We picked up a passenger about 200 miles off the coast of Sri Lanka. In the morning we found a small bird resting in the dinghy. During the day it became more and more bold, coming into the cockpit and then the boat itself. It inspected the whole boat from stem to stern, including the computer, which it pecked at. It was very partial to Toblerone, who could blame it. It roosted at the back of the bookshelf overnight and left early in the morning, as we approached Galle harbour.

We called up on the radio and were told to anchor just in front of the breakwater to wait for the navy, who turned up at 8.30am and escorted us in. We gave them the customary gift of cigarettes.

We were moored stern too on a very very wobbly plastic pontoon, with seven other boats including our friends Anne and Gordon. It's great fun to walk along and that's without having a drink! The other option was to anchor. We used GAC as our agent, no problems so far. There are no facilities on or near the pontoon but we are OK being self-sufficient. It's quite a hike to the gate through the very muddy dockyard. Every one has a gate pass, which is always inspected by the armed guards on entry or departure. It's not that bad and every one has been very friendly.

We went by tuktuk to Galle fort and spent an enjoyable day looking round. The area used to be a Dutch fort, it now has shops, restaurants and museums. The people here are very skillful at separating tourists such as us from their money by getting them to buy goods or services they don't really want. We were determined not to fall for this but we got caught. We were persuaded to take a tuktuk for a trip round Galle town, 70 rupees per km. Well it wasn't far, or so we thought. We ended up touring the whole district and costing nearly £25! We did get to see a factory, which still makes Morris Minors, and Galle stilt fishermen sitting on poles just off the beach, fishing for sardines.

We went by train to Columbo, 75 miles for only 180 rupees, which is about £1 each, second class. It is quite an experience; the railway runs along side the ocean for much of the way. We then changed trains and continued to Kandy, for the same price. This is an extremely scenic journey. There is a first class observation car at the back of some trains, which has a big window. Unfortunately it was full, you need to book about 5 days in advance. Instead of a buffet car we had numerous hawkers selling food and drink plus entertainment and unfortunately some very pathetic disabled beggars who I felt very sorry for.

We stayed at Rodney's guesthouse, about a mile out of Kandy. It was inexpensive at 2,000 rupees, about £11 per night. The room was large, clean, en-suite and had a great view of the Knuckles range of mountains. No aircon but it's cool at night in the hills. Only one complaint his beer was the dearest in town. Rodney organised a trip for us in his mini bus. We visited the Golden Temple at Dambulla, a 1st century BC Buddhist cave temple. It has four highly decorated caves with many statues. It was quite expensive at $10 US per head but fascinating.After this we went to Sigiriya citadel and palace. This was very expensive $25 each. It is a UNESCO world heritage site. In the 5th century AD, king Kasyapa, who built his palace on top of a huge rock 180m above the surrounding plain, moved the capital to Sigiriya. Access is via 1200 steps!! Below are the remains of extensive palace gardens. The site later became a Buddhist monastery. We were lucky to be accompanied on our visit by a group of young Buddhist monks in their bright orange robes. They made the steps look easy, whereas I struggled. Probably due to young legs rather than spiritual enlightenment I think.

We stayed overnight and went on a mini jeep safari at 6am next morning, our objective being to see wild elephants. After 2 hours of traveling along very bumpy tracks through the forest, all we saw was elephant droppings. Our driver Shurly was very upset but just as we were about to leave, the elephants turned up, a herd of about twenty. Mission accomplished.

We returned to Kandy, which was very busy due to the Independence Day celebrations held there on the 4th of February, attended by the president plus 15,000 troops. There were soldiers and roadblocks all over town. We went to a show of traditional Sri Lankan dancing which was very colourful and included a fire dance with walking across hot coals, ouch!

Next day we returned by train to the boat in Galle. We have greatly enjoyed our stay in Sri Lanka, which has been a pleasant surprise, after some of the bad reports we heard regarding the harbour. We plan to leave for Oman mid week.