With the rare chance to (maybe) see a leopard we changed our plans and headed to Tissamaharama (or Tissa for short!) to visit Yala National Park.Off we set, this time in a more superior jeep, with high raised seats for an even better view. Within moments of entering the park we saw buffaloes bathing in pools of water surrounded by sambar and spotted deer. As we drove through the park we saw crocodiles swimming or sunbathing by pools, wild boar in groups, peacock...

As we continued our way across the middle of Sri Lanka the scenery got more and more spectacular. Travelling by train allowed us to take in all the scenery at a wonderfully slow and peaceful pace. It also meant we could hang out of the train like the locals and take lots of pictures. We stopped in Nuria Ella for a trip to 'Worlds End' proper this time. The big brother offered a much more impressive view and a more enjoyable 9.5km hike. You had to be up before...

Kandy was the old royal capital of Sri Lanka and the grand and palacious buildings offered a glimpse of what the town must once of been like. Situated high up in the hills and surrounded by a large lake the place has it's own unique charm. Think typical bustling Asian town mixed with a high altitude alpine village. We'd come to see the famous 'Buddha's Tooth Relic' at the main temple but came away disappointed. Not only was there no tooth to speak of but also...

As we set off with our new shiny India Visa's in hand we felt ready to attack Sri Lanka properly. With Cam an Alex our new New Zealand chums in tow we travelled back through the middle of the country to Kitulgala. Since we only had two weeks left we'd planned out pretty much every stop, this was incredibly organised for us and would be a real challenge, but it was the only way we were going to be able to see all the things we wanted. The beauty of travelling i...

We left the north coast from Trinconmalee by bus, our first of what was to be many local buses in Sri Lanka (we had heard of rumours of small A/C minibuses, but we never managed find these fabled luxuries!). The journey started well as we got seats and even got to put our backpacks in the trunk of the bus, though the seats were barely wide enough for the skinniest of snake hipped locals. Then the onboard entertainment started, blaring Sinhala pop music at loud,...