Curry for breakfast. Just about anything is possible in this stunning part of the world. (Sri Lanka)

Member Name: lm09

Product:	Sri Lanka
Date:	15/03/09 (149 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great beaches, Great climate. Stunning cities and sights. Assessable history and lovely people

Disadvantages: Tamil Tiger comflict still on-going in the north

I visited Sri Lanka in June / July 2006. I booked through Kuoni (the World's best tour operator) and opted for their 4 day tour followed by a week of sunning myself in Negombo.

The flights, leaving from and returning to Gatwick airport were really good. We flew Sri Lankan air which was simply a different standard of service to that I have experienced on B.A or United Airlines in America. The food was pretty good on the plane. In the back of the seat was a menu and being Sri Lankan it was full of curries. I am vegetarian so I always have the veggie option and can say that this was the best meal I have ever had on a plane.
Enough about that though - this is to be about my experiences and thoughts of Sri Lanka.

We chose to go to Sri Lanka firstly because of the price. The events of Christmas 2004 will, I am sure live on in the memory of every traveller to the region. The Tsunami that struck did an enormous amount of damage and killed thousands in Sri Lankans (as well as many other nationalities). Owing to the Tsunami the prices for hotels went right down and visitors were not travelling to the region, depriving the country of its much needed tourist trade - so what better time to go? The costs are good and the country needed tourist to return.

For those inpsired by this review and looking to jump on the next plane I would advise you to check the political situation in Sri Lanka at the moment. Making the broadsheets at the minute is the continued fighting between government troops and the Tamil Tigers. To be honest though you would be very unlucky to have this effect your break. As long as you avoid the far north of the island you are unlikely to see any effects of this violence.

On arriving at Columbo airport then and my first step into Asia we (my wife and I) were met with an absolute mellee. The scene at the airport is just as I imagined it to be with a clammer of porters competing for business and many more beggars and poor people outside the perimeter fence looking for handouts. Something I didn't expect to see were the heavily armed troops which is a bit of a shock after a long haul flight.

The heat and humidity hits you immediately. The experience of getting through the airport in all honesty isn't a plesant one so it was a great relief to be met by our guide from Kuoni and an air-conditioned mini bus. This gave us our first indication as to how great an effect the tsunami had on tourism. The mini-bus which seated 16 had just me and my wife and one other passenger for the 4 day tour. Perfect for us though as the guide gave us all the time and information he would normally have to impart on a much larger group. We spent no time waiting around for the late comers to get back to the bus or get up in the morning and it was a nice cosy tour.

Colombo airport is around 15 miles to the north of the city of Colombo. The drive down gave me my first sights of Sri Lankan life. The roads were a sea of chaos with livestock, mopeds and tuk-tuks all battling for space with massive tata trucks and our mini-bus. The road from the airport into the capital, Colombo, as you would expect is really good.

On entering Colombo, a sprawling third world city (population 1,5 million) the roads get much more busy and the smell of fumes penetrates the air. We were not to spend much time in or around Colombo which in truth has few real tourist sights. Our hotel for the night was to the south of the city so the transfer took well over an hour.

Our hotel was the Mount Lavina and it is an amazing place to stay. It is renowned as one of the finest hotels in Sri Lanka. Built in 1805 it served as the British Govenor's home during the time of the commonwealth and British controlled Ceylon. Constructed in stunning white marble this hotel still has a certain oppulant feel to it. Another notable footnote for the hotel was that the film A Bridge Over the River Kwai (mostly filmed in Sri Lanka) uses the Mount Lavinia hotel for filming.

Our room (being Kuoni) was one of the best in the hotel with an amazing view over the coast and round the long beached bay of Colombo. With a private beach outside and beautiful blue skies it was so difficult not to rush straight out, but with the long flight and a busy three days ahead to cover we needed some sleep - and the bed was so comfortable!

Curry for breakfast anyone!?! Well not for me on my first full day but later on definitely - more of which later. For me I am a really healthy eater so to have such an array of stunning tropical fruits for breakfast was like heaven. Papaya, mango, pineapple, rambutan and mangosteens with woodapple juice...A perfect start to the day.

