22nd Sept Anaradhpura

Longest drive and most of it one one of the busiest roads on the island. Drizzled for a bit but no problems. We decided to make a detour and visit the elephant orphanage. Added a few kms on to the day's drive but we thought it would be worth it.It was there that I became aware of one of the few brickbats of the country. To get in and see the elephants being fed it was going to cost us$14 each and at the beginning of Oct it was going up to $22 per person. For something that would take little over an hour to see, their feeding then being walked down to the river for a bathe it was a bt of a rip off. The government is trying to milk the foreigner to the nth degree, the locals pay a 10th of what we pay. And it was the same everywhere we went. World's End worked out to be $50 for the 2 of us and if we needed a lift out there it would have been a further $35. Even the lesser temple sites you could be looking at $15 p/p. An elderly Malaysian said to me that if they want people to come and see their culture and historical sites they shold be going in the opposite direction. It's dissappointing and would put many people off.