2 weeks in Sri Lanka - not nearly long enough!
 

INTRODUCTION

Before I embark on my trip report proper, I ought, as it were, to set the scene. DH and I first came up with the idea of going to Sri Lanka about 25 years ago, when adventurous neighbours came back with their photos of its fabulous beaches, birds and other wonderful attractions, but the civil war started, we went to the Gambia instead, and 9 months later our daughter arrived, so trips to far-flung places were put on hold.

Fast forward 25 years, in March 2012 we were listening to the cricket commentary from Sri Lanka, realised that the world T20 tournament was due to take place there in the autumn, and decided that we wanted to go, combining a holiday with a bit of the cricket. I set about planning via some guide books and this board, and after much vacillation, came up with the following itinerary:

3 nights in Dambulla at the Heritage Hotel Kandalama [www.heritancehotels.com]- thank you so much Kathie for steering us there.

2 nights in Kandy at the Theva Residence [www.theva.lk]

3 nights just outside Nurewa Eliya at the Warwick Gardens [www.jetwinghotels.com/jetwingwarwickgardens]

2 nights at Yala at Chaaya Wild [www.chaayahotels.com]

2 nights near Galle at the Thambapanni Residence at Unawatuna [in fact we stayed in Galle at the Fort Printer, for which story read on]

2 nights in Colombo at the Galle Face [www.gallefacehotel.com]

In retrospect I’d have liked to have had an extra day at Dambulla just to unwind and see a bit more of the area [never did get to the caves, which gives us an excuse to go back] and an extra day in Galle, because we loved it so much. And the 4 hour drive up from the airport to Dambulla was quite an ordeal, particularly after the 11 hour flight and the 6 hour drive from Cornwall to Heathrow which had preceded it. Otherwise the itinerary [booked through Boutique Sri Lanka aka BSL] worked pretty well, and the arrangements certainly ran like clockwork, with all the hotels expecting us as per the reservations [always a slight worry!].

And before I start on the trip report proper I need to say a big thank you to Kathie, Crellston, Thursdays, and Mohammed for their help in planning this, and a big apology to anyone I’ve missed out. Your trip reports and general advice proved invaluable and where things went wrong, or could have been better, it’s because I should have taken more notice of what you said, particularly about the roads and driving conditions. You tried to tell me what it was like before we went, but I just didn’t believe you. Sorry, that’s being unfair to me - I couldn’t believe you. It was not within my comprehension that it could take 3 hours to do 82 kms on proper roads. Well - it is now.

After which introduction, dear reader, please come with me to the tropical island of Serendip, also known as Sri Lanka!

I'm glad you had a wonderful time. Sri Lanka is a remarkable place. We felt we didn't have enough time either and Sri Lanka remains on our list of places to revisit.

more, more

Day 1 - Ordeal by road

Our overnight Sri Lanka Airways flight from London to Colombo deposited us on time at the airport [at the time of writing, there is only the one international airport in Sri Lanka, about 20 kms north of Colombo, though another is planned at Hambantota in the south] and after 11 hours or so in the air we were glad to be back on firm ground. Neither of us claimed to have slept a wink, though we were each of us positive that we had heard the other snoring during the flight! Still, we managed to negotiate immigration and baggage reclaim successfully, and made our way out onto the airport concourse to look for our driver, who we had been told had good english and a knowledge of birds. [At least part of that statement turned out to be true!]

[Before I carry on, a note about immigration and baggage reclaim, which those who are not interested in such things may skip - we had read that visas were compulsory since the beginning of 2012 and could be obtained on line for a small fee - about £20 each - which is what I did about a month before we left. We were therefore quite surprised to be told on board that it was still necessary for us to complete landing cards, which contained exactly the same information as the application forms for the visa - name, address, age, nationality, passport no, address in Sri Lanka, etc. When we got to immigration, the officer showed no interest in our visas at all, but just scrutinised the landing cards and our passports, which led me to wonder if obtaining the visa had in fact been necessary. Who knows? We didn’t see anyone being sent back for not having one.

And the baggage reclaim at Colombo airport gets a prize from me - the first airport ever to ask to see the baggage tickets you are given when you check your luggage in, before we were allowed to remove it. Why don’t other places do that?]

