Sri Lanka Trip Report March 2006
Oct 17th, 2006, 08:19 AM
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Sri Lanka Trip Report March 2006
A bit late, but better late than never, this rather lengthy spiel describes our recent holiday to Sri Lanka. We booked the tour through www.reddottours.com (flights separately) and found they were very professional with good standards of drivers and cars. They also gave a lot of helpful advice whilst planning the trip. All the hotels had been visited personally so I could get a real feel for whether it was my type of place or not.
We flew with Emirates from the UK to Colombo via Dubai. The UK plane was late and we very narrowly caught our connection, unfortunately our luggage didn’t, but we were compensated on arrival at Colombo with about £30 each, which buys quite a lot in Sri Lanka.
Our first stop was at the Mount Lavinia Hotel, a lovely Colonial hotel set right on the beach about half an hour away from Colombo city. I had read mixed reviews of this hotel but it was lovely. We had a room in the Bay Wing with a big balcony overlooking the gardens and the sea. The Governer wing is more colonial and newly refurbished, but they don’t have balconies which seems a bit of an oversight.
From the hotel we could walk along the shore to a collection of local bars and restaurants. The quality was a bit mixed but mostly very good. The hotel food was excellent, the breakfast spread was superb with Sri Lankan curries as well as traditional European food. For a snack the hot spicy cashew nuts were excellent. We only ate in the hotel on one evening when they had a Sri Lankan night with authentic food and a Sri Lankan dance show. That was quite interesting, although I so tend to get a bit bored after an hour or so – short attention span I guess.
The beach at Lavinia isn’t as pristine and white as the more southerly beaches, but it was spotlessly clean. There were loads of sun loungers so all the guests are quite spread out and you benefit from the cooling sea breezes and a drink and food service to the sunbeds. The pool area was quite full with a lot of children so we tended to avoid that.
Overall I would really recommend the Mount Lavinia for a chill out stop relatively close to the airport. You can also take a Tuk Tuk into Colombo to see some of the sights and do a bit of shopping if you fancy that, although the major shopping centre that all the locals raved about was disappointing – very limited and horrendously expensive. I still feel as though there was some of it that I must have missed.
Our next stop was in Unawatuna at the Unawatuna Beach Resort. We had a deluxe room on the top floor with sea views, albeit that the rest of the hotel and restaurant was between the rooms and the sea. Unawatuna is rated as one of the best beaches in the world and it certainly was lovely. The sea water was the hottest I have ever experienced, and you can snorkel out from the beach and see a variety of fish. It’s also a lovely walk from one end of the bay to the other, although best in daytime and during lower tides as we found one evening to our cost!! The whole resort has plenty of bars and restaurants although it certainly isn’t a late night place. The hotel is reasonably basic, but it has a nice pool area and the staff were all lovely.
One day and one evening we took a tuk tuk to Galle, and walked round the ramparts watching the locals play cricket. This was about the first time we got hassled a little, but a polite no (sometimes several times), did the trick. I completely understand people trying to make a living by selling things to tourists, it’s only when they repeatedly don’t accept NO, that it becomes a bit irritating.
We were actually half board at the hotel but ate all our meals outside because I’m not particularly keen on buffet food and the other options available were so varied and cheap. We had some fantastic meals; my favourite being fried prawns with garlic butter one lunchtime, sitting right on the beach close to the sea. The food took forever to arrive, but that was part of the beauty just watching the world go by in a beautiful part of the world. We also ate upmarket one night at the Galle Fort Hotel, which reviewers have raved about it, but I found it a little westernised and prefer a spicy curry in a good beach shack.
After 5 days relaxing we travelled to Uda Walawe National Park and stayed at the Centauria Hotel, it was very nice, much nicer than I was expecting for it’s 2 star rating. On the way we visited an elephant orphanage, but not like the one at Pinnawela where they allow you to get close to animals. This was kept completely natural with a viewing platform some way away. They look after injured or orphaned animals with the intention to release them back into the wild, not to make them a tourist attraction. The sight of a man clapping and all the elephants clumsily running and making a queue at a gate and then proceeding two by two to be given their milk is something that I’m still chuckling about.
