Then the whistle-stop coach tour of the teardrop island began. We went to Sigiriya and many of us made the hair-raising climb up the side of the l200ft high rock to see the ancient palace remains on the top - truly amazing. We visited the elephant orphanage although we were unable to see the elephants bathing in the river as the monsoon had started; did it rain! We went on an elephant ride; Anne Rowett is a natural! Next, we travelled to Kandy and saw the Temple of the Tooth and then on to the beautiful green hill country to see tea plantations and a tea factory. We visited a jewellery shop where some of our party bought star sapphires and rubies. Our journey ended with a few days at a beach hotel on the Indian Ocean. This was stunning; beautiful white sand, palm trees and the ocean lapping on the shore. We all swam here but the weirdest thing was being in a pool with huge bats flying overhead, especially as it was almost Hallowe’en. It was here that we had a fabulous fish banquet - any fish you fancied from the basket of fish caught that day - forget the farmed salmon or frozen pre-packed supermarket stuff, this was REAL fish!

The most poignant part of the trip was a visit to the beach resort to Kasgoda, a village wiped out by the tsunami but now mostly rebuilt. Some of the money raised by our church went to helping this very village and one lady very proudly showed us all around her newly-built little bungalow. It was all very moving and put life into perspective.

This is really a very brief description of a wonderful holiday that included temples, churches, elephants, monkeys, bats, monsoon, silks, sapphires, tea, spices and endless discussion of the comparative merits of various anti-malarial tablets! It was certainly a holiday to remember in a beautiful country with incredibly friendly and handsome people who need tourism to help their economy. Do go and discover its delights - but you might not be lucky enough to have Brian and Ramani to take you there!"

Source: Liz Butler, The Spire Magazine - 2006 January