Category: Uncategorized

Saturday, 9th February, 2019

What a beautiful way to wake up – birds chirping in the jungle that surrounds our guesthouse – it had rained at night but now it was dry and the jungle was steaming away. Although we had a peaceful night, it actually did not start off that way – a whole group of new guests turned up late and besides talking and laughing out loud, they even tried to get into our room (obviously by mistake!) anyway they soon settled down and we were all able to have a good night’s rest.

Today is a travel day and we were in no particular hurry to leave this guesthouse as its owners are such hospitable people. Anyway at 8 we went down for breakfast and as soon as we arrived in the dining room, we were surprised to see a whole crowd already enjoying breakfast – there must have been at least 8 persons x most of them young but with a few older men in the group. After greeting each other and naturally asking where everyone came from, they replied that they were from Iran – up to now have never met Iranians travelling!!! I immediately asked which one of them had tried to get into our room – of course jokingly – so that made them even more loud….. both Gerry and I thought they were Italian but they were much more noisy! It seemed that they were following the same route as we were so who knows perhaps we would meet them again….

Indika was well on time and the house boy brought down our luggage to be stowed away in the booth and by 9.15 we were on the way. As yesterday we had missed going to the Udawattakele Royal Forest Park, Indika suggested that we do that this morning.

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This Forest Park has always been regarded as a part of the Royal palace and the pond at the entrance was known to be where the royal family bathed. We paid our entrance fee and received a map which had the pathways which we could follow. According to the lady who sold us our tickets, the whole walk around the park was some 5.5km and it would take us just over an hour – well to cut a long story short, we managed to get lost!

After having walked uphill to the view point and the information centre, we thought we took the right path to the left,but actually this led us down and outside the official park grounds. There were some newly built houses and an older guy was just reversing his even older Mercedes out of the garage. He guessed we were in trouble and he rolled down his window and we asked him how we could get back to the park. But he told us not to worry as he could take us back by car – obviously we were pleased with this as we did not fancy retracing our steps – however while getting acquainted in the car we noticed he was driving back to Kandy as we were close to the city lake. He asked us to call our driver with his phone and he would explain in Sinhalese where he would drop us – after what seemed quite a heated discussion, he said he would drop us at the entrance of the forest park – which he had said he would do and that’s why we accepted his lift – anyway he did tell us we were the third set of tourists he has helped to get back as they too were lost……

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Well both Indika and us were so glad to see each other – I guess he was worried stiff when we had not returned back on time……
So back in Indika’s car, we said he had to find us somewhere where we could use the restroom, Gerry to have his smoke and have something to drink before continuing our drive towards Nuwara Elija.

We were lucky that we had good weather when we were lost in the Royal forest as now the clouds were gathering and we were not sure whether we would have a dry drive through the mountain range.

The mountain range we drove through is known as the Knuckles Range which incidentally are now included as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. Apparently, lots of trekking takes place in this region but always with a guide. The foothills of the Knuckles Range are dotted with villages and we could see these while driving.

We then drove into the tea plantation region, high up on the hills and with every bend we took by car, we saw the tea shrubs neatly climbing against the hills. This is known as the Hill Country and preciously when still a British colony, was the The luscious green carpet of tea shrubs was a real eye catcher – especially when dotted with colourful sari-clad girls picking tea leaves……

Indika took us to a tea plantation, Glenloch, which was first planted by a Scotsman some 150 years ago and is one of the biggest plantations in Sri Lanka. Here we were given a private tour by a lovely lady who explained how the leaves are picked and which are used to make white, green or black tea and how it is dried and fermented and then sent off to Colombo where there is a huge tea market and sold to brands like Lipton, Tetley and Dilam.
Just a little bit of history on the tea industry in Sri Lanka – apparently the British tea barons back in the colonial days could not get the Singalese to work on the Apparently only 80% remains in Sri Lanka and sold under its own brand name. When the tour was over, we had the opportunity to try some of the teas and both Gerry and I came to the conclusion that the white tea has the best taste and aroma – but obviously the most expensive!
As we had instructions from Gerry’s daughter, Lisette, that should we feel inclined to buy anything for her from Sri Lanka, then we should get her green tea – so while Gerry continued enjoying his cup,of tea (with chocolates), I went to the factory shop to choose some tea to take back home.

