Christine - Around The World

December 21, 2025 - January 5, 2026

Sunday, December 21	Drive Las Arenas, Spain - Madrid, Spain Flight Madrid, Spain - London, England - Colombo, Sri Lanka
Monday, December 22	COLOMBO Arrival in Colombo
Tuesday, December 23	Drive COLOMBO - SIGIRIYA Pidurangula Rock
Wednesday, December 24	SIGIRIYA Sigiriya Lion Rock Hiriwadunna Lake
Thursday, December 25	Drive SIGIRIYA - DAMBULLA - KANDY Dambulla Cave Temple Dambulla Golden Temple Kandy Temple of the Tooth
Friday, December 26	Drive KANDY - ELLA Kandy Central Market Kandy Bahirawa Kanda Buddha Statue
Saturday, December 27	ELLA Little Adam's Peak Nine Arches Bridge Kombukara Waterfall
Sunday, December 28	Drive ELLA - TISSA Waterfalls swimming Tissa Wewa Reservoir
Monday, December 29	TISSA Yala National Park Safari
Tuesday, December 30	Drive TISSA - TANGALLE - UNAWATUNA Tangalle Beach Dondra Lighthouse Unawatuna Beach
Wednesday, December 31	UNAWATUNA Jungle Beach, Diving, Unawatuna Beach, Pool, Relax
Thursday, January 1	UNAWATUNA Hikkaduwa Beach, Pool, Relax
Friday, January 2	UNAWATUNA Dalawella Beach, Pool, Relax
Saturday, January 3	UNAWATUNA Diving, Unawatuna Beach, Pool, Relax
Sunday, January 4	Drive Unawatuna - Colombo Flight Colombo - Doha, Quatar
Monday, January 5	Flight Doha, Quatar - Madrid, Spain Drive Madrid, Spain - Las Arenas, Spain

ANOTHER EXCITING FAMILY ADVENTURE!!!!!
BEAUTIFUL, PEACEFUL, SLOW MOVING, FRUSTRATING (at times), EMOTIONAL (at times) and, in the end, VERY MEMORABLE!!!

I had been really looking forward to this trip. Sri Lanka was a place I had wanted to visit for a long time. I had originally put together an itinerary for Sri Lanka back in 2013, and ever since then it had been one of those trips I wanted to do with Satcha, Maya and Noa. It seemed to have everything: temples, wildlife, beaches, diving...it sounded like the perfect mix. When I was on sick leave earlier in the year, I finally had the time to really plan everything in detail, which made it even more exciting to see it actually happen.
Then, just weeks before we left, Sri Lanka was hit by a devastating cyclone. Flooding, deaths, and a state of emergency. We seriously questioned whether we should still go. We worried about safety, about infrastructure, and also about whether it felt right to "vacation" in a country that had just been through so much. After a lot of emails with the hotels, our driver, and the tour guides we had booked — and a lot of talking between ourselves — we decided to go. Tourism is an important source of income, and the areas we were visiting were not heavily affected.
So...off we went on our adventure!!!

Colombo & the Cultural Triangle
We arrived in Colombo after a very long travel day and were immediately hit with heat, humidity, traffic, honking, tuk-tuks, spicy food, and chaos. Classic Southeast Asia. I love it!!!
After checking into the hotel, Maya and Noa went straight to the pool — the hotel pools quickly became a theme of this trip. No matter how long the drive or how hot and tired we were, seeing them so happy and excited to jump into every pool made it totally worth it.
That first night we visited the Floating Temple, beautifully lit and peaceful, which felt like a calm introduction to the country. We also saw the Lotus Tower from afar.
From Colombo we headed north to Sigiriya. Seeing wild elephants walking along the road was already a "WOW, we are really here" moment. Sigiriya itself was impressive, but not without drama. Our attempt to watch sunset from Pidurangala Rock turned into one of those travel moments where everything goes wrong at once: crowds, nerves, yelling, crying, disappointment...and being literally 10 steps from the top and having to turn around. Not fun.
Thankfully, the next morning made up for it. We climbed Lion's Rock (in only 20 minutes!!!) early to catch the sunrise — or at least tried to. Clouds and rain had other plans, but once it cleared, the views from the top were incredible and totally worth the early wake-up. Later that day we wandered around lakes and local areas, saw more elephants, and, of course, ended the day with more pool time.

Temples, Markets & Mountains
We continued on to Kandy, stopping at the Dambulla Cave Temple and the Golden Temple along the way. Beautiful, peaceful, interesting, hot, sweaty...but absolutely worth it. Kandy itself was busy and chaotic, but also a very fun city to be in. We visited the Temple of the Tooth, the Central Market, Bahirawa Kanda Buddha Statue, and walked around the streets. Christmas dinner at a rooftop restaurant with card games was a fun way to end the day. And, a freezing night swim for ALL of us in the Kandy hotel pool still happened!!!
From Kandy we drove into the mountains toward Ella — tea plantations, winding roads, misty views, waterfalls...so beautiful. In Ella we hiked Little Adam's Peak, zip-lined (SO FUN), walked across the Nine Arches Bridge, and swam in waterfalls. It felt adventurous but relaxed at the same time. Watching Maya and Noa laugh, splash, and completely forget everything else while swimming — whether at waterfalls or hotel pools — was one of my favorite parts of the entire trip.

Yala National Park Safari
From the mountains we headed south to Tissamaharama for a full-day safari in Yala National Park. We saw a lot of animals — elephants, crocodiles, deer, jackals, birds — and yes, we DID see a leopard! It was laying up on a rock, completely camouflaged in the bushes, and we really had to look to spot it...but it was there, and it absolutely counts!!!
That said, the sheer number of jeeps was overwhelming. At times it felt less like a safari and more like a traffic jam. The safari was nice, but it also confirmed for me that if I do another safari, it will be in Africa.

Coast, Diving & Slowing Down
The last part of the trip was spent on the coast in Unawatuna. Beach time, pool time, tuk-tuk rides, slow meals, souvenir shopping, and lots of card games became our routine. Maya and I went scuba diving a few times together, which was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. I love diving with her — we're calm, in sync, and just enjoy being underwater together.
The beaches were beautiful, but had more waves than we expected and were also very crowded. Seeing turtles up close was amazing...and also sad, because of how many people were feeding and touching them.
There was also that day — my emotional meltdown day — where expectations, exhaustion, and reality all collided. Not every moment was magical. Traveling as a family means navigating moods, fears, disappointments, and patience (or lack of it). That day was hard, but it passed.
The following days were better: calm waters, turtles swimming around us, pool games, laughter, and a really wonderful last dinner playing hearts while waiting for our food.

In the End
Sri Lanka is intense in its own way. It's hot, crowded, spicy, chaotic, and overwhelming at times. But it's also incredibly beautiful, full of wildlife, history, and smiling people. Most of all, it gave me memories I'll never forget.
It wasn't a perfect trip — and that's okay. It was real, emotional, adventurous, and very us.

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