Travel Troopers Tour Sri Lanka 2025

To start the day in a different way Jan and I joined Sanath, one of the Why House senior staff, for his daily morning walk around the ramparts of the Galle Fort.  We walked the sea wall built by the Dutch in the 1600s. Its huge thick rock walls survived the tsunami in 2004 when many other structures didn't. Prior to the Dutch building the seawall, the Portuguese had built a wall on the land side of the Peninsula as they anticipated attacks coming from the land. Bad decision, as the Dutch arrived from the sea! There were lots of other walkers, many of whom Sanath knew. The wall has some steps up to the high ramparts where many cannons used for defence are still in place. The buildings within the Fort are heritage-listed, which means many of them are still clearly Dutch designed.  We were fascinated to see lots of wedding parties being photographed on the Fort wall or in the parks surrounded by old Fort buildings.   The brides were dressed in superbly decorated ivory-c...

Walking every morning in a new country is a great way of orientating yourself and understanding the  minutiae of the local people's lives, which I find fascinating. And to solve a mystery! Every morning in every place we have been - even in remote Koslanda!- the simple tones of Beethoven's Fur Elise can be heard. It sounds more like Mr Whippy than an orchestra. Finally I saw a tuk tuk fitted out as a bakery with rows of bread and rolls etc belting out the tune very loudly. Clearly this is to alert potential customers so they can rush out and buy! I'm not sure whether Beethoven would be happy about it, but it happens across the whole country so he's very popular! As Jan was still recovering I headed off for a walk on my own through the ricefields, past local stalls selling essentials, hearing the endless horn honking of buses and tuk tuks, trying to avoid suspicious dogs and their poo, weaving around the odd cow or goat or water buffalo, and saying hello or good morning...

A day of leisure..... Travelling can be very tiring without a day of leisure to catch your breath, catch up on the undies washing - more detail than you need I know - and give you a chance to process all that you have seen. Mind you, just because you don't have any activities organised that doesn't mean you can't have an adventure or two. Although Jan wasn't her usual chirpy self, we headed for the beach which is close to Hen's place. It's known as Turtle Beach for good reason: giant sea turtles come to feed at the shore. We couldn't access the beach as the tide was in but there was still one large sea turtle swimming in the shallows.....but more were yet to come. All of the meals at Why House are served in a beautifully appointed open air patio. Henrietta was with us for most meals and is the perfect hostess, making sure everyone is well looked after. The breakfast menu was vast - from fresh curd to french toast to Sri Lankan food - so we endeavoured to try...

I started the day with a swim all by myself in the infinity pool. The early morning light was dim and the mountains shone. Because I was on my own I could enjoy the birdcalls of many of the birds who thrive here. Suddenly a troupe of macaque monkeys ran through the trees next to the pool, swinging on vines and jumping deftly from branch to branch looking for fruit. In the distance I could see one monkey with a very long tail and a chunky body sitting quietly in a tree looking out over the view. He was different to the macaques and turned out to be a purple-faced leaf monkey well-known for their beefy shape. The only other animal I saw was a giant squirrel which is about the size of a brush-tailed possum with an equally fluffy long tail. They move so fast they're difficult to see. After delicious egg hoppers for breakfast it was time to farewell Lucy and her staff, who had made our stay so memorable. Living Heritage is a stunning place as it is so remote and jungle-bound. There'...