In the morning light I watched a chipmunk scurrying across the branch outside our window making an angry chattering noise which was quite out of character for the rest of the tranquil garden. The smiling Mr. Tenakoon soon called us down from our balcony for a traditional Sri Lankan breakfast and warily we descended, following him into his house. Seated on the terrace our freshly woken tastebuds and stomachs were assaulted with string hoppers (Sri Lankan noodle nests), chicken curry (definitely a lot spicy), Dahl (equally spicy), a whole pineapple and 2 kilos of bananas. We equitted ourselves pretty well considering the deviation from normality, though some of this success is owed to our hosts continued presence and insistence that we 'should not go out on an empty stomach'. I wonder whether he was as aware that we would in fact be leaving with bellys very full of fire...

With his scribbled maps in our pockets and a prophylactic yoghurt to try and limit the damage which was soon to befall our digestive tract we set off on an adventure. Our friendly TukTuk pilot whizzed us up, out of Kandy and into the surrounding hills. All around were ancient stone walls and intricately winding terraces of tea bushes and as we doubled back up a tiny rutted drive a faded sign announced our arrival at the Museum of the Tea Board of Ceylon.

The huge colonial warehouse had the tired air of a building with many years of busy industry behind it. We headed into the cool of its ground floor and were shown an amazing selection of 19th century machinery, almost entirely imported from the north of England. There were choppers and grinders and graders and shakers, not to mention the diesel or water powered engines whose drive train mechanised the whole factory, including the huge fans on the withering floor, through the belts, pulleys and driveshafts on the ceiling. Everything was lovingly maintained and as we ascended each of the four huge floors we got an incredible glimpse of what it must have been like to work on the tea plantations in the colonial years of Ceylon.

The history and science behind every brew was fascinating and I for one had no idea that Mr. Lipton was in fact an entrepreneurial Scottish corner shop owner who also raced in the Americas cup 5 times! The highlight was enjoying a cup of Orange Pekoe, overlooking the plantation, and I may well reconsider my opinion of Mum's eccentricity of enjoying her tea without milk, though as our guide pointed out, it all depends on the blend.

We returned to our trusty TukTuk driver, who had followed us around the museum not having been allowed in before, and bombed down the winding roads back towards Kandy. Having 3 near death experiences in as many minutes was a little stressful and things did not improve when we hit the traffic of the city, honking and squeezing our way between the huge blundering busses and up the hard shoulder scattering school children. There was a moment of slight relief as we passed a very content elephant in the back of a dumper truck and before too long we arrived at the botanical gardens. I know, a tea museum and the botanical gardens all in the same day, middle age is calling...

We ambled happily through the impressive horticulture which varied from intricate orchids to huge buttressed trees. The tall lines of palms, thick gardens of herbs and dense forests of bamboo, thicker than my thigh, were all dotted with intimate local couples as this was evidently a top spot for young Cassanova's to bring prospective girlfriends. We took a well earned break and rehydrated with some fresh fruit juices whilst marvelling at the hundreds of huge fruit bats, dangling comically upside down from the trees.

We caught a local bus back to town for the extortionate fare of 7p each and had a very pleasant late lunch on the lakeshore. Feeling flush we caught another bus (12p) in the sweltering heat of the stop-start traffic but eventually we disembarked and were soon immersed in the blissful chill of our host's pool.

Mr. Tenakoon returned beaming (from a funeral) so pleased that we were enjoying the facilities and insisted on providing supper for us. We spent the remainder of the afternoon in nervous anticipation and when 8pm arrived the happiest man in Kandy delivered a feast of vegetable curry, noodles, omelette, beer, tonic water and looked most affronted when I tried to give him some money for it!

It was of course pretty darn spicy but Bob's evening was saved by the perfectly timed arrival of 2 huge bowls of icecream. We had absolutely fallen on our feet staying with this lovely man and if anybody reading this even thinks of coming to Sri Lanka you simply must come to Kandy and enjoy the hospitality of Mr. Tenakoon.

We packed our bags and had an early night as our alarm clocks were set for 3:45am, but our host's was set for 3:30am to ensure we left will full stomachs, no arguing. What a hero!