Today we went to Kaudulla National Park on Safari. We hadn't planned it but aunty Mich said if we were in this area we might be able to see the elephants come to water and Charminda had a friend with a jeep we hired for a few hours. Dad and the jeep guy? were in the cab and me, Kate, mum and Charminda were in the back. It was just big enough for all of us and fantastic. Kate and I stood for the 40 minute trip to the park and just didn't sit down the whole time th...

Polonnaruwa was phenomenal. The ruins were extensive and it took all day to wander through and see everything. This was definitely the highlight for me so far. The rest were interested, but perhaps wouldn't have explored for quite so long. I kept bugging Kate (who is in charge of the cameras), 'are you filming this?', 'don't get the tourist in it, I just want ruins'. I'm sure she's quite sick of me. They really were incredible. I could spend days wandering throu...

After Dambulla we went to Sigiriya Rock Fortress. We went through the museum, and saw some of the frescoes and artifacts. We walked through the water gardens and it rained a little. We decided against taking umbrellas. I didn't really want to have to climb up with them. We approached the rock through the water gardens. In the rainy season, when it rains hard, the water flows down the mountain, under the gardens and the pressure causes the old fountains to work. I...

Today we left Kandy early and went to Dambulla Cave Temple carved into the rock. There are five caves. In the largest is the Buddha reclining. He is carved straight from the rock and painted using natural dyes. He was carved 1 BC and painted 700 years ago. The second cave had a series of buddhas in differing positions. We hired one of the local guides and he explained that the stupa is representative of state of being. The base is where most people reside, and t...

Today we visited Victoria Dam and it was a lovely drive. Queen victoria opened the dam in 1981 and it cost 8900 million rupees. One point one cent is roughly equivalent to one rupee.