Safari at Yala National Park

I think Sri Lanka is like 6 vacations in 1! We were in the jungle, mountains, hills, agricultural, ancient ruins, and now on a Safari that made me feel like we were at a game park in Africa. 

Our fantastic guide/driver told us before we planned the trip that this Yala National Park would be the place to go! He was right, we all loved it, and were glad we went economically the rest of the time so we could go there. It amounted to $207 total for all 7 of us to go, and it was the splurge of the trip (beside Perahera... Another story) so that gives you an idea about how frugal you can be in Sri Lanka while having a stellar time!

Greece

Jason and I got a beautiful 5 day getaway when he went to a conference in Greece. The hotel was paid for, so I just booked a cheap ticket and joined him. I love that so many destinations I never dreamt of visiting are so easily accesible from Dubai! 

We had a great trip, and the kids had a blast at hime with a nanny. 

I went exploring and got a souvineir haircut while Jason was conferencing :)

 

We also had an all day stop over in Istanbul so we went exploring. Two trips in one!

Kandy in pictures

Sigiriya

Our next stop had a TV which instantly captivated the kids, but not for long because in the morning we were off adventuring again!

Our awesome driver found the accomodations in our price range which was great, and he also knows the best places for the best deals, so our free breakfasts have been especially lovely in these beautiful locations!

The spot for the day was Sigiriya rock, 7th wonder of the world. Not really actually, but that's what our guide said, and actually Sri Lanka proudly claims it is the 8th wonder of the ancient world.

Do you see how the monkeys were jusy hanging out in this backyard like the squirrels in Bowling Green?

The actual huge rock was more than we wanted (for a hike with littles, and for the price) but we had a really nice time exploring the ancient ruins, and found several rocks more our size.

I love these crazy twisty trees!

Just down the road we went on a village tour which was well worth the stop! 

We rode in a bullock cart

And floated along through the lilly pads

And then enjoyed the presentation village where we saw how rice is processed,

Climbed their treehouse,

Tried our hand at the rice process, and then enjoyed a delicious traditional meal on a lilly pad. 

Then we took a tuk tuk back to the start.

A dip in the hotel pool, curry dinner on the terrace, and we call it a day.