South Asia 2025

Udawalawe national park From the hills, I taxied 2.5 hours south to Uduwalawe. Sri Lanka has the highest concentration of elephants in Asia and they're thriving, to the point they often pop up on the roadside (not actually great as arises from people feeding them for internet clickbait).  First ele by road going south - thought it was a model The sunrise safari started off a bit intense (4x4s surrounding herds) but vehicles soon dispersed with space and peace to observe the gentle giants in their natural habitat (actually not always gentle when they decimated a small tree before our eyes in just 20 mins).     Looks can be deceiving - this cutie was a naughty one - he'd just graduated from the transit home for orphaned elephants so, used to humans feeding him milk, would stick his trunk inside trucks and bags. Obviously he was to be discouraged or would never fend for himself. No leopard sighting but recent evidence! Glamping to the sounds of eles and peacocks Tanga...

It’s always hard to remember what you expected a place to be like once you’re there. With Sri Lanka, I think I reverted to my nearest lived comparison of India. The reality has been very different - this relaxed, easy, green (minus the belching buses) and hassle-free island is SO much more than the 'Teardrop of India'. Having cleared Colombo airport in just 20 minutes, my EV [1] was ready and waiting to take me to the hills. Three hours later – on smooth and quiet roads (with jetlag averted by candy kittens) – I arrived at Jungle Tide. Named after the late-colonial memoir (obvious issues aside, I remain drawn to these turn-of-the-century adventurers/societal outcasts!), this homestay is run by a Yorkshire couple (Sally/Jerry) and Tamil managers Martin and Rani. I spent nearly a  week here, hiking the start of the 300km Pekoe Trail, exploring the cottage garden (complete with hens and Yorkshire perennials) and enjoying communal dinners with the small number of guests - it w...