Not my favourite of the temples but it so huge one can't help but be impressed by it.
Now this was busy and I do mean proper busy. Serves us right for turning up mid-morning I suppose. Having said that it is still possible to find a bit of peace away from the hordes if you take a few steps away from the tour route. However, crowds and photography don't really mix so just the one shot of Angkor as the rain threatened but held of until I was back in Siem Reap and eating a Passion Fruit tart (Bloody good it was too!).
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Firstly, let me say that of all the places I have been to, ever, Cambodia is probably my favourite. But (and I know you shouldn't start a sentence with 'but', but I'm gonna!), what a difference 8 years makes. Firstly, it seems unbelievable that it was 8 years since we first went to Siem Reap but it was: Girl-child was still in nappies and boy-child wasn't even thought of yet.
It was still a major tourist attraction then but nothing as to now. Also they have decided to restore the temples, which were struggling under volume of tourists they were attracting and some statues had been stolen so they are being re-carved. To end our tour of the South of Sri Lanka we spent a few days in Negombo. The sea here was lovely, big crashing waves to jump through and lovely warm water.
Negombo is an interesting, but quiet fishing town, where you can walk amongst the catches as they come in or see how the fish are prepared on the beach ![]() The cultural capital of Sri Lanka. We stayed a wee way out of the town up in the hills in a lovely little (well massive really) villa with our own cook, driver and infinity pool. The grounds contained all manner of wildlife, including, as advertised by the owner, a deer which ran out 2 metres in front of me when I was taking a walk in the grounds and a frog that spent the day sleeping beside our pool I have to say it was luxury at a bargain price, with stunning views across the valley. The Gap at Ella: first at night then during the day. They reckon on a clear day you can see as far as the coast.
As far as I can tell, the only reason to bother with Tissa in Southern Sri Lanka is to go to the National Park where they reckon you can see leopards!
So with an early start, we set off. However, girl child threw-up before she got in the Landy so she and Gill missed out. Almost as soon as we entered the park we saw an elephant at most a couple of metres away in the bush at the side of the road. A good start! We also saw a most impressive bull elephant later on in the morning. Galle is an old colonial town on the South coast of Sri Lanka. The old part of the town (the fort) is also the Muslim quarter: Handy when visiting during Ramadan. Surrounding this part of town is a complete wall, which makes for a lovely evening stroll as the sun goes down over the Indian Ocean.
Well, we finally made it to Sri Lanka. We originally had it lined up 9 years ago as a place we wanted to go but pregnancies (both ours and those of family members) have, several times, but the mockers on it to the point where we thought it just wasn't meant to be.
Like most visitors we landed in Colombo we then chose stay for a few days to get settled. We have the big advantage of being teachers so get a long break which means we can take our time with our summer break, so weren't in any rush to do anything or go anywhere. This was true of the whole trip and we could easily have knocked a least a day off each destination and got to see considerably more, but it is supposed to be a holiday and relaxing so why rush? |
This will be a blog about my latest shots and what I liked or was trying to do with them
AuthorsWe are teachers and have worked in various schools in Europe & Asia. This is really a chronicle of out travels over the years. It is meant for us to look back on, reflect and remember where we've been, what we've done and all our little adventures. If you like it too, then fab! If you don't, do you think we care? Archives
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