SRI LANKA

GALLE

We had a 3 night stay here at the Light House Hotel  http://www.jetwinghotels.com/
This is a very beautiful place food was excellent,Service was poor view was brilliant but they did let us down when our air con broke down at 1am and we were informed that the A/C had to be replaced with a new one..hmmm
A hot night for us...I don't think so

We called reception to ask what they were going to do!!!
We had to tell them we wanted a room where the air conditioner worked....Mark ended up asking the room boy to send the manager
We would like a room with air con...after a while we were told they were moving us.. keeping in mind we had to be up at 5:30am the next morning not even an apology.
Then we had to call them back to make up our bed..such a nice place but hmmm...
We arranged the hotel to make a packed brekky for us....cheese sandwiches fruit and a drink.

Next morning we were up at 5:30am ready for our adventure on the high sea's FISHING!!! yay..

Poseidon Diving station in Hikkaduwa
http://www.divingsrilanka.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6&Itemid=7 

Clean rooms friendly people right on the beach,there are lots of little shops for those who like shopping for a special gift restaurants hotels great spot would like to stop here next time.

Off we went out to sea it was beautiful the colour of the sea was a most brilliant blue and calm waters at times it looked like a huge silk blanket fantastic we were out for about 5hours.
Their were two fishing rods on the back of the boat and one either side alas we did not manage to catch a fish!!!
As we were roaming the sea we passed by quite a few fisherman out for their catch they of course had much better luck than we did,as we passed one fishing boat one of the guys held up one of their catches about a 5kilo fish wanting to sell it to us talk about rubbing it in...lol

The two guy's that were with us pulled over to 2 of the fishing boats handing them food and drink they had been out their early morning and it was 10o'clock by this time.
There was another boat near by a fisherman yelling out to us wanting food and drink also and then they would tell us where we might have luck in catching a fish...hmmm...think we should have jumped onto their little boat think we may have caught one!!!
Mark said he might go diving instead at least he will see the fish even if he cant catch one!!..lol

We may not of caught a fish but we enjoyed being out their on that most beautiful ocean and watching the fishermen,the fish jumping out of the water teasing us because we couldn't catch them...
It was time to head back after our adventure we headed back to our hotel.

GALLE FOURT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galle_fort

The day was so very hot and muggy we decided to visit the Galle fort in the evening very interesting and so much history once through the fort gate we drove around first.
A village inside with very interesting building from days gone by restaurants,backpacker's accommodation,hotels,museum,Churches,Gem shops where you could have a raw gem cut,polished and made into jewelry and watch as they did so.

We walked around on the fort walls,seen where once their were cannons sat and could just imagine the days way back in time of those days gone by it was fantastic what more can I say except it is a must see destination.

Time to return to our Hotel freshen up and have some dinner when we went back to our room their was an invitation placed on our bed to join in the celebration of new year and listen to the Raban padha drums
while having our meal the drum's began to play we were told that at this time around the villages one women in her house would start to play a tune on her drum then the lady in the next house would do the same or add to the tune this would go on from house to house until you could hear the drum's been played throughout the village.

Sinhala and Tamil New Year
Celebrated by all Sinhalese and Tamils, the traditional New Year celebrations fall on between 12 to 14 April and is the celebration of Sun God's passage from Pisces to Aries.
It is a harvest thanksgiving and is mainly celebrated by the villagers in true traditional style.
A colourful and extravagant festival, this season is usually a holiday for the whole country. The Aluth Avurudu (New Year) is a time for friendships and family and many traditions are observed according to the litha (A strological time).
New clothes are worn, milk boiled and traditional ricemilk with sweets fill the tables.
The youth spend the day engaged in various traditional games such as climbing a greased poll, pillow fighting, breaking a pot blindfolded and the girls plating swinging. The women also fill the air with Raban padha ( traditional drum instrument) dressed in their new year costume.

Next day we were up again at 5:30 as Mark was going for his dive to see the fish he was unable to hook...lol
I went to one of the little shops near by as I had been their the day before to order 3 tops made using the batik technique
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik
after my little shopping expedition I went back to the hotel packed then off to pick up Mark after his dive
he enjoyed his dive seen all the fish he couldn't catch..lol
Our next destination visit to the Turtle Hatchery.