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By the time we got back to the car, it started raining heavily and we saw the mountains just disappearing behind a shroud of low hanging clouds. We were on our way to view the various waterfalls in the hills – the Ramboda waterfall. We had a very good view point to,take pictures but we also drove to a hotel for some lunch and where we walked down quite a few steps to admire this waterfall,as it came crashing down. According to Indika, normally there is much more water that the valley would be flooded. Further down in the valley there is a dam to hold all the water.

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As we walked up from the waterfall, we came across the Iranian group who had stayed in the same guesthouse in Kandy. They greeted us with so much friendliness, however I was keeping my fingers crossed that they would not be staying at the same place we would be staying. Indika said that the Oasis Bungalow estate only had four bungalows so the Iranian group could not fit in…….
By the time we had finished lunch we were having torrential rain. Everyone said that tomorrow will turn out sunny and that this is typical weather of the hill country region. No wonder it is so green and luscious!
We had another hour’s drive to our next stay and I am sure I would have enjoyed the trip more if it hadn’t rained so much – the hills and tea plantations were all lost behind the clouds…..
Anyway we finally arrived at our destination Oasis Bungalows at Nuwara Elija – in a torrential rain. Indika suggested we go for another Aryuveda massage and then dinner and that’s what we did.

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By the end of the day, we just wanted to sleep as tomorrow we will be having a day sightseeing in the neighbourhood and getting to know the hill stations and the “kitchen garden” of Sri Lanka

Friday, 8th february 2019

What was it heavenly to wake up to the sound of different kinds of birds chirping away early in the morning just before sunrise! Up in the hills of Kandy, we had a very peaceful and restful night – no sounds of cars or people; just surrounded by green foliage and bird song!

We had requested to have breakfast at 8am as Indika would be collecting us at 9am to go sightseeing in Kandy. Last night, while sitting with the various guests and the guesthouse owners, we were given some suggestions as to how to spend the day in Kandy: visit the sacred temple of the Buddha tooth relic; go up to the Udawattakelle Sanctuary; spend a few hours at the botanical gardens; take a walk around the lake; attend a traditional dance and fire walking show. Well we only achieved three activities plus an extra one to kill the time before attending the traditional dance.

Well breakfast was a feast again as it included the egg hoppe and plain hoppe with an onion and chili pepper chutney and a platter of fresh fruit. We finished our breakfast well on time so that we could leave immediately Indika arrived to collect us. The drive down the narrow hillside road was just as exciting as coming up yesterday afternoon but this time there was more traffic with loads of tuc-tucs carrying uniformed school children.

Our first point of interest was the Temple of the Tooth Relic – 425 year old, golden roofed temple houses Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist relic, a tooth of Buddha which was salvaged by a princess when Buddha’s body was cremated on the funeral pyre back in 483BC and smuggled into Sri Lanka in the 4th Century AD.

By the the time we arrived at the temple and had engaged a free lance guide, it was time the heavily guarded room housing the tooth relic to open its doors for devotees to worship – however you don’t get to see the tooth but rather a Golden casket that is shaped like a stupa and in which a series of 6 caskets lie within it housing the tooth relic.

It was so very interesting to see the total devotion shown by the Buddhist devotees. Some had their new born babies with them and this sort of scared me; what if anything happened – those babies could be trampled to death!

From here, we moved to the Alut Maligawa, a three storey large shrine displaying various Buddha’s – also those donated by other countries such as Japan, Thailand, Korea and other Asian countries. This was very impressive as also there were paintings showing the story of Buddha and his journeys to Sri Lanka until the moment he reached Nirvana (enlightenment) and was burnt on the funeral pyre when he died in 483BC

Next, we moved to the Audience Hall which was built in 1783 and wooden pillars support a wooden roof. This is part of the Royal Palace which is also situated in the temple complex.

Further, we went into an other area known as Rajah Tusker Hall. Here we found a stuffed elephant who had served Kandy for 62 years and died in 1988.

It is incredible how many visitors – both local and foreign come to this temple complex, however one had to stand still for a while when we were told that back in 1998, the temple complex had borne significant damage when the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) detonated a truck bomb on the street opposite the temple.

When we left the temple complex, we first had a break and treated ourselves to fresh watermelon juice and then Indika drove us to the Royal Botanical Gardens.