As at every airport arrival gate, there was the usual row of people holding up handwritten scraps of cardboard with names on them, plus a few posh printed ones, amongst which, along with the ones for Kuoni and the Jetwing, we were surprised to see our name. [This name-plate was proudly displayed by our driver on the dashboard of the van for the entirety of our trip, which made us feel very exclusive!] Our driver introduced himself as Ajith, and after asking if we needed to change money [which we didn’t, we needed an ATM, which he didn’t fully appear to grasp] led us out of the concourse, and deposited us on a corner while he went to get the van.

[for those who are interested in these sorts of details, I should add here that we had originally booked a normal car, hopefully big enough for the 2 of us plus our luggage and the driver of course, but about 2 months before we were due to leave, I sent an e-mail to BSL setting out the things that we were interested in doing and seeing over and above what we had specified on booking, and they in turn suggested that we could have a larger vehicle which they called a people-carrier with a driver who knew about birds and had good english. We weren’t able to establish fully what this really meant, as people carrier was not a term which Sri Lankans recognise, but when we saw it, it turned out to be a small mini-bus or van with seating for about 8 people, and fairly minimal luggage space, which was quite enough for us two, and our driver, but would have been wholly inadequate for 8 people and their luggage. Anyway the cost was the same, and we were very comfortable in our van, which had excellent air-conditioning - a major requirement!]

Standing on the corner waiting for Ajith gave us a chance to get our first impressions of Sri Lanka - the heat, the chaotic traffic, and the friendliness of the people, who wanted variously to find out where we were from, and to get us to change British pound coins into notes for them [presumably so they could them change them into rupees]. We only did this once, before we realised that we could well be lumbered with forged £ coins and just said no. We also said no to offers of taxis, hotels, and tuk tuks.

Then Ajith arrived with the van, our luggage was put on board as were we, and we were off. Thanks to Mohammed, I had already e-mailed a suggested route to BSL which would not take us to Dambulla via Colombo but more directly via Dankotuwa, Narammala, and Kurunegala. I think that is the way we went - certainly we did not go into Colombo at all, but as for its being a good road as suggested by Mohammed, I have to say that it was good only in Sri Lankan terms. Our route took us through a succession of what we came to realise were typical Sri Lankan towns - long strips of small shops and work-shops thronged with people, buses, carts, cattle, dogs, tuk tuks, bicycles, scooters...and there are probably several other means of transport I’ve missed out, all seemingly with their own unique versions of the highway code. 3 main rules of the road seemed to emerge.

1. you drive on the left, unless it is more convenient to drive on the right.
2. you give way to anything bigger than you, but only if you have to.
3. it is a slur on the manhood of any sri lankan driver [and they are almost invariably men] to fail to overtake the vehicle in front unless to do so will cause a fatal accident. [Overtaking should be read as including undertaking, which is equally acceptable if conditions allow].

We spent the next 4 hours alternately open-mouthed at the driving we were seeing, and giving thanks for the fact that we were not doing it. If you, dear reader, are contemplating a trip to Sri Lanka, and take one thing away from this trip report, it should be this - do not try to drive yourself. Hire a car and a driver. It is very little dearer, and it will be worth it. All this said, we saw not one accident. They are amazingly skillful drivers and can judge width and distance to a millimetre. But do not, in any circumstances, try this at home.

After about 2 hours [when we had no idea how much longer there was to go to get to Dambulla, but I now realise was about half-way], we suddenly stopped in the middle of a town and were directed by Ajith to an ATM - why this one, in this town I have no idea, but it worked fine with DH’s Nationwide card, and played music at the same time, which was novel, if a little distracting. We had noticed [how could we miss them?] numerous roadside stalls selling a huge variety of fruit so now we had some money we asked to stop to buy some to eat, and some water, as we were getting thirsty, though not really hungry after the long flight. Again, seemingly at random, Ajith stopped the van by the roadside, we clambered out, and found that we were at a small fruit stall with a tiny shop next door selling water, soft drinks, and various other necessities. with Ajith’s help we managed to buy some bananas [which type did we want? - there are different types?] some papaya, and a pineapple which the stall-keeper kindly peeled and sliced for us with his machete, [again, we won’t be trying this at home] all for about £1. [200 LKR] Refreshed by the water and the pineapple [when had I ever tasted anything so delicious?] we journeyed on.

