When we left Sri Lanka in Jan 05, it had been devastated by the tsunami. This was a return visit to see how things had gone since then and to see some of the bits we had missed. We organised the trip through Red Dot Tours who managed nearly everything wonderfully with exceptions as noted later - but overall very good.

The flight was with Sri Lankan Airways, non stop from LHR to Colombo. Usual boredom, no problems. Only oddity was curry for breakfast - but we'd get used to that!

First night was at Ranweli Lodge - an eco retreat about an hour from the airport. You reach the hotel via a punt across the river. Hotel was just what we needed after the long flight. Food and ambience in the restaurant weren't great but adequate. Rooms just a short walk from the beach. Unusual to see so many sail craft going fishing - unusual rig, square sail on two long, flexible masts - seems to work well both up- and down-wind. Hotel was flooded by the tsunami but you'd never know now except by talking to the staff.

Next day we headed off to Kaladiya via the caves at Dambulla. There are 5 temples excavated from the rock over a period of many hundreds of years. Cave 2 is the biggest, most photogenic and most impressive but the whole site is well worth visiting.

Kaladiya was a three bedroomed colonial-style bungalow attached to a farm in the middle of nowhere. For some reason, we ended up with bedrooms 2 & 3 because the master bedroom wasn't made up - but this wasn't too much of a problem. We stayed there for 2 nights. The first night we had real trouble with mozzies - they had teeth! Strangely, the second night was much better. Food was prepared specially for us and the Sri Lankan curries on the first
night were wonderful - subtle and flavourful. We asked for western-style food on the second night and this was less successful. Highlight was probably when 5 peacocks just wandered across the adjacent paddy field - I hadn't realised peacocks are endemic in Sri Lanka.

During the day we visited Sigiriya and Polonaruwa. Sigiriya is a 200m high lump of rock used as a fort and palace and built in the 5th century. It is a strenuous climb punctuated partway up by a gallery with frescos of apsaras (celestial nymphs) and various terraces. The walkways look rickety but are actually firmly built though it isn't a trip for those who suffer from vertigo. The view from the top makes the climb well worthwhile.

Then onto the ruins of Polonaruwa, capital of Sri Lanka from 11th to 13th century. Good museum and impressive ruins even if they were a bit smaller than I had expected. To be honest we were a bit tired and "touristed out" and probably didn't get the most out of it. We probably needed a whole day to itself to really understand what we were seeing.

From Kaladiya we travelled to Kandy. The Temple of the Tooth is the centre of Sri Lankan Buddhism. When we visited it last year, it was full of grieving people and we were rushed through. It was also after dark. This year we wanted to see it in the daylight. It is an impressive building with openlent treasure hall but less stunning than our memories - it may have been better if we hadn't returned.

We were supposed to be staying at the Castle Hill Guest House in Kandy but when we got there, we found only one room had been booked instead of two. The gardens and view were beautiful but the interior and cleanliness of the property were less desirable. We moved to the Hotel Suisse instead. The best way to describe the Hotel Suisse is a bit like a Railway Hotel - a little shabby - past its sell by date - but sufficient for one night.

The next day we knew would be a long drive to Wellawaya. We had skipped a stop in the hill country so we had two days driving to do in a day - about 8 hours on the road. It may be only about 60 miles as the crow flies but it is through some truly dramatic scenery and the roads are very steep and winding - we must have travelled 3 times that distance though rugged country with spectacular waterfalls and many tea plantations.

The final part of our journey from Buttala to Treetops was in a tuk-tuk (three wheeler) - these flimsy two-stroke taxis are ubiquitous in Sri Lanka but can go down roads that would test an SUV. So we arrive at Treetops, hot and tired and find essentially two huts in the jungle owned and run by Lars (who, unfortunately was not feeling well during our visit). It is difficult to do justice to this idyllic location. No electicity, no running water, just the jungle, butterflies, birds, flowers, sometimes wild elephants, nature walks, food (excellent) cooked by the satff over an open fire, surrounded by the sounds and smells of the jungle. We had two nights here - their web page suggests a minimum of 3 nights - and they're right! For sleeping, we had a choice of the tree house or the "master stateroom". We alternated - Wendy spent the first night in the tree house thinking something was eating the thatch - maybe it was! This was the first location of the trip I would definitely want to return to another time.

From Treetops, we moved on to Yala Village for a more orthodox safari experience - up at the crack of dawn and touring the wildlife park in a Land Rover. OK so we didn't see a leopard and not too many elephant but we did see two peacocks displaying. Even without seeing much of the big stuff, there was plenty to see - including the memorial to nearly 50 people killed at Yala Lodge by the tsunami. The three-hour trip flew by - unfortunately my photographic skills and equipment were hardly able to do it justice.

The first week of our trip was pretty hectic, our plan included a slightly more reaxed second week starting in Unawatuna. The drive from Yala was through some of the worst affected areas on the south coast. On the whole, the reconstruction work was well advanced. Some people still living in tents or temporary housing but a stunning amount has been achieved in 12 months - there is still alot to do and, undoubtedy, much of the work has been cosmetic but, even considering that, things were much better than we feared. The only major let-down of our trip was that we were supposed to be visiting a tsunami recovery project
during our trip and, for one reason or another, it never happened. This was a pain because we has lugged a load of presents (pens, crayons, tennis balls etc.) and Wendy had collected some donations - not a huge amount but enough to help - unfortunately corruption is rife and we wanted to ensure it all got to the people who needed it. This ended up not to be possible - but we hope these things will get to the right people eventually via Red Dot Tours.

Unawatuna is a back-packers town with a wide range of accommodation. We stayed at an ayurvedic retreat called Thambapani, probably the top end of the price range - this is a small but beautiful spot at the back of the village. The strange thing about this place was that the occasional minor imperfections were easily dismissed as idiosyncracies because overall it was so charming. Along the beach are a wide variety of restaurants and I bumped into a couple of friends from the UK walking along the sands(!) - so we were able to spend New Years Eve with them at a restaurant on the beach. Another spot I would like to return to again for a bit longer - after 3 nights we were just slowing down nicely.

Our final stop was Taru Villas in Bentota, a fashionable boutique hotel designed by one of Sri Lanka's foremost designers. It was visually stunning but here we found we were less tolerant of imperfections such as noisy ceiling fans or inconsistent hot water. By now we had slowed down and we did very little except have a swim in the sea and visit the hotel where we had stayed last year when the tsunami hit. This was a strange experience - mostly because when we left it, the hotel was a mess: all the vegetation was dying (from the salt) and we were among the last tourists to leave. Now, you would never know anything had happened and you had to look very hard to see where any of the damage had been. This more than anything helped to allay the demons from last year for me.

The final drive back to the airport was four hours of heavy traffic. I understand an air taxi service has been introduced to avoid this - if you ever get the opportunity don't drive through or around Colombo!

Our trip included a car and driver (Roy) for all transfers and, despite the disappointments noted above, was extremely well organised throughout. I would certainly recommend Red Dot Tours to anyone planning a visit to Sri Lanka especially if they want to avoid some of the more standard tourist haunts and get a feel for this beautiful country.

Pictures can be seen at http://community.webshots.com/user/boris3161 (I hope!)