Ayubowan my friends! 🙏 Wonderful (and most grateful) to have you join in this week's Sri Lankan adventures!
What moments of gratitude did you have in the past week? How did you express your gratitude? I find, if I'm actively conscious, that I take many things that happen in my life for granted.
This has been my best adventure in Sri Lanka of my three visits. This is the first time I traveled around without someone trying to scam me. I like the area of Colombo where my hotel was located. Lots of restaurants, sidewalks were relatively in good shape, friendly local people who were smiling and away from the intensity of the Colombo's more touristy areas. I do hope the country does return to greater prosperity so they can address their infrastructure needs. One looming issue during my stay was a concern about the potential lack of petrol given what was happening in the Middle East. There were long queues at petrol stations with motorists 'stocking up'.
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What a cutie!
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My continuing gratitude for meeting the most kind, thoughtful and generous people everyday - wherever I visit. You'll meet a few of those amazing people in this week's blog. Everyday I encounter more individuals, like Nila my Dambulla tuk tuk driver, who purchased a coconut for me during one of our rides together. It was the guy at the local Dambulla bakery who gave me a freshly baked pastry instead of the same pastry off the shelf. The parking attendant at the Colombo building who called a business on my behalf to confirm if the business was in business (phone was out of service)!
I learned in the past week that the travel column idea was killed by the paper's powers to be. Time to don the thinking cap to figure out how to advance my writing career.
May the universe bring endless blessings and moments of magic 🦄 to you and your loved ones in the week ahead. 🙏
Travel Administration
You may find, like me, that the immigration people in different countries have a different level of vigilance when it comes to verifying if you've booked a flight to leave their country within your tourist visa's time limit. Maldives is the only country, so far, where the immigration agent asked me for proof I was leaving the country within thirty days. The Sri Lankan agent was preoccupied with returning a personal call when he stamped my passport. The Nepali agent was curious about where I was traveling in her country. She commented about how extensive my travels were while she was putting the visa sticker in my passport. I plan to continue my practice of having my exit flight booked upon entering a new country for my own good.
Travel Update
Wow! What the difference a week makes! The war in the Middle East has my attention given my initial plans to visit UAE, Qatar and Egypt in September. Something to monitor over the months ahead. I've now in the midst of confirming a six day trip to Bhutan from March 31 to April 5. I'd fly roundtrip from Kathmandu to Paro. I fly to Medan in Sumatra (Indonesia) on April 6.
My Nepal adventure has a new twist. I. learned that Mark and Ruth, the English couple I had intended to accompany for visiting the five villages, have had their flight through Doha cancelled and are now unable to travel to Nepal. Bimal, the local Nepali trek coordinator, has confirmed he and I can proceed with the village trek without Mark and Ruth .
Travel Maps
My travel was relatively light for the week. On Sunday, I took the train to Habarana where my hosts met me and drove me to their Dambulla homestay about 24 km (~ 15 mi) away. On Thursday, I returned to Colombo bus stand by a luxury bus (think Greyhound type bus) directly from Dambulla bus stand.
Note: This map is missing my seven week Sri Lankan adventure in 2022. I traveled throughout the country including Jaffna in the north, Arugam Bay (east coast), Tangalle (south coast) and various destinations throughout the island including climbing the 5,500 stone steps on Sri Pada.
Sri Lanka: February 26 to March 8, 2026
Colombo - Friends
The universe brought an amazing blessing into my travels on Sunday afternoon by way of Debra, a fellow Canadian traveler. Debra, a solo traveler, was enjoying her lunch and refreshment in my hotel's restaurant when I decided to interrupt her reverie. She was visiting Sri Lanka as part her year long sabbatical from her communications role with an unnamed insurance company. I complimented her on her courage to suspend her career for a year to pursue personal travel interests. She mentioned she had encountered 'head winds' from family and friends about the implications about taking her break. She has plans to spend a month in India to gain her yoga instructors accreditation. BTW - Debra is a former journalist.
She's the inspiration behind my decision to add Bhutan to my itinerary. She spoke glowingly about her Bhutan trip and her adventures. I'm grateful for her continuing support in reviewing my proposed travel plans with the tour company she had used.
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| Introducing Debra, my newest friend! |
Colombo to Dambulla (Train ride via Habarana)
I embarked on a four hour train ride on Sunday afternoon to reach Dambulla in the comfort of an air conditioned car. Habarana, which is about 24 km/15 mi from Dambulla, is the closest train station. My hosts were kind enough to organize a ride from the train station to their homestay. Trains operate relatively slowly on what feels like uneven rail beds! The good news was I had a comfortable ride with the train arriving within five minutes of its scheduled station stop.
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Lots of unfinished highways outside Colombo. The
good news is various sections were being worked on. |
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| Inside First Class (A/C) car |
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Ooops! I forgot to take a photo of the seats behind
me when there was still daylight! |
Dambulla - Cultraverse Homestay
Welcome to my new home, a garden paradise just a short distance from Dambulla. Visiting my friends' homestay was the second priority I had for my Sri Lankan adventure. I wanted to support their new business by being their guest. I'm equally happy to report my friends have been busy with guests, primarily through referrals. Their latest guest, Tina, was the sister of Jamal's friend. She was visiting from her home in Italy where she had lived for the past 16 years after leaving Sri Lanka.
