The 7 hour scenic train journey from Ella to Kandy was beautiful, rated as one of the most awesome train journeys in the world (not by me, check it out on tinternet).

It was a ‘buy tickets on the day’ situation and you know how twitchy I get about not having things planned and booked in on my 7 page itinerary spreadsheet, so we devised a plan about John getting to the train station the minute it opened to buy our tickets, (£3.50 for four people!) he staked his claim at the front of the queue and didn’t budge. I obviously needn’t have worried as we easily got tickets with plenty of time and space to spare.

We accidentally sat in 3rd class with our 2nd class tickets, it didn’t matter we were happy and comfortable on our 6 seater (2 x 3 opposing) benches with lying down room for the kids…it was 6.40am after all. My good friend Karen Hadgett had taken this trip, before so I was looking forward to it based on her recommendation.

It didn’t disappoint – breathtaking views across tea plantations, mountains, waterfalls, rivers, ravines and locals going about their daily life.

The train got busier the closer we got to Kandy and was so crowded by the end that 2 local guys had to help us with our 8 bags by shoving them through the windows onto the platform.

Ananda our next host was waiting for us at the station.

Our new home was a homestay (Hanthana Holiday Rooms) with Ananda, his wife Namilka and their son Sudoo, a beautiful house with 8 guest rooms, 3km out of Kandy city – uphill into the mountains, no mosquitoes and a cold breeze with a temp of around 25*.

its was a lovely large home but I like a my freedom and privacy and I felt a bit too looked after, the hosts were always around and I felt like we had to be on our best behaviour – good behaviour is not my strongest point.

Kandy city is exactly as it is – a city, noisy, dusty, busy, chaotic, its saving grace is its lake which gives a cool breeze. We tuktuked up to the giant hilltop Buddha which can be seen from anywhere in the city and by now we’re feeling all Buddha-ed out.

On our penultimate day in Sri Lanka we visited a Spice Garden (a surprise stop with an Ayervidic massage, tea and sales patter) before climbing 1200 steps up Sirigiya Rock (Lion Rock), this was initially exhausting in the blazing sun but became more tolerable the higher we got. It was so beautiful and the views were exhilarating. We saw no other children climbing and our two got lots of praise, hand shakes, head nods, laughs and smiles from other climbers for their strong efforts – to us, it was just another hike. Both kids loved it with no moans or strops. The 360* view at the top was sublime. Arlo even found his favourite thing up there, no not ice cream…street dogs.

On the way home we stopped at the Cave Temple in Dambulla, by now I’d seen more temples than a hairdresser and couldn’t be bothered but John persuaded me to give it a try and I’m glad he did, it was the most beautiful one I’d seen so far because it was actually carved into a rock cave and the Buddha was lying down- my favourite position.

Best things about SL: the people, the mountains, the beaches, the views.

Worst thing about SL: the litter, the carbohydrates, lack of raw veg and salad.

We leave for Singapore soon and I’ll end SL with an absolutely positive recommendation to you lot should you be thinking about visiting Sri Lanka – just  do it!