Palm trees bring a sense of calm. The most important choice is to choose to choose.

Hilton Colombo highly recommended. Front-desk man gave us free breakfasts too.

Off to Kandy. The crows here in Sri Lanka are direct descendants of those used by Hitchcock and have it in for me. Been attacked at least twice now. Lauren and Ashan say I’m hallucinating but I see them. Watching me. Waiting for me to move so they can swoop and advance with beaks.

Suppose I could lay off the cough syrup.

Have booked white van with good Singhala driver so we don’t have to worry about Ashan killing us in a horrific cliff accident. Which might happen anyway, but at least this way, we won’t nag him about it. His name is Asailorman (I swear it is) and he likes Kanye West. We know because we listened to his Kanye West cd for 4 hours.

By the way, everything in Sri Lanka is a different price for foreigners. Nobody here thinks I’m Indian. Prolly since very white skin. Ashan extremely unhelpful when it comes to this stuff since is ashamed of his heritage, poor misguided child. Insists he is not local until he has to pay the higher price. Translation skills are useless since driver talks for two whole minutes and Ashan conveys three words which after careful probing have nothing to do with wot drive said. Have resorted to hand signals and head shaking to converse with him directly.

Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage. Lauren squeals the entire time. Saw the elephants bathing in this river/stream. Made friends with one mama who kept advancing towards me and posing for a photo. The babies are so little! They gambol (yes, they do) and play and the cuteness just cannot be described. Very wrinkly leathered hairy hide, tough on top and hard underneath. Don’t mind being petted. Not scary at all. Lauren fed Komali some baskets of fruits and kissed her on the trunk, much to the amusement of the natives. Ashan was persuaded to feed milk bottle to one baby after which he demanded he be rinsed off with Purell. Bought a lovely Buddha wall hanging and a gorgeous leather handbag with superb haggling skills.

Off inland towards Central Sri Lanka and Maha Nuwara Kandy (which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site dontchaknow) at the foothills of the central highlands “steeped in history and possessing a salubrious climate”. Have undertaken The Great Eyebrow Experiment of 2011 whereby I shall not pluck until I am Armenian bushy and on my last day in India, I shall get them nicely done once and for all. Curls starting to rehydrate, skin starting to refresh and feeling of heaviness starting to lift. Let’s hope it continues.

Gadaladeniya Temple. Built in the 1300s by King Bhuvanekabahu IV and stands on a rock outcrop. Moonstone (which is stone carved into moonshape) and Gajasinha (half elephant and half lion) at the entrance. Some discolored paintings which are South Indian in style since artisans imported. One seated Buddha statue inside and one Vishnu Dewale on the side.

Lankatilaka Vihara Temple. “Crown of Lanka” also on a rock outcrop with inscriptions on the rock (in the rock?) in Tamil and Singhalese by King Bhuvanekabahu IV (cat built a lot of temples, man) and King Vikremabahu III – both from the 1300s. History has it that a monk saw a golden vase floating on the surface of a nearby tank and the King took this as an auspicious sign and had the temple built. You have to walk up these really steep short steps cut into the rock face to get up there but the view is lovely at the top. There is a Dewale with Ganesh, Skanda, Saman, Vishnu and Vibishana. Lots of Hindu gods at Buddhist temples as you can see. One sitting statue of Buddha, all gold painted and incredibly massive – at least 40 feet tall. The sheer size of the statues in these things makes you want to stare and stare. The walls and ceilings covered in frescos but very ancient so faded now.

Ate not so nice lunch at roadside place but was hungry so ate a lot of it.

Up and down and around windy roads past the Udawattekelle (which is a Forbidden Forest) to Chaya Citadel Hotel. Too tired to fully appreciate the loveliness of this one but did get glimpse of pool at rock edge. Balcony is a ledge cut out into the rock of which I shall take pictures when it’s light. Skipped dinner (partly to avoid travel companions, since they be getting on my nerves now), watched Dus (crap movie) and went to bed early since feets ache from all that barefoot clambering up rock. Only one night here which is a shame but onwards we must!

Light starting to break over my rock-face balcony. I shall make coffee and sit with the birds in the dewy mist.