Pinnewela was definetly a highlight for me. Especially since it was the only place I got to see lots of elephants together.

Leaving Pinnawela, we headed off to Kandy. We walked around the city which although it was very busy, it was much quieter than normal as today was Poya Day, (full Moon Day). A public holiday. It’s not possible to purchase alcohol on Poya Days. The Queens Hotel, an old British colonial style place was interesting to look around. Rather faded but still somehow grand. We walked all round the lake in front of the Temple of Tooth, and made our way to watch the culture show.
We don’t normally bother with this type of thing, but we had read many reports of praise for what you see in Kandy. Personally, I wish we hadn’t bothered. On the way out, there was some fire walking etc.

With the light fading we started to make our way to the Temple of Tooth. Very atmospheric. Monks chanting over loudspeakers and loads and loads of people. Maybe more than normal because of it being Poya Day.
This was a very worthwhile visit. I would like to visit again someday.
To-morrow, it’s tea country time.

Day seven and time to leave Amaya Hills and head for the Heritage Tea Factory hotel at Nuwara Elya.
But first, before leaving Kandy, we wanted to look around the Botanical Gardens.
This was a treat! Beautiful gardens. We spent nearly two hours walking round here. We saw a huge colony of fruit bats…too many to count….probably hundreds. We saw a scorpion. One of the gardeners had been sweeping with a traditional broom and had a scorpion sitting on the brush head. Lots of unusual birds and a very nice orchid house.
Definitely worth a visit when visiting Kandy.
Back to the minivan for the three hour drive to Nuwara Elya. At this point Rammuni had arranged to leave us as he had to go to Colombo to meet some new clients who were going to be driven by another of his drivers. He said he would rejoin us the following day, somewhere on our drive to Galle. We were left in the safe hands of Mano, the driver. Now Mano, apart from being a wonderful driver is just such a lovely guy. Wonderful personality and a smile that would light up the darkest place.
He made lots of short stops, pointing things of interest, and providing photo opportunities. It was a lovely drive, clearly going up and up and up.
At last we stopped by a sign proclaiming that we had reached Nuwara. 6,187ft above sea level. It was then that Mano said we still have more than an hour to go, before we reach your hotel, nearly another 1000 feet to climb and the road is ‘’lumpy,bumpy’’.
Lumpybumpy it certainly was, but a really interesting drive. At last we reached the Hethersett tea plantation and the Tea Factory hotel.
Stepping out of the minivan the peace and quiet was deafening. The air crisp and fresh. It was beautiful.

We definitely recommend a stay at the Tea Factory, which stands over 6,800 feet above sea level, just six degrees from the equator, in the lush green misty mountains of Kandapola. Built in the days of British Raj as a factory for tea processing, it has been sympathetically converted into a five star hotel so that much of its original style and machinery remains. The reception area is where the factory's leaf drying process was carried out, the tea packing room is now the hotel bar and the grading and sifting area is the restaurant and as you can imagine, the views from the Tea Factory are breathtaking.
After a traditional welcome and smooth check-in we took in the views from our fourth floor room and then headed for the bar.

We took our drinks outside to a lovely little garden. After a short time, we were approached by a man wearing an odd uniform.
‘’Good afternoon Madam, Sir, I am the train driver.’’
Ahh, the strange uniform.
‘’We are not yet fully booked for this evening. Would you like to take dinner on board the train?’’
Lynda and I looked at each other….puzzled…..what train!
Seeing our puzzlement, the train driver smiled and said ‘’If you come with me I will show you my train’’
Leaving our drinks on the garden table we followed him round to the rear of the hotel and there was a very old railway carriage, which had been converted into a restaurant. He showed us around inside…..it was delightful. In fact this guy was the head waiter for this little restaurant. After looking at the menu, we declined to book for dinner mainly because the food was all European dishes and tonight we wanted local cuisine. Also because the main restaurant opened much earlier and tomorrow is the long drive to Galle so we wanted to have an early night. I wish we had booked two nights here we would certainly have tried it then.

Dinner was a buffet affair and very high quality. There was nice live music quietly in the background. All in all a very satisfactory meal.

Just once more……..we loved this place.

We were up early next day, nice breakfast, then check out. We had arranged to meet Mano at 08.00, but were ready by 07.40, and he was there waiting for us.
Great, a nice early start, ten hour drive ahead of us, should be in our hotel at Galle by 6.00pm, little did I know!!
The drive back down to Nuwara Elya took a little over an hour, then after a short time in the town, we took the Hatton Road, A7, I think. This really is a magnificent drive. The road snaking downhill for mile after mile, all the time passing tea fields filled with workers. Really very lovely. We stopped at a viewpoint for some shots of St Clair Falls and again, when we reached Devon Falls. Very, very spectacular scenery.
After maybe four hours or so, I glanced over at Lynda and she had turned as white as a ghost. With her head in her hands, she said I need to stop. Motion sickness. After a ten minute break we set off again only to stop again very soon and poor Lynda was violently sick. We carried on like this for around an hour, stopping every ten minutes or so. Mano was wonderful. Very supportive, patient and kind. I was getting quite concerned. More than six hours to go…..she’s never going to make it. We hadn’t passed a hotel for miles. I would have booked a room just to let her have a couple of hours rest and a nap. We rounded a bend and there was a sign saying air con rooms and restaurant. We pulled in to check it out. The restaurant/bar area was open air with a tin roof. We ordered some drinks and considered our options. Then the heavens opened. The first rain since we arrived. And boy did it rain. The noise on the roof made it nearly impossible to have a conversation. But after half an hour, it stopped as suddenly as it had started. After visiting the restroom Lynda stated flatly, I’m not sleeping in a room here. She wasn’t impressed.
So we set off again. Pretty soon it was the same routine. Stopping every ten minutes or so for Lynda to throw up!! Starting to get more worried, thinking we will never get to Galle today.
Eventually we reached Kitulgala, and stopped at a small hotel which was our original plan for lunch. I asked Mano to try to get us a room so that Lynda could have a rest, but they were full up. However, they directed us to a lounge area and pushed together some sofas and said that she could lie there for as long as she wanted. They set up fans to keep her cool, fixed her up with pillows, water, and cold flannels. They were just great.
This is where the film Bridge on The River Kwai was filmed and we had intended to visit the spot. Alas, sightseeing was not in my mind at this time.

