After Gede we retreated back to the tourist trail and on up to the more famous Northern Gilis. Gili Trawangan was our first stop and the Trawangan Oasis five minutes walk from the beach with a lovely pool and air con rooms, which after not even fans and only 6pm-12pm of electricity on Gili Gede felt like the height of civilised luxury.

The impact of an island nation with a big population continues to be evident in Lombok and the (what should be) beautiful beaches of South West Lombok. 
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​Our travels have taken us to our fifth country, Indonesia. Over 200 million people in the biggest Island Nation in the world. Over 17,000 islands and in the last two weeks we've so far made it to four of these. Only 16,996 to go!

​We caught the train from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi which was hot (3rd class with fans but not much breeze). Despite the heat, the journey was great. The train was quiet and Otto got to sleep the whole way.

​The border crossing from Cambodia to Thailand was the usual mix of being quietly ripped off for everything from bag carriers to taxis plus mild panics about loosing kids and or bags whilst trying to complete arrival and departure cards, but we made it relatively unscathed. We arrived at the port by Trat around midday and caught the 12:30 princess ferry to the gorgeous island of Ko Kood or Ko Kut as some write it.

We spent four days on the island but could easily have stayed longer. The beaches were amazing, white sands, reefs for snorkeling from the beach, and a relaxing friendly vibe everywhere.

​We left Kampot to venture onwards to Sihanoukville, where we were to join the grandparents (my parents, Alan & Jeanette). But before meeting them we had 4 days to kill so we bought a ticket for the ferry to Ko Rong Samloem.

​Three nights in Kampot was easily extended to seven, thanks mostly to the great hospitality we had at Bohemiaz, a wonderful eco friendly resort just outide the town. Brian and Michelle the father and daughter team that run the place. Great food, a fussball table and a naturally filtered swimming pool complemented by a friendly troop of cats and dogs a large room with bunkbeds and even babysitting!!

​We have embraced the art of slow travel managing to over stay everywhere we've been so far in Cambodia. Firstly, Battambang kept us busy for five days despite the awkwardness of streets constantly being closed off for the filming of First They Killed My Father (a harrowing but highly recommended read). Followed by a seven night, or was it eight, stay in Phnom Penh.

​We are now in Cambodia after again being forced to  flee from Thailand owing to visa expiration. A number of countries were in the offing this time. Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia but we settled on Cambodia for a few reasons. Namely it looked the cheapest and it was an easyish overland crossing. Plus although we have been once before it was such a fleeting visit we felt up for exploring it in more depth.

