We have almost come to the end of our time in Sri Lanka. We have been in Dambulla for the past three days, and have visited the cave temples here as well as doing trips out to Sigiriya and Polonaruwa. Both of these sites were very impressive, but it was very hot walking around. The climb to the top of the rock at Sigiriya was a little hairy at times, and a little tiring as we'd timed it so that we were doing it at midday in the full sun. Luckily in Polonoruwa it ...

We are in Kandy where we arrived yesterday from Ella. We spent a day in Ella, which is a small village up in the hills in the centre of the island. It's a bit of a backpacker hangout. We enjoyed relaxing there for a day, and did a little walk up one of the local hills from where there were good views of the area. We also had some excellent food: in particular a fantastic assortment of curries including a garlic curry and an excellent pineapple chutney. From El...

This morning we left Bentota on the train to Galle. Galle is a fortified town built by the Portuguese, and is pretty and small enough to wander around in an afternoon. It is very hot. We hope to be doing a whistle-stop tour of the island, heading inland to the hill country tomorrow, then on to the ancient cities. Sri Lanka is much more pleasant than India, but unfortunately much more expensive.

Hi, we have been relaxing and really enjoying our week at Bentota. We met up with Zoe's Mum and Dad and found a nice guest house near to their posh hotel! The beach is golden sand gently sloping into a lovely warm sea, and virtually deserted as all the sunloungers etc are kept inside the hotel grounds. The Hotel Serendib, where my parents are staying, has a nice pool, lovely grounds and friendly staff. We went to see the Kosgoda turtle hatchery which has hundreds...