What a serene garden filled with exotic palms, trees and plants. While the entrance is on a busy corner not far from the bus station, once we were inside and had strolled a few hundred meters, we did not here any traffic any more. What was very interesting is that we saw so many school children in their neat uniforms and wearing sun hats all walking two by two in a single file – the girls wearing white uniforms and the boys in blue shorts and white shirts. This is a sight I have never seen in the Netherlands…….. Dutch school children are ever so noisy!! At one point, Gerry and I sat down on a bench and when these school kids filed in front of us, they all gave us big smiles and waved to us……..

We must have spent some two and a half hours in this garden and our agreement was that I would call Indika to come and pick us up when we were ready – well I was really annoyed with myself as I had left my phone in my rucksack and that was in Indica’s car; Gerry tried calling my phone but apparently Indica did not react to it. Surprisingly enough, he must have had the same thought as he came to look for us round the same time we left the gardens…….

Next on our “to do” list was to attend a Sri Lankan Culture Show but as we were somewhat early, Indika tookus to a Gem Factory opposite the culture show premises. In all my travelling, I know that when one is taken to such premises, you are expected to buy something (that happened to me the other day when we visited a wood carving factory and shop). Anyway it was interesting to see a documentary film of how precious stones and gems were mined in Sri Lanka and I must say it was a hazardous way of discovering these gems – be it sapphires, moonstones, rubies and other stones. Then of course you are led into the shop and straight away if you show an interest in any particular piece of Jewellery, it is removed from the show case and the price calculated for you in any currency you want…… well I played the game – I showed interest in a blue sapphire ring with diamonds which I thought would match my ear rings which I had bought back in Dubai. Well even with the discount, I wasn’t buying this ring and immediately I saw the attendant’s disappointment………. well we left the premises and crossed the road to go to our Culture Show – we still had time so we had a drink on the terrace.

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Indica had acquired really good seats for us In the front row and once the show began, we were mesmerised with the music and dance. The playing of drums, flute and tambourines was the background to intricate dancing movements. And finally the “moment supreme” was when we had to go out onto the balcony to watch fire eating and fire walking. All in all a very entertaining part if the evening.

By the time the show was over, we were quite ravenous as we had not had any lunch but rather snacked on fruit and fresh fruit juices. Indica had made a reservation for us at a hill top restaurant, Senani, overlooking Kandy Lake and the city centre. This was truly magnificent especially as it was our last night in Kandy.

By the time we drove back to our guesthouse, it had started drizzling so you can imagine I was glad to be back home as I did t fancy the winding narrow uphill road in total darkness and rain.

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Tomorrow we will be leaving our guesthouse and will be driving to Nuwara Elija, also referred to Little England as during the colonial days, the British used to come up to this hill station, leaving the stickiness and heat of Colombo and Kandy behind them for a few summer months!

Thursday, 7th February,2019

This was a really strenuous day spent driving only to end in an oasis up above the city of Kandy.
Originally we had planned to go back to Sigiriya to have a last attempt at climbing the boulder rock but then we found out that 36 km further south from Pasikuda, there was an original Dutch Fort dating back to the VOC age. For those not familiar, the VOC or the Dutch East India Trading Company was one of the first companies in the world back in the 16-17th centuries set up with shareholders participation’s. This company set up trading posts all the way to Indonesia and Japan and hence also in Sri Lanka. Actually this specific Fort was first built by the Portuguese in 1628 and 10 years later taken over by the Dutch.

Within the fort, there are administrative buildings still being used, however the outer bastions of the fort are sadly crumbling away. We did see a cannon dating back to the British rule in Sri Lanka and a ruined bell tower. None the less, the view from on top of the fort across the lagoon is magnificent. After taking some pictures we were ready to resume our drive. Indika had the choice either to go back to our starting point and pick up a good road to Kandy or take the road which was more direct, however part of which was in a bad state. We chose to take the latter…….

