The time has come for us to move back to Vancouver from Singapore and after much deliberation over what our final trip in SE Asia should be we settled on Sri Lanka. The decision delivered everything we could have hoped for and more.

We started with a quick bite before we got on the plane. A little Sake

Some ramen and tempura before we head into curry central

Sake leads to laughter. Things are starting out well.

And of course we can't walk by duty free with out buying a couple of safety bottles of wine. Never travel empty handed we always say.

The Colombo express. Let me just say there is no such thing as express in Colombo

Our Hotel in Colombo, The Lakeside Inn.

Barbara scored on this one

Our first breakfast, the Sri Lanka. Curry potato's, sambal, curry eggplant, basmati rice, roti, and lady fingers (okra, for us Okies). That was for both of us, Barbara wasn't so impressed, she thought she was getting some bacon and eggs.

Sigiriya Rock

Sigiriya is a unique witness to the civilization of Ceylon during the years of the reign of Kassapa I. The site of the 'Lion Mountain' was visited from the 6th century AD, by passionate admirers. The frescoes of Sigiriya inaugurated a pictorial style which endured over many centuries. The poems inscribed on the rock by certain of these admirers, and known as the 'Sigiri graffiti,' are among the most ancient texts in the Sinhalese language, and thus show the considerable influence exerted by the abandoned city of Kassapa I on both literature and thought. In the heart of Ceylon, the extraordinary site of Sigiriya, a lofty rock of reddish gneiss dominating, from a height of some 150 m, the neighbouring plateau, has been inhabited since the 3rd century BC, as attested by the graffiti which proliferate in the grottoes and the shelters of the Buddhist monks. The fame of the 'Lion Mountain' is, however, due to one single factor: during a short period in the 5th century AD, a sovereign established his capital there. King Kassapa I (477-95), son of Dhatusena, only came to power after he had engineered the assassination of his father and had, briefly, dispossessed his brother.
Justly fearing the vengeance of the latter, Kassapa had a fortified palace built on the rock of Sigiriya which was reputed to be impregnable. However, it was there that he was defeated after a short but cruel battle in 495, following which he cut his throat. After the death of Kassapa, Moggallana returned the site of Sigiriya to the monks, thus condemning it to progressive abandonment. During the eleven years that Kassapa resided in Sigiriya, he created a residence of exceptional splendour and founded his capital there, impressive vestiges of which are still extant.
At the summit of the rock is the fortified palace with its ruined buildings, its cisterns and its rock sculptures. At the foot of the rock are the two quarters of the lower city which are defended by a massive wall: the eastern quarter (perhaps postdating the 5th century), which has not been sufficiently excavated, and the aristocratic quarter of the capital of Kassapa I, noteworthy for its terraced gardens embellished by canals and fountains, as well as for numerous monumental remains which have been disengaged from the forest which had invaded the ruins.
Halfway up the rock, within an inaccessible rocky shelter in the vertical wall of the western face are rock paintings which have brought universal acclaim to the site of Sigiriya - 'The Maidens of the Clouds', 21 non-identified female figures, comparable to the most beautiful creations of Ajanta.

We didn't get a lot of pics here because when we arrived it started dumping with rain. So the pics we did get were in between downpours

These are the pics of the Maidens of the clouds

Obviously the Cloud Maidens were quite proud of the "Girls", or at least the guys doing the paintings were

A little safety feature. The rock is balanced to slide off if an attacking horde arrives.

All that is left of the Lion that gave the mountain its name. Massive paws. I told Barbara she didn't have to go to the top. There was a relatively dry spot down here to wait but she powered on. Have I mentioned she is afraid of heights and that staircase is on the side of a shear cliff?

We made it

And it was pretty amazing, too bad there was so much cloud and rain it would have been that much more impressive

Lobby at the Queens Hotel.

The bedroom. Not a bad place to rest your head

I have never seen as many Stupas as we saw in Sr Lanka.

A Buddhist library written on Bamboo

Prayers tied to a Bodhi tree

Tuk Tuk ride anyone

Bats

Diggin the flames

The banana sellers

Modern transportation

Insanity

Who needs a stand just toss your wares on the ground, pull out a machete and get the job done

There were some very cool old buildings in Colombo

A little randomness for you. This was painted on a money changers wall, way off the beaten track.

Your basic old auto parts welded together to make a Ganesha

A crisp glass of wine on a hot day. Perfection

I did love the personalized Tuk Tuks.

