In April for my Spring Break I took a trip to Sri Lanka. Hearing the recent news about the landslides Sri Lanka has been experiencing, I reminisced about the beautiful island nation and people I experienced just last month. My friend Wam Bui and I wanted to see all that we could of the island, so we set up a route that had us in a new city almost everyday of our trip. Along the way, we met great people while experiencing the culture, food, land, and religion.
Day 1:
March 25th
Once we arrived in Ella, we had lunch at this very cool restaurant called Chill. Good food and drinks, can't go wrong with that. Following lunch on our way to our hotel we stopped on the side of the road and checked out a beautiful waterfall. Bui was a bit hesitant to venture over the rocks to get a closer look, but when she heard my reaction to the natural beauty she couldn't resist. Bui was later almost attacked by wild monkeys that came to join us in our waterfall photo shoot. The monkeys pretty much ended our time at the waterfall and we then headed to my favorite hotel of the trip.
The Jetwing Hotel was my favorite hotel for so many reasons: a cute little bungalow with an outdoor bathroom and shower, peacocks roaming the hotel grounds, bicycles for us to use to get around the hotel grounds, and the service was excellent. I didn't want to leave, but we had to move on the next day to our next stop.
Check out my Sri Lanka video!
March 25th
We arrived in Colombo and immediately took a very short drive to the next town over - Negomobo. We spent the night at a hotel right on the beach. We didn't have time to enjoy the beach because the next day we were heading to our next destination.
Day 2:
March 26th
March 26th
We drove to Pinnawala to see the elephants at the famous Elephant Orphanage. When we arrived I was a bit disappointed to find out that the orphanage was just another tourist attraction where elephants were being put on display for our enjoyment. I thought I was going to visit an elephant sanctuary where the elephants would be roaming free and where we would have the opportunity to interact with them by bathing or feeding them. Instead I saw elephants chained to post or poked around for the tourist to see up close and personal
I told our driver that I wanted visit a place down the street from the orphanage that was recommended by a friend. She was able to interact with the elephants the way I thought I was going to be able to at the orphanage. Our driver took us to a place where we were able to ride an elephant but I soon realized this still was apart of the elephant orphanage. Even though it wasn't what I had in mind, I still enjoyed riding the elephant.
Next, we headed to the herbal garden where my legs got destroyed by the mosquitoes (I forgot to reapply my repellent, biggest mistake). As we walked through the garden our guide explained to us all of the different plants we saw and how each of them were used to create natural remedies.
Once we left the garden (with me purchasing mosquito ointment to put on my very itchy legs), we headed to our last stop of the day - Kandy. When we arrived in Kandy we went to see a the Kandy Dance performance which included cultural dancing pieces and men walking on fire! I must say I didn't care for the dancing (and if you know me, you know I love dancing) but the men walking on fire was pretty cool to see.
We ended our night back at our hotel, enjoyed a local beer while eating dinner, and met our house pet, Lanka. He was the small lizard in our bathroom. When we asked the Bell Boy to get Lanka he refused (I'm assuming it's a cultural thing because no one seemed to mess with the lizards). Fortunately Lanka kept to himself, so we didn't have any problems.
I told our driver that I wanted visit a place down the street from the orphanage that was recommended by a friend. She was able to interact with the elephants the way I thought I was going to be able to at the orphanage. Our driver took us to a place where we were able to ride an elephant but I soon realized this still was apart of the elephant orphanage. Even though it wasn't what I had in mind, I still enjoyed riding the elephant.
Next, we headed to the herbal garden where my legs got destroyed by the mosquitoes (I forgot to reapply my repellent, biggest mistake). As we walked through the garden our guide explained to us all of the different plants we saw and how each of them were used to create natural remedies.
Once we left the garden (with me purchasing mosquito ointment to put on my very itchy legs), we headed to our last stop of the day - Kandy. When we arrived in Kandy we went to see a the Kandy Dance performance which included cultural dancing pieces and men walking on fire! I must say I didn't care for the dancing (and if you know me, you know I love dancing) but the men walking on fire was pretty cool to see.