Well leaving Batticaloa wasn’t a real problem – it’s only when we hit the main road that we got into problems! Besides the fact that every bridge on this road was being repaired, the road surface was really uneven and to top it all, cows were roaming all over the road. This is Tamil land and Tamils are Hindoes and hence cows are sacred and can roam wherever they like. Some rice paddies had been harvested and here we saw buffaloes followed by white birds grazing in the left overs of the rice fields……

After about 80km of really bad road, which incidentally,is being repaired and widened, we stopped to stretch our legs and some refreshment at a wayside (government project) restaurant manned by women only and selling local snacks. We were served our herbal roti with coconut and pepper Sambal on a banana leaf in a wicker basket. Every woman had her own cooking unit so we had to go to another unit to order our fresh papaya juice. No napkins but a sink with running water to wash your hands after snacking. And this is the first time ever on this trip and in a long,long time since I’ve been travelling that I had to use a hole in the ground in the toilet …….. all was clean and well maintained and when I came out the woman looking after the restrooms just said one word to me with her big smile – money – ain’t showed me the palm of her hand – there she had written 50 rupees! Well, I thought, back home if I use the restroom at a fuel station, I normally pay €0,50 but then of course we have proper western toilets there; that’s the difference!

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Back on the road again, we were soon on another good road leading us to Kandy – we had taken some 2.5 hours to drive 85km and we still have some 100km to get to Sri Lanka’s previous capital city. According to Indika, it should not take us more than 3 hours to get to Kandy.
This part of the drive was quite interesting as we then were driving through the mountain range – it was uphill, downhill, hairpin bends and at one time we came to a signpost saying that we would be driving along 18 hairpin bends as we climbed upwards and the view was even more breathtaking with each bend in the road.

Soon we saw the sign that Kandy was only 10km away…… great we would soon be reaching our next stop at Haranthi House which was situated in the hills just on the outskirts of Kandy. We stopped on the way to admire the view. As we were quite high in the hills, we had Kandy lying at our feet – the lake being the center point with a statue of Buddha high up on the left hand side.

The last few kilometers were exhausting – we were all tired and Google maps seemed to have sent us to the wrong direction – we ended up by the Kandy hospital…… Indika phoned up the guest house and the last couple of kilometers we were guided by the guesthouse owner as we were going up a winding narrow road….. and finally there was Haranthi House.
We were welcomed by the host and his wife with a glass of fresh mango juice and we were shown to our room which had a magnificent view over the hilltops covered in palm trees – it was an oasis of peace and tranquility. Indika left to get to his own overnight place and we were going to have dinner at the guesthouse.

We had dinner with two other couples staying at the guesthouse. One couple was from Italy and another younger couple from Denmark. We all chatted together and shared our experiences and gave each other tips as what to see and do. By 10.30 pm we had to call it a day and went up to our room – we were both dead tired and needed our well earned sleep.

Tomorrow Indika will be picking us up for our tour of Kandy!

Wednesday, 5th february, 2019

I could not sleep due to the pelting rain on our tree house corrugated rooftop. It rained constantly all night and sometimes we also had the monkeys clambering over the roof. So by 4.30 I got out of bed and decided to try and finish my blog entry and with any luck add some pictures. The only place to do this was in the bathroom so as not to wake up Gerry. Well I did finish Sunday’s entry even though I could not get all the pictures added in. I will have to do that when we have a better Wi-Fi service.
The alarm went off at 6.30 so I showered first and washed my hair which was still greasy from the head massage I got yesterday during the Aryuveda massage! Of course Gerry had to first have his smoke but that was good as both of us could not fit in the tiny bathroom!

When I went outdoors on our verandah, the rain had created quite some mist and due to this we lost sight of our big boulder rock of Sigiriya – yesterday we could see the people walking up the side of the rock but this morning the great big boulder was hidden by the mist. Again, we won’t be climbing this rock today – and we had planned to do this early in the morning before driving to the east coast. We had ordered an early breakfast as Indika was going to collect us at 8.30 am.

Our breakfast was a really healthy one – fresh fruit, rice flour pancakes (two filled with a fried egg) and coconut rice chappatis. While we had jam, we did not touch this as we also had a local concoction of coconut shreds with honey and cinnamon- so tasty on the rice pancakes and chappatis!

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We were ready to go when Indika arrived and the room boy carried our bags down to the car. He’s used to doing this as he practically ran down the stairs……. while we took a step at a time!

Indika also suggested that we don’t do the Sigiriya Rock climb as it was still raining and the trip could be quite hazardous – he proposed that when we leave the beach, he could make a detour back to Sigiriya, weather permitting, prior to proceeding to Kandy. With this plan in mind, we arrived round 12 noon at the Amethyst Beach Resort in Pasikuda.