In Uda Walawe we took an afternoon safari first and a dawn safari the next morning. Of the two my favourite was the dawn safari because the park had a unique feel to it as all the animals were waking up and feeding and drinking at the cooler times of the day. We saw a lot of different animals and birds of prey as well as the elephants. In the evening we ate in the hotel as there were no other options locally. The food was quite good, but both food and drinks were vastly overpriced – probably the most expensive we paid throughout Sri Lanka even though the hotel was only a two star. I guess they get a captive audience and capitalise on that.
After the Dawn Safari we headed straight out on a 4 hour drive to Sinharaja to Boulder Garden. Unfortunately our driver decided to try a shortcut. It was shorter on the map but the roads were awful, almost impassable in places. We arrived feeling a bit battered and desperately in need of a beer or two. Luckily the Boulder Gardens was an ideal place to provide that. The Hotel is not far from the main road, but it feels like a different world. The car pulled up next to a big boulder with steps in it, we walked up about 40 steps to a little reception area cut into the stone and a lovely welcome. We were taken to our room where we had splurged on a suite. It was amazing, not especially large, but completely unique. It was circular with floor to ceiling windows by the bath and windows / patio doors in 4 other sections. When they were all open you had a complete view around the jungle. In the evening after we came back from dinner, they had spelled Ayubowan in petals on our bed – this is a local greeting, meaning may you live long.
The first day we were relaxing (with our beers) by the pool, and late afternoon about 5pm, about 20 monkeys suddenly appeared from the boulder over our heads, jumped onto the nearest palm tree and proceeded through the jungle until they were out of sight. 30 minutes later they came back again. They did this again at exactly the same time the next night. It was amazing just watching them in their routines in their natural habitat.
The food at Boulder Gardens was lovely. Unfortunately we were the only people staying at the hotel but it meant we had personal service. The menus were printed with our names on, and it was the first place in Sri Lanka where we had white wine that was properly chilled (because we ordered it at breakfast time!)
The next day it was another early start for a trek around the Sinharaja rain forest. We had a lovely guide called Chandara, and she told us a little about how she lived as well as being extremely knowledgeable about all the plants and birds in the forest. They go to school until they are 21, Chandara was very surprised that they can leave at 16 in England. The hotel had made a delicious packed breakfast, which we ate in a little shack in the forest surrounded by raucous bird noises, very memorable.
After Boulder Garden we had another long transfer to Negombo to the Beach Hotel. This was a lovely hotel, recently refurbished right on the beach and close to many local bars and restaurants. I had particularly picked Negombo as it is one of the few resorts in Sri Lanka where there is (low key) nightlife outside the hotel. But, the 3 nights we were staying here were leading up to local elections, and guess what happens – all bars and restaurants are prevented from serving alcohol. I couldn’t believe the coincidence. Anyway it was aimed more at locals and many restaurants flouted the rules either openly or using teapots!! It did narrow our choices a little, but on the positive side it was very funny. I haven’t felt guilty ordering alcohol for many many years!!
We flew back to the UK with a 2 night stopover in Dubai. I must say I didn’t like the place very much. Overpriced, overbusy and service either sycophantic or rude. It’s famous for shopping, but the malls just reminded me of England with similar goods and prices. I liked the Souks and the river taxis best. It was convenient place to stopover but I think next time I would spend longer at my real destination.
So, overall a fantastic trip, lots of variety and some amazing sights. My husband’s favourite place was Boulder Garden whilst mine was Unawatuna, but we enjoyed all of it.
My overriding memory of Sri Lanka will be how genuinely lovely all the people were, we were greeted with genuine friendliness wherever we went and saying “Ayubowan” to greet people just made them break out into a huge smile.
We flew with Emirates from the UK to Colombo via Dubai. The UK plane was late and we very narrowly caught our connection, unfortunately our luggage didn’t, but we were compensated on arrival at Colombo with about £30 each, which buys quite a lot in Sri Lanka.
