I don't remember how or when the idea of going to Srilanka originated - Swati reminds me as I am writing that it was her idea. Ofcourse !! We wanted to celebrate our first year of marriage in an unexplored place/ country yet. So we asked a few friends and also surfed a few pics/places and BINGO - Srilanka we zeroed in on. There is something intriguing about Lanka, but many, especially our parents were a tad bit worried, of course with the grievous history of war that the island had witnessed over more than 2 decades. But we decided to make it after hearing from some people who had been there, and also reading up on web that the situation has improved and tourist attraction has been the highest in last two years. So ALL SET.......
My parents had come to leave us at the airport and we killed some time having lunch at Sangeetha. I ordered evergreen ghee roast and sambar vadai, and a dutiful husband I am, offered Swati some portion of vadai. Swati just had one piece and shunned the ossum vadai away which she had to regret later in Srilanka. More of this later ;-) Spice jet delayed flight by 30 mins but we eventually landed some time around 6pm (no time difference).
I had booked for everything except inland travel, which I thought is better to sort once we land in Srilanka. I realized that apart from flights, its quite possible to plan a package deal at travel shops outside customs area in airport. But since its the first time I didn't want risk landing in Srilanka without a confirmed itinerary. I would say local planning might possible shave off 10-15% of final expense vis-a-vis planning from home.
Currency tips: its better to have 20-30000 Lankan rupees (LKR) as cash in hand and use for all food/ travel related expenses. ATMs work well (visa/maestro), but Sampath bank (the largest bank in lanka) doesn't give balance receipt which is frustrating. There are other banks like commercial bank, People's bank etc and I even saw Indian bank branch. Also for all big ticket purchases, use credit card, but intimate your respective bank's risk department before arriving in Srilanka so that they don't disallow big transactions from a foreign country.
Anyway back to some interesting things....so on landing luckily we get escorted to Lankan travel agency by a gentleman who basically plans our entire local travel with a stroke of a pen and a swipe of my card ;-) Ladies and gentlemen, I now introduce you all to our wonderful driver/ travel guide Mr.Lionel. Now this guy has testimonials written from people across the globe. All super sentimental and full of praise that I felt good about having him with us. I am attaching a sample from an Israeli couple, who came here to enjoy their 'hanimoon' :D
Day 1: Elephant orphanage
We took the early morning train (Swati was like grrrrr) to Rambukkuna to visit Elephant orphanage where lost baby elephants are found/ taken in by the society and nurtured well. This place is a total tourist magnet and a must see. I first thought its gonna be totally boring watching elephants for like more than an hour but then Swati convinced me that these baby tuskers have something innately cute about them. I agree. One such instance, there was a elephant mounting his girlfriend and the latter ran to her momma, away from all the raging testosterone. Man we were so enthralled to see all the action that I forgot to take the video. We took off from there to go to the Elephant society - Lionel recommended, now you see the benefit of having this guy. Here you get to take bath with elephants, like that new Cinthol ad (see photo attached). Another must do.
Then we were off to Kandy (remember Kandy Kathirgamar Murugan from Thenali Movie). I had an idea about having fun by staying at Pallekele (20kms from heart of Kandy, where the new cricket stadium is). The Lanka home test series with NZ was going on, and I thought may be I will get to meet Jayawardene or Mccullum. Of course Swati had other plans and on top of that Lionel constantly scoffed at me for booking so far from Kandy, and making his travel company accommodate more kms for same price. Such loyalty :p
We did some local sight seeing, viz. botanical garden (reminded me of Ooty/ frisbee with my cousins). Evening, we went to the Kandy cultural show. Interesting performance but completely unprofessional, with certain dancers/percussionists were out of sync. One nice gentleman slept through the whole thing right in front of us while his poor wife was struggling to use the i-pad to capture the dance. Swati soon followed the gentleman, while I was struggling to fit my limited knowledge of taal (or thaalam in tamil) for the songs. I think 'thappu' thaalam totally fitted the bill. We paid 500 LKR per head not for such no-show, but the fire dance and some fine jugglery salvaged the act. Our verdict is 'time pass' but avoidable.
Day 2: Sigiriya fort
This majestic fortress is 3 hour drive north of kandy. The fort was built by a sinhalese prince who killed his own father to ascend the throne. To counter his elder brother, who was in exile in India, on his return, he constructed this giant palace atop fort. Sigiriya is derived from Singam+Giri, Singa meaning lion and Giri meaning fort - the lion fort. The palace has been destroyed by buddhists (wow, I was like these guys can be aggressive if they want) but the foundation still exists atop the fort, which is 1202 steps from gate. The water fountains, umpteen gardens will completely mesmerize you.