Day one of the tour then was to see us leave Mount Lavinia and head to the highlands on the interior of Sri Lanka and the large but rural city Nuwara Eliya. On route we were to stop at a tea plantation and have dinner overlooking the stunning Kelani River where the Bridge Over the River Kwai was shot. The drive took us from the warm humid coast (30c) to the colder, damper mountain air (16c). The roads, as you would expect, worsen as you get away from Colombo and some of the mountain roads are really rough. The views though as you climb are spectacular. Sri Lanka truly is a beautiful country.

After three hours of climbing you become almost bored of the stunning waterfalls and river valley scenes, so much so that it becomes an effort to get your camera out each time to photograph it all. It really is so wealthy in natural beauty. Stopping for lunch our table in a lovely and deserted restaurant was about 2 meters from the river and the sound of the passing water was so relaxing. The meal was washed down with a Lion beer, probably the best beer in the world for that time and place.

Onwards and upwards, we stopped overlooking a river valley to watch an elephant bathing in the river. Our fist stop after lunch was the tea plantations. All the literature and brochures we had read prior to our trip featured pictures of the classic tea picker weighed down by bags busy in her work. This view is a site you will see all over the central uplands. Every field seems to be devoted to tea growing. The tea plantation gave us a look at the how the raw tea leaves are processed, dried and made into tea for export. Good to see but to be honest (inexcussable pun) not really my cup of tea.

The rest of the journey further into the hills is a slow but beautiful climb until the terrian flattens out to a fairly flat plain and Nuwara Eliya. This is a large town (population 26,000) which centres around the tea plantations. Our hotel was the St. Andrews hotel to the north of the town. Like the Mount Lavinia hotel this again was a stunning place. Our room was massive with choice of two double beds. The food here too was amazing. If anything this hotel is, in my opinion, better than the Mount Lavinia.

This hotel also organises a couple of nice tours. The first is around the grounds where the farmer / gardener will happily take you around the grounds, proud to show you his potatoes, onions, carrots and all the other great staples of an English garden. The other tour takes you on a short walk into the unique cloud rainforest of Pidurutalagala. Pidurutalgala (Mount Pedro) is the highest peak in Sri Lanka at 2524 meters above sea level. This is an other worldly place was amazing bird life. If you are staying in the hotel make sure you go on this walk.

The town itself, our guide warned, can be an edgy place and its best not to stray too far from the hotel. Being quiet we seemed tobe the only tourists about and did get some suspicious looks as our minibus drove through the busy town centre. I did wonder down into the edge of the town which, in truth, has no notable features.

Our next day would see us leave Nuwara Eliya and travel through the central highlands to Kandy. Kandy, whilst not on the same sprawling scale of Colombo (120,000 population) is in many mays the spiritual heart of the country. Kandy is a much more relaxed city and to be honest doesn't have that Asian city feel. It is built in a valley with hills on all sides and is remarkably green.

It was on our drive into Kandy that we saw our first monkeys, toque macaques. Our guide stopped to allow us to watch these great creatures bimble and frolic in the scrub forest by the road. We were to see plenty more urban monkeys in Kandy. Our first stop on our visit of Kandy was to the internationally famous Botanical Gardens. I am in no way a garderner and could just about tell the difference between a tulip and a rose. However the gardens are amazing. Our guide too was extremely knowledgable about his country and the flora and fauna of it. He pointed out the hundreds of massive fruit bats in the trees that I would have otherwise walked past without noticing. The butterflies and orchids in the indoor tented areas are spectacular but the star of the gardens for me has to be the massive Javan fig tree. One tree probably covers half a football pitch and is like no other tree I have ever seen.

The next stop on the tour was a Batik factory and also a gem centre both major exports of Sri Lanka but in truth of no real interest to me. The place I had wanted to see though and, for me, the highlight of Sri Lanka was the Temple of the Tooth or to give it its Sri Lankan name, Sri Dalada Maligawa.