An hour or so later we found ourselves making another stop, this time by a lake, where there was a small hotel where we could have a beer, use the loo [very clean] and have a snack. The roasted cashews were delicious [the best we had all the time we were there] and definitely better than the beer - though the Lion brand was better than the rest, we thought, it wasn’t brilliant. But the setting was lovely, so top marks to Ajith for stopping there. And sorry, I have NO idea where it was, except that it was between the coast and Dambulla, and closer to the latter than the former. BTW, Ajith had helpfully been keeping up a commentary when traffic conditions allowed and one of the things he told us was that Sri Lanka has over 1000 lakes, so the fact that it was by a lake won’t help!

[Again for those who like these details, I should add that at this stage of the journey, we were very much in our driver’s hands, as we had no idea of what was available or where to find it. As time went on, we became more savvy and therefore more able to influence when and where we stopped, but at the beginning of the trip, he was very much the one in control. We didn’t mind this, but if you think that you would, you would need to do some very careful research into what exactly you want to see and do while you are on the road].

Finally, after what seemed like an age, but was in fact near to 4 hours since we had left the airport, we turned off the main road and made our way long some very narrow roads to Kandalama [about 11 kms from Dambulla] and finally drove up the track to the hotel, which was came to know all too well over the next few days. At least we were arriving in daylight! And what a place to arrive at. The drive swept round up a short incline to deposit us at the front of the hotel, which is built seemingly into the rock face. The van door was opened, [we would never have had to open it ourselves in the course of 15 days, if we didn’t want to, though of course we did] and we were assisted out and up through a rock tunnel to a reception area where we had a welcome drink of fruit juice, while our luggage was magically whisked to our room, without any effort from us. A small bit of paperwork later [all the hotels were vigilant about getting us to sign a guest contract when we arrived, and taking a credit card no where necessary] and our payment made to Ajith, [cash in U$ as arranged with BSL] were we then taken to our room - an upgrade apparently, which we didn’t ask for. [they were by no means full during our stay].

And what a room - even in the gathering dusk we could make out a view over the lake from our balcony - with a king-size bed, plenty of hanging space, TV, mini-bar, and a large bathroom complete with glass wall over looking the lake - a room with a view indeed! We quickly unpacked a few things, made sure that the balcony doors were locked [essential as it turned out] and set out to explore the hotel.

When I booked this hotel on Kathie’s recommendation, I really had no idea of its iconic status in Sri Lanka but as I did more research, I came across the name of its architect Goeffrey Bawa a number of times. for those who are interested in learning more, here’s the link to his entry in wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Bawa. A long thin building set into the hillside in a way that almost camouflages it, it stretches for fully 1 km from one end to the other. Most noticeable was the fact that the back of the hotel is open so that as dusk fell, bats and other night creatures accompanied us on our walk from our room to the centre of the hotel, where the restaurant, lounges and other public rooms are found. Little lizards ran along the hotel walls, and insects I’d rather not get too close to had built nests in dark corners. We even found a praying mantis over our door one evening - I never knew they could be green!

Again on Kathie’s recommendation I had booked half-board at this hotel, and indeed the food did not disappoint. [in fact, there’s nowhere else much to go, unless you get your driver to take you to a neighbouring hotel, or go to the a la carte restaurant on site which wasn’t pushed at all, which I found strange]. Like many hotels in Sri Lanka it runs a buffet for all meals and our first taste of Sri Lankan food was to be our first night dinner. but it turned out that there was not only Sri Lankan food to choose from, but european, chinese and thai as well, all of it very good indeed. For starters this first night we chose to try the tempura prawns which were being cooked outside plus some salad [plenty of choice there] followed by some of the Sri Lankan curries and accompaniments. I can’t recall exactly what we had [i think that it was a fish curry] but I remember that we liked it, a lot!

Too tired by now to bother with pud, we just made for our room, and bed.

See you in the morning!

Great start. I think that place by the lake was the same place we stopped at on the way to Kandalama...

thanks, craig - i suspect that certain places are regularly used by the drivers for various reasons - hopefully the fact that they appeal to their clients, but also the advantages for them like the food they are offered, the accommodation where appropriate, even, might we say, financial inducements. it would be naive to think otherwise.

certainly another couple who had been on the flight with us turned up at the same place while we were there, so I'm not surprised that you went there too.

