We reached our penultimate destination after a spectacular 4.5-hour drive which included the famous Daha ata Wanguwa (18 bend road) and eventually wove through tea covered hilltops backed by the mighty Knuckles mountain range. Our accommodation was a luxury tent perched on the side of a mountainous tea estate, about 30km north of Kandy city. The estates main house and restaurant offered alfresco seating areas, adorned with floating flower displays and little fish ponds, and

After four relaxing days in Nilaveli we headed south for the twin bays of Kalkudah and Passikudah. This was one of our favourite drives as we hugged the coastline, passing tiny fishing villages where silver sheets of anchovies covered rickety table tops, drying in the morning sun. We overtook bullock carts precariously loaded with huge round balls of hay and passed dusty fields where children played cricket next door to herds of buffalo. Despite being neighbours, Passikudah a

Sri Lanka’s north-east coast is an eclectic mix of vast golden sands punctuated by tiny fishing villages. The coastline is backed by gangly coconut palms stretching up to the sky or sticking out diagonally across the beach. Cows roam freely, and herds of goats wander along the sands before trudging in-land past dusty fields where kids gather to play cricket or volleyball. Inland, buffalo stand sentry and huge round hay bales are stacked on the back of ageing tractors, ready t

About an hour’s drive north-east of Negombo and Sri Lanka’s international airport, you'll find a slice of rural tropical paradise at a boutique hotel, set on a genuine, working coconut estate. With 50 acres of organic crops, beautiful landscaped gardens and a swimming pool, relaxing into life on the estate is unavoidable. The friendly and informative staff take care of everything from the moment you are greeted with fresh coconut to drink using, of course, a metal straw. Afte

With just two full days in Kuala Lumpur, we decided a bit of downtime for the kids was in order before heading into our three-week Sri Lanka adventure. We stayed in a self-catering serviced apartment in the heart of the city. Our plan was to let the children play, catch up on our mass of laundry and relax by the pool. Battling the cities traffic, our transfer from the airport took a good hour and a half, but soon relaxed after arriving at our apartment complex, where a smal

Despite there being a relatively short 3-hour ferry ride connecting Langkawi and Penang, we’d heard too many rumours of rough seas and super speedy ferries which equated to copious amounts of sea sickness. Apparently, when sufficiently organised, they hand out sick bags to all passenger’s pre-departure. After a late-night Air Asia hunt, we jumped on probably the shortest flight we’ve ever taken...around 20 minutes from take-off to landing! We decided to split Langkawi in two

We arrived on the north-western island of Penang at around 3pm local time, gathered our copious baggage, inclusive of our 3 and 5-year olds and headed straight for George Town. Malaysia’s second most populous city; George Town is also the most densely populated and our taxi ride from airport to accommodation, which took about 45 minutes, meandered past an eclectic mix of buildings from utilitarian high-rise flats to crumbling old colonial mansions. The c.15-hour travel time f