Hello again, after a really long break, the Humsafars are back with another trip down the memory lane. This trip was a bit different than the others, as it also had a couple of our friends along with us to make it even more memorable. This was a trip which finally happened after a LOT of discussions and deliberation (including this one time we had our laptops open, and mobiles glued to our faces while very tempting pizzas and pastas awaited us at the Pasta Street in Indiranagar, Bangalore!)
This was the trip to Sri Lanka which was a year-long, i.e. started in 2018 and ended in 2019 (okay bad joke, it was a New Year trip).
Anyway, after multiple discussions and shortlisting, we decided to book our trip through an agent via Travel Triangle. My trusted agents were not available, and the guy I was speaking to seemed okay, so gave it a go. We told him we want to go around, and not be limited to Colombo or nearby cities only. We were to be picked up by a private vehicle at the Colombo airport, and would visit all the cities/locations we wanted to visit, spending 1-2 nights in each, and then he would finally drop us back to Colombo for our return flight.
Indians need to apply for an E-visa beforehand to travel to Sri Lanka, a pretty straightforward and easy process.
Our flight from Bangalore to Colombo was via Chennai. So, an hour to Chennai, waiting at the airport for 3-4 hours and another 1.5 hours to Colombo left us really tired when we arrived at 2 am in the night.
The driver was late, and just when the fear and negative thoughts of being cheated and stranded at the airport started to creep in, our driver called us on Whatsapp and escorted us to a hotel arrangement for the night (a very basic one, since we just needed to spend a few hours.)
Day 1-After a much-needed rest, we started off towards for our first destination, Sigiriya Rock. We had a couple of stops planned enroute, Pinewella Elephant orphanage and Dambulla Cave temple.
The Elephant Orphanage was kind of an open museum, with a lot of boards and information about the kinds of elephants, some excavated bones and stories of the elephants who were rescued and given shelter at the orphanage. After reading through the exhibits, we opted to go for a quick elephant ride (which in hindsight we shouldn’t have supported looking at the sad eyes of those magnificent creatures). After the short bumpy rides, we made our way to a Spice Garden nearby to check out the various kinds of medicinal plants and herbs. They also had a lot of options of these medicinal oils which you could buy at very reasonable prices.
From there, we made our way to the Dambulla Cave Temples. As the name suggests, these were old temples with beautiful cave paintings and artwork within them. Didn’t take a guide, so just walked around to explore the different nooks and corners of the place and took some photos for memories.
The next item on the itinerary was Sigiriya Rock. One warning, please wear the appropriate footwear for this location, and carry lots of water if you are going on a hot sunny afternoon (like us). So this is basically a fortress, atop a mountain, and to reach it you have to climb like a million steps (well 1202 to be exact, but seemed like that to us tired souls). After watching a beautiful sunset from the top, and enjoying the beautiful view, we made our way down, and towards our hotel, where another shock was awaiting us. Our amazing travel agent hadn’t received a confirmation from the hotel and didn’t bother following up. Imagine our shock when we get there and are told there is no booking in our names. After a lot of WhatsApp calls and arguments we were finally moved to another hotel, with upgraded rooms to spend the night. Tired from a long day, we took a hot shower, enjoyed a peaceful dinner, and called it a night.
Day 2- Today’s plan was to head from Sigiriya towards Kandy. Kandy is considered as one of the more religious/cultural cities. We were scheduled for a city tour, but soon realised there wasn’t much, except a lake and some viewpoints which we were happy seeing while driving through or had plans to walk by in the evening since our booked hotel was anyway overlooking the lake.
We visited the temple of the Tooth relic, which while very beautiful was too crowded for comfort (even by pre-covid standards). Imagine an old temple, filled with beautiful colourful wall paintings, pillars glittering like gold, and a mesmerizing idol to pray to, that’s what the temple looked like. It had a sense of serenity about it, gave a very peaceful vibe. After this we just walked around a bit and ended up at an Indian restaurant for some dinner. One of the worst service/food I ever came across, but okay atleast we knew what we were ordering and eating (it’s tough being a vegetarian tourist!)
After this not so eventful day, made our way to the hotel and retired for the night.
Day 3– After a nice breakfast at the rooftop overlooking the lake, we made our way towards Ashok Vatika, a temple made in honour of the Hindu god Hanuman, it is believed to be the place he met Sita to give her a ring from Lord Ram (won’t go into too much details of Ramayan now, but just some background). We spent some time praying in the temple, bought some souvenir and headed off towards Nuwara Eliya, also known as the Scotland of Sri Lanka due to its landscapes and architectural style. We stopped at Gregory lake, for some pictures and just some fun around the waterfall, with families and children hanging out and playing around by the lakeside.