Ao Thong Nan Pang Yai is one of the most beautiful beaches in Thailand; a crescent of soft sandy beach and green sea which is so sheltered and shallow it’s very safe for the kids.
The beach side has a scattering of restaurants most of which (in fact all except one) serve great food and good cocktails. The beach is also home to the Flipflop Pharmacy which appears on Conde Nast's best beach bars. It’s no Ty Cock but the swinging seats, pooltable, great views make up for the lack of Welsh accents. Before Kaney and Amanda arrived we’d already spent a few nights sampling the drinks in Flipflops. We’d also attempted and just survived the dusk scramble around the headland jungle to reach the posher (but nowhere near as nice) sister beach of Ao Thong Nan Pang Noi. We were covered in sweat and dirt after the scramble so looked just the part as we came down through the £200 a night private  pool villas. Despite our appearance we were still invited to dine at the £20 a head BBQ. That may not sound like a lot but it was nearly ten times what we sometimes payed for a meal. We politely declined the invitation and walked along the beach till we found the only cheap eat.
Kaney and Amanda arrived the following day (23rd - the day of the infamous full moon party: coincidence? I think not).
What a pleasure to see them and now we were 6 friends and the kids. Yey!
That night whilst the kids and I stayed on our beautifully serene idyll. The other 5 (Mikey, Al, Claire, Kaney and Amanda) all braved the neon face paint and full moon party t-shirt clad teens to dance till dawn on Hat Rin beach. I wasn't sorry to miss the hangover they all woke with and whilst a good night and many sangsam buckets were consumed, I think I'm happy to have missed out. I have partied on Hat Rin once before as a mere slip of a lass (24) and I'm happy to remember it back then.
The following night was Mikey's turn to babysit.  We headed up the road to the south end of the beach to a hilltop bar hoping the trek qould be worth it. And it was.
On arrival, there was not much room left to comfortably fit the 5 of us so they pointed to a step ladder and asked if we wanted to sit on the roof! Of course we said yes. Shakily with the aid of a tree we climbed onto the roof where we were brought cushions to get comfy on and cocktails to consume. After about 4 'one for the road's we were forced down from the roof by an encroaching thunder storm. Sitting on  the roof of the only building at the top of a hill didn't seem the wisest place for a drink. So another couple of roaders saw us drenched walking back home for the last night at Baan Puri bungalows on Ko Phagnan.
The next morning we awoke to continuing rain as the storm was well and truly upon us. The beach had disappeared and the sea had turned from into a surging mess of huge breakers. The closest bungalow to the beach which had yesterday been the prime lodging had been evacuated and was in the midst of being reclaimed by the sea. There was more excitement when a longtail boat that had been moored a few metres from shore was rescued by being hauled by about 30men, both locals and guests, right up onto the path between the bungalows and the restaurant. Even the staff weee videoing the storm so I can only guess it was unusually fierce.
And this was the day we were booked onto the ferry (well actually a smallish catamaran) to sail to Ko Tao.
Surely the boat wouldn't run in this storm?
Oh yes it would.
Well surely the boat must be safe if they decode to run?
Jury's still out on that one but needless to say we will not be getting a small boat in that kind of weather ever again.
As soon as we left the shelter of the island and hit the first couple of waves the whole boat screamed. After a few minutes everyone silenced probably in terror and it was only the biggest waves that elicited the odd terrified scream - the ones where the window view immediately alters between full sea and full sky and you have to hold the arm rests to remain on your seat.  It was like being on a rollercoaster but without the safety bars and with no guarantee that you were actually safe. 
Some poor soles had opted for the open air top deck and came in at various stages of the journey, when they'd summoned enough courage to climb down the external stairs and make it back inside. These people all shared the same look: wet through, wild eyed and shaken as of they had come face to face with death.
Once such unlucky soul slumped into a spare chair next to Claire and me and immediately burst into tears.
How were Jess and Otto, I hear you ask. Otto slept the whole way and Jess watched Frozen albeit with a bit of a moan as the screen kept toppling over.
When we pulled up to Ko Tao our nerves were shot but we were relieved to be safe. Or so we thought. Only to be scared witless once again in the taxi - back of a pickup - up and down semmingly vertical hills. Once again we were clinging on for dear life and also catching our loose luggage too.
After all that adrenaline we decided to rent scooters the next day to attempt the vertiginous slopes on our own. It was mostly successful and we found a beautiful beach Coral Bay. We only had to jump off the bike once on a particularly steep bit which to be fair had a warning sign for one rider only which we ignored only to run out of steam half way up the steepest bit. I managed to jump off with the kids and Mikes managed to push the bike up the hill with the help of Claire and Amanda (where were the boys??).
The evening saw us administering first aid to a Japanese girl who we witnessed coming a croper head first off her mountain bike on the descent to where we were eatimg dinner and apart from a minor skid by Al on the way home we'd made it through another day safely.
All that proved too much for us and the next day Claire and I booked in for a 2hr yoga class where we tried not to giggle at the ohmmm shanti shantis. Followed by booking into a gorgeous hotel with a hilltop infinity pool. And relax.
Our friends all abandoned us the next day and we left the islands uneventfully the day after. We've retreated a couple of hours up the coast to Bang Saphan Yai which is cheap and very quiet. We are at a lovely place called @myhome. It has the feel of a French campsite rather than a Thai beach place. Perfect for now. It has a big lawn for football, a nice restaurant, pool and table tennis, and even a petanque pit.
And relax some more.

