Pasikuda

 This picture is actually in Kandy. We stayed there one night and went to church the next day. We don't have more pictures because our camera was having issues. It was fun to see the branch there. Everyone was very nice- but once we told them we know the Taylors (couple in our ward who served a mission there) we were like family. It was conference Sunday and they were watching in Singhala, so we didn't stay long.

Raja's sister and brother in law treated us to an awesome two nights at a resort in Pasikuda.  They met up with us in Kandy and from there we drove an additional 7-8 hours to the east coast of Sri Lanka. This is them checking in. When we arrived they gave us cool clothes to wipe our faces ( it was always hot and humid) and they also brought us fresh papaya juice.

Each meal was a buffet with one side serving Sri Lankan food and the other  serving western food. 

 This was the view from our back patio. It was gorgeous; the water was calm and the rooms had a/c :)

 The second night, Harsha, our  brother in law, specially ordered lobster. It was heaven on a plate. The meal before, one of the staff brought the uncooked lobster to show us and let us know we would be eating it later.  It was sort of like a presentation- I wasn't sure if we were supposed to approve this particular lobster or thank them from the bottom of our hearts- so we did both!

 This is the buffet area.

 This is a bridge built by the British. I'm not sure the significance, but Raja and his sister seemed really excited to take pictures of it, so I posted it :)

 This is a lighthouse in Batticola, near Pasikuda.

Karaoke !!! Raja and Andrew, then Raja and his mom sung the night away !!!

(while Natalia, Hashan and I went to bed.) 

Our Elephant Ride

We had been looking forward to riding an elephant for months! It was like riding a really big horse- minus the saddle
or anything that would make you feel like you won't fall off!

This was just after the elephant had sprayed us with his trunk- it was great to get cooled off!

This was Raja's Mom's first ride on an elephant. She clung to Raja for dear life! 

Kalutara

The Beach!!!

 

Atamma (grandma) and Hashan near the beach

We went to the town of Kalutara, to see this Buddhist temple and to swim. This temple was huge.
In this picture we are inside of a giant dome. This day was "Poya" a monthly Buddhist
holiday, so the temple had many people inside praying.

We decided to stop for lunch before we hit the beach. Lucky for us, the hotel we ate at had a pool.
The water there was almost too warm- all heated by the sun.

Raja's parents and older brother came with us. They watched as we swam.

Raja's older brother, Vladimir, ready to eat.

Yummy!

Hashan and I jumped in too! As hot as it was, I forced myself to stay as covered up as possible
it definitely paid off- I didn't get sunburned once!

This was Hashan's first time swimming- ever! He loved it!

Meeting Family

We went to meet Raja's Auntie, her son and daughter in law and daughter and son-in-law.

This is Raja's brother, Sanjaya. At first Hashan couldn't tell whether or not this was his Daddy!
(They do  look alike!)

This is Raja's sister's daughter, Seneniya. 

Lunch with Raja's sister and her kids in her home in Colombo. 

Our first few days

Raja and his mom took Andrew and Natalia for a bus ride. They  loved it!

The fish market where Amma (Raja's mom) usually buys her fish.
Andrew and Natalia remembered it by one word- smelly!

Buying shoes.

This guy was hired to climb the coconut trees in Raja's parent's back yard, to cut down the coconuts.

Andrew and Natalia got the job of collecting the fallen coconuts to store in the shed.

Andrew attempts to husk one of the coconuts. He had so much fun trying new things!

Destination... Sri Lanka!

Daddy and Natalia as we began our journey to Sri Lanka

Once in the Chicago airport we found the kid's play area where we could pass a couple of hours. 

The airport in Abu Dhabi was unmistakably in the Arab world. We tried to get a few pics of the people there, but this was the only one that turned out. (See how sneaky we were! Just taking a quick pic of us- what? There is a man behind us wearing Arab clothing? We had no idea ;)

This little bassinet was heaven sent. This is on our last flight from Abu Dhabi to Sri Lanka.
It just hooked into the wall in front of us and Hashan could sleep comfortably. 

All in all our travel time was around 30 hours. We flew from Boise to Denver to Chicago to Abu Dhabi to                    Sri Lanka. We left on a Thursday morning and arrived on Saturday morning due to the time change. We were so messed up by the time we got there neither Raja or I could keep track of what day it was for about a week!