After a long flight via Doha, arriving in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, we overnighted in Colombo in anticipation of our journey the next morning.

Our journey took us overland (for the most part) to:

Wilpattu National Park, the largest and oldest National Park staying at Leopard Trails “Camp”

The ancient city of Sigiriya staying at the exquisite Water Garden Sigiriya

FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR JOURNEY

After Sri Lanka my plans changed to route myself through Lisbon to take care of some crazy banking business that had been on my mind since leaving the States. Naively thinking I could fix it on my journey, it was not fixed. On a positive note, I got to spend five days in my home away from home.

Some final notes on Sri Lanka…the tea country is really lovely, peaceful and relaxing. The tour that we took there with a few other guests was excellent…recommended.

Lots of Buddhist temples, statues, caves, daily worship and some Hindu temples as well. No shoes allowed…so wear padded socks on that very hot concrete! And don’t miss the Tooth Temple where Buddha’s tooth is displayed…daily worship with amazing crowds.

Food all around was quite good, if repetitive. You can get some spicy fare if you so desire.

We saw a lot of elephants in the two parks we visited…and some just ambling down the highway, nibbling on trees.

Our driver/guide was quite good with a couple of mishaps toward the end of our trip…but oh, well.

A Forever Memory – our “session” at the village where “we” (the Sigiriya staff) provided offerings for the temple and we received blessings from the monk.