SRI LANKA

YALA
NATIONAL PARK

We were on our way to our next destination YALA
Our accommodation was at the Yala National Park http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yala_National_Park
getting their was a long bumpy dirt road track which I thought was never going to end
their were army personal sprawled out here and their carrying their guns hmmm...interesting
Once we arrived we were greeted and asked not to go anywhere without an escort as their were wild animals wondering everywhere after all we were in their home!!
The main building was 2 storeys high
Ground floor consisted of the Reception,Doctors office,bar,lounge area and swimming pool
1st floor was the dinning area
2nd floor was the roof that was open had a few picnic tables and some stools at a Bar overlooking a lake and enabled you too see over the park it was magnificent.

We were escorted to our cabbin which was on stilts on our walk to our room we seen wild pig and monkeys it was strange to see these animals roaming free around us as the only place I have ever seen monkeys was in a compound at a zoo,so I was impressed by this whole experience.
our room was quite big with a on suite bar fridge and A/C which was very much appreciated and of course a phone to enable us to call the reception to organise an escort....

We were up bright and early next morning 5:30am ready for our safari we were provided with a packed breakfast and driver for the jeep along with about 7 other jeeps going out for that morning it was very amusing it was like the great race all the drivers waiting for the o.k to start moveing as soon as the o.k was given they all ran to their jeeps with their passangers behind them surquring us into our jeeps once everyone was on bourd off we went who is going to go first lol..next stop to a building for them to register it was so funny eveyone hurrying to find a park then the driver would jump out as fast as he could some running to go into the building we were waiting about 10min or so and then the made rush of drivers came runing out of the building with their peices of paper smiles on their faces dust beeing kicked up in the air as they hurryed to the next stop tickets for entry into the Park this was just a little brick building once again drivers jumping out of the jeeps running into get their tickets next entry into the Park which was a army gard who once sighting us lifted the gate for us to enter.

Now in the park the roads forked off into all directions and we all spit up now to find the animals we seen peacocks roamimg around everywhere Wild Boars,Water buffalo,Monkeys,deers and crocodies we even spoted a bear he crossed the road in front of us it was quick but we did see him the quest was to find the lepods as they apparently are in different spot  around the park but alas we were not fortunate enough to find them on that day.
We did have the good fortune of comeing accross a Mother Elephant and her two babies in the lake eating and drinking water it was amazing the driver stoped the jeep and we stayed to watch for quite a while.

Along the road as we aprouched anouther jeep the drivers would converse with each othe to find out what they had spotted on their travels and pointed us into the direction of any animals of interest also to check if anyone had sited the Leopards but no siteing.
On our way out of the Park there was a black face Monkey sitting in the middle of the road with her young so we stoped and watched these cheeky little monkeys their was a tree near by the road full of Monkeys they were fun to watch then after a while the monkey on the road moved over onto the tree and off we went again leaving the park we had spent 5hours watching animals and it was fantastic.
Back to our cabbin for a rest.

We decided to take a walk along the beach to a sand hill we passed through a small fishing village which consisted of about 6 or 7 shacks their was a fisherman by his boat organising himself and fixing his fishing net it was very hot and muggy what posesed us on going for a walk along the beach I dont know as even the people in the village were in under cover from the hot sun they were very freindly gave us a wave I think they must of thought we were mad walking around outside in the sun.
We managed to climb the sand hill it was a very nice veiw from the top and the water was so blue.

We did plan to go on anouther safari in the evening the day before but had decided against it as we were too tired from the morning saffari we found out the following morning that the Leopards had been found and sited by the safari that night bummer..

Next morning I was woken up by what sounded like people jumping of our roof so I decided I would go take a look as I opened the door there on our verander banister were about 20 odd Monkeys stairing back at me not sure if I should venture out or not, I decided to step out from the doorway and the Monkey's ran off jumping into the trees and back up onto the roof screeching,one cheeky Monkey sat on the corner with her baby staring at me they were very cute but there was no way I was about to get any closer to them!!

breakfast and then off we go again to GALLE

SRI LANKA

Nuwara Eliya/Horton Plains
Blue Field Tea Garden
http://www.bluefieldteagardens.com/aboutus.html

Here we were greeted as we stepped out of the car and then escorted around the tea plantation as soon as we entered you could smell the tea after the tour we were taken to the main building and given a nice cup of their tea also indulged in a nice piece of cake to have with out tea,then on into the gift shop for a few kilo bags of Sri Lankin tea.

