This has been a very varied final day of the tour. A spontaneous stop first thing was great as we saw the fishermen hauling in their morning's catch with young and old members of the community contributing to the effort. After that, a stop at the tsunami memorial where the Colombo to Galle train was washed away just over ten years ago. Life has returned pretty much to normal for those who live and work along this coastline, except those who lost loved ones of cou...

I set off early this morning whale watching or 'whale chasing' as would be a more apt description. After spending two hours heading into rough seas, I spotted the unmistakeable blow hole of the whale and then it dived down into the ocean. What a sight and what a privilege to see such a wonderful creature. Thereafter, it became a chase and guesswork as to where it would surface next after fifteen minutes under the water. I had two two glimpses of its tail fin befo...

It is hard to imagine that just over ten years ago, an incredibly destructive tsunami hit this coastline and thousands perished. The train travelling along the coast from Colombo to Galle was swept away killing nearly all of the 1,700 passengers on board. There is much respect here still for the 'good old British' who were the first country to respond to the disaster with supplies of medicines, tents, and other vital emergency goods. Late afternoon, we took the s...

We left Bandarawela and were given a nice colonial send off by a man in full ceremonial get up. Travelling through the highlands past Ella, a popular tourist town, we stopped to view the Rawana Ella Falls. We also stopped to see the magnificent Buddha rock statues at Buduruwagala carved in the 9th century and which were overgrown by jungle in this most tranquil of locations. As the rest of the group went off for their curry and rice lunch, I found a hammock in a ...

Uwara Eliya has the feel of a Victorian colonial town with its impressive old post office, a race course and a golf course. Some of the buildings are in the mock gothic style. Not too far from here in this region is the location for 'Bridge on the River Kwai' directed by David Lean and shot in technicolor back in 1956. We caught the train and travelled 3rd class for the three journey to Bandarawela which must rank as one of the most spectacular rail journeys in t...