We rung in January at an island resort in Myanmar called Wa Ali, then proceeded to Sri Lanka and Singapore via Thailand. Sri Lanka was a totally new country for us - very similar to Southern India but with its own culture and style.
Wilpattu National Park, Sri Lanka
We flew into Colombo, Sri Lanka and spent the night before driving to Leopard Trails Safari Camp, a tented safari camp, just outside Wilpattu National Park. We spent a couple of days there doing game drives in the park, looking for leopards. We got close but never got a clear view of a leopard. We did see lots of other wildlife, though.
Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka
After a couple of nights in Wilpattu, we drove to Anaradhapura, an ancient capital of Sri Lanka, where we stayed in villa at the Ulagalla Resort.
In Anuradhapura we visited some Buddhist temples and a meditaton garden for monks.
Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
We then drove to Sigiriya, stopping on the way for a martial arts demonstration and a visit with a solitary monk.
In Sigiriya, we stayed at the Water Garden Resort and climbed a massive ancient rock fortress called Lion's Rock. the gardens around the rock are considered an example of early urban planning. The view from the top of the rock was spectacular.
On the way out of town we visited the Golden Buddha temple with lots of Buddhist art in caves and lots of entertaining and curious monkeys. Finally we stopped at a spice planation where we had spice making demonstrations and lunch.
Kandy, Sri Lanka
We spent the night in Kandy, the old capital of Sri Lanka, and went to the Temple of the Tooth where we saw the ritual bathing of the tooth relic. Our guides arranged ritual-appropriate clothing for us.
At dinner we enjoyed a traditional dance arranged for us. We shared with the other guests, who were grateful. The next morning, we went to the botanical garden , which was where Lord Mountbatten made his headquarters for Southeast Asia Command in WWII. Afterwards, we boarded the train to Hatten.
Tea Trails, Sri Lanka
We took the train from Kandy to Hatton - into the mountains and stayed at Tea Trails - a set of bunglaows within the tea plantations. The plantations were set on a hillside overlooking a large lake. The plantations were still in production, with tea growing on the hillsides picked by Tamil women who took their crop to the tea factories - which we toured. There were five bunglows scattered through the plantations - formerly homes of plantation owners. Each was different, all were luxurious. We stayed at the Dunkeld Bungalow and had lunch at the Castleigh and Norwood bunglaows.
On Friday, January 10, we walked down the hill to the local tea fractory for a tour. Unfortunately it was a holiday so the factory was not operating, but we got a sense of how it worked. Of course, the pickers were still working. After the factory tour, we walked to Castleigh bunglaow for lunch then back to Dunkeld for a swim and dinner.
The next day we were driven to the Norwood Bungalow for lunch and walked back to Dunkeld through the tea fields - passing through a small picker village and seeing spectacular views of the lake.
Colombo, Sri Lanka
On our final day in Sri Lanka, we drove down the mountain to Colombo, the biggest city and capital. We had lunch at a popular tourist spot - the Rainforest Cafe, toured the city and got a private tour of the old fort area - which had been restored. We finished our Sri Lanka tour with dinner at the Ministry of Crab before boarding our flight to Singapore.
Singapore
Our re-entry into the modern world was three days in Singapore. We flow overnight from Colombo, Sri Lanka and emcamped in The Warehouse, a trendy hotel on the Singapore river about a mile upstream of downtown and an easy walk to Orchard Road. It was a great base from which to explore Singapore - starting with the river front itself. We were in a very trendy neighborhood with lots of apartments, bars, and restaurants. We walked to the Fullerton Hotel on Marina Bay.
We walked around Marina Bay to the Sands Casio complex across from the downtown core.
Saw fabulous views from the Sands Casino Observation deck. We got a great 360 view of the city and out to sea.
We took a water taxi from the Sands Casino up the Singapore River toward our hotel.
We toured Singapore's Little India, and also visited the Sultan Mosque.
We toured Chinatown and visited the wet market (pre COVID-19). We visited the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum and the Maxwell Hawker food center for lunch.
Throughout Singapore's Little India and Chinatown, we saw wonderful wall murals.
We toured the Cloud Forest at the Gardens by th Bay.
We walked from our hotel through a bunch of high rise residences to the Orchard Road shopping area.
We stopped by the newly renovated Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar.
We departed Singapore on January 16 and flew to San Francisco. In flight, Jon watched Crazy Rich Asians. It was amazing to see all of the places featured in the movie that we had just visited.