We drove up to Nuwara Eliya today which is high in the hill country. It was the windiest road I've ever been on. There was so much to look at. The tea estates were glorious. Incomparable. We stopped at the Blue Fields Tea Factory (estate?) and had a guided tour. The guide spoke a little quickly and there was the noise of the factory, but I got the gist of things. We started at the top floor, where they dry the tea leaves with fans for a few hours, then send the...

We arrived in Kandy late yesterday afternoon. Checked in to the Queens Hotel, www.queenshotel.lk, which is right near the lake, then went to the cultural show. The show has a sampling of various dance styles and ended with a display of firewalking. After the show we went to visit the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, or the Sri Dalada Maligawa (it's on wiki). It was dark and after such a full day we were tired, so didn't get to spend as much time looking around ...

Set off at 5.30am today, headed for Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage. Kate and I bottle fed baby elephants. It lasted for about 10 seconds each and Charminda (our driver/guide) filmed it. There was a special place the people who purchased feeding tickets were to stand to reach into the elephant pen. On my turn, a man came in as well who hadn't paid and was taking photos right up in the baby's face. Completely blocking Charminda with the camera. I asked the man if...

Last night it rained torrentially and Colombo flooded. The unit we're staying at has leaks in every room, but not during the usual weather. This rain was the heaviest Colombo had experienced in years and made world news. We had to shuffle the beds around to keep the mattresses dry. Kate's room is under an inch of water, and my room the water seeped in under the door from the little balcony. Luckily we are upstairs and the rain wasn't too bad, downstairs was flood...

Traffic!!! We were warned, but last night after we arrived there was hardly any. Today we were almost in more crashes than in my entire life. The drivers know what they are doing though. If I was driving, I would still be at my first intersection waiting to give way. Our van was literally kissing another in the middle of a busy intersection with cars forming right angles to us. Everyone else is amused by our amusement re the cows on the road. We're almost use...