So I recognise I haven't posted for a while, sorry. For the last two weeks or so since the last post we have been travelling with friends so less time for me to get on the web. I will attempt to catch up.
We arrived in Bangkok from Hanoi about 3 weeks ago and spent 4 days sorting out visas for Indonesia and enjoying (?!) the city.
Some days were great- visiting a water park on top of a shopping centre where the water slides felt like you were on the barclay card advert. Some days were a bit dull - standing in queues at embassies (hungover) trying to fill out forms.
But on the whole we had a great few days. We met a lovely couple from Pompei (Olly and Emma) who we had a few fun nights out with - we even convinced them to come to the water park with us. The kids loved them too so we had extra hands looking after the littluns.
After Bangkok we flew back to Phuket to meet Al and Claire.
What an amazing time we've had with them and Kaney and Amanda who met us a week later.
We enjoyed far too much Gin in Phuket but it was great to see friendly faces from home.
After relaxing on the beach for a day we went jungle in Khao Sok. We were staying in tree houses (well enormous bungalows built on stilts nestled in the trees). The monsoon rain that greeted us on arrival did little to dampen our love of the place. Within an hour of arriving an enormous explosion accompanied by a bright flash startled us a bit as lightening struck one of the karst cliffs towering above us. It blew the power for a few hours but it was back on before the sun went down so we could still enjoy an evening of cocktails in amongst the billion bugs.
The following morning saw the sun come out and we braved the inflatable canoes for a river trip. Snake count was 5. Four menacingly black and yellow striped ones and a relatively harmless small green one, which I made out I could see but if I'm being honest  without my glasses it could have been another cleverly disguised leaf. A tarzan swing halfway down provided quite few laughs at the bravado attempts.
Al and Claire came face to face with a band of monkeys raiding our tree houses for the remains of the kids choco breakfasts but we all escaped the jungle unharmed.
From the jungle we travelled to Ko Phangan off the East Coast of the Thai peninsula where we spent 6 days on a quiet, beautiful beach Thong Nan Pan Yai. It was here we were to meet Kaney and Amanda.
The beach was perfect. Shallow calm waters, beach toys aplenty, and loads of kids to play with. It was also pretty perfect for us grown ups too.

Bangkok-Phuket-Jungle-Islands

Hanoi just gets more fun everyday! There is a dramatic change in wealth here from the Vietnam we remember from 16years ago. There are huge shopping malls all around the city of Hanoi and even the smallest of them has some kind of entertainment attached.
Yesterday saw us at Royal City Mega Mall which is quite unbelievable. It was half deserted but brand new and filled with all the same shops as you'd see in Westfield. But what we came for was the Vinpearl indoor water park.... It was awesome for the kids and for us big kids. I tried to surreptitiously take the underwater camera in to take some pics but the amount of water tumbling and splashing down everywhere, every second made photography pretty tricky.
Our highlights were: Otto (who when we first came away didn't like his face  getting wet even in the bath) going on his own down two slides and through a waterfall tunnel.
Jess racing me down the big slides and winning thanks to her running bobsleigh-esque launch sequence.
And the kamikaze in the thrill seeker area. You climb into a capsule to the accompaniment of a loud heart beat before a countdown commences and the floor drops away from you plunging you vertically into darkness and spirals. What a rush! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhAmVxvy1Q0. 
Hanoi has felt like a holiday from our adventure. We've been taxi-ing everywhere, we've even made it to the cinema, albeit on separate nights , to see Star Wars.
We've been back to tiniworld and the zoo and managed a bit of shopping to boot. Phew. After all that I'm ready for a bit of peace and tranquility. Bangkok?!? We fly tomorrow.

