Greetings from Kandy, in the hill country of Sri Lanka! This is apparently the coolest area in the country although you wouldn't know it! I would say the temperature is still in the mid twenties and reasonably high humidity but it is more pleasant than the coast (heat wise)! I'm having a wonderful time here. Chamika and Tharaka (her boyfriend) and their family and friends have been wonderful hosts. On Sunday we went to a Buddhist temple just out of Colombo called Kelaniya Raja Mahu Vihara. It was pleasant wandering around and the temple itself had some very impressive paintings and frescos depicting the life of Buddha. Monday I went into Colombo itself and visited Chamika's workplace (she works for a company called Flexport which designs trophies for the international market). I met her boss who really wanted to meet me after learning from Chamika I was interested in environmental issues! He is an inventor as well as a designer and has invented a biodegradeable packing material (that can be used to replace the very handy but troublesome styrofoam). He won an award for this from the UN-all very impressive! In the evening we met up with Chamika's brother and sister-in-law and walked along the esplanade, beside the sea near down town Colombo watching the sunset, before going for dinner and doing some clothes shopping for me so I could find some light clothing for this tropical climate! Tuesday Chamika, Tharaka and I got on a train for the hill country. We got off near Kandy to visit the Pinnewala elephant orphanage where there are around 50 elephants wandering around the sanctuary. There were some really young ones about-only a couple of months old. It was great to see them at such close quarters but after being with the elephants in Thailand where there was only 10 of us to 5 elephants the crowds of tourists at this place was a bit off-putting! Still, it is great to see orphaned elephants being cared for. From Pinnewala we took local buses to Kandy-this was an experience and a half! It was around the time school finshed so there were lots and lots of people wanting the bus which meant a very squashed and hot and sticky ride to Kandy! There were plenty of curious stares coming my way (I can imagine the locals thinking why on earth would a foreigner want to be on the bus!) but I just stared politely back! I think we're equally curious about each other. Generally I find the people here in Sri Lanka very friendly and helpful. Yesterday I spent much of the day wandering around the Botanical Gardens a few kilometres west of Kandy (Chamika and Tharaka have gone back to Colombo for their work) which are really beautiful and a nice change from the crowds of people and hustle and bustle of places like Colombo. Today I'm just going to spent relaxing around Kandy. Tomorrow I think I'll go and have a look at the Temple of the Tooth and the museum before heading back to Colombo on Saturday. I hope this finds you all well and not too frantic in the lead up to Christmas! Love to you all, Sonia