Intrepid Journeys - Sri Lanka (Shane Cortese)

...from the moment we left the airport, there seems to be a really strong military presence. Now they're all standing on the side of the road with submachine guns and everything like that. And quite honestly I think you're gonna have to take my word for it, because we're not allowed to film them.

– Shane Cortese in Colombo, at the start of the episode

I'm drinking the most incredibly beautiful tea, plucked by these people, with a bunch of brilliant kids who are probably just going to end up working for minimum wages being tea pluckers. It's strange, really isn't it? But the tea's good, and I'll wage money that I'll never sit and drink tea with an outlook like that.

– Shane Cortese ponders life from a tea plantation village in the mountains

When I set out on this trip, I set myself a goal of doing something new every day. My challenge for today is to visit a snake bite treatment centre. I hate snakes — can't stand them, can't see the point of them.

– Shane Cortese gets ready to face his fear of snakes

I've really had no time to think about this at all . . . It's out of my comfort zone, I tell you that right now, because I have done a little bit of travelling in my time. But I am a total luxury traveller.

– Shane Cortese on a tuk-tuk, after first arriving in Sri Lanka

This journey has been an absolute feast on my senses, on my eyes, and what I've learned. But if there's one thing that just sticks out in my head, it's being on the back of that Jeep and turning the corner and there, bang, was my favourite animal in its natural habitat, feeding in a herd.

– Shane Cortese reflects on his trip and being able to see elephants in the wild