Sri Lanka: 2022 – Yala National Park and Wild Coast Tented Lodge

Yala is an experience like no other! Forget whatever you may know about safaris in Africa! There are no rules that apply here, no limit on the number of safari vehicles entering the park or at a sighting - it is a complete free for all! (If this place was controlled it would be PARADISE). This is Sri Lanka's 2nd largest Park and is spectacularly located on the Indian Ocean in the south eastern corner of Sri Lanka. It has the highest concentration of leopards in the world as well as elephants, sloth bears and a variety of other fauna and birdlife. On 26th December 2004, the tsunami waves flooded the middle of the park killing 60 visitors. 35,000 people lost their lives in Sri Lanka. Interestingly enough there were only two water buffalo deaths and no other animal corpses found. Elephants and wild boar were seen running away from the beach with their tails raised three hours before the tsunami struck fuelling the notion that animals possess a 6th sense....

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Sri Lanka: 2022- Ella

Ceylon as Sri Lanka was previously known, and particularly Ella which is is set high in the hills of this idyllic area evokes visions of colonial tea plantations ...this is a place to soak up the peace and quiet and to watch the tea grow... It is a place where the Sinhalese and Tamil cultures co-exist. Learning to cook the local cuisine here is a MUST and it is the starting or end point for the famed blue train rail journey which winds through the tea plantations and mountains passes and must be done in 3rd class to yield the full experience! Don't forget to scale Ella Rock or Little Adam's Peak, go zip lining and visit Nine Arch Bridge as well as the roaring Diyaluma Falls...

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Sri Lanka

Apart from the myriad of landscapes, cultures, climates and food it is the warm, gentle people that make this one of our favourite countries in the world. It is a tropical paradise with white beaches and incredible wildlife and what is more is that it is highly affordable ... we need to go back to continue exploring!

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Cambodia: Siem Reap & Angkor Wat

Siem Reap, a resort town in northwestern Cambodia, is the gateway to the ruins of Angkor, the seat of the Khmer kingdom from the 9th–15th centuries. Angkor’s vast complex of intricate stone buildings includes preserved Angkor Wat, the main temple, which is pictured on Cambodia’s flag. Giant, mysterious faces are carved into the Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom.

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Cambodia

Cambodia is best known for two things: the Khmer Rouge genocide and the temples of Angkor Watt. Both have done their part to shape the country and will inevitably shape your trip. Cambodians will welcome you with open generous arms.

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Cambodia: Phnom Penh & Killing Fields

Chum Mey personifies the tormented history of his country, surviving gun fights and rocket attacks during a civil war where he lost his wife and four children during the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. We met him at Tuol Sleng Prison (S21), a former school, where an estimated 20,000 people were imprisoned and tortured between 1976-1979. The Killing Fields of Cheung Ek is situated 15 kilometers south-west of Phnom Penh and made famous by the film of the same name "Killing Field". it was a place where more than 17,000 civilians were killed and buried in mass graves; many of them transported here after detention and torture in Toul Sleng. A moving experience.

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