Sri Lanka Tour
Discussion
We are going to Sri Lanka in September and doing a tour of 5 areas.
Mount Lavinia 1 day
Habarana 2 days
Kandy 2 days
Nuwara Eliya 1 day
Aluthgama 8 days
I've searched all the usual places for info and wondered if the travellers here had any must dos or must don'ts!
Am I really going to have curry for breakfast lunch and evening meal?
Mount Lavinia 1 day
Habarana 2 days
Kandy 2 days
Nuwara Eliya 1 day
Aluthgama 8 days
I've searched all the usual places for info and wondered if the travellers here had any must dos or must don'ts!
Am I really going to have curry for breakfast lunch and evening meal?
I enjoyed my stay in 2009 (yikes!) , here are some pics
You can have curry every day for every meal if you want(I did
); but there is a wide variety of food available. People are very friendly.
Elephant safari at Habarana was worth doing, your on the back of an elephant with 6-8 others; very strange the swaying of the elephants, bit like 4wheel drive. Sigiriya is also around the same area so a tour there is good idea, but only if you have a head for heights; some of the walk ways are a bit worrying.
Adams Peak is worth climbing, but it's an early start (and wrap up as it's cold) and you need to be reasonably fit, but I did it an I was a 45 year old. There is a temple on the top; and when the sun rises you get a pyramid shadow projected (see pics above for what you see). Also in Kanda go to the botanical gardens; large selection of orchids and the park around it is very nice.
Lots of elephant stuff as you can see from the pics; can't remember the details, Orphanage is cute seeing the tiny elephants; the elephant bathing is great and as they leave you get very close (few feet), to 10's of elephants. Found the elephant safari in a land rover better; saw a wider selection and what look like a more natural environment.
Try eating locally and not just in the hotels; food is tasty and people very friendly.
You can have curry every day for every meal if you want(I did
); but there is a wide variety of food available. People are very friendly. Elephant safari at Habarana was worth doing, your on the back of an elephant with 6-8 others; very strange the swaying of the elephants, bit like 4wheel drive. Sigiriya is also around the same area so a tour there is good idea, but only if you have a head for heights; some of the walk ways are a bit worrying.
Adams Peak is worth climbing, but it's an early start (and wrap up as it's cold) and you need to be reasonably fit, but I did it an I was a 45 year old. There is a temple on the top; and when the sun rises you get a pyramid shadow projected (see pics above for what you see). Also in Kanda go to the botanical gardens; large selection of orchids and the park around it is very nice.
Lots of elephant stuff as you can see from the pics; can't remember the details, Orphanage is cute seeing the tiny elephants; the elephant bathing is great and as they leave you get very close (few feet), to 10's of elephants. Found the elephant safari in a land rover better; saw a wider selection and what look like a more natural environment.
Try eating locally and not just in the hotels; food is tasty and people very friendly.
have you already booked hotels? seems to me you're staying centrally for much of the holiday with no beach time [sri lanka's beaches can be amazing!] and a fair amount of travel to hit the main sights and cities. there is such variety and beauty in sri lanka that it really is breathtaking and 2 weeks is enough imo to experience it all, but traffic is slooooooow.
the ancient capitals, kandy, dambulla cave temple and sigirya are your cultural destinations, although in the main we were unimpressed with anuradhapura other than the religious festival procession we were lucky enough to witness. it was a LONG drive [we self drove, awesome fun and nowhere near the problem people on here said it would be] and other than the scale there was nothing that spectacular. polunnaruwa is a lot smaller [though still spread out] but had a greater wow factor.
galle, kandy and columbo [if time allows] give you the city experience, there's the elephant sanctuary and the national parks for wildlife, and the hill country is yet another change of scenery. we had an epic fail when trying to reach lands end before the mists came down before the satnav worked out how to circumnavigate the army base we weren't allwod to drive through. there's a circa 2000ft drop to the valley floor, but after 11am all you'll see is the tops of clouds! all told i drove 8hrs solid that day and my only reward being my [in my head] awesome rally exploits in the swift on the hill tracks!
