We departed Belahoya for our 5 hour drive to the south of Bentota Island. It was a very pleasant and scenic drive, stopping at Ratnapurna where the famous gems of Sri Lanka are mined. It was interesting to see the the mining at first hand after seeing it on a video in Kandy. We were shown the uncut gems, then the cut and finally the polished, I could have bought a topaz for $40, but you need to be careful unless you can identify a real gem as they can be fakes.

We stopped at a fantastic service station, there were as many shops, food and souvenir’s  in there than a small mall in Australia. We arrived at our accommodation on Bentota Island. Wow! It looks like a  fabulous place to spend our final 2 nights in Sri Lanka. Stunning white pristine beach, lagoon to do all the water sports, Ayurvedic massages, seafood restaurant, fabulous rooms, and even a resident monitor, and squirrels to keep you entertained.