Luckily, as the hotel is not busy at all, we were given a beachfront bungalow and we could check in immediately. We were greeted with a string with sea shells – ever so hospitable……

The view from our room is just heavenly and it is so relaxing to hear the crashing of the waves. This is normally a bath tub temperature beach – the water is so shallow that it heats up very quickly inside the reef. We were lucky that by the time we reached Pasikuda, the rains had stopped and the sun came out and temperature was well over 28 Celsius. We made a date with Indika that he would pick us at 5.30 pm so that we could have an early dinner as we would be skipping lunch.

After settling in , we walked around the beach and enjoyed the view. This is so good to have such a break. By the time we walked back to our bungalow the clouds gathered again and it started raining.

At 5.30 we were ready to be picked up by Indika and by this time it was raining quite hard so he suggested we do not go too far and only went down the road to another hotel complex – The Calm – and we were able to have an early dinner. However this hotel was just as empty as ours…….

Gerry went for the local beefsteak – which was as tough as leather!!! But he had been warned and I went for the typical rice and curry which was elegantly served!

We were back in our hotel quite early so we could check our mails and catch up with our social media. My niece, Danica chatted with me through Messenger and she told me that down south there is a “Maltese” village built after the Tsunami by funds donated to the Maltese Red Cross and actually 3 members had come over to build 26 houses in 3 months. This place is Tangalle and is on the way for us from Yala to Galle so I have to make arrangements to stop over there.

And tomorrow we are promised a sunny, though somewhat blustery day – good enough for us to relax on the beach !

MonDay, 4th february 2019

This morning we had our breakfast at 8am as Indika would be picking us up at 8.45 to start our 3 hour road trip to Sigiriya where our main goal is to climb the rock boulder on which one of the Singalese kings built his palace and landscaped gardens back in the 5th century AD. However the rain was our game breaker today plus the fact that today was a National Holiday – Independence Day – hence no way we wanted to climb some 1,500 steps hewn into the rock wall…..

But we had enough on our agenda for today. In Habarna, we would be going on a traditional Sri Lankan boat trip on the lake close by and then visit typical farming home followed by a ride on a bullock drawn cart still used by the villagers in this settlement and finally a safari trip in the National Park to spot some wild elephants.

On the trip, we stopped for some refreshment and this time we had fresh fruit juices – pineapple for me and papaya for Gerry and that would keep us going for a few hours. When we arrived close to Sigiriya we diverted to Habarna where we could book the various activities.

Our first activity was to take a boat trip on the waterlilly filled placid lake. Luckily for us it had stopped raining and the sun came out for a little while. Together with Indika, we were paddled across the lake till we came to the shoreside where authentic farmer’s mud brick shacks stood. We made our way between the puddles to one of these homes where we were greeted friendily by the family, a brother and sister and the sister’s friend. The shack comprised two rooms onto one side with seating along the side and a woven palm roof while on the other side there was the kitchen with fires going on – no electricity, only oil lamps. We were greeted with herbal tea and then were shown how to make rice and coconut chappatis. Both Gerry and I tried grinding rice to flour and shredding coconut after the lady of the manor had broken open a coconut and we drank the coconut water.

After our walk around the village, it was time to get into our safari Jeep and head towards the National Park for our elephant drive. Luckily it was dry again so we could stand on the back side of our Jeep and observe the elephants. This is so great! There were different herds just minding their own business and munching away at the tall grass. We were not the only ones driving in Safari jeeps – but everyone so quiet as we observed and shot pictures. Our ranger was very quick in spotting wild birds as well including eagles, hawks, peacocks and bee eating birds.

By the time we headed back on foot it was time to have a lunch break and Indika took us to a typical Sri Lankan restaurant where we had rice and curry. The couple who ran this restaurant were so humble and pleasant especially as we could see that they had prepared the lunch with great love and pride and served with a sincere smile. And that at only 700 rupees per person (€15,oo) and it included fresh fruit juices and a plate of fruit and buffalo yoghurt with honey.

With our bellies full, I only wanted to have a siesta – I was glad that we had done our Safari before lunch as otherwise we would have our full stomachs jostled all around!!

