Yala is the most visited National Park in Sri Lanka, bordering the Indian Ocean in the south east of the country. Its main draw is leopards, with sightings giving rise to mad behaviour by local jeep drivers seeking to get the best view for their customers. The park is also home to a variety of other wildlife; over 200 species of birds have been identified.

We stayed at a hotel of a dozen (luxury) “huts” on the beach close to the park entrance. There was plenty of wildlife around the hotel, including snakes and monkeys on the breakfast terrace.

Coffee was the main crop in Sri Lanka until it was destroyed by blight. James Taylor planted the first tea bushes and in 1867 Ceylon tea was first produced. All tea comes from the same plant (Camellia Sinensis), with the different types created through picking and manufacturing techniques. Each tea bush is harvested approximately every 10 days.

Our hotel on the Norwood estate was a six bedroom bungalow, originally built in 1890 for the estate manager, at an altitude of 1,300m. Many of the estates have names connected to their British origins – we drove through both Edinburgh and Somerset.

During our stay we visited a working tea factory on the Dunkeld estate owned by Dilmah. The machinery and techniques have hardly changed in the last 150 years. However, the industry is under pressure as younger generations are no longer willing to work in the plantations hand picking. This may lead to mechanisation which results in a lower quality product.

Horton Plains is an undulating (very) plateau at over 2,000m. We left our hotel at 5am, arriving at the start of the trek at 8am. The circular walk of approximately 10km took just over two and a half hours; according to our phones, we had gone up and down the equivalent of 55 flights of steps. The walk takes you past Baker’s Falls before arriving a World’s End, appropriately named as it is an 880m escarpment at the end of the plateau.

The railways in Sri Lanka were built during British rule. The first train ran in 1864, six years after work started. A few years later, the line from Kandy to Badulla was started, with Peradeniya being the first major junction.

The journey to Hatton is very scenic, especially as it enters tea country. The 60km trip takes two and a quarter hours, winding upwards from 500m to almost 1,300m. A first class ticket is 1,000 Rupees, around £3.50. Service and amenities on board are not as we would expect and carriage doors are left open, which can be unnerving.

The gardens are situated 6km from Kandy next to Mahaweli Ganga, the longest river in Sri Lanka. Set over 60 hectares, the gardens were once reserved for Kandyan Royalty. It is very well maintained and home to thousands of (loud) fruit bats, hundreds of monkeys and also courting couples, even at 9am !

Kandy was the capital of the last Sinhalese Kingdom and due to the natural defences of river and hills remained independent from1505 until its capture by the British in1815. The historic centre, on one side of the manmade Kandy lake, includes; the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, the former Royal Palace and Audience Hall and St Paul’s church. Nearby is also the Kandy Garrison Cemetery, containing graves from colonial times.

The Sacred Tooth of the Buddha is said to have been removed from his funeral pyre, eventually being smuggled to Sri Lanka in the hair of a princess. In the 16th century, the Portuguese tried to destroy it, however it survived, was transported to Kandy, and the temple was built to house it. It is kept is a series of seven gold caskets; three times a day worshipers can see a glimpse of the exterior casket. Sri Lankan Buddhist believe that they must complete at least one pilgrimage to see the ceremony – for our guide it was approximately his 500th visit.

There are still signs of Kandy’s colonial past with buildings being protected by heritage status. The cost of renovation is such that many are falling into disrepair, however the pub remains in working order !

Dambulla is a large, well preserved temple cave complex. The caves are reached up a steep staircase of just under 400 steps. The complex consists of five caves which it is believed were first used as a place of worship in the first century BC. They have been added to throughout the years with the fifth cave being created in the 1930s. The caves contain approximately 150 Buddhas.

Polonnaruwa was the capital of Sri Lanka’s 2nd Kingdom, which lasted from 1056 to 1232. It was a large city with a Royal Palace and extensive elaborate temples, statues and stupas. The city was burnt by invaders from India.

The most sacred part of the site is four Buddha images carved from one long slab of granite; the largest being a 14m reclining Buddha which depicts him entering parinirvana (nirvana after death). The statues were prevented from destruction by covering with clay and were not rediscovered until the 19th century by HCP Bell.

The Sri Lankan elephant is one of three subspecies of Asian elephant. It is endangered as a result of habitation loss created by growth in human population leading to the expansion of the rice paddy fields. With human encroachment elephants have been killed to protect property, in road and rail accidents and in the civil war by land mines. Sri Lankan elephants are smaller than African elephants but can still grow to 3.5m and 5,500 kg. Only 7% of males grow trusts; referred to locally as tuskers.

We left Jaffna in the same manner as our arrival; with farewell committee, same plane and same pilots all treating us like long lost friends. We flew into a RAF base close to at Sigiriya.

Sigiriya is a world heritage site rediscovered at the end of the 19th century by British archaeologist HCP Bell. Its centre piece is a 180m high rock which is a manga plug from a long eroded volcano. The peak can be attained in 1,222 steps, some very narrow, steep and clinging to the edge of the vertical face. We were grateful for our early start avoiding the crowds of predominantly locals on these paths.

The building works at the site were developed in the 5th Century on the top of the rock (Kings Palace), on the rock face (frescos of half naked women) and at the base of the rock (water gardens). The water gardens include underground conduits transporting water around the site for lily ponds, fountains and a moat inhabited by crocodiles for added defence.