There is a string of places in Sri Lanka which are meant for visitors. They are supposed to assure clean restrooms, good, safe food and good service. For the most part they do just that.

Reading your report makes me want to go back now. Did you have the avocado juice when you arrived at the Kandalama? Yum.

Glad to see this get underway.

Was amused by your reaction to the roads and the driving. Am I right in thinking you haven't been to India yet? I arrived in SL direct from India and found the driving quite sedate in comparison... Not to mention much quieter - in India it's HORNS all the time.

Looking forward to more.

There is a string of places in Sri Lanka which are meant for visitors.>>

Kathie - i knew about the rest houses and this place wasn't one of them. It said "hotel" over the front which was meant in the western rather than Sri Lankan sense. we weren't offered avocado juice on arrival at the kandalama, sadly, but i did try it later and wasn't that keen to be honest. My fave turned out to be plan old simple pineapple.

thursdays - you're right, we've never been to India or anywhere else in Asia. We have driven extensively in europe, including in Italy, and once rented a car in Chania [Crete] which was the closest to driving in Sri Lanka i can recall, just with all the signs in Greek! [god job DH had done maths].

but nothing had prepared us for this chaos, and yes, noise. If we do make it to India - and we are seriously considering it - we'll take ear-plugs!

love the starting adventure... could you also speak to some of the costs you encountered please.

rhkkmk - Thanks for the encouragement.

I am certainly happy to have a go at giving you approximate costings - here they are:

flights - approx £600 each LHR - CMB return. if we'd come back the day before, they'd have been £900 each.

hotels - average £100 per night per room, B&B. [costs were a bit distorted because we paid for 1/2 board in some places]. you could do a lot better than this, but I've got to the age where i like my creature comforts.

car + driver - U$ 830. [15% deposit paid on booking plus rest payable in cash in $ on arrival]

food - easier to say in rupees which are £1 = 200, or U$ = 130.

a bottle of beer [660 ml] = R 300-400, wine [we didn't drink much of this] R400 - 700 for a glass, water - between 60 and 200 a bottle depending on where you were and how big the bottle. we did have the odd cocktail for about R 600 each.

a local curry - anything between R 600 - 1000; a hotel buffet up to R 1900 each.

entrance to monuments - the cultural triangle no longer has a combined ticket which was
U$ 50 pp. Polunawara was U$ 25 each, and Siragya U$ 30 each. the first "safari" we did was U$50 each, and the 2nd U$ 75 each. other places like the gardens and Temple of the Tooth were approx R1000 each [foreigners' price].

We budgeted £1,400 each excluding flights and i think that we will come out pretty close to that, ie £100 each per day all in. I'm sure that we could have done it cheaper and another time we'd have a much better idea of what we wanted to do and which level to aim at, but we were pretty pleased with the way it worked out overall.

please let me know if I've omitted anything significant!

Wow, I thought the combined ticket was expensive! Glad I've already seen those places, I think that's more than they're worth.

thursdays - I agree about Polunawara, but not about Sigarya, which we loved. ironically, though we were staying nearby, we never got to the Dambulla caves, about which we also heard good things.

the fact is, that though we hope to go back, it may never happen and in the great scheme of things, they did not form a large proportion of our holiday costs.

thanks...

Well, I liked Sigiriya too, but one full day (and you get the evening before too) at Angkor Wat, which is a MUCH bigger site, is $20. Three days is $40, so SL is really overcharging in comparison. Come to that, the foreigner's price for the Taj Mahal is $14, and there were howls of outrage when it was raised to that a few years back.

Thanks for sharing your experiences in Sri Lanka with us, Annhig. I just made my reservations for March, also through BSL, and will be following your report for tips and ideas. Great start so far...

thursdaysd - that's a useful comparison.

as you will discover, we did feel at times that the Sri Lankans are at risk of killing the goose by over-exploiting tourists. the fact is, though, that they have relatively few places where they can raise significant revenue, and the market sets the price.

trippplanner - don't let THEM dictate your itinerary. our driver seemed to think that what was written on the itinerary supplied by BSL was written in tablets of stone and we had to work quite hard at the beginning to ensure that we did what we wanted to do, when we wanted to do it. he got the message quite quickly though, and became very adaptable, and full of useful suggestions.

