I'm on the Top of the World ...

... looking down on creation as the song goes! I left Galle last Wednesday afternoon and I got back last night (Monday) having had the most exciting time travelling round Sri Lanka. What an amazing, stunning, wonderful place to be. Myself and three friends hired a van and driver and we were like the Famous Five traipsing round the Hill Country. We all agreed that we would find it difficult to find the words to describe our trip adequately.

Serendipitous is perhaps not quite the right word but it really felt like every corner we turned, we turned at the right time and in the right direction. We accidentally stumbled upon so many "happenings" Each one reminded me of my first impressions of Sri Lanka the day I arrived when I described it as being like "an assault on the senses". So much to see, hear, feel, smell and taste and often all at the same time.

I'll list where we went to give you some idea of how much we managed to fit in and over the next couple of days I'll post about each of them but I think my friends are right and we'll never be able to quite do it justice.

• Wednesday 4pm - myself and new housemate, friend and colleague Thea leave Galle for Colombo.


• Wednesday 8pm - arrive at the big city.


• Thursday 8.30am - work meeting with Shakthi Organisation.


• Thursday 3pm - Anne and Sally arrive from Hambantota and Tangalle and we head off to Kandy!


• Thursday 7pm - arrive at the Expeditor guest house at Kandy.


• Thursday 8pm - stumble upon a Hindu Festival of thousands.


• Friday 10am - arrive at Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage.


• Friday pm - guided tour of Dalada Maligawa, Temple of the Sacred Tooth in Kandy.


• Friday evening - Kandy Arts Association to watch Kandyan Dancing and back to the Temple to see the casket with the tooth.


• Friday evening - dinner at the guest house.


• Saturday morning - Thea and I go for a swim at another hotel and join the other two after for a wander round the markets.


• Saturday lunchtime - we visit the hotel Helga's Folly. The owner is the inspiration for the Stereophonics song Madame Helga.


• Saturday pm - we make our way to Nuwara Eliya further into the Hill Country, a four hour drive.


• Saturday evening - arrive at the St Andrew's Hotel in N/Eliya and had dinner with other friends who were touring the Hill Country.


• Saturday night - we were unhappy that the staff of St Andrew's didn't seem to know much about Scotland or even that they had any connection so we ended up having an impromput ceilidh and singalong with them till 3.30am. Fantastic night and apologies to all the other guests.


• Sunday morning - Easter Sunday so we persuaded the hungover staff to give us boiled eggs to take away and had a picnic on the road to Ella.


• Sunday evening - arrive at Ella and have wonderful dinner wrapped in a banana leaf!


• Monday morning - start our 7.5 hour drive home with many stops along the way.


• Monday evening - arrive home at 5.30 to baking sunshine, unpack, wash, dry, iron and get ready for work the next day.

As I said I'll post later about many of these things but for now, I've work to do and that, after all, is the reason I'm here. I will end by saying that the whole trip really did make me feel like I was on top of the world and the photo, much as I don't like it, sums that feeling up!