Next we were of through the beautiful mountains lots of winding roads and tea plantations to
Nuwara Eliya the heart of Sri Lankas tea country producing a significant share of the worlds best tea

Sri Lankas highest mountain Pidurutalagala ( 8281 feet ) above sea level
our accommodation for the night at Tea Factory hotel  http://www.heritancehotels.com/teafactory/
this hotel was just beautiful inside and out we arrived at our room with a lovely greeting from the staff and Flowers on our bed.

After a bit of a relax we went for dinner in the Railway carriage
 http://www.heritancehotels.com/teafactory/dining/railway_carriage.html 
this was a very unique dinning experience indeed as we approached the doorway to outside we were greeted by a conductor with white gloves blowing on his silver whistle welcoming us and asking us to climb on board  it was amusing he was very funny entertaining us all night making us lough.
The food was mouthwatering.

This was a 6 course meal
My menu
Norwegian smoked Salmon served with crunchy Vegetables
Grilled Prawn with Tomato
Pepper corn crusted Roast Australian Beef served with red wine sauce,Rosti Potatoes,Bouquet of garlic Vegetables
I could only eat 3 of the 6 courses

Mark's Menu
Carpaccio of  Beef & Red merlin fish served with Balsamic Reduction & Roasted Almond Flakes
Cappuccino of Cauliflower with Almond flakes
Pan Fried Fish with Olive Salsa
lime & Orange Liqueur Fantasy in Chilled Strawberry Puree
Pepper corn crusted Roast Australian Beef served with red wine sauce,Rosti potatoes,Bouquet of garlic vegetables
Baked Cheese Cake
and all of this was washed down with a fantastic Australian red
We were both in heaven!!

When we returned to our room our bed had been turned down and there was a card on our bed which said "Good Night your Room Boy Chinthaka"
How nice was that.

Next morning we went for a walk around the tea plantation along small dirt tracks down the hillside it was amazing to see,the only way I can describe this is to say it was just like looking at a giant patch work quilt sprawled across the land.

Amongst the tea every spare space is used there are vegetables planted all neat and tidy like stairs going up the hillside in between each row of veges there is space to walk and water channels you could see people close by and  in the distance working in their Fields in all their colour small cottages painted in beautiful rich colours all colours of the rainbow even the house block was filled with vegetables it was like a child's storybook.
This image will stay with me forever and I hope one day I get the opportunity to visit once more.

Sri Lanka

KANDY

From Chennai to Colombo first then picked up by our driver Gregorio and taken to Kandy a 4 and a half hour drive up in the hills lots of  monkey's on the side of the road and in the trees we stayed at a place called Kandy cottage  http://kandycottage.com/
 its location was very interesting went up on a hill through back roads took a while to find, the driver had to stop a few times to ask locals for directions..lol, even then we were not able to find the cottage so we called the manager and he directed us via mobile.
finely found the right road' which incidentally we had passed a few times...lol and it was a rough dirt road with the vegetation over growing onto the road, the driver Mark and I just found it most amusing.
It was dark so made it even more interesting the landlord was standing waiting at the driveway flagging us down with his hand to come this way...got to the gate and had to drive up a very steep driveway into the carport...hmmm interesting.
We were greeted and directed to go up this narrow footpath once at the top finely seen the B&B very nice old cottage very small like a minors cottage,walk into the entry then past a dinning area that was very small only room for one small square dinning table for two,at the time a couple were having their evening meal,it was a bit of a tight squeeze.
As the door to our room was right behind where they were sitting we managed to get by them without any difficulty..so much for their intimate dinning that just went right out the window.
We couldn't go past without saying hello they were very quite it would have been a very nice romantic place to stay if there was only one couple staying there hmmm... interesting..what is next!!

Before we can enter our room Mark is handed a Key for the padlock on the door.. that was amusing as it didn't make any deference just had to give it a bit of a push and the door opened anyway.

The bedroom and bathroom were very clean and comfortable their was a little door on the other side of the room that went into a small veranda with fly wire on all the windows two wicker chairs and a small coffee table very sweet and it was private.

Mark had researched before we left and found a place called "The Pub" http://wikitravel.org/en/Kandy  right up on a hill overlooking Kandy lake built by the last Sinhala King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kandy


The Pub very nice place we had decided to go here for our dinner,there was a big screen T.V on the balcony wall we found a nice spot to sit and waited for the cricket to start between Sri Lanka & India a very nice place the food was o.k.

In the morning we sat at the little table for breakfast we were amused that there was a pendulum light hanging from the ceiling which obstructed my view across the table all I could see was marks torso so he had a light shade for a head giggling I suggested to the manager maybe he could raise the light fitting up just a little..lol
Off we go to our next destonation to visit a tea Plantation and then onto Nuwara Eliya Sri Lankas most popular hill resort.

