Day 4 11 February 2026 Sri Lanka – Galle

We woke a little rushed at 6:10am, we were meeting Hiru, our guide, at 6:30 to go bike riding through the paddy fields.
We got to “Idle Bikes” at about 6:50 and we’re off on the road by 6:55am with our guide Isuru. It wasn’t long before we were heading into the fields along narrow pathways shared with pedestrians, motor scooters/bikes and of course tuk-tuks (the paths weren’t much wider than the tuk-tuks, but it all seemed to work). Its been years since either of us had been on a bike. So for self preservation and our enjoyment we opted to take the shorter trail rather than the long one, a win for sanity! 🙂 Continue reading

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Day 3 10 February 2026 Sri Lanka Colombo to Galle

A slow start today, we both slept pretty well last night, which was good.
I’m happy to report that all the vehicle horns are still working properly and often/constantly! 🙂
Today we drive down the west coast to Galle, about 130km away, a bit over a 2hour drive.
One thing i haven’t mentioned is that Sri Lanka is hosting games for the 2026 T20 World Cup, and so is a bit busier than usual in tourist number terms.
We met Hiru in the foyer at 10 :30 and were on our way soon after that. He took advantage of the drive south to fill us in on some more Sri Lankan history and cultural background.
Hiru spoke of the many proposed origins for the name of Galle, from indigenous origins, to Portuguese and English, all seemed plausible and possible. Continue reading

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Day 2. Sri Lanka 9 February 2026. Colombo

Happy birthday Ben, we hope you have an amazing day.
I forgot to mention in yesterday’s blog, we got upgraded to a Jnr Suite at our hotel, The Galle Face Hotel, a very nice surprise for two very weary travellers. It is an old colonial style hotel of the British era in the country. A charming place to stay.
We both slept ok, and were up at about 7:20, that’s nearly 4hrs sleep!
The roads outside are busy, and I’m happy to report that the horns on every car, tuk-tuk, bike, truck and bus in Colombo are all working just fine.
Fun fact: Colombo is a city of 5 million and is divided into 15 administrative zones. The name comes from an English adaption of a of a Portuguese interpretation of a Sinhalese town named area “Kolon thota”
We have a slow start and made the most it, definitely no rush here.
We had breakfast on the terrace overlooking the Indian Ocean, a very humid induced hazy outlook. I think I might be in my element here, I mean, Sri Lankan curried chicken for breakfast! How good is that. Continue reading

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Sri Lanka 8 February 2026. Just a bit of travel. Adelaide to Colombo

We left home at 7:30 and were checked in, through immigration and in the lounge by 8:30. That was really easy. Its the first time we have been in the new lounge on the other side of immigration at Adelaide airport, its comfortable, has all the things, but not lush.
We boarded our flight to KL at 10:25 and were in the air at 11:15am. For our 7hr first flight of the day. This is the first flight we have been on with lap/sash seatbelts, a bit different and we love different, but not quiet sure about this. Continue reading

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Sri Lanka, Maldives and Langkawi, Malaysia February – March 2026

Let the adventures begin.
We leave this coming Sunday 8 February, it seems so long since we booked this. And now its about to happen.
First stop is Sri Lanka for a busy 2 weeks exploring, then a few days R&R in the Maldives before we head to the island of Langkawi off the west coast of Malaysia for a week in the jungle.
I guess you will have to call back in here to see how all of this plays out

Deb will be doing her photo blob on Facebook  , you can find it here.

https://facebook.com/Greganddebstravelblog?mibexid=ZbWKwL

 

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It’s 2026. Time to start exploring

Just a tease.

Our next adventure starts in less than a month.

Stay tuned

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Day 3   UAE to Home. 20 October 2025

I lied, this (maybe) is the last post of our 7 week adventure.

Our flight boarded after a final carry on search for liquids. Seemed an ad-hoc thing, a little disorganised.

We were on board, they had closed the doors and the air bridges were drawn back when Deb noticed someone , not a worker, at the end of the air bridge, apparently wanting to get on board. There was a delay of maybe 20+ mins and then we noticed about another 4 to 6 passengers got on?

The flight had a few bumpy bits but was generally ok. We both got a few hours sleep which was good.

We landed at about 9:10pm, and were home at about 10pm. And that’s our Turkiye, Portugal, Spain and UAE pilgrimage 2025 done and dusted.

In the 48 days we were away we did a bit over 522,000 steps, not too shabby for a couple of retirees.

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#Retiredlyf

 

 

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UAE Day 2 Dubai 19 October 2025

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#Retiredlyf
The beginning of our last day in Dubai.
We had breakfast at 8, the same as yesterday. Delicious again served by the very cheerful Rowena.
This morning we did a tour “Culture on Wheels& Cultural Brunch through the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding (SMCCU). We arrived at the SMCCU at about 8:55 and joined the rest of our tour group, about 15 all up. Our guide was Kalid or (maybe Kalif?), a young Emirati, we all got on our ride for the morning a 36 seat “Heritage Express” air-conditioned bus. Continue reading

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Dubai Day 1 Dubai UAE 18 October 2025

Another slow start to our day, a late night/very early morning arrival into Dubai will do that.
We had a leisurely breakfast out on the creek foreshore, watching the Dubai world go by, particularly up and down the creek.
We both had Shakshuka, a Maghrebi dish of eggs poached in tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion and garlic with a few spices thrown in. (hopefully Deb has a pic on fb – see the link at the end of this entry).
Our first expedition out was a ride on an Abra (Abra have been used on the Dubai Creek for centuries to transport goods and people) across the creek to have a look around the Gold Souq, the Spice Souq and the Grand Souq Deira. It Costs 1 AED (about 45c Australian) each way, paid in cash to the driver. It took about 5 mins to cross over on the Baniyas – Old Souq boat. Continue reading

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Spain Day 23 Barcelona to Dubai 17 October 2025

#Retiredlyf

Adiós Barcelona, hola Dubai.

Yes, we said good bye to Barcelona and Spain to hello Dubai today.
We had a slow morning, breakfast. Fi ished packing and got our ride to the airport at about 11:55am. We got to the airport and navigated out way through check-in, security and emigration without any issues and made it to the Emirates lounge for a 2.5hr wait before we boarded out flight to Dubai.
We boarded our flight at a bit after 3pm for our 3:40 take off.
The 6.5hr flight was uneventful and we landed a bit after 00:10 Dubai time, it was 31C. No sleep on the plane, unfortunately.
We were in our transfer car by 12:50am and arrived at our hotel in old Dubai around 1:20am on the creek in old Dubai. Such a great location, the creek is pretty busy with boats even at 2:30am!!
Lucky we have a quiet day ahead.

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