the east of the island is largely tourist free and we quickly drew a crowd when stopped. fine in the main but not so much when you're wanting some time alone together lazing on the beach! people are extremely friendly though and i was oh so grateful for the fisherman who helped us dig the swift out when we berthed it on the beach
we ended our stay relaxing on the west coast beaches. i have to say it's a wonderful place and one of the best holiday's i've ever taken. enjoy!
the ancient capitals, kandy, dambulla cave temple and sigirya are your cultural destinations, although in the main we were unimpressed with anuradhapura other than the religious festival procession we were lucky enough to witness. it was a LONG drive [we self drove, awesome fun and nowhere near the problem people on here said it would be] and other than the scale there was nothing that spectacular. polunnaruwa is a lot smaller [though still spread out] but had a greater wow factor.
galle, kandy and columbo [if time allows] give you the city experience, there's the elephant sanctuary and the national parks for wildlife, and the hill country is yet another change of scenery. we had an epic fail when trying to reach lands end before the mists came down before the satnav worked out how to circumnavigate the army base we weren't allwod to drive through. there's a circa 2000ft drop to the valley floor, but after 11am all you'll see is the tops of clouds! all told i drove 8hrs solid that day and my only reward being my [in my head] awesome rally exploits in the swift on the hill tracks!
the east of the island is largely tourist free and we quickly drew a crowd when stopped. fine in the main but not so much when you're wanting some time alone together lazing on the beach! people are extremely friendly though and i was oh so grateful for the fisherman who helped us dig the swift out when we berthed it on the beach
we ended our stay relaxing on the west coast beaches. i have to say it's a wonderful place and one of the best holiday's i've ever taken. enjoy!
Cheers Shirt all interesting stuff, so it's an early start for worlds end then
We spend our last 8 days at Club Bentota in Aluthgama, hopefully relaxing after a hectic run round the interior. We have a car with driver which might be less fun but hopefully he will be knowledgable and become our guide as well.
We spend our last 8 days at Club Bentota in Aluthgama, hopefully relaxing after a hectic run round the interior. We have a car with driver which might be less fun but hopefully he will be knowledgable and become our guide as well.
from nuwara eliya is should be about 90mins drive, plus a 2hr hike from the car park. all the guide books say it isn't strenous but i can't confirm [hmph!]. properly gutted as google images make it look amazing.
i would expect an organised driver to be ok but i do travel asia/africa with work and know that standards differ somewhat. don't be afraid to lay down some rules regarding what is considered a safe overtake! the buses are your main enemy, coming round a corner to find them 3 abreast and not backing down tends to sharpen the mind.
i would expect an organised driver to be ok but i do travel asia/africa with work and know that standards differ somewhat. don't be afraid to lay down some rules regarding what is considered a safe overtake! the buses are your main enemy, coming round a corner to find them 3 abreast and not backing down tends to sharpen the mind.
In Kandy today. The driving is the most amazing experience. He who dares and all that. In the countryside they obviously don't see too many tourists and we have become very popular which is actually very entertaining.
Tea factory tomorrow. I have had some wonderful tea whilst here so high hopes for this one.
The stout wouldn't be my usual tipple but at 8.8% we will be having another.
Tea factory tomorrow. I have had some wonderful tea whilst here so high hopes for this one.
The stout wouldn't be my usual tipple but at 8.8% we will be having another.
Didn't spot this thread until now so it's too late to advise you to take warm, waterproof clothing for the tea country and take your own toilet paper or get used to just using water from the tap!
If you're not at Nuwara Eliya yet, ask about the Smyrna Mission and shop. Are you staying at The Grand?
If you're not at Nuwara Eliya yet, ask about the Smyrna Mission and shop. Are you staying at The Grand?
We leave earls regency in the morning hopefully before the england cricket team arrive and drive upto the tea factory hotel. We already spotted the temp difference so have packed warm clothes. The mission sounds interesting.
Just got back from a curry house in Kandy. Not like ours are they!
Just got back from a curry house in Kandy. Not like ours are they!
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