Sigiriya

This Asian Destination Was Named the Most Welcoming in the World — and It's Called the '8th Wonder of the World' by Locals

Still hard to believe I climbed to the top of Sigiriya.

Polonnaruwa

I met Nuwan in Colombo, Sri Lanka back in 2011.  Not long ago, he shared fascinating images from a trip he made to historical Polonnaruwa.  I posted several below. You can also spot Nuwan in the next to last image.

 Ancient City of Polonnaruwa 

Polonnaruwa was the second capital of Sri Lanka after the destruction of Anuradhapura in 993. It comprises, besides the Brahmanic monuments built by the Cholas, the monumental ruins of the fabulous garden-city created by Parakramabahu I in the 12th century.  - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 

Kyoko in Sri Lanka

Kyoko rides an elephant.  Behind her is the rock of the ancient city, Sigiriya.

Here I am in 2011, standing atop the Sigiriya rock.  Click here to see photos and videos from my time in Sri Lanka, including my arrival at the airport.  Kyoko greeted me!  To this day, Sri Lanka cuisine just "blew me away."  It was delicious!

The Life of Kyoko

Kyoko is a friend I made in Bangkok in 2004/2005. She was taking a long hiatus from living and working in Sri Lanka, where her family runs a restaurant, Cafe Japan. After living a couple of years in Thailand, Kyoko returned to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and has been living there ever since. I believe these days she's helping her sister run the restaurant. She also is the creator of the Cafe Japan website, which is always updated with interesting photos of fabulous foods and writeups on the art of Japanese eating. In her spare time, Kyoko loves to travel. She takes trips to Laos, back home to Japan and return visits to Bangkok. Kade and I were very lucky to see on her our own return visit to Bangkok this past spring. Here's a video of our surprise moment with Kyoko. Lastly, as you can tell, Kyoko is quite the Sportslady. She golfs regularly and she takes Akido classes.