Sri Lanka




From India, we headed down to Sri Lanka, flying into Colombo where I met with my parents and two siblings. Michelle and Charlie left us here to begin their own adventures, and after one night at the beautiful Galle Face Hotel in Colombo (a must-stay, simply to sip a gin and tonic as you watch the sun go down over the Indian Ocean!) we made our way to the town of Anuradhapura. Here we explored the ancient Buddhist ruins, dagobas (or stupas), and saw the Bodhi Tree and its surrounding temple.

We made our way to Sigiriya, where we climbed the famous rock fortress. Dating from the 3rd to the 5th century, this elaborate fortress palace was built into the rock at the top of a mountain, and still has beautiful rock fresco paintings which are marvellously in tact. We also went on a fabulous, although very wet and rainy, elephant safari and saw many, many elephants in the wild. What was probably the most poignant happening of all, however, was the night we were invited to have dinner at the little mud hut of a local family, who made us the most amazing traditional Sri Lankan meal on their clay stove (complete with eating with our hands!) and sang us Sri Lankan songs.

Our next stop was Kandy, where we visited the Sacred Temple of the Tooth, and then on up into the mountains and tea country, where we stayed in Nuwara Eliya. Here we drank lots of delicious ceylon tea, and did a magnificent 9km walk (for which we had to wake up at 5am for!) in Horton Plains National Park to World's End - a breathtaking look-out across the mountains and valleys and forest. Our next stop was Udawalawe, and here we went on another elephant safari where we got ridiculously close to some very noisy young elephants!

Our final stop was Hikkaduwa, a famously hippy beach town along the east coast of Sri Lanka. Here we spent four wonderful days relaxing, seeing wild sea turtles, swimming, surfing and snorkelling. We also made the journey to the famous architect Geoffrey Bawa's house, which I fell in love with (and which I haven't included photos from in this post as I'm planning on doing a separate post for it). From Hikkaduwa, we made our way back up to Colombo where we departed for home.

Here are some of the photos I took on my iPhone 4s of the wonderful Sri Lanka.


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India



Despite having spent a very significant portion of my year last year overseas, I was blessed enough to be eased back into real life very slowly upon my return with the opportunity to go to India and Sri Lanka. A family friend was going to India for the birthday of a close friend and was taking her daughter Michelle, a year younger than me, and Michelle's friend Charlie, and asked if I wanted to come too. Six years ago, I travelled to India with my family, and I have the fondest memories of that holiday - India was like nothing I had ever seen before, it was the most amazing cultural learning experience, and ever since then I've intended to return. So, of course, I said yes!

Straight after Christmas we set off, and after an initial (major) hiccup involving flight stuff ups we arrived in Mumbai, where we spent the majority of our time. We also spent time in Madhya Pradesh, around Jabulpur, where we stayed in a tiger sanctuary, went on safari, and took a boat ride in the village of Bhedaghat, down the Narmada River, which is lined with magnificent limestone cliffs.

We were in Mumbai over New Year's Eve, and man was it a party! The group of people we were with, mostly from the States, knew people who lived in Mumbai, and so we spent the night dancing on the rooftop terrace of their friend's apartment, drinking and feasting, and honing our Bollywood dance skills. Mumbai was filled with much drinking, a huge amount of delicious eating (ah, authentic Indian food…), lots of shopping, with a bit of culture thrown in. We visited the famous Gateway to India, as well as the former Prince of Wales museum, which had a wonderful collection of not only Indian sculpture and historical artefacts, but also Nepalese and Tibetan displays.

From India, we made our way down to Sri Lanka, which I'm in the process of making a post about! In the mean time, here are a few of the photos that were taken on my iPhone 4s in India.


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England



From Scotland, Phoebe and I made our way down to our first stop in England; the beautiful Lakes District. We stayed in the adorable, quaint little village of Grasmere, famous for its gingerbread slice and for being the home of Wordsworth, and spent our time wandering around the classic English town, having tea and scones, and walking around the lakes. The most wonderful afternoon was spent climbing up a mountain, and looking out across the magnificent rolling hills and down to the lakes and little houses and towns below us, feeling the cool air bite our cheeks and fill our lungs. My phone decided to die on me as we did that walk, so unfortunately I have no photos, but it meant I was totally focused on the wild nature around me, mentally soaking it all of it up.

From the Lakes, we headed down to London, where we stayed with a girl Phoebe had met earlier this year in France. We spent a wonderful few days doing all the classic sightseeing, visiting museums, wandering the city (I hate paying for transport when I have two perfectly capable legs, and what better way to get to know a city than to walk everywhere?), visiting the famous Portobello Road markets and eating delicious fresh market food, drinking lots of cider, vintage shopping at the wonderfully grungy Camden Town, eating out at Covent Garden (the best Mexican I've ever had), and having a girly cocktail night.

We then made for Brighton, where we stayed with two girls we had met whilst in Croatia. We had an awesome night out at a club right on the beach, ate fish and chips on the pier, explored the North and South Lanes - wonderful winding lanes filled with little boutique shops, vintage shops, cosy cafes and bakeries - and wandered around the famous pavilion.

It was from Brighton that Phoebe left me, to make her way back home. My last travelling companion departed, and so began my solo travels! I spent a couple of extra days in Brighton, to get my head around travelling alone, where I explored the Brighton pier, spent lots of time in cosy cafes, and went on a lovely bike ride along the coast line. I then made my way back up to London, and caught a night bus/ferry across to my next stop, Belgium.

Here are a selection of photos from the Lakes, London and Brighton, taken on my iPhone.






































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