We left Hanoi on 2nd Jan. The city was still recovering from its New Year's Eve party. Purely put on for the tourists and the expats as Vietnam celebrates New Year on the Chinese calendar, the city still went all out for it with stages and huge sound systems all around the lake and the big parks. Jess and Otto lasted till about 10:30 thanks to ice-cream bribes from the lovely Kim from our hotel. We watched the rest of the celebrations from our balcony.

We splashed out (again) on a cruise round Halong Bay. Our first ever cruise and it was pretty good - apart from the regimental timing for everything. Basically we were last to everything. Last to dinner and breakfast. Last to the boat for the cave tour. Last back on the boat after meandering through the cave. Last on the boat to the swimming beach and last back (we were the only ones brave enough to swim though....brrrrr!). safe. to the Kayaking. So last to get in the Kayaks they ran out of paddles for me and Jessy.

However, despite our appalling time keeping we enjoyed the cruise and we're now ensconced on Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay for a couple of nights before returning to Hanoi and the hustle and bustle again.
The weather has got better, warm enough for swimming and we've braved the mopeds again. There's not much traffic here so it feels pretty safe.
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Well we made it to Vietnam eventually and it's a chilly 16°c and raining so we're holed up in tiniworld (a soft play place with trampolines, ball pools and roller slides). The kids are in heaven. There's even Christmas tunes on!

Whilst most of you would have been nursing a hangover or watching football or cheesy Christmas films, boxing day for us saw the start of a two day testing journey up to Bangkok. We left the beauty of Ko Phayam at 10:00 after a great Christmas. Sharing the ferry with the supposedly famous Job2do was probably the highlight of the day. Definitely beat the bus journey that went turned from a promised 4hrs to 7. This was followed by taxi trying to rip us off and us hitching a lift with a lovely burmese couple to Pratchup Khiri Khan.  A quick beer and broken nights sleep was followed by another mammoth day of minivan to HuaHin and train to Bangkok and taxi to airport hotel which was so far away from the airport we very nearly missed our flight when we set off at 5:30am. We turned up to  huge queue at checkin with 55mins before takeoff and luckily were rushed through to the plane. Perfect timing if your nerves can stand it.
We're staying at Morning Hotel at the edge of the old quarter but near enough the lake to afford the kids a run around.
Otto is loving the cuisine whilst Jess is loving saying hello to everyone she sees.
Hanoi is a crazy, vibrant, beautiful shoppers paradise. We love it despite being ripped off shortly after arriving - I managed to pay £3 for a bunch of bananas!
We're here for 5 nights then off to Halong Bay cruising?
Happy New Year everyone and hope the Christmas festivities are going well. xxx

Finally we meet a fun family to hang out with. We've so far met quite a few lovely families but we have always been heading in different directions so have only ever got to hang out for a day or a few hours. In Ko Phayam long beach we met a great fun family from Bali or South Africa or London or all 3 and had a great few days nursing hangovers and enjoying hairs of the dog in the heat. Sarah and Rupert were on holiday (from home in Bali) with their son, Jeremiah) and due to a similar penchant for festive drinking and the good fortune that we all including the kids got on great together, we spent an easy few days enjoying the excessiveness of Christmas (minus the commercialism and the tv).
Ko Phayam was perfect for kids with no cars, great fun to be had on scooters and a huge safe beach to run themselves tired on. We would love to head back there and stay longer buy our visas were expiring so time to move on.