Indika, then drove us to our next overnight destination which was only 45 minutes away. We drove deep into the thick forest on a one lane road. On the side of the road there was shock wired spanned most of the way – this was to ward off elephants from crossing onto the road – well I wouldn’t want to be out and about at night.

In no time we arrived at the Thick Forest – our overnight stay was to be in a tree house! By then it had started raining again and but from our verandah we could see the great rock of Sigiriya and we could see a long row of people still climbing towards the top of the plateau! We are hoping that tomorrow would be a dry morning so we can go on this expedition early in the morning……..

Anyway once we had checked in, the owner brought us some tea on our verandah – oh it felt so colonial! We tried to catch up with our social media but because the Forest was between the great big rock and the mountain, there was quite some interference with the reception!

Well we had asked Indika to book us an Aryuveda massage for the evening and he came to collect us at 6pm. While I have been on Aryuveda treatment in Kerala, India as well as in Holland, it was Gerry’s first experience. He behaved well and actually quite enjoyed it.

By the time we got back to our tree house it was ever so dark and Indika had to drive so slowly just in case we ran into an elephant…….. we decided not to shower in the evening so that the oils could continue doing their healing work overnight……

Tomorrow we will try again to climb the rock of Sigiriya- let’s hope the rains will stop!

1st February,2019

Our last full day on Bandos Island and this morning the alarm clock went off at 6.45 am as Gerry had his scuba diving session at 8.30 and he needed to have his breakfast well on time. After a leisure breakfast, we were back in our hut and ready to go to the diving centre which is only like 50 meters away from our hut.

There were about 9 divers and a few instructors – luckily for Gerry, he had his own buddy instructor with whom he had his first dive yesterday.

While Gerry was way, I spent some time relaxing under the trees on the beach, reading and at times went swimming. It was interesting watching the rest of the guests – young Chinese couples, probably a getaway trip for them to celebrate the Chinese New Year. They tried all sorts of water sports activities: water scooters, kayaking, and riding the water banana. Another group of tourists that attracted my attention were 5 young (posh) French ladies who were really enjoying themselves having pictures taken and getting in and out of the water and finally settling down on the beach beds drinking cocktails! They reminded me of the ladies in Sex and the City – Carrie Bradshaw, Samantha Jones, Charlotte York and Miranda Hobbs!

As you can see from the above pictures, it was not really a sunny day – loads of clouds and quite blustery. We were told that this is unusual weather for this time of the year as normally it’s bright blue skies with temperatures well above 30 degrees Celsius and the sea is as calm as a shimmering mirror.

By noon, I expected that Gerry’s boat would be returning from their diving expedition. It was going to be a busy day for Gerry as we planned to go catamaran sailing in the afternoon.

Anyway, finally the boat berthed at the diving centre jetty and Gerry had great stories to tell. He had seen load of fish, mainly stingrays and also sea turtles and as he had his water camera with him was able to take some great picture as well as videos.

After a quick lunch, we were back at the water sport centre and our catamaran was being prepared for us. Actually Gerry wanted to rent a sailing boat but these were all out for maintenance so he was offered a catamaran, which he had not yet ever sailed……. well we had our skipper with us and although Gerry did most of the sailing, Hicham, our skipper, gave him valuable tips especially as there was quite some wind and we had to manouvre between the reef. It was a really great experience and I enjoyed it immensely – who knows, perhaps at my old age, I will be taking up sailing? Mind you, we had a lot of scrambling around on deck as we changed sails and getting sprayed with warm ocean water was just fantastic!

We sailed all around the island and along some huge Australian yachts anchored just off Bandos Island and then sailed further where we saw new man made islands being developed. What we understood is as the water level is rising, some islands will be left to submerge, while new islands are being created to be higher than the expected sea level rise of maximum 2 meters. Incidentally the international airport at Male is actually built on a man made island and is safe from any expected sea levels.

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By the time we got back to Bandos, we were quite tired – most probably due to the adrenaline that pumped through our veins and jumping around on deck.

And then it was time to relax on the beach and watch the sunset – it was the best one we had in the past three evenings as we’ve had cloudy weather most of the time. We did manage to see the sun in it’s full glory but then lost it again behind the clouds. By that time, we were quite ravenous and made our way to the restaurant for our last evening.