Warning for men: after all the hard work you do in climbing up those thousand odd steps, all you get to hear from the guide is how the king enjoyed his life with 500 (WHAT A MAN) of his courtesans across the globe and many of such pleasurable acts, and you will be like 'lucky bas****' ;-) It was physically exerting climb for me, obviously not like the king exerted, but I could feel another pack added to my abs. I am officially 2 pack now :D By the way Sigiriya is a UNESCO world heritage site and considered the eighth wonder of the world. Guides here expect around 1000-1500 LKR as tips.
We then stopped at Dambulla Budda temple on the way back to Kandy. A big statue of Gautama awaits you, and on first sight I was reminded of the giant 'Mahavir' at Shravanebelagola, Karnataka. A must see but you can avoid the rock temple at Dambulla if you are already tired of climbing at Sigiriya. We didn't have Anuradhapura in our schedule which is further north of Sigiriya, but Lionel said that is another nice place to visit for ist buddhist temples, forts etc
Day 3/4: Nuwara Eliya
This hill station is nothing like Kodaikanal, Munnar, Mahabaleshwar and don't miss it thinking its just another hill area, unless you came to Lanka just for the beaches. We stayed at tea bush, the highest situated hotel in Nuwara Eliya, surrounded by lush tea plantations. Highly recommended. You can take a walk in the night to market to experience the chillness, and if too tired take a tuk-tuk (trishaw or auto) back.
Coming back to why having Lionel was worth it, he fit in some interesting places in our raw schedule like tea factory (a guide he knew accompanied us) and even before that in Kandy at a gem shop. Srilanka is famous for Sapphire and Moonstone and he helped us get good discounts from the shop. In general SAARC countries are viewed favorable and in most shopping we did like batik cotton or hand painted wall hangings, we got around 20-25% discount. Thanks to India and Lionel :)
Nuwara Eliya is peaceful and you can either prefer to be busy and just chill. We semi chilled, after an exerting Sigiriya trip. There are some beautiful gardens and lake. Instead of the usual boating experience we did cycling along the 2km esplanade, with stunning mountain beauty on sideway.
Day 5/6: Yala wildlife reserve
On our fifth day, a bright sunday, we marched forward to Yala, the famous leopard reserve. On our way to Yala from Nuwara Eliya, we stopped at Sita Eliya and Sanjeevan hills (you guys know the Ramayana, so not explaining much). The temple closed by the time we reached Sita eliya, but we 'took care' of the caretaker, who in turn did his job. Taking care of us :) it was a nice darshan interspersed with Swati's Hanuman chalisa. Irrespective of the god, I usually recite the 'Gajananam' and 'buddhir balam', which I did. Simple. There are 2-3 waterfalls, but looked dangerous to take bath or completely devoid of people. So not worth it, unless you are with a group of friends and can risk the algae filled rocks for fun. But the water is definitely inviting, so its a matter of discretion.
We arrived at Thissa, a 10km drive from Yala reserve and settled into the mosquito infested landscape. It's a proper jungle and advisable to take mosquito repellents before starting for the morning safari. If you are not a wildlife photographer or animal lover who can eternally gaze at herd of deers, completely still crocodiles, the occasional sighting of cobra/ mongoose, then opt for half day Safari. We were enthu enough to wake up at 5am in morning to get a glimpse of early morning wildlife, and we weren't disappointed the least. Ofcourse the first animal I saw was a dog right into the reserve area, haha, and my attitude served me right with no more sighting of canine family like wolf/ fox. Kidding, the reserve has only cats. We sighted a leopard and its cub, 5 mins into the jungle drive and our guide (Buddhika, a strange name) told us we were very very lucky. I was thanking my stars but didn't have a SLR to capture the beauty. But with limited capability of our camera, we did capture the colorful beauty of our national bird, in all its glory.
Spotted deers and samba are other major highlights, while an elephant walked right next to our van. Swati screamed and pulled me back from taking a video of the mammoth and I landed on her laps. Thankfully, out of fear she didn't realize the entire weight of my body.
We had a pit stop for snack, before leaving, at the coastal border of Yala reserve (south east tip of Srilanka). We were shocked to hear 47 local/tourists died when tsunami hit the Yala reserve back in Dec 2004 (a peak tourist season), while on safari. You can see tombs built for the deceased. The beach reminded me of last scene in Planet of the apes, where the movie captured the 'armageddon' kind of scenario very stunningly. It was a strange moment, when I realized I was staring right into the Indian ocean and straight ahead is Antartica - for me it was end of the world. We dozed off on our way back.