Our first stop was at the Mount Lavinia Hotel, a lovely Colonial hotel set right on the beach about half an hour away from Colombo city. I had read mixed reviews of this hotel but it was lovely. We had a room in the Bay Wing with a big balcony overlooking the gardens and the sea. The Governer wing is more colonial and newly refurbished, but they don’t have balconies which seems a bit of an oversight.
From the hotel we could walk along the shore to a collection of local bars and restaurants. The quality was a bit mixed but mostly very good. The hotel food was excellent, the breakfast spread was superb with Sri Lankan curries as well as traditional European food. For a snack the hot spicy cashew nuts were excellent. We only ate in the hotel on one evening when they had a Sri Lankan night with authentic food and a Sri Lankan dance show. That was quite interesting, although I so tend to get a bit bored after an hour or so – short attention span I guess.
The beach at Lavinia isn’t as pristine and white as the more southerly beaches, but it was spotlessly clean. There were loads of sun loungers so all the guests are quite spread out and you benefit from the cooling sea breezes and a drink and food service to the sunbeds. The pool area was quite full with a lot of children so we tended to avoid that.
Overall I would really recommend the Mount Lavinia for a chill out stop relatively close to the airport. You can also take a Tuk Tuk into Colombo to see some of the sights and do a bit of shopping if you fancy that, although the major shopping centre that all the locals raved about was disappointing – very limited and horrendously expensive. I still feel as though there was some of it that I must have missed.
Our next stop was in Unawatuna at the Unawatuna Beach Resort. We had a deluxe room on the top floor with sea views, albeit that the rest of the hotel and restaurant was between the rooms and the sea. Unawatuna is rated as one of the best beaches in the world and it certainly was lovely. The sea water was the hottest I have ever experienced, and you can snorkel out from the beach and see a variety of fish. It’s also a lovely walk from one end of the bay to the other, although best in daytime and during lower tides as we found one evening to our cost!! The whole resort has plenty of bars and restaurants although it certainly isn’t a late night place. The hotel is reasonably basic, but it has a nice pool area and the staff were all lovely.
One day and one evening we took a tuk tuk to Galle, and walked round the ramparts watching the locals play cricket. This was about the first time we got hassled a little, but a polite no (sometimes several times), did the trick. I completely understand people trying to make a living by selling things to tourists, it’s only when they repeatedly don’t accept NO, that it becomes a bit irritating.
We were actually half board at the hotel but ate all our meals outside because I’m not particularly keen on buffet food and the other options available were so varied and cheap. We had some fantastic meals; my favourite being fried prawns with garlic butter one lunchtime, sitting right on the beach close to the sea. The food took forever to arrive, but that was part of the beauty just watching the world go by in a beautiful part of the world. We also ate upmarket one night at the Galle Fort Hotel, which reviewers have raved about it, but I found it a little westernised and prefer a spicy curry in a good beach shack.
After 5 days relaxing we travelled to Uda Walawe National Park and stayed at the Centauria Hotel, it was very nice, much nicer than I was expecting for it’s 2 star rating. On the way we visited an elephant orphanage, but not like the one at Pinnawela where they allow you to get close to animals. This was kept completely natural with a viewing platform some way away. They look after injured or orphaned animals with the intention to release them back into the wild, not to make them a tourist attraction. The sight of a man clapping and all the elephants clumsily running and making a queue at a gate and then proceeding two by two to be given their milk is something that I’m still chuckling about.
In Uda Walawe we took an afternoon safari first and a dawn safari the next morning. Of the two my favourite was the dawn safari because the park had a unique feel to it as all the animals were waking up and feeding and drinking at the cooler times of the day. We saw a lot of different animals and birds of prey as well as the elephants. In the evening we ate in the hotel as there were no other options locally. The food was quite good, but both food and drinks were vastly overpriced – probably the most expensive we paid throughout Sri Lanka even though the hotel was only a two star. I guess they get a captive audience and capitalise on that.