I think that the business to be in is Tuk Tuk accessories

Work is done. Love the lounge chair in the back of the truck.Well played sir

Our driver, Tissa, no not the goof in the red hat

And there you go. Anyone need some elephant poo paper?

Elephants make people smile

The Bar, really that's what it is called. Down the street was The Pub. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up.

Entrance to a temple with two people whom I do not know posing for me. Kinda freaky lookin temple, huh

More rain. Yeah it rained quite a bit while we were there.

Sigiriya rock, side view...

Duck

His and hers washroom sign. Love it

Those things are frigging DANGEROUS

Spice

fruit and veggies

fish

it's all there right on the street

Tea fields everywhere in the mountains

Waterfalls too

At the factory

The tea pickers on break. Only women pick the tea

Hard at work, it was kind of surreal

The fruits of their labour. I was never a black tea drinker until I had some of this. Now I can't get enough of the stuff. So good

Hey a convertible

The steps to our place in the mountains/jungle

I liked it,

Barbara was a little skeptical. Thank god for the safety wine we brought.

That's pretty much how the roads were for 90% of our trip and those rickety buses would come out of nowhere hammering their horn for us to get out of the way. Scared to crap out of you a lot of times. Nuts

1800 year old carvings in the rock

Keeping an eye on us

Pretty cool if you ask me

Big lizard crossing

Peacock

We went on a safari in Yala national park. Did I mention it had been raining?

This happened when we first entered the park. Lucky it wasn't our vehicle. After about 20 minutes they got it out and we carried on

This was a first. A standing monitor lizard. Goes to the theory that part of mankind came from Lizards (George Bush)

Yeah they are big and I don't think he's really liking the look of us

Then this big fella comes sauntering out of the bush. Awesome

Boar eating a leopards leftovers

Look close and you can see a crock waiting. Those things blend in a little too easily for my taste.

Ooopps. Another casualty of the rain. Remember that crock. That thing could be anywhere.

Apparently we were very lucky seeing this guy. They are a rare treat as there are only known to be 9 of them in the park.

He put on a little show for us, ate a few ants

and then left. Love his little feet

That's the road we came in on. The one with the jeep stuck. At this point we are a little screwed

Our Chariot. If I ever see a truck with emblem this truck had I am buying it. She doesn't look like much but the thing was a tank. At times there was water coming over the hood and it never slowed down.

Another crock

This is an area where the tsunami hit a few years back. The Japanese donated this memorial. There were around 100 people on safari that lost their lives that day.

This was were a house used to be

Our guides

This guy is definitely getting it done

Then out of nowhere comes the elephants

And they just kept coming 7 in total including the babies

Keeping an eye on us

We were watching this in awe and then look up

and realize this guy is watching you

I think in a fight he's gonna win

Barbara has had enough

This was another absolute score on a room. Barbara wins hands down in the hotel department

These guys greeted us in the morning

A relic from the tsunami left where it ended up

Our last day with the amazing Tissa

Hmm what shall I have for dinner?

Lobster will do thank you very much

View from our room in Unawatuna

Fort in Garre

Barbara walking the wall of the fort. I will never understand why she follows me sometimes. We are at least 20' above the ground on the right and 50' on the left

What no Pizza?

Perfect

So we saw these guys n the roof outside our balcony one night

And the next morning we found

This mama cat with a bunch of new born kittens taking up residence in our planter box. She was pretty mellow, even more so when I brought her ham from breakfast and shrimp from dinner

Sea turtle hatchery

Baby turtles

You just want to sit down and have a conversation with this guy

Happy Barbara

The sea was angry that day my friend

The sticks the fishermen sit on every day. Every day they can get to them that is. The are handed down from family member to family member.

Another seafood feast for the missus

And me, and some for the cat.

Oh yeah baby, another full on Sri Lankan feast. Even Barbara is starting to like it.

Our chef.

Our new babies

Drinking her coconut pig drink thing

Some sort of fabled God

Barbara narrowly missed being part of the show

Oh yeah he's playing with fire now

And safety standards are pretty low here in the Lanka.

How this crazy dude didn't go up in a ball flame I do not know

Yeah I think the thrill is gone for Barbara and curry. Good thing this is the last dinner for this trip. I don't think curry will be on the menu anytime soon.

More FIRE

Crazy

Some things still need a little work in Sri Lanka but over all we would highly recommend to those who have ever entertained the thought of traveling to this part of the world to book those flights. Its a beautiful place and the people are great. (The food is spot on as well, if you like curry that is)