Anouther day in chennai

 November

Wednesday 17th 
The rains have come and washed away all the dirt and rubbish and the air is clean!
I wake in the morning and it is humid I open the doors and windows in comes a lovely cool breeze its so nice not to have the air conditioners on all the time.

What Now!!
We were without power for a while in the night we waited but the generator had not kicked in,Mark calls the manger to see what was going on but his Mobil has been turned off!!......

Our washing machine has broken down for the third time!!
Suresh our driver says he will give the manager a call and let him know
It's now 11 o'clock and no word from Suresh I decide its time to call and find out what's happening
he tells me "No mam the manager has his Mobil off I have tried many times"

At about 11.15 there is a knock on the door and there is the manager standing there
he is very apologetic about the power being off for so long in the night
I tell him about the washing machine he gives me his  Mobil number
"Not the same number we had been calling"
he will let me know when someone is coming to fix it.
Hopefully he will answer next time we call.

Mark arrives home I tell him the manager came to see me today
He was very apologetic for the power cut and that he is organizing
someone to come and fix the washing machine.

Mark said that is because he had called the managers boss and told him what happened...hmmm
Mark informed him that our area is having a power shut down
between 9am - 5pm tomorrow and they should make sure they have enough Diesel
to keep the generator going for those 8 hours...
So lets see what happens we might be going out for Dinner tomorrow night.

7:45pm we have lost power no that's o.k it has come back on :)
It's 8:pm we have lost power 4 times in 15 minutes hmmm...
that is not a good sign!!

Thursday18th

It's another very humid day Megan and Mark head out the door for the day.

The truck has turned up with the cans of diesel for the generator.

The manager knocks on the door and tells me the service man will be comeing
to fix the washing machine tomorrow at 2pm.

The day begins with a very good start lets see how it ends!

When I woke up today what was on my mind!!! "I am not feeling the Christmas spirit"
I know its early but I start decorating my house back in Australia for Christmas
in November just cant help myself I love Christmas!!

I decide I would like to go to a place called "Evergreen Christmas center"
sounded like the place to go to find myself a tree and some dec's
Suresh pulls over and asked a security guard sitting outside one of the shops
were the Christmas shop is he told him further down the road

Suresh gets out of the car goes walking down the road "he tends to do that sometimes"
When he comes back I ask "What are you doing"
"Mam I am just looking to see the shop Mam very small mam not good"
"O.k so it's not very good but I want to see it"
so I tell him "Just drive up and go past and I will take a look"
As we drive Suresh "Mam o look there is a shop a big one very nice"...lol

I go into the shop it is very nice and there are a lot of decorations and
Christmas trees....hmmmm no prices so I ask what the price for the small (30inch)
Optical Christmas tree 3800rp = about $95.00 that seems very expensive to me
the decorations seem expensive as well to me the quality I would compare to the $2 shop
back in Oz I stayed looking for a while then decided no I wont be buying anything

Maybe I am out of touch with the price of things I don't know but it all seemed a lot
It took about an hour to get here it was a little disappointing.

Suresh was as well telling me "all this way Mam petrol and nothing"
I said "No not nothing Suresh where is the nearest shopping center"
Suresh "Spencer Plaza or Express Mall Mam"
"O.k Express Mall sounds good and I will have some lunch while I'm there"
Needed some kind of therapy after all we did travel a long way cant waist the day!!

I did end up buying 3 red and 3 green vases to put candles in and 5 apples that are made
of foam and glazed 3 red 2 green That is my Christmas decoration...
I had a nice vegetable puff and a coffee for lunch and walked around window shopping
very nice.

Life here as a women

When I go shopping and use my card a sms is sent to Marks ( My Husband ) mobile with the amount I have spent
The first time it happened I didn't know until mark text me asking what I had brought
to my surprise!!
I asked how did you know he then told me how every time I use my card
or go to the ATM he is sent a sms to let him know the amount....
Talk about keeping tab's on the wife!!!


Friday 19th

We have been invited to -:
Beaujolais Nouveau party & 1st Anniversary Celebrations of Wine academy India 

At the Sheraton Park Hotel

Chief Guest : Mr Pierre Fournier ; Consul General of France in Pondicherry

It was a great night we had a lovely smorgasbord of food a collection of ordureve's ,cheese's
and breads and very nice French wine which was being constantly filled.