I am incredibly grateful for the gracious, generous and thoughtful hospitality I enjoyed during my four night stay! I enjoyed fabulous daily conversations with Jamal, my host. She, like many Sri Lankans I know, set a high bar for their kindness in the support of others. She really made me stop and think about how much more I could be doing to help others. She is busy pursuing a career selling life/medical insurance with Softlogic and enjoying early success. Jamal is targeting being a member of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) for this year, meaning she would be traveling to California if she achieves her goal. Ambitious and capable are two more words to add to the long list of her qualities. Such a blessing to spend time with a person with this amount of positive energy! Thank you again to the universe!
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| Homestay is the entire upper level. |
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| Bedroom |
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| Yes, it's air conditioned! |
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| Coffee, tea and water! |
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| Dining/living area |
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| Dining/living area |
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| Bathroom with hot water! |
Dining
My hosts redefined hospitality! I enjoyed a magnificent Sri Lankan breakfast every morning as the photos below illustrate! I was also treated to three dinners including a magnificent feast when I arrived at the homestay on Sunday evening! The breakfast was so good that on one morning a monkey ran across the table, grabbed a bit of food and leapt into the trees to enjoy his food.
I decided to eat breakfast inside my room for the last two mornings. The troop of monkeys can appear suddenly, like a swarm, and grab food faster than speeding bullet.
I'm grateful for the blessing of wonderful Sri Lankan food during my stay!
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| Welcome dinner Sunday evening |
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| Lake fish, sambal and rice |
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| Breakfast that included a monkey guest |
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| Dinner on my last evening in Dambulla |
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| Goodbye breakfast |
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| Yummy! |
Fauna
I've focused this section on the animals I discovered while enjoying my breakfast. The monkeys arrived in a troop of about 30 around 8 am and around 2:30 pm daily. They would stay in the trees and the house for about an hour or so, then move on. As cute as these monkeys can appear in the photos below, they are destructive to buildings and local fruit trees.
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| Monday am intro to monkeys |
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| Cute, right?! |
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| Super cute! |
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| Friendly squirrel |
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| Supersized hare |
Friends
My friendship with Kantha and Gamal started in 2022 when I stayed at the Green Edge hotel in Dambulla where Kantha was the manager. He is an extraordinarily kind and thoughtful man, experienced tour guide and is a safe driver. Kantha was instrumental in getting me the proper medical attention for a large scrape on my knee that was refusing to heal. With his help, I visited a clinic where I was bandaged and given medication to address my injury. Within a week, the scrape was on the mend.
I returned to the Green Edge in 2025 to visit with Kantha and go on an elephant safari. I was invited to dinner at his home and meet his wife Gamal and his daughter. What an extraordinary evening! Gamal is an ambitious woman who was enjoying success in her government work. Such incredibly wonderful energy. I had a tour of their recently opened homestay. We agreed that I would stay at their homestay in my next visit. I wanted the opportunity to support their business!
And here I am enjoying a four night homestay visit in 2026. I feel like I'm now a family member who should return on a regular basis to visit!
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| Kantha |
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| Gamal |
Dambulla - Adventures
I discovered a number of local tourist destinations I had overlooked during my first two visits. In my previous stays I had visited the key tourist destinations that Dambulla is renown for -
Sigiriya,
Polonnaruwa and
Minneriya National Park elephant safari. I'm sharing my new discoveries with you below.
Prarthana Bodhiya - Buddhist Temple
The universe was incredibly benevolent throughout my four night stay. An important blessing I received was being invited by Gamal to join her and Tina, her recent homestay guest/newest friend, to go to the local temple for the evening. This was my first temple visit where I was participating as a Buddhist. Tina kindly purchased flowers for me to offer.
We sat on a hillside overlooking the temple enjoying the quiet and the full moon. We then joined the fellow worshippers to make our flower offerings to Buddha, followed by pouring coconut oil into small vessels and lighting wicks that were soaking in the oil. Our last part of the evening was filling a small urn with water and circling the Bodhi tree three times transferring our intentions into the water. We then poured the water into four small funnels that carried the water to the tree.
I have now had the most spiritual moment in my life. 🙏
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| My offerings to Buddha |
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| What a cutie! |
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| David, Tina and Gamal |
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Enjoying the evening overlooking
the temple |
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| Bodhi tree |
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| Lights for Buddha |
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| Full moon |
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| Full moon up close |
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| Tina's full moon photo |
Welcome to ancient burial grounds located a short distance from Dambulla. There are three excavated areas open for visiting. My thanks to Hansi, the site manager, for her offer to explain the burial grounds purpose and history. In ancient times, the deceased were cremated, their ashes/jewelry were put in urns and the urns were placed in the vaults displayed in the photos below.
Interesting to note that there are more burial areas in the vicinity, however they are on private lands the government is unable to access.
