Here I'm posting slideshows of all the boutique hotels we stayed in, beginning with Villa Araliya where we arrived at about 2:30 am, got to sleep around 3:00 am and then left the same morning for Kandalama at 9:00 am. We were both really tired all day but had to keep our eyes open to see what we were driving by. I wasn't entirely successful, but did ok.

Kandalama is a gorgeous hotel built into the side of a cliff, blending in to the surroundings as much as any building can. It was designed by the famous Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa and was the first hotel in the world to get an award for being "green." The pictures show our room, some hotel views, our amazing views of the tank and the jungle, the grounds and local wildlife. We stayed here for 4 nights and did quite a bit of touring during the day to Dambulla Cave Temples, Habanara for an elephant ride and jeep safari in Kandulla National Park, and Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya Lion Rock.

The next place we stayed was Kandy House, which is an old home owned by the last minister to the King of Kandy. It was refurbished in 2005 by an associate of Geoffrey Bawa. We spent 2 nights here, but would have liked to spend another night. It was very pleasant and relaxing and it might have been fun to wander around Kandy another day. While here we went to the Temple of the Tooth and spent some time in Kandy walking around.

And last but by no means least, we stayed 4 nights at Tea Trails. It was the perfect place to finish our time in Sri Lanka. Kathie did a superb job in planning this trip. There are lots of activities we could have done, like whitewater rafting or mountain biking or taking long hikes with a guide or even just going to some of the other bungalows, but all we wanted to do at that point was to relax and allow ourselves to be thoroughly pampered. We did go on the tea factory tour, which is an absolute must! and we did the local Castlereigh hike where we met so many friendly people. The school kids had fun practicing their English with us and enjoyed seeing their pictures after I took them. While staying there I read a book written in 1900 called "Golden Tips" about the Ceylon tea industry. Comparing what I read in that book to what I saw on the trail, things don't appear to have changed all that much for these folks. I am doing a seperate photo montage of the tea manufacturing process from picking tea to processing it in the factory, packing it and finally tasting it.