We met some very nice people a pilot who fly's planes for Jet airways his wife and her freind who had just completed a 1 year course with the Wine academy

A businessman who was into selling boats

A man who's family own a travel agency called Milesworth Travel
Who just so happens to be our new neighbor Aditi's brother the people you meet hu!!

Mark was interviewed by NDTY for his expert opinion on French wine..lol he was very professional


It was time for us to take our leave as most people had left we'd had a fantastic night
I was ready to go home.......

But no Mark was ready to party on so he talked me into going downstairs to the night club
just for one drink he said and then we will go!!

Now anyone who knows my husband will know this will not be the case you think after being
Married to this man for nearly 26years I would know better but no...
off we go to have that one drink before going home for the night!!

We went into the night club it was loud and noisy Mark ordered his beer and a drink
called Blue lagoon for me it was in a very tall glass and it was so nice defiantly will have another
one of them I thought to myself
We ventured over to the dance floor to take a look but when it comes to music I just
start to feel myself moving I couldn't resist any longer and started to dance here I am 49years old looking at all these young ones having a dance so there I go dancing all on my own next thing you know there were girls and guys asking if they could dance with me why not so as it turns out I was not as tired as I thought I danced the night away Mark and I had a waltz....lol.. to night club music!
Good thing our girls weren't around I am sure they would of left of embarrassment...lol
We had a fantastic night.

New Maid

As of Monday 18th October we now have employed a new maid.

Mercy is 36 has a 11 year old daughter and takes care of her mother

Diwali 2010

It is Diwali in India at the moment and its Fantastic!!

Deepavali is an official holiday in India.

Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Rama along with Sita and Lakshman from his fourteen-year-long exile and vanquishing the demon-king Ravana.

In joyous celebration of the return of their king, the people of Ayodhya, the Capital of Rama, illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas (oil lamps) and burst crackers.

Here is a little bit of info I found interesting

The city Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu is the capital of India’s firecracker industry with about 8,000 factories, big and small, producing 90 percent of the country's total fireworks output.

It also has the world's largest fireworks manufacturing unit.

Popularly known as the festival of lights, is an important five-day festival in Hinduism,Jainism and Sikhism occurring between mid-October and mid-November. For Hindus, Diwali is the most important festival of the year and is celebrated in families by performing traditional activities together in their homes.

 In Tamil Nadu it is celebrated as People light deepams, bursting firecrackers, wearing new clothes and sharing sweets.

A traditional visit to the Temple is a significant ritual of the day. 

Just like Christmas in the Western World

We handed out a boxes of mixed sweets to all the security guards and gardeners here they were very happy.

When I say sweets its not the same thing as in western world

Indian sweets, known as mithai  Many are made with sugar, milk and condensed milk, and cooked by frying.

In the evening before it even gets dark the Fireworks start,up on the roof top we go and everywhere you look you can see fireworks its just beautiful

Except for the constant letting of of crackers they are going day and night!

We are so glad we decided to live away from the main town and out a little, as you go closer into town it gets loader at least we have some relief from the constant noise.

Once we go in the house its not so bad and we can at least get some sleep, unlike some people we know that live in closer to town are not experiencing the same luxury as we do... sleepless nights!!

We were invited to a Diwali dinner by our freinds new landlord,we were looking forward to experiance this wonderful tradition in India.

The day started with us entering the house greeted by the hosts Sucharita and V.Kumar we were given blessing for mother,father and children also meg and I were given floweres to put in our hair.

Jasmine flowers are worn in girls' and womens' hair mainly for their beauty and fragrance.

They are also used in floral decorations for marriages and other important functions.

After our greeting we are taken upstairs to a balcony that overlooked a fantastic view of the sea and introduced to other guests we were offerd refreshments and nibbles then after a while we were seated and entertained by a young man with a guitar and a young girl who sang like an angel it was just beutiful they sang some traditional Tamil songs and some modern, the guests were invited to come up and sing a song also but that is something I was not willing to do dident want to scare people away...lol

After our entertainment we played a game of bingo and guess what I managed to win second prize while mark won 3rd how lucky were we mind you mark had convinced Melisa a freind to swaped tickets!!!

Once the game was over we all went down stairs to a lovely Lunch and to mingle with other guests we were given gifts by our hosts and then the fireworks began it was a enjoyable relaxing day.

thank you sucharita and V.kumar for a fantastic Diwali.