Spectacular Sri Lanka!

Maldives was a tough act to follow, but I must say that Sri Lanka was up to the task. Wow - what a treasure this island nation is with its soaring mountains, terraced tea gardens (I've never seen so many different kinds of tea, including cinnamon tea - yum!), meandering peacocks, and captivating whale watching, and very affordable though some challenges with gasoline rationing - definitely a place I want to spend more time. Highlights included the gorgeous variety of flowers throughout the country, the Lotus Tower and Galle Face with its Sri Lanka-shaped shopping mall in Colombo, the memorial in Kilinochchi to the civil war with the Tamil resistance which ended in 2009, Point Pedro at the northernmost point in Sri Lanka, the baobab tree, banyan forest, Queen's Tower, and wild horses of Delft Island, the lovely beaches and spotted deer of Trincomalee, the climb up and view from Sigiriya, a World Heritage site, downtown Kandy, and seeing herds of elephants bathe in the river near the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage!