Travel Troopers Tour Sri Lanka 2025

 Should you visit Sri Lanka? Absolutely yes! Whatever type of tourist you are, there is something for you in Sri Lanka. The trip described in this blog was not the usual tourist trail. The five of us had visited 11 years ago and covered some of the best known attractions then: the Temple of the Tooth and the Botanical Gardens in Kandy, Sigiriya Rock, Anuradhapura, Nuwara Eliya and so on. At that time it was considered too unsettled to visit the north and Jaffna. This time we spent a week in the north: Jaffna and surrounds. Much of the time was spent seeing the sights but we also explored the dark side of Jaffna - the 30 years of Civil War and its impact for those living in the north east of the country.  Not everyone's cup of tea, but it seemed important to understand the history in order to appreciate the current state of life for those living there. You do need a well-informed guide who is knowledgeable about the North and they aren't easy to find (see Sid's details below...

Our one day at Wallawwa started with a walk in the back blocks passing huge mansions on big blocks of land. There was plenty of waving and smiling and honking of horns, especially from the buses racing along at a terrifying speed on the main road. It will be very strange to walk along the quiet Darebin Creek trail in the mornings when I go home. The absence of uncontrolled street dogs, cows and the occasional water buffalo, cat or goat will be very weird. But the lack of honking horns will be the most difficult aspect to adjust to.  Even early in the morning the humidity is high so Jan and I opted for a swim in the cool pool. On her way Jan spotted an enormous water monitor next to the path. It completely ignored her and wandered off at its own pace.  The pool is surrounded by lush green tropical trees and palms. The tiles in the pool are mottled green and brown and the effect is much more in line with nature than other pools with bright coloured tiles. Interesting how a small...

After a brief early morning walk, and a brief altercation with some cows, we all piled into the pool for an Aquafit class. This time with a couple of expat English women who are some of Hen's friends.   We all rabbit-hopped up the pool and jumped and stretched and ran ands puffed and panted before picking up some weights just to add extra work to the workout. It was fun and great exercise if you work hard enough. As it's a five foot pool some of the shorter members of the group were at risk of drowning until they moved to the shallower sides of the pool. Then it was time to fortify ourselves with breakfast before attempting to pack everything into our bags. Why is it that once you've opened your suitcase the contents expand and won't fit back in properly? The addition of some ginger biscuits (they have delicious ones in Sri Lanka!), cheese and gin which we had yet to finish, and an array of Barefoot products and T-shirts for my grandchildren didn't help my bag to cl...

Jan, Zoe and I jumped up early to join Sanath for the usual perambulations around the Fort. It was a quiet desolate place as it was Poya Day, so no school buses, no traffic and no fish market! (And no alcohol can be purchased). Poya occurs every full moon, but every 3 months there is a special Poya to celebrate the birth, death or the conception of Buddha.  This Poya was the latter, although it's a mystery as to how you determine when conception occurred?! Presumably the temples were busy as people would flock there for  full moon ceremonies and to place offerings on this special day. However the walkers were out in droves! After breakfast we piled into the van and headed for the Lunuganga Country Estate and Gardens, better known as the Bawa Gardens. Last time we couldn't visit them as they had been flooded, so we were eager to see them as everybody seems to know about them. I have to admit that I was ambiguous about them. They were so perfect that I found them soul-less. I...

Today's activity involved a walk in a rainforest (although the exact length was unknown) so I thought I should start off as refreshed as possible. An early morning swim watched by a male peacock jumping from rooftop to tree and back again was an interesting way to start the day. The peacocks are endemic to Sri Lanka and you see them everywhere. They seem to be equally hated - they are noisy! - and loved. With Jenny still unwell and Anne not sure about walking a distance, it left Jan, Kerryn and I to forge on. Armed with our backpacks stuffed with everything we needed to survive in a tropical rainforest - sunscreen, insect repellent, bathers, sarongs, water bottles, lipstick (?) etc we jumped in the van and headed for Kanneliya Rainforest. It has been delegated as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO.  It took us about an hour to get there with Chandana 'supervising' us and Udaya, the wonder driver, at the wheel. Chananda and Udaya were a little vague about the distance we were wal...