Today I decided to pluck up the courage and give the hike a go. We left at 6am without breakfast. 

It was a walk from our beautiful hotel, through the knuckles mountain range, so if I couldn’t continue I just needed to walk back. I decided to take it a bit at a time and after 2 hours I got to the top. The views were incredible, and along the way we saw little villages, and our local guide showed us spices and herbs like cloves, black pepper and lemon grass. 

On the way down I had a minor hallucination – thinking a dog was attacking me when in reality it was just my scarf… I was hungry okay. 

Afterwards we had some breakfast and then shortly headed on the bus to Kandy to learn about Ayerveda, meaning life knowledge. This talk was about the history of the traditional herbs used in the practice as well as a discussion of the difference in using a holistic approach vs. Modern medicine. This was quite interesting. 

We then headed on to the city centre and did a walking tour with our guide. We walked all around the lake in Kandy city and then down the main streets. We also saw an elephant and although he was well looked after it was sad to see him chained up. I really do hope I get to see an elephant in the wild on our safari. 

We then headed back to our hotel and enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner. After nearly 33,000 steps today I will certainly sleep well tonight! I have to climb 1200 steps tomorrow so am a little nervous.

Night all, 

A girl with an appetite for all things creative,

Maria x