Day 6-7 Negombo and leaving SL

The last stretch of the trip we headed west to Negombo. It is a beach town 20 minutes from the airport. The town was a fishing village with sandy beach (not as peaceful as the southern beaches). We spent our last night here, and departed back to Abu Dhabi. This was a truly amazing trip- such beautiful surroundings and people of Sri Lanka.

 A lady batiking ( a process of painting wax onto cloth, and then dieing sections to add color)

 Our Sri Lankan meal that our driver/tour guide took us too..so great..lots of spices, lentils, and coconut

 Kandy dancer

 We stopped at a spice farm on the way to Negombo- they grow everything for medicinal and other uses. This is a rubber tree- we saw every type of plant you could imagine. They produce and sell many natural medicines/remidies for your health.

 These guys are giving us a sample of the scalp treatment oil-comes from a plant they grow- to strengthen your hair.

 Artwork in Hikkaduwa..gorgeous.

 The monk tying on our string that they bless and chant with...guess you leave it on until it falls off for good luck.

Rathnayaka-our phenomenal tour guide.

Day 5-Kandy

Kandy was a city filled with culture and history. We went to gem store and saw how gems are farmed in Sri Lanka, visited a temple, and the elephant orphanage. The elephant orphanage is where they rescue hurt/disabled elephants, or baby elephants whose moms have been trapped or captured and keep them in a safe environment. We also went to a place down the road where we road an elephant. Such beautiful, loving  animals..

 temple of the tooth

baby elephant missing a foot...sweetest lilttle one

Day 4- Nuwara Eliya

We traveled 7 hours north from the beach inland to the highest place in Sri Lanka. It was cool and mountainous. We stopped at few places to sight see and toured a tea factory. Beautiful..

 tea factory

trying on a Sari

Day 3 Marissa Beach-Blue whales

We took a impromptu trip to a beach called Marissa. It was my favorite beach...very small and unique. We did a boat tour which took us about an hour out into the ocean..and we saw blue whales! The pictures do not do justice...they are huge creatures! First, you would see the back pop up over the water, and then about 10 seconds later the fin. They are big.

 Blue whale fin

 fishing boats

traditional way of fishing in SL..from on top a stick

 whale fin

to spot the whales they would look for them blowing the water up like a fountain...then we would drive the boat in that direction

snake charmer

sunsets

more Hikkaduwa pics

baby crocodile

monk

 little catamaran we rode on to go snorkeling

mangroves