I tried to read up on what to pack for our adventure, partly as we were leaving Scotland in December so its difficult to get your summer brain in gear, but mostly as this was my first time travelling to Asia.

We took two guide books, Lonely Planet and Rough Guides – which had only been published in December so we knew the info would be current. Both books were really useful for things to do and places to see, plus finding our way from a to b, prices for things and train times etc. We used both thoroughly, and having two was quite handy as we could each read one.

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We took a backback duffel bag each – Richie’s is the popular North Face one, and I have a Gelert one. These were great as they fitted in the back of the tuk tuks and on the overhead racks of trains, and we knew they were robust enough to be thrown around. We then each had a carry on bag which we used as our day packs – Richie has a fold away Osprey bag and I have the Patagonia Lightweight Travel Tote which is great as it can also be a backpack.

We already had the usual summer holiday clothes, but I was aware that I would need clothes which covered my knees and shoulders if we were going to be visiting any of the temples. The key was airy, so no skin tight tops or dresses. During the day I mostly wore shorts and a top, but on the days we were going to be visiting shrines or temples I wore lightweight trousers and made sure I had a scarf/sarong for my shoulders. At night time I tended to wear dresses or skirts.

Note: Men also have to cover their knees for some of the temples. When we tried to enter Temple of the Sacred Tooth in Kandy the first time we were turned away as Richie was in shorts. Luckily our hotel was near by so we changed at the end of the day and went back in the early evening. We did spot a lot of men who had either bought or borrowed their partners sarong to cover up, so worst case maybe take two so you can have one each.

On our feet was always walking sandals, both of us prefer Teva and I have two pairs so I could switch them up. I also took a pair of light espadrilles for night time which were really handy to throw on.

Day bag essentials:

• Guidebook – either the Lonely Planet or the Rough Guides (we had both with us)
• Purse
• Sunglasses
• Sun cream – factor 30 for me
• Hand sanitiser
• Wipes
• Handcream
• Lip balm
• Tissues
• Fan
• Sarong – used as a scarf too (very useful for visiting religious s
• Fold away shopping bag – used a surprising number of times

The only other item I was slightly nervous about was the mosquitos as I know that they can potentially carry some nasty things. Generally I was ok, only getting one bite during the full two weeks. Richie on the other hand got around 10 – he’s obviously more tasty than me! To try to avoid them we used Boots Soltan sun cream with insect repellant during the day. We also wore Para’kito essential oil diffusion wristbands every day (camo for Riche, pineapples for me) as these mask your CO2 and so supposedly disquise you to the wee beasties. At night time we wore deet spray or Bens Insect Repellent Wipes. These seemed to do the job ok. In our room we also used Lifesystems portable insect killer unit, which we put on for an hour before bed. At Madulkelle we also had a mosquito net over the bed which added to the protection, and made it feel like an adventure.

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