I was awoken by the grinning Uncle holding a cup of tea for me. I think my comment yesterday about his tea being the best I've ever tasted really touched him. I drank and packed up quickly, not wanting to overstay my welcome. As I was ready to leave, the Father told me breakfast was ready. What a lovely surprise. Uncle had made rotis, sambol and dahl. The rotis were so heavy I thought they'd last me all day, reminding me of Elven Lembas bread. I couldn't refuse one more cup o

I'd barely been awake a few minutes when I received a text from Roy asking if I would like eggs on toast. I accepted the offer and it catapulted me out of my sleeping bag. I opened the tin shed door to a delightful landscape of rolling hills, some forest and some cultivated. It was still chilly enough to warrant hat and gloves, but would soon heat up. Roy brought out a fried egg, two pieces of buttered toast and a dollop of jam with a cup of tea. What a host for my first nigh

I was up at 6am and packed my bag. It was heavier than it should be, but I was in no rush. If I got tired, I'd rest. I chatted with Lakshman over my final breakfast at his house, and some scrumptious sambol. He went over the six-bus plan with me that he'd written down. Hopefully I'd make it there before dark so I could find a decent spot to hang my hammock, otherwise I'd be sleeping in the bus station or somewhere. I said goodbye to Indira and carried my bags outside, Rover c

Lakshman called me from the garden once again and I walked to the balcony. "I suggest you delay leaving for a day" he began, "today is a holiday and many buses will not be running. You may find yourself stuck somewhere." "Would that be ok?" I replied. He smiled and said "I reluctantly accept". My thoughts immediately went to revenge on the table tennis table later that day. "Come on down, Rover should be ok with you now." The spider from hell, which I thought had gone, was no

I lay under my mosquito net, curtains and windows wide open allowing in the tranquil sounds of the jungle and temple prayers. After my morning wee, I flushed the toilet and was horrified to see a spider nearly the size of my hand fall down from under the bowl. It fought the water furiously and I briskly walked out of the bathroom hoping it would be gone when I returned much, much later. I wouldn't say I'm arachnophobic as I can deal with them when necessary, but I do not like

The small fan above my bed not only kept me cool, but also created a white noise that drowned out all others in the eight-bed dorm. I slept like a baby. A group of five of us from the hostel waited around reading, drinking coffee and eating eggs on toast, killing time before heading to the train station. At 11.30 we managed to pull together three tuk-tuks and asked them to race us to the train station. My two big bags and I came in second place. The train arrived thirty minut

I tried chasing people in the irrigation departments and wildlife conservation for a few hours in the morning. Painless phone call and pointless emails later, I needed I break. One of the most exciting things about this adventure is that I need a machete. There will be times when I have to make my way through very dense jungle and without one, I’d have no chance. While walking down to the hardware store, I decided to call Dom Mee to update him on my progress. I was put in tou

As soon as I awoke I felt like it was the morning of an exam. I was about to go and meet the owners of a Sri Lankan adventure company in the capital city and explain my expedition. I hadn’t looked at a map in great detail, didn’t know how I was going to get to the source of The Mahaweli, whether there was rapids, water falls and I still didn’t have all the gear I required. To a degree, I like committing to do something before finding out too much about it. Once you find out w

I awoke at 6am an hour before the alarm, my body clock was still a bit twisted. I wandered out onto the sunny courtyard with a cup of coffee and marvelled at the intense sounds of the birds considering this was almost capital city centre. The Evergreen hostel laid on a lovely breakfast spread of papaya, mango, banana and a spicy omelette. After eating every scrap I realised I was running late for my hot date with immigration. In Sri Lanka you are given a 30 day visa upon entr

Heathrow-Muscat-Colombo. Thirty hours of travelling went by in sleepless blur of crap seats and crapper food - all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. The excitement grew as I collected my two large bags from the travellator (90’s Gladiator reference there). All of my belongings for the next four months are in two large bags: One of them contains a Red Paddle 13’2 Explorer inflatable paddle board with a pump and leash. Here’s what’s in the other: - Hammock - this reduces size and