Once again, we enjoyed some beautifully tasty food and of course we could not resist the sweets bar! Anyway to,orrow we are off to Sri Lanka and then we are back to a “normal” way of life as we won’t be staying in resorts but down to earth hotels and bed and breakfasts as we travel around the “pearl” in the Indian Ocean.

By the time we got back to our beach hut, I was quite ready to call it a day, however when we opened our door, a sweet smell of flowers reached us and actually I was quite puzzled……. well I just went through to the bathroom and got a real big surprise – our jacuzzi was filled up with foam water and on top it was covered with flower petals and a sweet message from our room boy, Mohamed. Then I went up to our bedroom and our bed was also decorated with flowers. It was such a beautiful gesture. These are the small attentions which makes one want to tip these staff – not like we experienced in other countries where you are told what to leave as a tip!!

Gerry and I had quite some fun enjoying the jacuzzi but our room boy must have put in quite a bit of bath foam as when we switched on the jacuzzi, we practically drowned in all the foam that was overflowing.

What a great way to end our mini holiday on the Maldives. We had a great time feeling relaxed and enjoying each other’s company. Tomorrow we will be catching our flight to Colombo where our private chauffeur will be awaiting us to drive us around in the next 18 days.

THURSDAY, 31st January, 2019

This morning we woke up rather late – oh how heavenly to sleep in a real bed and only hear the waves breaking on the shore – it was high tide and most of the beach had disappeared overnight but this morning as soon as I went outside, it was back again. Actually this morning Gerry was supposed to have gone for his diving introduction session at 8.30 a.m but he never made it as we got up after 8 am and we still had to have breakfast. He thought he could catch up later in the morning but apparently the diving school here is a stickler for time – Gerry could join for an introduction dive in the afternoon!

Breakfast here is really tasty and nicely presented – all the staff are ever so polite and friendly. Both Gerry and I enjoy observing the other guests – there are a lot of Asians holidaying here and that’s due to the upcoming Chinese New Year. The majority of the guests are Russians and strangely enough there are loads of kids ………

After breakfast we went for a walk round the island – it was supposed to be a blustery day but that was good for us as the temperature was already up past 28 degrees and it was only 10 am…….. it only takes about half an hour to walk round the island but we took different routes through the beach and gardens. We finally ended up on the beach in front of our beach hut – it was just heavenly especially when we went for our swim. If Gerry was left on his own, he would spend hours in the sea, absorbing all the minerals that it has to offer……

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As I am writing this post, I received a weather notification from Yahoo on my iPhone – blustery and 27 degrees in Male’ – so I looked up Deventer and Krimpen: light snow showers and 0 degrees

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Oh I am so thankful we do t have to face another snowstorm back home……

Anyway back to my post on yesterday’s activities:

After having walked around and swam a bit, it was time for Gerry to go to his diving session. This time I made sure he made it on time. I was going to be his photographer as long as he was within sight. Lucky for him, there was only one other guy taking part so it was a very special treatment session for the both of them.

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Gerry enjoyed his diving session and he did report back that he saw some black pointed sharks and some other colourful fish. Interesting is that behind the reef, there was immediately a depth of at least 20 meters and for the first dive they remained in that area. Gerry noted that these island are actually the result of volcanic activities- and the islands are the peaks. It’s a pity he did not take his action sport camera with him…….

This diving expedition took a couple of hours, so I went back to our beach hut to catch up with some reading and writing. When Gerry came back he said that he could join another dive tomorrow morning at 8.30 am but this time they would be going out on a boat, further out in the ocean. Of course this meant setting the alarm as no way would he be able to get up on time and have breakfast before joining the group.

As we had missed sunset yesterday evening, I thought I’d catch it this evening, however it was quite cloudy …….. but I did manage to get some good shots of the twilight sky!

Dinner was again a great experience of Asian flavours starting off with the salad bar and finishing off with the sweets bar……. the only disappointing moment was when I signed off the check for our drinks – one glass of Sauvignon Blanc for me and a beer for Gerry added up to over $21,00 – my (half) glass of Sauvignon Blanc cost $14,00 and I am sure I did not have 14 sips in total…….

Well after dinner, we first sat round in the lounge area listening to the DJ, however his choice of music wasn’t ours and once Gerry had finished his cigarette we strolled back to our beach hut. It was gone 10.30 pm and it was time for bed……. tomorrow an early start do need to set the alarm!