Following four very relaxing days at Sea Rock Villa (Induruwa, near Bentota), we took another 90-minute taxi ride to Veyangoda to join our Exodus group for a two-week long tour of the island. In reality, the south-western third of the island, as the monsoon swings according to the season from one side to the other, and you don’t want to be on the wrong side when it kicks off. We were lucky enough to enjoy sunny weather throughout our stay.

***

We spent the Sunday night in a perfectly adequate if soulless hotel with a large pool and a garden, through which flitted spectacular Indian paradise flycatchers. There were 11 others in our group, average age c.65, the youngest being 48. A nicer bunch of people you could not wish to meet: Susie, Tony, John, Birgit, Dan, Jenny, Sheila, Elly, Sarah, Ian and Pammy.

We have taken group tours before, and made some long-lasting friendships. Some years ago we hired a car for a bespoke tour of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and although the driver was great we did miss the chance to meet other travellers. Sometimes groups bond well, sometimes they don’t, but even when they do there are usually one or two dissenters. Not so this time.

This was a friendly group

Monday 10 February

We set off after breakfast for Dambulla cave temple, east of Colombo and north of Kandy, with its magnificent painted walls and ceilings, and numerous Buddha ancient statues: a World Heritage Site and an excellent introduction to Sri Lankan Buddhist culture. It was “take your shoes off and cover your legs” time. Cave no.2 is the biggest and most impressive of the five, with some of the statues reputably up to 1,000 years old (if repaired and replanted more than once.

Then on to our next hotel in Sigiriya, home of the iconic Lion Rock which we were to climb the following morning. The final 200-metre ascent is by open-tread iron staircase attached to the side of the rock.

Truth be told, I was dreading it

Tuesday 11 February 

It was an early start to Lion Rock, but knowing how crowded such sites can become we weren’t complaining about arriving at 8 a.m.. I was still not sure if I could make it to the top of the citadel, partly owing to a sore right knee and partly through sheer terror. I come from a long line of cowards.

At the foot of this huge rock are the remains of an ancient city, with impressive water gardens best viewed from above.

***

As our guide Sujan wryly put it, over-thinking the climb wasn’t going to help! One or two folk declined to undertake the vertigo-inducing final ascent from the lion’s paws, but Anne and I managed it easily enough. Take it steadily, follow the person in front, and do not look down!

Though the remains of the citadel of this World Heritage Site are extensive, it is hard to interpret what you are looking at (especially if you’ve, ahem, lost your guide book). But the views over the countryside from the summit are stupendous.

There is a spiral staircase at the other side of the rock which leads into a small cave decorated with celebrated paintings of busty ladies.

Job done, we smugly descended to see that the queue for the stairs was now long and slow-moving. We carried on down to explore the rest of King Kasyapa’s fifth-century royal palace before returning to Sigiriya Hotel for a rest and a dip in the pool.

Popping out later to a nearby bar for a refreshing beer we caught site of a crocodile, insolently swimming in a nearby pond.

Wednesday 12 February

I was now starting to enjoy fish curry for breakfast, sometimes accompanied by scrambled egg and/or baked beans, to fortify myself for the day ahead. Every hotel offers an extensive buffet of items both familiar and exotic, with lots of fruit but rarely fresh juice, for some reason. For once don’t have to fret about getting a decent cup of tea; it doesn’t get any better than in Sri Lanka.

So it was another early start for the short drive to Hurulu Eco-Park, where we transferred to three jeeps and set off on a bone-jarring, three-hour game drive. What a morning!

We saw more than 20 elephants

The dancing peacocks and other birds were a bonus.

***

There was still work to be done before lunch. We drove on to Girithale then grabbed bikes of varying standard for a scenic 16km bike ride by a shady, tree-lined canal. Kingfishers, kites and water monitors were 10 a penny. Children ran up to say hello. It was all rather idyllic until Jenny’s bike got a puncture and John fell and badly cut his knee.

Lunch was in the garden of a private village home, cooked just for us by the family of this charming little girl. As independent travellers we would never have had such a memorable experience.

After a couple more km we handed back the bikes and climbed back on the bus for the drive to our hideous hotel which, to its credit, possessed an excellent swimming pool. Its location by a huge tank (ancient reservoir) was perfect.

Thursday 13 February 

It was to be a long day, beginning with a walking tour of the important archaeological site of Polonnaruwa, destroyed by the invader Kalinga Magha and abandoned in the 13th century. But the remains of the palaces and temples are impressive.

It was pushing 35C by mid-morning. Shoes off but definitely socks on, as the ground was baking hot. One bald tourist refused to take off his hat, thus risking a severe penalty (i.e death). He seemed to think it was negotiable. We hung around for a few minutes in the hope that we would see him arrested and cuffed but it was not to be.

At Gal Vihara, some distance from the main site, is a magnificent 45-foot-long statue of the recumbent Buddha.

The site is quite extensive but one can only take so much exploration of archaeological remains.

***

We stopped for another excellent meal (chicken, fish, lots of vegetable dishes both familiar and less so) in a little roadside restaurant surrounded by trees and green paddy fields, then set off to visit a spice and herb garden at Matale. The tour was informative, but by this point we were all getting just a wee bit tired. We finally arrived after dark at our hotel, the luxurious Earl’s Regent just outside Kandy.

Friday 14 February

My 70th birthday! But it was Anne who received the first present of the day when she bought a topaz pendant at a gem factory.

The Temple of the Tooth at Kandy is one of the premier attractions of Sri Lanka, always packed with Buddhist pilgrims, including from other countries such as China and Japan. And as usual, there were groups of lively but well-behaved children in their smart school uniforms.

The Buddha is supposed to have visited Sri Lanka on three occasions (he flew over each time). Its people believe, or apparently believe, that whoever holds this tooth holds the governance of the country. The history of the Buddha’s tooth is known to all Sri Lankan Buddhists and accepted as literally true.

Guess what? It’s another World Heritage Site

In 1998 the temple was the victim of a suicide bombing by the Black Tigers that killed 17 people. The resultant damage has been repaired.

Kandy, which held out as an independent kingdom until finally succumbing to British rule in 1815, has a pleasant, leafy centre through which we wandered before taking a beer break in the colonial-era Queen’s Hotel next to the lake.

***

In the evening we all attended a rather good show of traditional dancing, which ended with the health-and-safety nightmare that is fire-eating.

Then at last… my birthday dinner: a memorable one, principally because it was the most chaotic experience of the entire fortnight, though it did finish with the presentation of a very respectable chocolate cake and a card signed by the whole group.

I realised I was wearing the same green T-shirt as on my 50th birthday: a wonderful tour of South Africa. Rohan don’t make ’em like that anymore.

More to come in the concluding part III…