• 15 May 2026
Touring Trinco

Seven of us set off to Trincomalee, on the east coast of Sri Lanka facing the Indian Ocean. There are a number of targets for me beyond the team’s s

  • 13 May 2026
New Town Old Town …..Sydney

We set off from The Rocks to visit New Town, Sydney, about a twenty minute taxi drive away. It is not a new town at all. In fact, it dates back to Abo

  • 01 May 2026
Railway Stations in Sri Lanka

I’m sitting at a railway station, and I have a ticket for a destination. Part of the charm and nostalgia of travelling in Sri Lanka is using the rai

  • 03 April 2026
The Whinging Pome: Osaka for Eight Hours… Is It Enough?

We arrive at Kyoto Station, flash our two-week Japan Rail card and get to our platform easily. Where we stand on the platform becomes a question, but

  • 27 March 2026
The Whinging Pome: Fort, the Glory Years

The British occupation of Colombo created the heyday of Fort. It was a gateway to the British Empire, north, east and west. This area was once a walle

  • 20 March 2026
The Whinging Pome: Manly by the Sea…

The ferry leaves from wharf 3 circular Quay Sydney . It’s mid-week and mid-day, so only thirty percent full. Departure time is fixed. It’s the fi

  • 18 March 2026
Rocking on the Rocks

We land in Sydney, and the Rocks have heavy rain, and it’s late in the evening. A pleasant, young, well-educated Indian taxi driver from Hyderabad

  • 06 March 2026
Christchurch Rising: Fifteen Years On

So here we are in Christchurch, fifteen years after the last earthquake, 185 lives lost and many injured. This is our second visit since then, and I

  • 13 February 2026
Nara Japan … nodding deer .. templed out

It’s an early train to Nara from Kyoto, Japan. It is about a forty-five-minute journey. This is perfect as it gives us five hours in this small but

  • 06 February 2026
Above the Streets of the Big Apple

We decide to walk from Tribeca to the High Line northwards along the Hudson waterfront in New York. We are heading to the development of an old railwa

  • 04 February 2026
Buzz with Danu: A stop at Koneswaram Temple

Koneswaram was one of those mornings where I didn’t go with a plan; I just went with the intention to breathe. And honestly, that’s the first thin

  • 03 February 2026
Ayr Castle 1922

There is something very Sri Lankan about wanting to get away without actually going away. The desire is not to disappear, but to create just enough di

  • 21 January 2026
Buzz with Danu: Sun, Sea, Vanakkam & Very Good Fish

Let me tell you something. Some places don’t just welcome you… They emotionally adopt you. That was my weekend at Uppuveli Beach by DSK.

  • 09 January 2026
Colonial Forts …Sri Lanka

I’m sure most of us living in Sri Lanka have visited locations on the island that include a Fort . The most likely example is Galle Fort, our bigg

  • 16 December 2025
Rediscovering Unawatuna

I thought I knew Unawatuna well. I had been there enough times to believe I had already formed an opinion, enough visits for it to slip from an active

  • 12 December 2025
Alonnisos, A Paradise Found

We head out on a twenty-metre yacht from Skopelos to Alonnisos, both islands of the Northern Sporades of Greece. The biggest island of the group is Sa

  • 28 November 2025
Koggala Revisited

We have had over thirty nights’ stay at this seafront southern town or stretch of Koggala, both before and after the 2004 tsunami. It is thirty minu

  • 21 November 2025
Newark: A Glimpse of Middle England

In my late teen years, I would spend many weekends in Newark-on-Trent in Middle Midlands. For the one to five months of good weather each year, there

  • 14 November 2025
The Royal Botanical Garden Kandy

I recently spent a half day in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya, Kandy, which was my first visit. Appalling, considering I’ve lived in Sri

  • 07 November 2025
Riviera of the South: Weligama

The large ten-kilometre Weligama Bay is one of the most beautiful beaches on the island of Sri Lanka. It is known as the Riviera of the island, with o

  • 19 September 2025
The Whinging Pome: Brighton Beyond the Beach

We set off to the English south coast, following a trend that began in the eighteenth century. We are heading for Brighton. Time Out voted it the “m

  • 05 September 2025
Exploring Paris Outside the Guidebook

Paris is made up of twenty administrative districts, many with unique features, history, importance, architecture, ethnic mix, retailing pitch, etc. S

  • 29 August 2025
Historic Gourmet City - Bordeaux

It’s not my first visit to the Bordeaux region of France, as I had previously toured some wineries while working in the duty-free industry. A Tesla

  • 22 August 2025
Colourful Complex Croydon… London

Croydon is just over nine miles south of Charing Cross, London. Saffron was produced locally in Roman times in the area. It was referred to in the Dom

  • 15 August 2025
The Whinging Pome: Mooching Around Mirissa

It is the second visit to another top villa in Mirissa, right on the beach. They must think, however, that I’m a British tourist, they try and charg

  • 12 August 2025
Jetwing Wahawa Walauwa: Slow Days in a Heritage Home

When you turn off the main road in Rambukkana and slip into the shade of a coconut plantation, the pace of life shifts without you even noticing. Jetw

  • 08 August 2025
The River Plate Battle: Courage, Deception, and Legacy

It’s an early start. The ferry goes at 7:15 a.m. from the seaport of Buenos Aires, which means a wake-up call at five a.m. The taxi is there; I swea

  • 01 August 2025
The Whinging Pome: Blossom and Sumo’s Roaming… Tokyo

It’s early April and we arrive in Tokyo for the first time. It’s the peak of the short blossom season, our guide, Mari, takes us to Shinjuka Park.

  • 25 July 2025
The Whinging Pome: Boules and the Naked Lady – Claviers, Provence

On the road from Bargème to Grasse in Provence, France, we climb the hill to the town of Claviers. A small town with a lovely row of large trees all

  • 22 July 2025
Inside Sri Lanka’s First All-Women Hotel: Amba Yaalu, Kandalama

When Amba Yaalu Kandalama first made headlines as Sri Lanka’s first hotel fully managed and staffed by women, the internet did what it does best: ha