Day 6/7: Bentota beach resort
I am specifically highlighting the resort and not Bentota since we hardly stepped out of the hotel. Basically we had an idea about complete relaxation for two days at the resort and I should it turned out not a bad idea. After a tiring 5 day trip inland atop rocks, safari, long walks round plethora of gardens we needed a break. Avani (where we stayed), Bentota beach resort, Taj have the most recommended resort beaches. The tourist attraction is tremendous and many Europeans come to bask in this sunny side of equator.
If you remember I had mentioned about Swati having to regret not eating the sambhar vada at start of trip. The story goes like this - in lanka its all about rice if you are a vegetarian. Eggs of course. But then how many yolks can you digest, and also they cause so much heat causing splitting headaches after long drives in the car. So of course Swatu badly craved for Indian food, and bless Bentota, it has a special 'value for money' restaurant called 'Kandoori'. Totally Indian and their garlic naan + butter paneer is an ossum combo you can try. The place is a bit shady on first sight, but then pretty safe and you will get used to its ambience. At the end of it all, Swati summed it up really well. It was a short but exhausting yet at same time exciting trip and we felt equally happy and sad having to return to motherland.
Note: Placing tips, you would think is at ones own discretion, but not in Srilanka. People look down upon you or indirectly scoff at you for not giving tips. Even our dear Lionel is a proponent of tip culture even be it unprofessional. So be prepared.
Tidbits about srilanka
1. People are positively biased to Mr. President, Rajapakse. Lionel idolizes him and he's a good representation of the voting population, being a buddhist. But an autowala disagreed, saying inflation and wealth disparity are key concerns.
2. Hambantota is the Presidents birth place and as I write, he is turning the deserted town into another Colombo.
3. Toyota and Nissan are the hottest selling cars, while Tatas also have a formidable market share in heavy SUVs (like safari jeeps)
4. A lot of Indian companies seem to invest in this island country on its way to redevelopment. Eg. Maruti, Cairn India, Hero, Ashok leyland (buses mostly), Vasan eyecare, Bata, Sun
5. Films seems to have assimilated most new technology. But TV shows are boring as hell - reminded me of pointless Doordarshan sops in afty during 90s.
Ayubovan !!
My parents had come to leave us at the airport and we killed some time having lunch at Sangeetha. I ordered evergreen ghee roast and sambar vadai, and a dutiful husband I am, offered Swati some portion of vadai. Swati just had one piece and shunned the ossum vadai away which she had to regret later in Srilanka. More of this later ;-) Spice jet delayed flight by 30 mins but we eventually landed some time around 6pm (no time difference).
I had booked for everything except inland travel, which I thought is better to sort once we land in Srilanka. I realized that apart from flights, its quite possible to plan a package deal at travel shops outside customs area in airport. But since its the first time I didn't want risk landing in Srilanka without a confirmed itinerary. I would say local planning might possible shave off 10-15% of final expense vis-a-vis planning from home.
Currency tips: its better to have 20-30000 Lankan rupees (LKR) as cash in hand and use for all food/ travel related expenses. ATMs work well (visa/maestro), but Sampath bank (the largest bank in lanka) doesn't give balance receipt which is frustrating. There are other banks like commercial bank, People's bank etc and I even saw Indian bank branch. Also for all big ticket purchases, use credit card, but intimate your respective bank's risk department before arriving in Srilanka so that they don't disallow big transactions from a foreign country.
Anyway back to some interesting things....so on landing luckily we get escorted to Lankan travel agency by a gentleman who basically plans our entire local travel with a stroke of a pen and a swipe of my card ;-) Ladies and gentlemen, I now introduce you all to our wonderful driver/ travel guide Mr.Lionel. Now this guy has testimonials written from people across the globe. All super sentimental and full of praise that I felt good about having him with us. I am attaching a sample from an Israeli couple, who came here to enjoy their 'hanimoon' :D
Day 1: Elephant orphanage
We took the early morning train (Swati was like grrrrr) to Rambukkuna to visit Elephant orphanage where lost baby elephants are found/ taken in by the society and nurtured well. This place is a total tourist magnet and a must see. I first thought its gonna be totally boring watching elephants for like more than an hour but then Swati convinced me that these baby tuskers have something innately cute about them. I agree. One such instance, there was a elephant mounting his girlfriend and the latter ran to her momma, away from all the raging testosterone. Man we were so enthralled to see all the action that I forgot to take the video. We took off from there to go to the Elephant society - Lionel recommended, now you see the benefit of having this guy. Here you get to take bath with elephants, like that new Cinthol ad (see photo attached). Another must do.
