Discussion
I'm getting married in June and a good friend of mine has offered to pay for our honeymoon in Sri Lanka. Now this wasn't the first choice of mine because I know nothing about it!
He works there so will get a 5 star hotel and also free flights due to the amount of air miles he has.
I was just wondering what it's like there and if there's anything to do etc
He works there so will get a 5 star hotel and also free flights due to the amount of air miles he has.
I was just wondering what it's like there and if there's anything to do etc
Liam79 said:
Glad to see positive comments. It will save us a lot of money him paying so im glad people have been and enjoyed it. What is the food like for instance and type of hotels etc
The food is hot and spicy. Lots of curry and dahl. Been a while since I went, but I don't remember much other than curry and rice as well as things like rottis which are sort of pancakey things and very nice (especially when you find the chocolate and banana ones!)Although if you are in a 5 star, then you'll get loads more stuff I'd presume.
As for hotels, we were backpacking so don't have a clue (and may explain why we only really had curry - its cheap). Have you got a name of the town you'll be going to?
Edited by Shay HTFC on Thursday 18th November 11:44
Went 2 years ago and enjoyed it. Journey times are forever due to the quality of the roads, but does mean life moves at a nice chilled pace.
Yes, do go see the elephant orphanage, Kandy, the temple of the tooth and the traditional dancing. Locals are very friendly and the curries are hot! Also a lot of hot and sour fish, but the food was great.
Beaches were okay, but since the tsunami the coral's gone and the snorkelling was limited. We stayed in Beruwela for just over a week.
Yes, do go see the elephant orphanage, Kandy, the temple of the tooth and the traditional dancing. Locals are very friendly and the curries are hot! Also a lot of hot and sour fish, but the food was great.
Beaches were okay, but since the tsunami the coral's gone and the snorkelling was limited. We stayed in Beruwela for just over a week.
Just got back from our honeymoon which was 8 days touring Sri Lanka, then 8 days in the Maldives. Sri Lanka is an amazing country and I would summarise it by saying if you haven't got the time or cash for a world tour - go to Sri Lanka! We arrived late so spent our first night in Colombo then went off to Dambulla for 3 nights which allowed us to do the "cutural triangle", the elephant orphanage and an elephant safari. We then did 2 nights in Kandy (but we only really needed 1 night here) then onto Nuwara Eliya for a night in the Tea Factory. We then went to Galle and along the coast road seeing the effects of the tsunami before spending our last night in Mount Lavina. Various places reminded us of India, Africa, England, Germany and many other countries.
We didn't do the beach resorts there so I can't comment on those but if you go I would suggest seeing as much of the country as possible - but hire a driver, the driving standards are truely unbelievable!!
Rather than bore people on here, if you want any other information feel free to message me whilst it's all fresh in my mind!
Editted to add about the food - all the hotels we stayed in catered for a wide range of diets from all around the world as well as the local stuff - for example, at breakfast you can have a full fry up, cereal, bread and cheese, or a curry! Vegetarians have a wide range to choose from as many Buddhists don't eat meat.
We booked with Kuoni but this website is good to see what there is to do: http://holidaysinsrilanka.net/
We didn't do the beach resorts there so I can't comment on those but if you go I would suggest seeing as much of the country as possible - but hire a driver, the driving standards are truely unbelievable!!
Rather than bore people on here, if you want any other information feel free to message me whilst it's all fresh in my mind!
Editted to add about the food - all the hotels we stayed in catered for a wide range of diets from all around the world as well as the local stuff - for example, at breakfast you can have a full fry up, cereal, bread and cheese, or a curry! Vegetarians have a wide range to choose from as many Buddhists don't eat meat.
We booked with Kuoni but this website is good to see what there is to do: http://holidaysinsrilanka.net/
Edited by Mrs Pitstop on Friday 3rd December 18:47
Went for two week in October. I've travelled a fair bit in Asia (/Africa/Middle East), so hopefully can add some context.
Sri Lanka is (by Asian Standards) easy and comfortable.
There isn't the extreme poverty of countries such as India
It isn't as crazy and manic as the likes of Thailand or Vietnam
The people are far friendlier than many countries in Asia.
Most things are fairly conventional to western standards. It was a british colony till 1948 (?) at which point any kind of development appears to have stopped, so think 1950's British technology with mobile phones and hand me down japanese cars and you won't be far wrong. Key things like western toilets everywhere, reliable power infrastructure and decent drainage make a massive difference to how easy a country is to visit!
The flipside is it doesn't have the really spectacular sights of say the Taj or Angkor Wat, the beaches aren't as good as say the maldives (though they are easily visited) and it isn't as cheap as many countries (but by no means expensive!)
I think if I were to rate all the countries I've been to in asia on ease of visiting, hassle from the locals, poverty, spending costs, sights, variety etc Sri Lanka would come pretty high, if not at the top (with the exception of maybe Japan). Not because it was the best at anyone thing, but that it good at most things and nothing that would get big negative marks. If that makes sense!
We stayed in Negombo (cheap deal) but toured all round. Beaches in the south are definitely bester than the west coast. You will see lots of evidence of the tsunami though which can be quite sobering. Would recommend touring round as said - I really enjoyed the tea plantation visit and kandy, less fussed by Nuwara Elya (sp?)
edited to add if you need a driver recommendation let me know - our driver was absolutely fantastic, but tends to be quite busy so maybe something to book early.
Sri Lanka is (by Asian Standards) easy and comfortable.
There isn't the extreme poverty of countries such as India
It isn't as crazy and manic as the likes of Thailand or Vietnam
The people are far friendlier than many countries in Asia.
Most things are fairly conventional to western standards. It was a british colony till 1948 (?) at which point any kind of development appears to have stopped, so think 1950's British technology with mobile phones and hand me down japanese cars and you won't be far wrong. Key things like western toilets everywhere, reliable power infrastructure and decent drainage make a massive difference to how easy a country is to visit!
The flipside is it doesn't have the really spectacular sights of say the Taj or Angkor Wat, the beaches aren't as good as say the maldives (though they are easily visited) and it isn't as cheap as many countries (but by no means expensive!)
I think if I were to rate all the countries I've been to in asia on ease of visiting, hassle from the locals, poverty, spending costs, sights, variety etc Sri Lanka would come pretty high, if not at the top (with the exception of maybe Japan). Not because it was the best at anyone thing, but that it good at most things and nothing that would get big negative marks. If that makes sense!
We stayed in Negombo (cheap deal) but toured all round. Beaches in the south are definitely bester than the west coast. You will see lots of evidence of the tsunami though which can be quite sobering. Would recommend touring round as said - I really enjoyed the tea plantation visit and kandy, less fussed by Nuwara Elya (sp?)
edited to add if you need a driver recommendation let me know - our driver was absolutely fantastic, but tends to be quite busy so maybe something to book early.
Edited by VxDuncan on Friday 3rd December 19:30
Right, thanks for all the feedback. After a chat with my friend I have a bit of an update. He said he's going to book is 4 nights at the samon villas in Bentota, then 3 nights at the Cinnamon lakeside in Colombo. Ive had a look at their websites and it looks absolutely superb, I can't wait.
I would be interested to see if anyone had any experiences of the hotels or areas. I don't know if these hotels are all inclusive or not so would like to know of local restaurants as well.
Thanks.
I would be interested to see if anyone had any experiences of the hotels or areas. I don't know if these hotels are all inclusive or not so would like to know of local restaurants as well.
Thanks.
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