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| Burial grounds ahead |
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| Burial area/burial vault |
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| Read all about it! |
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| More facts! |
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| Leading to burial area |
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| Burial grounds |
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| Another view |
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| Replica burial urns |
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| More facts. |
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| Even more facts. |
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| Different view |
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| Third burial area |
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| Homes adjacent to burial grounds |
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| More info! |
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| Different perspective on first burial area. |
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| Dedication |
I joined an Arboretum night tour for my chance to see a Grey Slender Lori. Little did I realize the chances of seeing a lori were slim. The universe continued to be benevolent, blessing me with witnessing two different loris! My guide as super enthusiastic about his job, especially when he was successful in finding the two loris!
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| Info abounds |
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| Vampire bats |
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| Another type of bat |
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| Unnamed sleeping bird - sorry! |
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| Lori #1 |
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| Lori #1 |
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Look closely!
There is a spider on this tree |
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| Lori #2 |
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| Lori #2 |
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| Lori #2 |
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| Scorpion spider - I think |
I mean who can refuse the opportunity to witness a mountain of rose quartz???
Background: 'Is the largest rose quartz mountain range in South Asia, covering 260 acres and reaching heights of 180-300 meters above sea level. The mountain range is believed to be over 550 million years old and features stunning rose quartz deposits, ranging from pale pink to deep rose hues. The surrounding Ironwood forest is one of the largest in Sri Lanka, a testament to the island’s rich biodiversity. Historical records suggest a Buddhist monastery dating back to the 8th century AD.'
The hike is about 2 km long on a mostly paving stone walkway. There is a scramble over a rocky surface to reach a Buddha statue and, then, onto a higher elevation to see the entire mountain range. I was blessed to have the park to myself for the hike. Best to complete the hike in the early morning as you are unprotected from the hot sun when you are on the rock surface!
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| Entrance acknowledgements |
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| More stuff to read |
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| More facts and background |
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| Paving stone walkway |
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More walkway through
Ironwood Forest |
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| Getting close |
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Monk who was a driving force for the
park. I met him as I was leaving the park |
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| Temple area |
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| Temple area |
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| Temple area |
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| Temple area |
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| Scenic stream |
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| Initial destination |
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| Pink quartz |
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| Surrounding area - from Buddha site |
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| Surrounding area - from Buddha site |
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| Surrounding area - from Buddha site |
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| Buddha |
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| On my way to a higher peak |
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| View from a higher elevation |
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| Looking across the valley |
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| At the top |
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| On my way down |
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| Looking up to higher elevation |
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| Flora sample |
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| Ironwood tree |
Fauna
My tuk tuk driver spotted this lizard on our return trip to the homestay!
Colombo
I returned to Colombo via an air conditioned luxury bus. What a godsend! Cost for the 3.5 hour ride was 1300 rupees (~ $5.69 CAD/$4.19 USD). The ride was faster than the train and was direct to the Colombo bus stand. Uber had me back to my hotel in 15 minutes.
Trains & Traffic
Colombo's public transportation (trains and buses) have seen their better days. The commuter trains are dirty, rusty and old. The buses are also very well used!
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Creating new lanes in the oncoming
traffic! |
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| Why I avoid driving in Sri Lanka |
Bing Chun
Hard to believe I was unaware of this chain of ice cream/tea shops given it claims to have 3500 outlets worldwide! I enjoyed a mango sundae and a vanilla ice cream cone!
Friends
I was blessed to be treated like a family member by the staff of my hotel. Samuel, the supervisor, greeted me like a long lost friend on my first three night stay. He advised my room had been upgraded so I had a fabulous unobstructed view of the Indian Ocean from the 8th floor. Samuel was incredibly kind and thoughtful to reserve an upgraded room for my return stay on March 5. I discovered, on my return, my upgraded room was a one bedroom suite on the 5th floor with the same unobstructed view of the Indian Ocean. How blessed I am!
I did leave a half dozen home baked cookies with the reception team on my first visit along with a dark chocolate bar for Wishvu (a fellow chocolate lover) for helping me secure a cricket match ticket. On my return I did find the elusive white chocolate bar for Hansi thanks to Samuel's advice. I also left more chocolate with the reception team.
I am grateful for the kindness and thoughtfulness of the following new friends who work at the hotel:
Reception: Dinushika Hansi, Samuel, Wishvu, Javindu and Minura
Food & Beverage: Muthu, Sammani and Javindu
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| My extended family |
Sunsets
I was blessed to witness three beautiful sunsets over the Indian Ocean during my stay. I had my favorite perch on the ninth floor terrace overlooking the ocean. These will be the last sunsets over water to share until I reach Sumatra's west coast in mid-April.
Thursday, March 5
Friday, March 6
Saturday, March 7
Next Week
I'm off to Nepal on Sunday morning. I'll spend my first four nights in Nagarkot which is about an hour northeast of Kathmandu. The promise of beautiful views of the Himalayas from my hotel has enticed me to this destination. I spend Thursday night in Kathmandu before heading, by bus, to Tanahun District for the start of my escorted five village trek. The village of Gahateri is where the water project I helped to fund is located.
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