Hello and happy christmas everyone.
​So we have left the comfort of flashpacking with Shirls. It was great having Grandma out to see us. We visited Ko Jum after Ko Lanta which was a great experience. The ferry stops in the middle of the sea and a swarm of longtail boats pull up beside it and you have to negotiate dropping down kids, backpacks, and yourselves into the boats to get taken there. 
We stayed at Loma bungaows which was beautiful but did involve 180 steps to get up!
We had some awesome storms whilst staying there and were woken up by the monkeys !ost mornings.
From here we stayed on Ko Yao Yai in true flashpacker style complete with a private beach and an infinity pool! 
All in all a great 2.5 weeks and well worth the traumatic three hours when Mikey and Grandma left us in a hostel in Phuket for the send off at the airport.
​ We're struggling to feel very chrsitmassy but our current bungalows do have a Christmas tree and we may buy some Christmas hats from the shop for the big day. We're currently on Ko Phayam, a small island near the Myanmar border. It's fantastic. There's no cars and limited electricity but it has loads of great restaurants and lovely beaches and it's quite cheap (finally).
We've been on the island for a week so far and already feel very welcome. WIFI is a bit scarce though hence the lack of posts. The atmosphere here is very friendly with lots of families around.
Christmas day thhosting is hhosting a big by Thailand's no.1 band: Job2Do so there's plenty to keep us occupied and not too homesick. 
The kids are loving our bungalows at the minute thanks to a playground with swings and slides.
We hope to Skype on Christmas day so we'll speak soon. Love to you all.
​

 We found an airbnb rental a short Tuk Tuk ride from the beaches near Unawatuna. Two bedrooms and a large living room, kitchen diner for the same price we were paying for a double room in a hotel so it seemed to make sense. At first we felt a little away from it all after being at the beach and in hotels for so long but after the first morning of Kellogg’s Chocco's and racing round the house making as much noise as humanly possible we realised how much we’d missed a family home.
I’d even missed cooking (never thought that would happen!) Although it was slightly different cooking on a plug in dual electric hob to being used to ovens, grills, microwaves and 4 or 5 hobs at your disposal. We pulled off a variety of pasta and stir-fry delights and even enjoyed a leisurely bottle of chilled white wine with dinner one night.
The delight of having a bath for the kids to splash around and get a proper good wash was almost equal to the joy of having our own washing machine so with a number of boiling kettles poured into the top-loader we finally had some half clean clothes.
By the time the second morning came around we were flagging down our local Tune Pan driver for morning fresh baked bread and breakfast Rotis (a flatbread filled with eggs, veggies and hot spices!)
By the end of the week, the kids had learnt some basic Sinhalese and were buying the rotis for us. If only we had been a bit closer to a shop or the beach or had our own Tuk Tuk we would have stayed !longer. It has cemented in my head the idea that if we can find somewhere we !ike we’d love to settle in one place for a month. It feels like you get a c!oser to real life experience when living in your own home. Plus it’s a lot less money (breakfast loaves and rotis were 50p total)
We also got to see some other beaches whilst staying in the house. Jungle beach we visited on a Sunday – Sunday Funday in Sri Lanka when families along with groups of friends spend the day partying, down the beach. Young groups of guys drinking from early in the morning is a common site on a Sunday here but I guess that’s not so far removed from the Friday/Saturday night rituals in the UK.
In general it is always in good humour and the atmosphere at Jungle beach was lively but friendly when we were there. Jess and Otto helped bury a big Sri Lankan guy with their beach spades. And we swam in the sea in the pouring rain (me fu!ly clothed as we were the only Westerners on the beach and the Sri Lankan modesty doesn’t really sit well with swim suits or bikinis).
The heavens opened for our trek back up through the jungle back to the road. The steps had turned into a multitude of mini-waterfalls which made the carrying of two tired toddlers a bit tough but we needed the exercise. Travelling is making us lazy!