This is a pilgrimage site for Buddhists around the World and one of the most important sights for the religion. The temple houses a tooth of the Buddha and is of massive importance to Buddhists and the people of Sri Lanka. The temple itself was built in the 17th century and from a distance looks amazing with the white / pinky walls reflecting in the mirror-like Kandy lake, the banks of which it stands on. On the hills above the temple is a massive Buddha looking down on the city of Kandy.

Around the temple you will encounter lots of poverty and beggars. Some of the beggars have self-inflicted injuries to make them appear more worthy to the passing tourists, others are just needy people living in a third world country without the luxury of a welfare state. Give as you wish to these people.

It costs 200rp to enter the temple but please remember that this is a place of worship and great importance. Just as you wouldn't dream of going into your local church at home in shorts and vest tops, please don't do it here. Security around the site is always high since the bomb attack that the temple suffered in 1998 so expect a bag search and frisk before going in. You also need to remove your shoes and leave them outside the temple.

Once inside the atmosphere is amazing. The decor is stunning. In one room a gold Buddha looks down as you make your way to the heart of the temple and to the sacred casket which contains the tooth. The temple is always busy with Buddhists and tourists alike. It has real atmopshere and without being a believer myself, it has real spirituality. If you are in Sri Lanka you need to go to the Temple of the Tooth.

That night we went to a tourist show of Sri Lankan dancing which was pretty good, showing the dances, dress and musical instruments of Sri Lanka. The highlight of the show for me was the fire-walking. After this it was off to our hotel.

Our hotel again was great, the Hotel Topaz is built in the hills around Kandy and gives stunning views over the city but sadly not to the temple. From our room we had supurb views over the Asgiriya Cricket ground, the Oval of Sri Lankan cricket where England has frequently toiled. From our hotel it was clear how green Kandy, as a city is. It is a very beautiful city.

In the hotel that night we were joined over drinks by a massive party of Buddhists from Thailand on a pilgrimage to the temple. They gave a stunningly cringeworthy karaoke performance well into the night that was hilarious to watch. The food and drink in the hotel Topaz was again really good.

The next day we left Kandy due for our beach resort back on the coast at Negombo. The highlight on the day was Pinnewala elephant orphanage. The orphanage gives a home to around 80 elephants of various cirumstances. Some were victims of the recent Tsunami, some of the ongoing Tamil Tiger conflicts but more often than not just displaced by mans agricultural needs. Some have injuries from landmines which are distressing to see but all seem happy in their new homes. We had dinner down by the river as the Mahouts drove their elephants through the river to bathe. It makes for stunning photographs and whilst these aren't wild animals they are the next best thing. Later in the day I bottle fed a baby elephant amd it was great to get so close to such massive stately creatures.

Seeing our joy at the elephants our guide took us later to a place where it was possible to ride an elephant. This was not in the itenery and not necessarily insured by Kuoni but this was such an enjoyable trip to ride an elephant. Not something I can get the chance to do often in wolverhampton! It has such a weird rolling feeling as it walks and cannot be described as comfortable.

What was more comfortable was the journey from Kandy to Colombo. The road linking the two largest city is pretty good. On arriving in Negombo and our hotel for the next seven days we said goodbye to our guide who was fantastic. Whenever I have travelled with Kuoni they have been perfect. Everything they do is geared towards your enjoyment. The hotels they pick are always amazing. The staff for their sales centres brilliant in this country and their guides away from home always top notch, I cannot recommend them enough.

Browns Beach then, our hotel for the next seven days was the cheapest of the options from Kuoni. The rooms were basic and the building itself lacked the graudure of the previous three hotels. It did though have a great pool and the food here was so good. Curry for breakfast? Yes please. The curries and Sri Lankan food here is so good. Totaly different to the 'Indian' taste we are used to at home. The food here was a help yourself buffet so at every meal I stuffed myself with the amazing array and variety of dhals and curries. There was a cookery demonstration twice on our stay which was really interesting to watch.

