"what has wheels, 8 legs, 4 ears and moves forward and back at the same time..."

We are back from a three day trip out of town. You wouldn't believe where we've been! Yep, as the title connotes.. we have reached the x-tremes =), in a day... i know - I said it was a 3-day trip, you will find out later how we were able to climb up the top (7000+ft alt) and down to the sea level all in one day... but let us start with day one of three.

Day One. A five hour trip to the mountains was not much as exciting while we were still on the plains. The consistent "cambug" that I am wasn't as vigilant as in previous trips. I have taken a few photos but the rest of the way I tried to sleep as the world outside my window wore out my initial interest. Each time I dozed off however something always jerked me up but often too late to make something out of it. Worthy to mention was the quick encounter with a truck going the opposite lane to Colombo. The Gentle Zephyr, seated in front of the van, shouted and startled everyone... on a truck were... guess, not one but two, yes TWO elephants!!  They were riding upright standing opposite each other on a big truck one facing front the other facing back - yep towards us but already too far away. Tsk! And I failed to freeze the moment... not even a blurry image of it!

Aah! I said to myself, I give up.. it happens only once and we are fortunate to see it, not too fortunate enough to take a picture though. My son was laughing, definitely thrilled by the sight. We've seen elephants this side but not that way. Not on trucks, two at a time moving towards Colombo.

An hour later, still on the plains, my son uttered loudly, "Elephants!" Roused again from half sleep I took an aim but once more no image was taken, just a blurry window. Again, it was going the opposite direction and yeah.. yeah.. we were more than fortunate to see it twice. But certainly not anymore, perhaps even until we leave this island...

It wasn't that bad really. I captured some scenes of interest by the roadside..

Field of kids by a lake, Sri Jayawardenapura.

To school with Mom

Roadside markets

Local ride reminds me of our tricycle.

A cinema at the outskirts of Colombo.

 Brick oven near Avisawella.

Off from school via railroad.

Sri Lanka has a clock in almost every town rotunda, some are century old.

Rustic house of British Age.

"perareha"

Pumpkins to market - by Fuzzy

The road according to cows - by Fuzzy in front of the van.

Observe the overcast sky.

First stop.

Here's Fuzzy. It was drizzling and cold, the girls preferred to stay in the van.

Tomorrow:  Up the Mountains, Down the Beach in a Day - Part 2