We were up early and packed before breakfast which was good going for us, then spent a couple of hours sitting in the lobby catching up on emails. Before setting off we visited the souvenir shop, much to the delight of Doni the proprietor who had being eying us soulfully all week and respectfully begging us to step inside. We bought a wooden elephant and have probably now put his two daughters through college!

We set off on the road for Colombo after an interesting, enjoyable and, in some ways, exhausting stay in Kandy. The distance was little more than a 100 km from Kandy to Colombo but as always the journey time was much longer than that. Nevertheless we enjoyed looking out at all the sights along the way and giving us a greater understanding of a life so very different from our own.

We made a short stop at a spice garden along the way. We expected a leisurely walk around looking at saffron and cinnamon plants. However, we were dragged round at break neck speed by a man whose sole purpose was to get us into their 'pharmacy' and persuade us to by very over-priced home grown medicines and ointments. We bought the tiniest pot of headache ointment for 500 rupees and went on our way, but not before retracing our route through the garden at our own pace so we could understand a little bit more about the plants we were looking at. We got a free cup of herbal tea for our troubles which was an unexpected bonus.

Further down the road we stopped to take photos of one of the many wonderful fruit stalls along the way. Hashan treated us to a king coconut juice each, served in the shell. Very refreshing, and good for your health too if Hashan is to be believed.

Next stop was to look at a cashew nut tree which we had been really keen to see as we had never before seen these popular nuts growing or even in the shell. We were fascinated to see the kidney shaped fruits still hanging from the tree and bought ourselves half a kilo of the fresh nuts. Even here they are quite expensive at 1,000 rupees (£10) a kilo but we would rarely get the opportunity to eat them so fresh off the tree so no complaints.

The traffic was very heavy as we approached Colombo but we eventually reached our hotel, The Cinnamon Lakeside. Although 5 o’clock already we had to wait some time for our room to be ready but they treated us to coffee and snacks in the lobby so we didn’t fuss too much. When we eventually made it to our room we were very pleased as it was spacious and comfortable with a lovely view over the pool and lake. On the down side, even though it was a 5 star hotel the promised broadband internet was simply not available as, apparently, there was too much demand. Not good enough! Especially when you have emails to do and photos to upload!

We enjoyed a pleasant evening sitting outside in the pool area drinking Lion beer and watching cricket on the big screen. That’s the life!