snapshots from sri lanka

Sunset from my room at the Heritance Kandalama Hotel, Dambulla.

The gorgeous waters of the beach neighbouring the Chaaya Tranz Beach Resort, Hikkaduwa.

A monkey enjoying (and making a mess of) his newly found coconut.

A three-wheeler - my favourite way to travel.

An amazing statue of Buddha at the Golden Temple, Dambulla.

A colourful fruit shop by the roadside - a very common sight in Sri Lanka.

A gorgeous lotus at the Dambulla Cave Temples.

Elephants at the river during bath time at Pinnawella Elephant Orphanage.

Statues of Buddha dating back many, many years at the Dambulla Cave Temples.

View from the top of Sigiriya where the ancient king's palace used to be.

Another common sight whilst travelling - beautifully green paddy fields.

Another photo of the beach at Hikkaduwa just because it was one of my favourite places.

A bunch of flowers as an offering to Buddha at one of the temples I visited.

A stunning sunset whilst staying at the Heritance Kandalama Hotel, Dambulla.

At the beginning of this month, I arrived in my birth country of Sri Lanka for the first time in eight years. Whilst the main reason I visited was to complete a two week elective as part of my medical course, I utilised every spare moment to travel around the country and do some sightseeing. I took well over one thousand photos during my time there, and the ones above are just a small snapshot of what this amazing country has to offer. There are so many places to visit, so many sights to see and so many things to enjoy.

Over the three weeks I visited an elephant orphanage, drank coconuts cut fresh from the tree, watched beautiful sunsets, ate at too many buffets, visited ancient ruins, swam in gorgeous waters, travelled in three-wheelers, visited various temples, and had an enjoyable time just observing the Sri Lankan way of life. I was genuinely taken aback by the stunning landscapes, rich culture, gorgeous beaches, amazing history and sheer natural beauty of Sri Lanka.

Here’s to hoping my next visit comes around sooner rather than later!

Thil

xx

red velvet cream cheese swirl brownies

A delicious cream cheese layer (as you can probably tell, I'm currently obsessed with cream cheese!) on top of a moist red velvet layer gives you these super easy brownies. I accidently put too much of the red velvet mixture on top when creating the swirls, thus giving the brownies perhaps a little bit too much red colour. The brownies should look more like the ones in the original recipe, which you can find here.

xx