Next stop was at a tea plantation on the way, where we had a private tour of the process in which tea leaves are turned into tea. A good learning experience, followed by a tasting session of all the kinds of teas they grow (again, countless!) Took in our share of tastings, and purchased a few for our folks back home before making our way to the hotel, very close to a waterfall and overlooking the valley of tea plantations.
The hotel was one of the best properties we stayed at in Sri Lanka, both in terms of location, facilities, vegetarian food options and also scenery. It also had a small stream flowing through it, which could be accessed with a very short hike, which we took full advantage of in the evening before calling it a night.
Day 4– Today was a day for the child in us. We were scheduled to go on a train ride to Ella. Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s considered one of the most beautiful train rides in the world! Tea plantations on one side, and a waterfall on the other. Multiple bridges, and amazing landscapes all packed into a single train journey. Well, I wish it was actually as good and smooth as the picture I am painting, but unfortunately this too was very very crowded! We didn’t end up getting seats for the entire journey, and were standing the entire way uncomfortably trying to soak in the sceneries. It was beautiful, no doubt, but very very exhausting!
Anyway, our driver picked us up at Ella station, and we made our way to Mirissa, a beautiful beach location. We checked into the hotel quite late in the evening, so were obviously too tired to explore around, especially when we had to wake up and be ready by 4 am the next day for our next adventure.
Day 5- Today was booked for the highlight of the trip, dolphin and whale watching! We got ready and headed out around 4 am towards the docks and made our way to the cruise we were booked into and welcomed with some tea and biscuits there. They were also kind enough to pass around medicines for people who had sea sickness, to avoid anyone being uncomfortable later. The cruise was much longer than we expected, but had a good viewing of Dolphins, a group started swimming right beside us, giving us the occasional jump too as if trying to show off. Whale spotting was a bit tough, but once they got information of one, all the boats started pursuing the lead and towards the same direction. Finally, we had a sighting, and words cannot describe how magnificent the creature is! Also had the luck of seeing it eject some water into the air which I had personally just seen in movies or animations.
From there, we checked out of the hotel and headed towards Colombo, with another stop on the way, the Madu Ganga river cruise. This cruise on a small speedboat, took us around the mangroves, giving us the occasional sighting of beautiful exotic birds, and the occasional fear of a snake/spider falling from one of those branches into the boat. Stopped at a spot on the way, which had fish therapy out in the middle of the lake/river. They had these small sections made, where you dip your legs in running water, and fish will nibble at your feet. A very relaxing experience, before we made our way back to the shore and towards Colombo.
One thing I noticed about Colombo, was that it was very very clean. I didn’t find any litter on the roads, and the footpaths were very well made, and maintained quite well.
We checked into the hotel, which had a very strong smell of cinnamon all around. Very soothing and relaxing at first, then it slowly started getting too overwhelming. Overall, the hotel was good, and we retired for the night after a nice filling dinner.
Day 6- Today was the 31st December, so we had to save our energies for the New Year party tonight. We explored a bit around the hotel and found this amazing south indian meal place nearby which had the most heavenly food!
For our New Year party, we reached one of the biggest Casino in Colombo, Bally’s Casino. Since it was New Year’s Eve, they had some amazing live performances lined up, all from live dancers, to pole dancers, fire show, and many more. Enjoyed the beautiful performances and music, while filling up on the widespread buffet and gambling in the process (yes, similar to other instances like Seychelles, Fiji, I lost some money yet again) before heading back to the hotel for the night
Day 7- This was our last day in Sri Lanka, but since our flight was in the night, we checked out after a heavy breakfast and went around the city with our driver. Kept it light, a couple of malls, shopping centres etc, before hitting another casino there, the Bellagio. This time I managed to win some of my money back, still in net loss though overall.
Made our way to the airport, thanked our driver for his support and services in the last week and bid farewell.
A short flight to Chennai, followed by a long wait there, before we made our way back to Bangalore after a very tiring, but eventful and memorable trip.
Few pointers
- Carry USD from India, convert in Sri Lanka to local currency. We made the mistake of converting directly to LKR from India and got a pretty bad rate. Luckily didn’t convert too much so not a big loss.
- Indian cards can be used at ATMs, and the conversation rate is not too bad.
- Vegetarian food is a bit difficult and short on options, but not impossible
- Be prepared to walk, and ready for good climbs/treks. All the temples, view points etc come with an extensive walk involved
- Approx cost of trip (all prices for 2)
- Flights & E-Visa- USD 500
- Package including (car, hotels)- USD 750
- Overheads- USD 300-400
- Hotel we stayed at:
- Hotel Nice Place (Dambulla) instead of Sundaras Resort and Spa (Sigiriya)
- Hotel Sandriana Lake View Kandy
- Hotel Ramboda Falls (Nuwara Eliya)
- Hotel Randiya (Mirissa)
- Hotel Fairview (Colombo)
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