Ella

 A beautiful sunrise from our room greeted Jeevan and me while the kids slept on . Nice to have a moment to ourselves too .

Breakfast and a stroll before heading to Ella .

At Ella we went to the the 9 arch bridge , which has become a tourist hotspot . It was buzzing with tourists and vendors when we got there . We also got caught up in the frenzy of different photo opportunities!  I loved the beauty of the bridge but the highlight for Savik was seeing a dog that looked like a wolf and another that had spots on it so looked like a cross between a hyena and a leopard! 

We then went to the Ravana falls which as per Aanya we shouldn’t go to as it was named after Ravan ! I was very proud of myself for climbing a rock with no help ( obviously learning a lot from the kids this year ). Aanya was looking around to find me and was so surprised to see I was on top of it before them 😂.

We then checked in to our very impressive hotel ( last luxury hotel for a long time )- 98 acres . I am presuming it’s on 98 acres so needs buggies to go around . 

After sitting for 5 minutes in the room we could see the peak of Little Adam so dragged the kids to it.

On the way we passed the Ravana zip line which sadly Aanya can’t do , she passed the height requirement but not the weight so will come back tomorrow for the climbing wall instead . We also passed the pool club( with music blasting ) and the Ella swing which is where Aanya wants to be tomorrow.

Finally made it to the top of peak with Savik hating the stairs , then Jeevan and I saw another peak so off we went again . The children may disown us . It was a much tougher trail than the original climb but I think more fun .

We had tired legs by the time we got back so took the buggy to dinner . While we were climbing Savik had to be reminded a few times to stay of the edge which he wasn’t happy about . On the walk back from dinner he fell of the edge ( just two steps down on to the grass ) but it had us all laughing . Basically listen to your parents 😂

Pasikuda to Nuwara Eliya

  

 Today was a long drive day and good way for the children to catch up on school work.

I love road trips in SL where fruit and food on roads are so yummy . Roasted corn , spicy mango and gauvaes had us sorted ( along with the kimbula banis taken from the breakfast buffet ). 

Long windy road to make it to the tea factory where we are staying tonight . It’s an old tea factory which has been converted to a beautiful hotel . We were welcomed with tika and tea then headed off to stretch our legs and explore the tea estate.

We found women plucking the leaves and they let us try it out too. Their bags were so heavy (nearing the end of the day) that it nearly toppled Aanya over.

We then got an overview of how tea is made with a tour around the small factory they now have in place, they only make enough for the hotel and for guests to buy.

A bit of golfing for the boys and lots of dance videos for Aanya prior to dinner .

The breakfast and dinner buffets in all the places we have stayed has been so delicious and the variety endless. The crab was the highlight for Jeevan tonight while the kids loved their pasta . 

Pasikuda

 Put an alarm for sunrise and for Aanya to sit in the seat in the sand. Gorgeous sunrise and then the kids managed to join some of their lessons too ,win win .

Morning was in the games room , the kids are getting good at table tennis (Savik would also like to think he is getting good at Pool and carrom - I won’t burst his bubble ). 

Rest of the time was again in the water, this time joined by a Russian - German family living in SL with two kids. Their kids spoke the cutest English and were thrilled to have other kids to play with. I feel Savik and Aanya have become quite happy playing with each other - their pact is BFFTN (Best friends for this year) and then frenemies after that !

Moonlit night walk for Jeevan and I to end the day, and a movie for the kids. It’s full moon so the light was shimmering on the water, also made it easy to spot and avoid the crabs as they scurried away . 

Polonnaruwa to Pasikuda

 

 

   

We had an early start to beat the heat but did not manage to escape it, it’s very hot currently in Sri Lanka. 

Even if we got hot we managed to miss the crowds and had a lot of the places to ourselves as we explored the sites of Polonnaruwa  .

We started with King Parakrama Bahu’s palace, the council chamber, Vatadage, Hatadage, Nissanka latha madapaya, Sathmahal Prasadaya and Rajitha Vehera.

On the way to Gal Vibara  we saw some turtles in the pond as we avoided the monkeys around it . When we got to the temple I was mesmerised by the statues , they are gigantic and so well made and preserved with a sense of calmness all around, could see why it was one of Jeevan’s favourites.

Quick stop at the Thivanka Pilimage before leaving the complex. That is till we got to the hotel and realised we hadn’t been to the area right behind it. Quick walk through, the King Nissanka Malla’s palace, admired the lion statues and then dashed backed to the air conditioned car .

Headed to Pasikuda for some pool time and the beach with nothing else on the agenda for the next two days .

Being back at Uga Bay brought back good memories form 2015 when we had come with Savik and I was pregnant with Aanya . Kids ran around checking everything out from the pools to the games rooms to the books and DVDs.  

Spent the rest of the day in water, pool, beach and back to the pool. The ocean is so warm and calm that it’s easy to just float along in it. There was a sand structure (seats and a heart shaped table) for a special dinner which Aanya was itching to sit in. We made our own love heart but was a very poor comparison, so had to promise her that we would get up super early for her to sit on it before it got demolished . 

Dinner buffet at its best with a nice walk along the beach to end the day . 

Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa

 

 Today was a short travel day from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa. It was another hot day in Anuradhapura, glad we managed to see everything that we needed in the last 2 days. 

      Polonnaruwa was the 2nd capital of Sri Lanka and its history dates back to more than 1000 years ago. When we reached there we went around the Parakrama Samudraya, (King Parakrmabahu’s ocean). It is a massive reservoir built by the great king who combined 5 lakes to make a massive reservoir. It is said that his vision was to, not let a single drop of rainfall reach the ocean without coming to any use. 

     Then we visited statue situated next to the reservoir which is still in dispute as to who it depicts. One thought is that it’s King Parakarama Bahu the 1st and the other is that it’s a statue of a Sage. Irrespective of that it is a well known landmark of Polonnaruwa.

    We are staying right next to the tank in a hotel that the late Queen Elizebeth the II stayed when she visited Sri Lanka more than 40 years ago. It is beautifully renovated and the we all had fun getting in the pool and cooling off.

In the evening we went on a boat ride( Paruwa) which of scenic as well as peaceful. We visited the bird island and we were all excited to see the baby chicks of various birds. Suprisingly there were so many Ibis flying around. After that we saw 2 elephants feeding on the grassland. One had beautiful tusks and it was magical seeing them at sunset. We jumped into the pool once again before dinner as it had little twinkling lights at the base which were very inviting. 

It was such a great end to a wonderful

Day.