Loving this report and considered Sri Lanka for a future adventure - but so hard to get there from the US.

An excellent TR annhig, so glad you had a fantastic time. Loved your description of Sri Lankan driving! It does seem that SL is in rip off mode when it comes to entrance charges but I guess all those poor government officials and ministers have to fund their retirement some way??

I think the entrance fee that annoyed me the most was World's End - $30! I'm all for funding decent maintenance, but in SL it felt more like price gouging. And of course, these were foreigner's fees. Although a bit more justifiable in SL than foreigner's fees in India, where there are plenty of well-off locals these days. But I don't want to derail a promising report!

Annhig, thanks for the tip regarding the itinerary. I will make sure that our driver understands in the beginning. Like you, we're getting a "people carrier" as well, although there are four of us.

thursdaysd - you won't derail me, don't worry, i can do that all by myself!

and I think that i forgot to mention you in the earlier credits, so belated thanks for your help in the planning of the trip. We actually had world's End on our itinerary, but the drive up to the place we were staying in above Nurewa Eliya was pretty tortuous, so once we got there, we didn't rally want to go anywhere else. So we walked from there a couple of days which was both lovely and free!

crellston - I appreciate the encouragement. We had a most terrific time and really the costs of the sites did not impinge on us at the time, though in retrospect they do seem high in comparison to others in Asia. Our driver was pretty down on politicians, and when we found out that they [and people like doctors, all of whom are very well paid compared to the average sri lankan] don't have to pay the 400% tax on new cars that ordinary people have to pay, i could see his point.

tripplanner - because I realised that the itinerary that we started off with when we booked wasn't really what we wanted to do, I e-mailed BSL about a month before we travelled with a revised version. this didn't change any of the hotels, but it did re-arrrange the activities that were planned. I wasn't entirely clear that our driver had received it - at times i thought he had, then he'd day something which made me doubt this. so i think that it's worth doing this, but also having a copy for the driver when you arrive. and being very clear about what you want to see, and don't want to see, or do come to that.

To be fair to Ajith, once we'd got used to each other he proved to be a terrific resource, and he was invariably polite, punctual and professional. These drivers get a different lot of people to look after every fortnight or so, and when the trip starts they have no idea what sort of clients they've got!

Thanks again, Annhig. I've given BSL a rough idea of what we want in terms of an itinerary and they've given me a quote based on that. I hope to spend the next couple of months going through guidebooks and emailing them with a more detailed plan. Now that you mention it, I will definitely make sure I bring a copy with me for the driver.

tp - that sounds very sensible. i have left a specific comment about your itinerary on your other thread - if you want to e-mail me when you've read it, please feel free to do so - [email protected] should find me.

I do think flexibility in your guide is essential, We had a few problems on our trip and ended up with a replacement guide. The first was very nice but hopeless and in retrospect was a bit lazy. He would rather sit in the car and wait for us than show us around. Fine as it happened but it would have been nice to have had the option! The second, by contrast, was amazing, he would constantly make suggestions for variations of the set itinerary all of which proved to be great. He also took us to numerous places exceeding the set mileage allowance and did not charge. In the end he became a good friend.

With any guide I think it is essential to build a good relationship from the off and set out clearly what you expect. It worked with our second guide but failed miserably with our first! Other travellers we met had wildly varying experiences with their guides. I guess it is pot luck. SL is just one of those places where the more planning you do in advance, the better.

Crellston, you're spot on regarding the guide. I've had so-so guides and really good guides on my previous travels, and that really made the difference in numerous cases.

Annhig, thanks for your offer. An email is coming your way.

tp - a response should now be winging its way to you.

i agree so much with Crellston - the more research you do, the more it will pay off. That said, however much you do will not entirely prepare you for the reality! [good and bad!] in the first few days you are bound to make mistakes [well, we did] - and then it's a case of going with the flow and not letting minor niggles spoil your enjoyment of a lovely place.

as Crellston says, you are very reliant on your driver, and a good one can make or break the trip. taking all into account, Ajith was pretty good at explaining things as we drove around, but always maintained a professional reserve, so I could not describe him as a friend. He certainly tried as hard as he could to make the trip a success, and to be responsive to what we wanted, though occasionally, it got lost in translation!

