Socks and sandals...

Hi all we have been in Sri Lanka for 9 days now, very hectic so this is the first chance we have had to post anything. From the start then...

We arrived in Colombo in the afternoon on the 1st of April, we met Riten there (who has joined us for two weeks in Sri Lanka) and after inspecting all the necessities he brought from the UK (ie cream eggs, wet wipes, foam burst shower gel etc) we went to explore the city a bit, there were fires lit on the pavements everywhere, we still haven't worked out why.

Highlights of Sri Lanka so far have been:

Going to an elephant orphanage in Pinnawala - although me and Poonam were too wimpy to toutch them (our driver said 'There wild animals, keep away') That didnt scare Riten and he gave the elephants a stroke.

Climbing to the top of Sigiriya rock which was so high and hard work in the sun but so worth it for the views and the sense of achivement when we got to the top...we also made a friend...a dog followed us half the way much to the distress of Poonam! You all should know about her love for dogs by now!

Riding an elephant through marches and water, Riten also rode on its neck...again me and Poonam wimped out... although getting on the elephant on the first place was an achievement for us! We also saw a crocodile going through the water, one of the guides was taking pictures of us in the water and wasnt scared at all, though me and Poonam put our legs up so it couldn't bite out toes!

We have visited many places and sacred temples..too many to mention all of them...though we have a new found respect for sandals and socks...all of the sacred places you have to take your shoes off and socks are a must if you dont want to run around like a headless chicken due to burning feet! And we are too lazy to remove socks before putting on sandals again...soo much effort in the heat, Poonam upped the game by putting socks with flipflops..she is certain it will be in fashion next year...traveler trends don't you know.

Dambulla rock temple - we climed loads of steps with our aching feet from the Sigiriya climb and saw a beautiful temple with over 150 images of budda and the largest figure of budda carved from rock which was over 14 metres long.

Saw a variety of traditional dances, costumes a bit weird but the stunts and skill was amazing.

Went to a gem museum and could not resist buying some bargin priced rings, real gems and all!

Went to a tea factory and saw some beautiful waterfalls and dodged the sellers, one of which climed up the hill to meet us on 3 seperate roads, Poonam was so impressed she wanted to give him some money for his effort!

Went on a cool safari in Yala National Park, we saw wild elephants, boars, a leapord, spotted deer, crocodiles and load of different birds. The elephant was a tad scary, it charged at our jeep! The driver was laughing like a mad man and our tour guide was freaking out and shouting at the elephant haha! That was definately an experiance..with only a metres distrance from us and the jeep.

We now understand why the people on the news in the desert with guns have scalves over their mouth and nose...its not just to be scary and anonymous its to keep from inhaling tons of dust! We were covered in it from head to toe...white clothes turned red (red sand).

Although we would like to tell you everything we did there is too much to mention in just one post. Those were the highlights. We are now in Ahangama in a beautiful resort by the sea..we have the whole place to ourselves apart from about 4 other people, which is cool when you want to lay on a sun lounger by the pool but can get a tad lonely. We have decided to venture out to a local club tonight to get our grove on..listning to Rihanna and Sean Paul by the pool side has got us in the mood for some dancing.

Honorary quote of the day from Riten "You look like a lizard, man" Doesn't sound quite the same when written down but has kept us amused the whole trip so far, we have decided he should be an impressionist if he ever loses his day job.

Love, hugs and sunshine from Saskia, Poonam and Riten x

p.s A lovely picture of me saving Riten from drowning...Baywatch watch out!