After the Dawn Safari we headed straight out on a 4 hour drive to Sinharaja to Boulder Garden. Unfortunately our driver decided to try a shortcut. It was shorter on the map but the roads were awful, almost impassable in places. We arrived feeling a bit battered and desperately in need of a beer or two. Luckily the Boulder Gardens was an ideal place to provide that. The Hotel is not far from the main road, but it feels like a different world. The car pulled up next to a big boulder with steps in it, we walked up about 40 steps to a little reception area cut into the stone and a lovely welcome. We were taken to our room where we had splurged on a suite. It was amazing, not especially large, but completely unique. It was circular with floor to ceiling windows by the bath and windows / patio doors in 4 other sections. When they were all open you had a complete view around the jungle. In the evening after we came back from dinner, they had spelled Ayubowan in petals on our bed – this is a local greeting, meaning may you live long.
The first day we were relaxing (with our beers) by the pool, and late afternoon about 5pm, about 20 monkeys suddenly appeared from the boulder over our heads, jumped onto the nearest palm tree and proceeded through the jungle until they were out of sight. 30 minutes later they came back again. They did this again at exactly the same time the next night. It was amazing just watching them in their routines in their natural habitat.
The food at Boulder Gardens was lovely. Unfortunately we were the only people staying at the hotel but it meant we had personal service. The menus were printed with our names on, and it was the first place in Sri Lanka where we had white wine that was properly chilled (because we ordered it at breakfast time!)
The next day it was another early start for a trek around the Sinharaja rain forest. We had a lovely guide called Chandara, and she told us a little about how she lived as well as being extremely knowledgeable about all the plants and birds in the forest. They go to school until they are 21, Chandara was very surprised that they can leave at 16 in England. The hotel had made a delicious packed breakfast, which we ate in a little shack in the forest surrounded by raucous bird noises, very memorable.
After Boulder Garden we had another long transfer to Negombo to the Beach Hotel. This was a lovely hotel, recently refurbished right on the beach and close to many local bars and restaurants. I had particularly picked Negombo as it is one of the few resorts in Sri Lanka where there is (low key) nightlife outside the hotel. But, the 3 nights we were staying here were leading up to local elections, and guess what happens – all bars and restaurants are prevented from serving alcohol. I couldn’t believe the coincidence. Anyway it was aimed more at locals and many restaurants flouted the rules either openly or using teapots!! It did narrow our choices a little, but on the positive side it was very funny. I haven’t felt guilty ordering alcohol for many many years!!
We flew back to the UK with a 2 night stopover in Dubai. I must say I didn’t like the place very much. Overpriced, overbusy and service either sycophantic or rude. It’s famous for shopping, but the malls just reminded me of England with similar goods and prices. I liked the Souks and the river taxis best. It was convenient place to stopover but I think next time I would spend longer at my real destination.
So, overall a fantastic trip, lots of variety and some amazing sights. My husband’s favourite place was Boulder Garden whilst mine was Unawatuna, but we enjoyed all of it.
My overriding memory of Sri Lanka will be how genuinely lovely all the people were, we were greeted with genuine friendliness wherever we went and saying “Ayubowan” to greet people just made them break out into a huge smile.
Oct 18th, 2006, 08:20 AM
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Well, there was an attack on Galle today...
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus...0610181710.htm
Very sad, indeed. While they are not targeting tourists, they are getting a little too close for comfort.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus...0610181710.htm
Very sad, indeed. While they are not targeting tourists, they are getting a little too close for comfort.
Oct 19th, 2006, 04:53 AM
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Erika - We are also scheduled for a stop-over next Feb. in Columbo - only a short stay 6 hrs. or so as we are flying from the Maldives through Columbo back to India...but I too am hesitant about this. Does anyone have some thoughts?
Oct 19th, 2006, 07:19 AM
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I didn't see anything untoward at all. I wouldn't have any qualms about going back to the places I went to. Aside form the recent isolated (hopefully) incidents in Colombo and Galle, the rest of the trouble is up in the North East where it has been unruly for a number of years.
I guess everyone has to make their own judgement based on the likelihood of being caught up in any trouble, but it would be such a shame for the country to suffer again from the tourists staying away, just when they appear to be getting back on their feet.
I guess everyone has to make their own judgement based on the likelihood of being caught up in any trouble, but it would be such a shame for the country to suffer again from the tourists staying away, just when they appear to be getting back on their feet.
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