We ended our night back at our hotel, enjoyed a local beer while eating dinner, and met our house pet, Lanka. He was the small lizard in our bathroom. When we asked the Bell Boy to get Lanka he refused (I'm assuming it's a cultural thing because no one seemed to mess with the lizards). Fortunately Lanka kept to himself, so we didn't have any problems.
Day 3:
March 27th - Nuwara Eliya
March 27th - Nuwara Eliya
The next morning, we headed to the Temple of the Tooth Relic. This temple holds one of Buddha's teeth. Yes...his tooth! We went during the weekend, so it was very crowded with buddhist who were coming to pray.
On our way to our next town, Nuwara Eliya, we stopped and tried on saris and visited a tea factory. You can't go to Sri Lanka and not try a sari or tea, it's what you do!
On our way to our next town, Nuwara Eliya, we stopped and tried on saris and visited a tea factory. You can't go to Sri Lanka and not try a sari or tea, it's what you do!
Day 4:
March 28th
March 28th
The next morning we got up to catch the train to our next destination - Ella. When planning our trip we heard so much about traveling by train so this was a must do on our list and ended up being one of my favorite parts of the trip. We met so many people on our ride:
- Sean the cyclist who had been in Sri Lank for two months cycling around the island.
- The elderly firecracker of a woman from the Czech Republic who was with her friend backpacking through Sri Lanka.
- Sinto the tour guide who spoke seven languages. He was with a large group of tourist from Germany who we happened to run in to at our hotel at the end of our trip.
- A man originally from Canada, but had been living in Germany for about 30 years traveling with his family.
- Two friends from Spain who meet and travel every three months in a different place because one lives in Germany and the other lives in Qatar for work.
Once we arrived in Ella, we had lunch at this very cool restaurant called Chill. Good food and drinks, can't go wrong with that. Following lunch on our way to our hotel we stopped on the side of the road and checked out a beautiful waterfall. Bui was a bit hesitant to venture over the rocks to get a closer look, but when she heard my reaction to the natural beauty she couldn't resist. Bui was later almost attacked by wild monkeys that came to join us in our waterfall photo shoot. The monkeys pretty much ended our time at the waterfall and we then headed to my favorite hotel of the trip.
The Jetwing Hotel was my favorite hotel for so many reasons: a cute little bungalow with an outdoor bathroom and shower, peacocks roaming the hotel grounds, bicycles for us to use to get around the hotel grounds, and the service was excellent. I didn't want to leave, but we had to move on the next day to our next stop.
Day 4:
March 29th
March 29th
Our next destination was Yala, where we enjoyed the day on an animal safari. I really wanted to see a bear, but they didn't want to come out and play while we were around. We did get to see a leopard (which was very exciting), wild boar, a variety of birds, a crocodile, and many other animals.
Day 5:
March 30th & 31st
March 30th & 31st
Bui and I wanted to make sure we had some time to relax on our trip, especially with all the moving around we had been doing. So we made sure we ended our trip at the beach in Unawatuna. For the next two days I was a beach bum. That pretty much sums up my time at the beach.
Day 6:
April 1st
Because we had a later flight Bui and I were able to squeeze in one more activity in Colombo before we left. My friend who had visited in December recommended a cooking class that she found on a site called With Locals. On this site you can find people you can hire to be your tour guide when you visit their city or you can sign up for different activities people are offering to give you a real "local" experience. If you plan on going to Sri Lanka any time soon, I highly recommend taking the cooking class with Duneeshya. She demonstrated how to make steamed rice, dhal curry, bean curry, gotukola sambal, coconut sambal, ambultiyal fish, and wattalapam pudding. I didn't think I was going to eat most of this food because I don't really eat curry and I'm not a fan of coconut (which was used a lot), but I loved it. The food was excellent and I was so mad that I couldn't take any of it with me because before we knew it, our driver was back and it was time to head to the airport.
I would definitely recommend Sri Lanka as a place to visit. The people are nice, the country is beautiful, and it's an affordable trip (icing on the cake). Oh the places I'll go!
Here's a picture of Duneeshya our cooking instructor.
Check out my Sri Lanka video!