So we leave Sri Lanka tonight for Thailand. The first leg of our adventure over already. And in this last fortnight till we have discovered the two most beautiful beaches in the whole of Sri Lanka (of course we haven't seen more than maybe 5% of the beaches so there could be more spectacular ones but these two topped it for us) .
The first Dalawella, in the photo above. It was the nearest beach to our rented home from home which was inland from Unawatuna.
With a natural shelter of rocks and reef from the Sri Lankan surf which formed a millpond like swimming pool, at low tide it was perfect for us. Add to this the decent surf break beyond the rocks, turtles swimming three metres from the shore, a beach hut ten steps from the sea, two good restaurants (one of which with real stone baked pizza) and lots of sunshine. A recipe for total bliss. Thanks to those who recommended it along the way (Lisa from the great fb group families on the move: who we met in Unawatuna).
The second perfect piece of paradise: Hiriketiya, just south of Dickwella. Again a small cove and quite secluded, this time so small and hidden it was like  a secret find. Except everyone who's been there rates and recommends it so highly it won't be secret for long.
Thanks this time to the German couple we met in Sigarya who we bumped into in Galle one rainy day who let us in on the secret.
Hiriketiya is perfect. It has the obligatory coconut palms and a narrow opening of the headline at either side making it fairly sheltered for good swimming in a low swell. It also has two good surf breaks that saw Mikey battling his first waves proper of the trip. After a break of about 15 years from surfing the six foot pounders meant lots of falling off but he did get up (albeit briefly on lots).
The vibe here (I hate that word but it fits) was warm, relaxed, welcoming and friendly. We stayed at Marty's beach house with its immaculate four poster beds and all fresco hot showers it was our bit of a splash out for my birthday but was well worth it. Marty and his wife, George are Aussies from Bondi, who have been there for almost a year now and they have a great set up. Dinner on long tables all eaten together encourages a super friendly gathering of lovely people. Thanks to everyone for making my birthday so wonderful. Ross and Jo, from St Reatham, for the magazines and the Arrack! Andy and Alexandra, from Munich, for the good humour and the dark rum (Mikes had a very lazy day in a hammock after the celebrations). Celia and Lars, from Berlin, for great conversation, and looking after the kids perhaps better than we were! And Paul from Dublin for giving Mikey an ear to vent his football chat to finally.

We've had next to no WIFI for two weeks now but we are back in connection with tinterweb so finally can keep you updated on what we've been up to  and where we are. Since we last posted we've rented a holiday home in the jungle a short tuk tuk ride from an awesome beach Delewella.enjoyed living as a family home again and are now back in a hotel if you can call 3 rooms by a beach a hotel. 
We celebrated Otto's second birthday in style and have picked up a number of new toys from the kindness of strangers. Thanks go out to the lovely Swedish couple who gave us Sri Lanka Santa as he has been christened.
Also huge thanks to the guys at Black and Whites in Unawatuna for making the party so wonderful. And to Manjula at Wimals for surprising us with the balloons and birthday wishes on the door for when we returned from the beach.I can't believe we only have such a short time left in Sri Lanka. Here's some pics to explain the rest of our goings on in the past two weeks.

​Beachside again! Firstly, more culture in the ancient city of Polonnawaru, followed by a return to Kandy for shopping and sampling KFC and more local fare. Otto went a bit ​ with the ketchup to accompany his rice and omelette (the staple fare in the local spicy rotti/curry restaurants)
We were considering moving on from Kandy to a rafting resort, Kitugala, but after costing everything up: taxis - £75; accommodation - £100; rafting - £60, and checking how much we'd spent already we realised we needed to cut down a little. So instead we took the train down to Galle for Unawatuna.
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The train was a journey of two halves. We set off to get the midday train from Kandy which turned out to be running 3 hours late with a strong possibility it would be cancelled, so we booked an expensive seat on the exporail carriage leaving at 3 instead. When I say expensive, it was £7.50 for the 3hr journey.
We had the best seats on the train, right at the front of the exporail carriage 1C and 1D if anyone ever takes the same trip. Huge legroom (wasted on us, but useful for making floorbeds for the kids). Fantastic views and you can keep an eye on your luggage (not that anything seems likely to happen to it here). Air con. Movies. Free tea and coffee. Free chocolate muffins - my absolute favourite treat ever). All in all a pleasureable experience. 
But it was all change in Colombo. Mikey left the children, the bags and me on the platform whilst he went to buy tickets and for twenty minutes we watched countless trains filled to the brim, leaving with some pandemonium from the platforms: commuters jumping down onto the tracks to race over to moving trains, jostling to hang onto a doorway handle which already had about 20 people hanging off, and every possible space inside the carriages sardine like with bodies.
Friday night at 6pm leaving the capital for the suburbs and then south for the beaches. What were we thinking? Unsurprisingly, we were the only tourists attempting to board our train, but also the only people with kids and the only people with any luggage. It wasn't looking very promising.

