I prefer the beaches and mountains instead.

We are staying here for two more nights, as tomorrow is another public holiday, and we have learned our lesson as to never go on public transport on those days again! Hoping for nice weather, so I can laze around the beach while Bobby goes fishing.