The tuktuk/bus/tuktuk combo worked a charm for our journey from Yala to Weligama. Our few days of luxury was over but gave us the most amazing memories of our trip so far. Weligama is on the south coast of Sri Lanka, between the larger cities of Matara and Galle and you'd miss it if you blinked. Our hotel was about a kilometre outside Weligama town on a quiet road that wound its way to the sea. The hotel was clean and basic but our hosts were so warm and friendly...

With bags on backs we left the hotel (even though the hotel manager offered us a lift, maybe this was a peace offering?), the sun was shining and the temperature had risen. The scenic mountain views were all around us, who knew? We walked the 500m from the hotel to the bus stand and waited anxiously as the bus departure time came and went. Fortunately we had been befriended by a local lady who was also going to Tissa. Whilst waiting, a taxi driver came over and i...

A two and a half hour journey from Kandy on an air conditioned privately run mini bus found us in Nuwara Eliya. The bus was still very much public transport but a little more costly and a lot less crowded. In the aisle, home made seats have been installed and are filled from the rear to maximise capacity. There was an unsaid order for the proper seats, the person who had been sitting in the aisle the longest got first dibs at the next vacant side seat. As the bus...

A six hour bus journey from Trinco brought us to Kandy, the weather for the entire journey was ghastly. The monsoon had joined forces with a cyclone, bringing a torrent of rain for 36 hours straight. As we passed through villages and towns the effects of the weather were dramatic, entire fields were under water, homes and temples flooded and lives thrown into chaos. Fortunately, the weather in Kandy was much improved and was akin to an English summer's day, with...

For the first time on our trip we decided to a) travel by bus b) not book the transport in advance c) not book a hotel in advance. As usual Jan was pretty relaxed about all of this. Unusually though, I too was happy enough with the travel plan. We knew Trincomalee was about 100km from Anuradhapura and we'd been told that it would take about 2 hours. We turned up a little early at the bus station to ensure we got a seat as Sri Lankan buses get very busy very quick...