"SRI LANKS" - DEC. 22

This was my favourite breakfast ever. Listening to a monk tell Emily that even old people who can't walk (<---read that again) climb Adam's Peak.........was HILARIOUS. All three of us were on her case about climbing it with us, so when the monk joined in on the fun it was so exciting! "Ya, EM! Even OLD PEOPLE WHO CANNOT WALK DO IT!". Haha, in the end we backed off because hiking is not Gemily's forte.

The morning continued to make us laugh as one of the hotel staff told Colleen that she was "beautiful like the Mona Lisa". What a good pick-up line! Have you ever heard that one before?!



The tour day began with the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy (which is kinda like what the Vatican is to Catholic's). It holds the tooth of the Buddha, although some rumours suggest it may just be a replica. Either way, it was nice to be somewhere of such importance to the Buddhist community and to witness the rituals that were taking place inside. We had to avoid some areas due to claustrophobia (told ya - that spa-coffin really did it to us!) and eventually headed back to the car, as it was pouring rain and we were the extreme opposite of "prepared for the weather".



In our damp clothes we took a car-sick-invoking ride to a Tea Factory in Nuwara Eliya. A TEA FACTORY! At this point, the trip REALLY became my dream come true. My favourite colour, my favourite animal, and now my favourite beverage?! Was I dreaming? Sri Lanks must be my "country-soulmate"! Anyways, back to the tea factory story - where a cute girl showed us how tea is made and then shipped to companies like Lipton! No wonder why tea tastes so good - so much work goes into preparing it! After the tour, we were given some free samples in the restaurant to enjoy while we ordered our lunch. There was also shopping to be done here. My purchase was elephant-tea-stic!



The tea was a good ease-in to the winding roads that led to Adam's Peak. If you are ever looking for one-way roads that host two-way traffic on the edge of cliffs - you can find them HERE. Talk about a heart attack! I was in a state of constant panic and feared every turn we took - dreading a "smash" with a tuk-tuk, transport truck or local bus (hello!! can't you gauge SIZE?!). Lal was constantly beeping his horn to make our presence around the tight curves known, and we soon awarded him the name "Road Runner" because of all his "beep-beeping"!

The tea and cookies on arrival calmed our nerves and we turned nervous laughs into real ones as we watched the movie "Ladybugs" in the restaurant at our hotel. We also found joy in shopping for "Grinch" mitts and fleece at the booths outside.



An intense match of Catchphrase took us until dinner time, where Gemily was thrilled to have curry and rice once more (BAHA. Okay - at this point, everyone but Phil was sick of it!).

Early to bed. Adam's Peak wake-up call came at 2 a.m.