Other great feautures of the hotel included the dry cleaning service. I put my whole wardrobe in - at about 15p a t-shirt it would have been rude not to! They were all returned washed and ironed in a protective clear plastic wallet. The staff here too are all great and so friendly. We spent a good deal of time in the bar (again rude not too!) and the bar tender took a real interest in us. As Sri Lanka is 6 hours ahead of the UK the bar, with cable television, meant after a hard days sun bathing we could nip to the bar and watch the Wimbledon tennis at night with a cool beer. Where better to watch Federer and Nadal slug it out?

Negombo itself is a rough and ready town that has expanded rapidly from a small fishing village. An essential holiday experience is to take a tuk tuk ride. We took ours into the central of town to find the local ATM. This ATM accpeted Visa and Mastercard and gave a reliable service. The tuk tuk ride was great. Scary in places but mostly just a rush. Until my experience of Coco Cabs in Havana this was my favourite way to travel.

Other than its beach Negombo itself has few sights of interest. We did however take a boat trip down the Negombo canals on a bird watching trip. This allowed us to see massive monitor lizards and so many different types of bird. Leaving early in the morning from our hotel this was a pleasant half day trip that meant we could be back at the pool by midday.

The other place I really wanted to go to (other than the Temple of the Tooth) was Sigiriya or "Lion Rock" some 60 miles to the north of our hotel. The hotel arranged us a good, safe driver and we took an air-condionned minibus to this sight. The journey is a tiring one on rough and ready roads. It does, however, pass through beautiful landscapes and whilst fairly flat you really realise how green Sri Lanka is on a journey like this.

Our first stop on the way to Lion Rock was Dumbulla and the world famous cave temples. When you arrive on the car park you need to pretend you haven't seen the massive and very tacky giant plastic bhudda. The walk to the cave temples is up around 300 steps. Along the route you will have more monkeys for company. Also worth looking out for snakes on the route. We saw plenty. Some of them highly toxic.

The cave temples themselves are incredible. Dating back amzingly to thr 2nd century the caves are decorated with over 100 Bhuddas. The Cave of the King has a massive reclining Bhudda and is stunning. The light in the caves makes photoghaphing the caves difficult as flash photography is not allowed. If you are heading for Sigiriya definitly stop at Dambulla to see these amazing caves.

Sigiriya then, half an hour further north, is a stunning site. The site firstly is massive with, at its heart, the rock fortress which is a fairly steep climb. One tip here is to try and avoid having a guide latch onto you at the ticket office. They are not great in terms of their knowledge of the site and expect large (relative) payments. Better to request your driver to drop you at the entrance of the site and arrange for him to meet you at the exit.

The site which dates from from the 5th century would have, in its day, been an incredible sight. The tour takes you firstly through the water gardens, laid out to have massive symmetry which you can only really appreciate from the top of the rock. The site is surrounded by lush green forest and is a joy to wander through.

The climb itself in the heat is a harsh one but so well worth it. Along the way make sure you stop to appreciate the graffiti on the mirror wall. This isn't just any old graffiti, it dates back to the 6th century and is an amazing piece of historical data to be interpreted. Also on the climb you will see amazing frescos, again from the 6th century. These are truly wonders of the ancient world.

Nearing the end of the climb you come to the Lions Paw staircase. This is all that remains of what was once a massive lion that was the entrance to the rock fortress. Postcards on sale at the site give you an impression as to what this would have looked like. Once on top of the hill you get the best view in Sri Lanka. You look out over the most stuning vista in much the same way as the ancient kings would have done 1,500 years ago.
Sri Lanka (Tamil Tigers and Tsunamis not factoring) is a wonderful holiday destination. It has perfect beaches and beautiful hotels around the coast with a climate conducive to relaxation. It has geat historical sites that, with some effort, are accessible and well worth a look. It has stunning natural beauty and a vast array of flora and fauna. It has great cities and towns. The people are so friendly and accommodating. As for the food, seriously, try curry for breakfast...corn flakes soon lose their appeal.

Summary: As a holiday destination the small island has everything.