Then we were off to Kandy (remember Kandy Kathirgamar Murugan from Thenali Movie). I had an idea about having fun by staying at Pallekele (20kms from heart of Kandy, where the new cricket stadium is). The Lanka home test series with NZ was going on, and I thought may be I will get to meet Jayawardene or Mccullum. Of course Swati had other plans and on top of that Lionel constantly scoffed at me for booking so far from Kandy, and making his travel company accommodate more kms for same price. Such loyalty :p
We did some local sight seeing, viz. botanical garden (reminded me of Ooty/ frisbee with my cousins). Evening, we went to the Kandy cultural show. Interesting performance but completely unprofessional, with certain dancers/percussionists were out of sync. One nice gentleman slept through the whole thing right in front of us while his poor wife was struggling to use the i-pad to capture the dance. Swati soon followed the gentleman, while I was struggling to fit my limited knowledge of taal (or thaalam in tamil) for the songs. I think 'thappu' thaalam totally fitted the bill. We paid 500 LKR per head not for such no-show, but the fire dance and some fine jugglery salvaged the act. Our verdict is 'time pass' but avoidable.
Day 2: Sigiriya fort
This majestic fortress is 3 hour drive north of kandy. The fort was built by a sinhalese prince who killed his own father to ascend the throne. To counter his elder brother, who was in exile in India, on his return, he constructed this giant palace atop fort. Sigiriya is derived from Singam+Giri, Singa meaning lion and Giri meaning fort - the lion fort. The palace has been destroyed by buddhists (wow, I was like these guys can be aggressive if they want) but the foundation still exists atop the fort, which is 1202 steps from gate. The water fountains, umpteen gardens will completely mesmerize you.
Warning for men: after all the hard work you do in climbing up those thousand odd steps, all you get to hear from the guide is how the king enjoyed his life with 500 (WHAT A MAN) of his courtesans across the globe and many of such pleasurable acts, and you will be like 'lucky bas****' ;-) It was physically exerting climb for me, obviously not like the king exerted, but I could feel another pack added to my abs. I am officially 2 pack now :D By the way Sigiriya is a UNESCO world heritage site and considered the eighth wonder of the world. Guides here expect around 1000-1500 LKR as tips.
 |
| The last two steps that makes it 1202 !! |
 |
| a change in perspective ;-) |
We then stopped at Dambulla Budda temple on the way back to Kandy. A big statue of Gautama awaits you, and on first sight I was reminded of the giant 'Mahavir' at Shravanebelagola, Karnataka. A must see but you can avoid the rock temple at Dambulla if you are already tired of climbing at Sigiriya. We didn't have Anuradhapura in our schedule which is further north of Sigiriya, but Lionel said that is another nice place to visit for ist buddhist temples, forts etc
Day 3/4: Nuwara Eliya
This hill station is nothing like Kodaikanal, Munnar, Mahabaleshwar and don't miss it thinking its just another hill area, unless you came to Lanka just for the beaches. We stayed at tea bush, the highest situated hotel in Nuwara Eliya, surrounded by lush tea plantations. Highly recommended. You can take a walk in the night to market to experience the chillness, and if too tired take a tuk-tuk (trishaw or auto) back.
Coming back to why having Lionel was worth it, he fit in some interesting places in our raw schedule like tea factory (a guide he knew accompanied us) and even before that in Kandy at a gem shop. Srilanka is famous for Sapphire and Moonstone and he helped us get good discounts from the shop. In general SAARC countries are viewed favorable and in most shopping we did like batik cotton or hand painted wall hangings, we got around 20-25% discount. Thanks to India and Lionel :)
Nuwara Eliya is peaceful and you can either prefer to be busy and just chill. We semi chilled, after an exerting Sigiriya trip. There are some beautiful gardens and lake. Instead of the usual boating experience we did cycling along the 2km esplanade, with stunning mountain beauty on sideway.
 |
| The stunning lakeside cycling track !! |
Day 5/6: Yala wildlife reserve
On our fifth day, a bright sunday, we marched forward to Yala, the famous leopard reserve. On our way to Yala from Nuwara Eliya, we stopped at Sita Eliya and Sanjeevan hills (you guys know the Ramayana, so not explaining much). The temple closed by the time we reached Sita eliya, but we 'took care' of the caretaker, who in turn did his job. Taking care of us :) it was a nice darshan interspersed with Swati's Hanuman chalisa. Irrespective of the god, I usually recite the 'Gajananam' and 'buddhir balam', which I did. Simple. There are 2-3 waterfalls, but looked dangerous to take bath or completely devoid of people. So not worth it, unless you are with a group of friends and can risk the algae filled rocks for fun. But the water is definitely inviting, so its a matter of discretion.
 |
| Raavana waterfalls |
We arrived at Thissa, a 10km drive from Yala reserve and settled into the mosquito infested landscape. It's a proper jungle and advisable to take mosquito repellents before starting for the morning safari. If you are not a wildlife photographer or animal lover who can eternally gaze at herd of deers, completely still crocodiles, the occasional sighting of cobra/ mongoose, then opt for half day Safari. We were enthu enough to wake up at 5am in morning to get a glimpse of early morning wildlife, and we weren't disappointed the least. Ofcourse the first animal I saw was a dog right into the reserve area, haha, and my attitude served me right with no more sighting of canine family like wolf/ fox. Kidding, the reserve has only cats. We sighted a leopard and its cub, 5 mins into the jungle drive and our guide (Buddhika, a strange name) told us we were very very lucky. I was thanking my stars but didn't have a SLR to capture the beauty. But with limited capability of our camera, we did capture the colorful beauty of our national bird, in all its glory.
Spotted deers and samba are other major highlights, while an elephant walked right next to our van. Swati screamed and pulled me back from taking a video of the mammoth and I landed on her laps. Thankfully, out of fear she didn't realize the entire weight of my body.
We had a pit stop for snack, before leaving, at the coastal border of Yala reserve (south east tip of Srilanka). We were shocked to hear 47 local/tourists died when tsunami hit the Yala reserve back in Dec 2004 (a peak tourist season), while on safari. You can see tombs built for the deceased. The beach reminded me of last scene in Planet of the apes, where the movie captured the 'armageddon' kind of scenario very stunningly. It was a strange moment, when I realized I was staring right into the Indian ocean and straight ahead is Antartica - for me it was end of the world. We dozed off on our way back.
Day 6/7: Bentota beach resort
I am specifically highlighting the resort and not Bentota since we hardly stepped out of the hotel. Basically we had an idea about complete relaxation for two days at the resort and I should it turned out not a bad idea. After a tiring 5 day trip inland atop rocks, safari, long walks round plethora of gardens we needed a break. Avani (where we stayed), Bentota beach resort, Taj have the most recommended resort beaches. The tourist attraction is tremendous and many Europeans come to bask in this sunny side of equator.
If you remember I had mentioned about Swati having to regret not eating the sambhar vada at start of trip. The story goes like this - in lanka its all about rice if you are a vegetarian. Eggs of course. But then how many yolks can you digest, and also they cause so much heat causing splitting headaches after long drives in the car. So of course Swatu badly craved for Indian food, and bless Bentota, it has a special 'value for money' restaurant called 'Kandoori'. Totally Indian and their garlic naan + butter paneer is an ossum combo you can try. The place is a bit shady on first sight, but then pretty safe and you will get used to its ambience. At the end of it all, Swati summed it up really well. It was a short but exhausting yet at same time exciting trip and we felt equally happy and sad having to return to motherland.
Note: Placing tips, you would think is at ones own discretion, but not in Srilanka. People look down upon you or indirectly scoff at you for not giving tips. Even our dear Lionel is a proponent of tip culture even be it unprofessional. So be prepared.
Tidbits about srilanka
1. People are positively biased to Mr. President, Rajapakse. Lionel idolizes him and he's a good representation of the voting population, being a buddhist. But an autowala disagreed, saying inflation and wealth disparity are key concerns.
2. Hambantota is the Presidents birth place and as I write, he is turning the deserted town into another Colombo.
3. Toyota and Nissan are the hottest selling cars, while Tatas also have a formidable market share in heavy SUVs (like safari jeeps)
4. A lot of Indian companies seem to invest in this island country on its way to redevelopment. Eg. Maruti, Cairn India, Hero, Ashok leyland (buses mostly), Vasan eyecare, Bata, Sun
5. Films seems to have assimilated most new technology. But TV shows are boring as hell - reminded me of pointless Doordarshan sops in afty during 90s.
Ayubovan !!
1 comment:
super cool info on srilanka.. happy anniversary guys!. you seem to have had a memorable one as well :)
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