Thanks so much Ann. Agree with you and Crellston 100%.

Annhig: It's great to "meet" you on this forum! I've been concentrating on Europe lately so do not often check t he Asia board but when I did just now, and when I saw your name right up at the top of the column, I knew that I was in for a good read!

I've not been to SriLanka since the last year that the island was named Ceylon (scary thought, that one!) so I guess there have been a few changes since my own visit! I'll buckle my seatbelt and join you as you recount your adventures!

hi, ek,

glad to have you along.

hoping to post the next segment this weekend - especially if I continue to operate on SL time!

What a great report. I'm enjoying reading this and will consider a trip there in our future. For those who have been to both Sri Lanka and India, how do the two compare?

thanks, dgunbug. from what I've read, India is definitely noisier!

dgunbug - the late, great dogster described SL as "India lite". He was right.

India has more of everything. If SL with BSL is Asia 101, India is a senior thesis. Maybe a graduate thesis.

Day 2 - Ordeal by monument

Our original itinerary had us going to Sirigiya today, but we’d been advised that would need a 6 am start, and being our first morning in SL, we thought we might want to sleep in, [BST being some 4 1/2 hours behind SL time] so we had opted for Polunawara instead - a longer drive, but not requiring such an early start. So it was a surprise to wake up bright, breezy and well-rested at 6am - the equivalent of 1.30 am at home. We pottered about for a bit, watching the sunrise, the birds flying over the lake, and having a cup of tea [there were tea/coffee-making facilities in all our rooms except the one at Warwick Gardens, where you could ask for tea or coffee whenever you wanted]. We also had an amusing moment when we caught the monkeys trying to open the balcony door - we had closed but not locked it and watched with astonishment as a macquake managed to open the heavy door, but got no further after we shouted at him. We always locked it after that!

By 7am we were ready for breakfast and went along to the dining room to see what was on offer. Wow! You want curry for breakfast? or ham and eggs? or a full english? toast and croissants? Whatever style of breakfast you wanted, there it was. Having read about egg hoppers [a sort of pancake made with rice flour and coconut milk with an egg cooked in the middle] we were eager to try them, and they did not disappoint - very tasty. [the highest accolade a sri lankan can give to food, so far as I could tell]. With fruit, fruit-juice, and some toast, plus the terrific tea, we were well set up for the morning and all that it might throw at us.

We easily made the 8am time we’d agreed to be picked up by Ajith, and soon we were back negotiating the traffic on the way to Polunawara. Ajith had said the journey should take about an hour, but from memory it was actually more like two - it certainly felt like it after the day before. And the heat! We’d barely noticed it in the hotel as being built into the hillside it was relatively cool; out here in the dry plains of northern Sri Lanka as soon as we opened the door to the van at 10 am it was already baking.

First stop was the ticket office and museum - U$ 25/3025 rupees each was indeed a bit steep [just over £15 each]. Sadly they have suspended [or abolished] the combined Cultural Triangle ticket which was U$ 50, and don’t take c/cards, so cash it had to be. Thankfully the museum was air-conditioned and provided information in [what we assumed were] Sinhalese, Tamil, and English. I suspect that it would have made more sense if we’d seen it after visiting the site, but that didn’t seem to be an option, so after 30 mins or so, and a use of the very clean “facilities” [we made sure we “went” even if we didn’t need to “go”] we stepped out into the searing heat again, and were ferried round to the start of the monuments, which I vaguely remember being a statue [of the king?] and the library. We tried to find out what the 5th century books were written on which would have survived the heat and damp, but sadly never discovered the answer. [anyone?]

Then we were whisked to the next site which was a much larger area where a palace had stood. We dutifully wandered round trying to make sense of the ruins, but our main focus was on getting the various touts to leave us alone. “You want hat, madam? you want elephant? where you come from, you come from England? Why you not want elephant? very cheap!” In retrospect, I rather needed a hat, but I had an instinct that once you bought something from one of them, all the rest of them would see you as fair game, so we kept up our constant streams of “no, Cornwall, no, thank you, no,” until they got the message that we weren’t buying and went to pester someone else.