However, we made it on after running down to the end of the platform (a good trick learned from London rush hour on the Northern Line). And with the kindness and assistance of lots of people in our carriage we got on. Someone gave their seat up for me so I had both Jessica and Otto on my lap and there was a carriage crowd surf with our bags to find a space for them in the luggage racks up high. We survived with a 20 turn round of ‘the wheels on the bus’ which saw chickens, crocodiles and elephants riding on board. We thinned out a little after a while and were able to get one of the Hudls we've brought with us and Frozen provided the entertainment for the remainder of the trip. Not only for me and the kids but also for the various commuters watching over our shoulders.
Our arrival in Galle, in typical thunderstorm, was then followed by a swift tuk tuk ride to our hotel, Wimals, where at 9pm (9 hours after we set off) the kids were put to bed and we were brought fried rice and cold beer. Phew!
Today the weather has been a delight. I think I've got my first sunburn (the Lady Diana suncream available here is not up to much) but we've had a great day on the beach and in the swimming pool.
We met up with a lovely Dutch family we've been e-mailing and ended the day with cocktails and ice-creams. All is good.
Unawatuna has changed in remarkable ways since we were here 4 years ago. The beach has got bigger - we thought it was a trick of our memories until we spoke to one of the staff at a beachside restaurant who confirmed there was a major re-construction of the beach itself with tonnes of sand being transported onto the beach adding about 30 metres to the tide line. But some of the same hotels and restaurants are still here: Lucky Tuna, Tartagula, Flower Garden, all familiar to us from the previous visit. Lucky Tuna is still playing the Brian Adams album that Ted left for them on the first visit.

​weather continues to be a bit mixed so we are continuing inland before heading back beach side. 
We left Kandy yesterday. Kandy is the biggest city we've seen yet - it even has a KFC, but alas no Chicken Cottage. 

We didn't explore much of Kandy but we did find a really nice playpark which the kids spent Saturday and Sunday morning in. It was full of slides, swings, climbing frames and loads of playmates so was a big hit. We were the only white people in there but otherwise it was exactly like a play park on a weekend at home - dads on duty and kids running riot. 

We also found a great bar/restaurant - Slightly Chilled Lounge, which had great views over the lake, good food, lovely staff and cold beers and cocktails. And relax...
We have travelled by taxi to Sigirya - the site of the ancient palace of King  Kasyapa built in AD477 it was the ancient capital, built as a city and fortress with a huge lion gate leading to the top of a 200 metre sheer rock.

History lesson over. It has 1200 steps, many of which are slippery rock or rickety iron and is beset with swarms of wasps, thieving monkeys and poisonous snakes. The perfect morning jaunt for a family of 4!
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Anyway, despite the searing heat and the nervous mother we all made it to the top. Jessica walked up every step to the top and Otto walked all but one flight (the steep iron lion staircase near the top). I felt suitably proud of them both and they earned a lollipop for their efforteffortss and a carry down. Thankfully, we had a carrier for one so I could still use both hands coming down. Which helped the nerves somewhat.

rain travel truly is the best way to get around this island with its unfathomable distances. A 60km journey can easily take 2.5 hours in a taxi and if you’re considering local buses then add at least another hour on maybe double it. The train is cheap and mostly comfortable – if you avoid the cockroach coach we were on in the south. You also benefit from stunning views which you can appreciate best from (carefully) hanging out the open doors!
The southern route from Colombo to Matara mostly follows the coast sometimesjust metres from the sea, while the central hill country route takes you round dramatic hillsides covered in tea plantations or lush forests and spectacular waterfalls. 
Plus there’s an abundance of lovely people ready to play hit balloon: although this game is fraught with danger (two balloons were lost out the window from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy.