Subject: Re: Come to Asia in the Year of the Rooster!
Hi Christine,

We had a fantastic vacation that combined both Maldives and Sri Lanka about 6 yrs ago and it's something I definitely would love to do again sometime. We were lucky enough to "win" (at a silent auction) 4 nights at the Banyan Tree on Vabbinfaru - an idyllic place. Before that we had a wonderful 5 days in Sri Lanka.

We started in Colombo (the Galle Face Hotel which, while not B&B, is worth it for the history in it), then drove to fascinating Sigiriya via Dambulla (we loved the Sigiriya Village Hotel), on to Kandy (another historic place -the Queen's Hotel), and our final stop was in the tea country - Nuwara Eliya. There we stayed at a wonderful small (B&B type) hotel called the Glendower. I can still remember a couple of very enjoyable evenings there chatting about everything from the war and its affect on his children to my favourite arak cocktails with the wonderfully friendly bartender in their "pub". He even gave me the recipe for the cocktail! We ddn't 'do" the beaches in Sri Lanka because we knew we were going to the Maldives but many friends have raved about them. We had an excellent driver (whom we hired from the Galle Face but he did tell us that he can be booked privately) -his card is in my office but, if you'd like his name and number, I'd be happy to send it to you. Friends have also mentioned a good B&B in Kandy - shall try to get that for you.

I have 2 friends who are divemasters (one is in Singapore - the other in HK)- will ask them who they recommend you dive with. Back to you on this.

Cheers! Judy in HK