Polunawara is a very large site and the system seems to be that the driver transports the guests from one part to another until a) they have seen everything or b) they get fed up. We had reached point b). [already? you ask. what wimps. But we’re from Cornwall where if it gets above 20C, it’s headline news!]. We asked if we could go and get some lunch and come back, but that apparently wasn’t an option - no passouts. [a bit much considering the cost] It was much too hot to take off one’s shoes to go into any of the temples except one which had a roof, so the interiors of the temples will remain ever a mystery to us. One we thought we would go into turned out to be completely solid like a bee-hive, which we only realised after we’d walked all the way round it. No joke in 35C without a hat. [DH had one though, but he wasn't lending].

Being our first day we’d just about had enough by then, and not being great afficionados of ancient Sri Lankan monuments, we decided to call it a day. So we sadly decided to forgo the rest of the treasures of Polunawara and asked Ajith to take us somewhere for lunch. The ensuing conversation went thus:

Ajith: What about your elephant safari this afternoon? [we looked in horror at each other].

Us: WHAT elephant safari?

Ajith: The one that’s on the itinerary.

Us: We think we’d rather go back to the hotel and rest for the rest of the day.

Ajith: But it’s on the itinerary.

Us: Could we do it another time? possibly after we’ve been to Sirigirya tomorrow?

Ajith: [clearly struggling with this] mmm - that should be possible.

Us: fine. How much is it?

Ajith: n U$.

Us: how much is that in rupees?

Ajith: 13,000.

Us: 13,000? [thinking that at this rate our cash was not going to last long between visits to ATMs.] How long does it take?

Ajith: 3 hours. There are many elephants. [and elephants were part of what we had come to see, after all]

Us: [doing the maths - mmm - just over £60 for 3 hours, this had better be good] OK - now can we please go and get some lunch?

Of course it didn’t quite go like this, but it was the first time that we had a clash of interests, and it was important to establish who was boss. [you may think that we did just that, but possibly not in the way we intended!]

The place that we were taken for lunch [and it was pretty impossible to have any control over things like this, especially at the beginning] was just about ok - with a Sri Lankan curry buffet, and other choices like sandwiches and fried lake fish. To my surprise, DH, who at home normally has curry whenever he can, decided to have a chicken sandwich, whereas I opted for the curry, which was pretty tasty, whilst the sandwich [which was the same price as the curry buffet] was truly awful, and the ladies’ loo wasn’t much better - I had to wash my hands in the gents! [the total cost for the two meals and 2 beers was about 2,500 rupees, BTW].

The journey back to the hotel took about 2 hours [there were several jams where they were carrying out much needed road improvements] so it was gone 5pm by the time we were able to dive into the hotel pool and finally cool off. [I say “pool”; in fact there are 3 and we tried each of them!] Then after dinner and a drink in the bar watching some of the cricket it was time for bed, ready for tomorrow’s adventures.

Tomorrow - you want elephants?

bring on the elephants

I want elephants...

You know, we absolutely loved Polunawara! In part, this was because we love ruins, especially Buddhist ruins, but our enjoyment was enhanced by having the best guide. Our driver asked us if we wanted a guide the day before and we did, so he called his friend. A good friend had their driver (who said he could guide them) show them around and they weren't impressed. I think this is a place where it helps to have a great guide. Given the heat, you might have wanted to stop early anyway.

Did you eat at the rest house constructed for Queen Elizabeth's visit back in the 1950s?

i wasn't much impressed by Polunawara either, but I saw it in the rain.

Kathie - our driver suggested a guide and we thought that we'd said yes, but then none materialised. [we had one the next day which did make a difference but that's another story!]

we are not, truth be told, great ones for ruins [at home we would rather visit an inhabited stately home than a ruined castle, and if it's got a garden, even better!] but we were open to the experience, and if I've given the impression that we were not having fun, then that would be wrong. But for us a few ruins can go a long way!

The rest home is being renovated else I'm sure we'd have stopped there. it has a beautiful position over-looking the lake and when it's finished will be lovely.

Hi annhig and great to read you report so glad you have enjoyed the trip albeit some interesting interludes too, will await to see more... (I am currently in London here to drop my daughter off at University)