The landscape was lush and verdant. Palm trees decorated the fringes of paddy fields, within which water buffalos languished idly. Banana trees and spice gardens were further testament to the productivity of the land. Two-wheeled tractors worked the paddy fields alongside teams of families, men wearing sarongs and women saris.

But for the last word, the description is possibly reminiscent of south-east Asia. In fact I was in the ‘splendid country’, better known as Sri Lanka.

The road snaked sluggishly, twisting and turning endlessly, through the mountain scenery. Yes our passage was painfully slow but I was continually enchanted by the idyllic bucolic scenes. Sri Lanka - or at least the hinterland of Sri Lanka - is rich and fertile, with red soil and full rivers. The pace of life is slow and tranquil, bicycles wheeling softly by, tuk tuks puttering past; no sense of hurry.

The road was lined with bungalows of well-maintained gardens. Neat plants and shrubs made me think of Sri Lanka as a nation of gardeners, certainly the case when I saw the impressive botanical gardens of Kandy. I am not green-fingered and was not expecting much but was taken aback by the scale and care of these gardens.

Whilst such charming scenes and the Bond-esque feel of Kandalama hotel impressed me and Etty, my wife, it was the elephants, the ‘naughty monkeys’ and tortoise that wee-ed on Mummy that impressed our three year old Isabel. Anna, barely fourteen months, meanwhile, was taken with the men. Her incessant flirting is indicative of future problems that I will face as a father.

Despite the flights, and two restless children, Sri Lanka and the Maldives was just the break that we needed as a family. It was not relaxing – what travel with two children under the age of three is - but it was certainly refreshing.