it's all in the details.

on our second full day in sri lanka we discovered one of the real gems of this flashpack tour.

something that's only loosely mentioned on their website and didn't register fully with me until we were on the tour.

meals prepared by local families.

in their homes.

when you travel, you're always on the lookout for truly authentic experiences, or at least as close as you can come to them.

but connections to people that are native to the area are hard to come by beyond passing conversations.

flashpack and their guides have worked to establish relationships with several families in sri lanka so that they can host groups and also support themselves at the same time.

our guide, in blue, introducing us to the couple who lives in this gorgeous piece of
countryside and prepared our meal for the day. 

on this day we had lunch outside a family home with a beautiful garden. it was really lovely and delicious with a variety of curries, rice and fruits.

all the chicken curry we had was far too hot for these baby taste buds sadly.

but the other curries were quite delicious and more suited for taste buds of all heat levels.

sri lanka's lion is slightly sweet and golden in color. 

the lunch set up was these blue picnic-style tables with one bench attached,
perfect in number for our group of 12

that evening, we were taken by tractor into the darkness. cautiously being told we should listen carefully for elephants nearby. hmmmm....probably more like a snipe hunt, but...we were brought to a open farmhouse, where a circle of pillows and a nearby fire pit provided quite the ambiance. a local couple prepared some hoppers, basically a sri lankan pancake formed into a bowl with an egg cracked into it. we were also introduced to arrack, alcohol that is distilled from sap of the coconut flowers or sugar cane. as is typical, it was far too strong for me!

half our group in the truck bed, being pulled by a tractor.

it was set up so nicely! 

hoppers! i love an egg, so...

as if the other two experiences weren't enought, the night we were in kandy, we took our small tour bus to a neighborhood full of family homes. we were led through the gates and down a long driveway into another family's home, where we dined on traditional sri lankan curries on their patio. they showed us around their home while their granddaughter slept in a nearby room.

you can see three members of the family in the back and then also in the bottom right corner. 

their patio, set up with tiki torches and a variety of hanging lights

it's these moments that really added something special to this tour. they were real highlights for me and one of the reasons i would book another flashpack tour again.