After a couple of hours rest, Lynda declared herself fit to continue and off we went with her sitting in the front with Mano. Bolt upright and totally focussed on the road ahead she managed to overcome the motion sickness at last.
We started to make good progress, passing through many towns and villages, eventually hitting the coast road to Galle. We picked up Rammuni somewhere around Bentota and he sat in the back with me, whilst Lynda continued trancelike in the front seat not saying a word. Rammuni was very sympathetic pointing out that many people have suffered similarly travelling on that route.
Finally we hit Galle, pulling in to the Lighthouse Hotel just a little after 9.00pm. It had taken nearly fourteen hours.
At reception, I pointed out that my wife was unwell and could they please make check-in as fast as possible. They duly did and we were heading for our room within five minutes. And wow!!! What a room. Huge and with awesome mood lighting. Lynda just wanted to take a bath and get to bed. I opened the doors to the bathroom and again…..wow! Massive bathroom with walk-in shower and huge spa type bathtub. Candles burning and various spa treatment potions available. It was just what she needed. After pouring myself a large glass of finest malt, I opened the shutters and glass doors to explore the balcony, and another wow. We were less than twenty yards from the ocean, the balcony was very big with a table and chairs, the view was just stunning…..perfect.
Suitably refreshed, Lynda emerged from the bathroom declaring…’I’m hungry!’
So we ordered a room service dinner and it was great. I knew we were going to like this hotel.

I have found ginger works wonders with motion sickness in various concoctions. Hot ginger tea in Cambodia, ginger beer in Sri Lanka...

how is L feeling now?

Poor Lynda!

It sounds like you found a gem of a place to stay in Galle.

Where is the Lighthouse Hotel situated? We stayed just around teh corner from the lighthouse irtself but I don't recall this hotel.
Femi- we became addicted to the Sri Lankan ginger beer especially the EGB (Elephant Gincer Beer brand

Beautiful Leigh, wish I could have joined you to share that malt! Rammuni seems to be doing a really good job taking care of everything to near perfect efficiency (except the 14 hours ofcourse). Hope Lynda recovered fast.

BTW Lighthouse is located just 2km outside the town of Galle on the road to Colombo. If you have time go visit Roomassala Hill and the Japanese Peace Pagoda, nice views, and later find you way down to the secluded jungle beach with just a towel and swimsuit (take water).

The EGB brand of ginger beer became a fast favorite of mine. I wondered what the acronym stood for ((B))

The "E" is for "Elephant" and its full name is Elephant Ginger Beer made by the famolus Elephant House which is a very very old company and has the largest market share for soft drinks in Sri Lanka - yep even bigger that coke/pepsi.

We were up early next morning and had finished breakfast by 08.00. We spotted Rammuni wandering in to the restaurant. He’d come to check on Lynda and to see if we wanted to do anything to-day.
We opted to visit Galle Fort and not much else, agreeing to meet again at 9.30.
We spent a fair time wandering around this 16th century walled town within a town. Passing by Flag Rock, where daredevil locals, throw themselves from 30 or 40 feet into incredibly shallow water. The Maritime museum and the British gunpowder store were also interesting visits.
After visiting the Anglican All Saints Church and the Dutch Reformed Church, we checked out the Amangalla Hotel. The English manageress was more than happy to show us around. This is a very plush hotel, possibly the best in Galle, but rather expensive.
Then we took a drive round the coast hoping to see some stilt fishermen. We stopped at a small beach where we could see lots of stilts in the sea. We parked up and went to take a look. For a fee, some fishermen were prepared to climb onto their stilts and do some fishing! Just a tad too contrived for us so we declined. Didn’t actually get to see this activity going on. I wonder if they still do it for real.

Back to the Lighthouse, where we just chilled out for the rest of the day. Swimming in the sea, in the two pools available, and wandering around the grounds.
The next day, we did our own thing, just enjoying the hotel and walking along the surrounding beaches. We also wandered around a little village that we found about half a mile from our hotel.

Hi Leigh, I'm back home and am now able to take a good look at your photos. I really enjoyed your photos of elephants - it made me go back and look again at ours! Thanks for sharing.

We very much enjoyed our time in Galle, particularly the Lighthouse Hotel, but I’m not sure that it was really worth all the travelling time it took.

Next day we headed off to Colombo for our last night in Sri Lanka. The drive up the coast road was pleasant. We stopped off briefly to photograph two monuments for the 2004 Tsunami which hit Galle very badly. The first one we came to was the Peraliya Buddha Statue, which was built with donations from Japan. Rather poignant, writing this today. The next one just a mile or so further on depicts the terrible event with the train disaster.
Heading on into Colombo, we arrived at the Galle Face Hotel, where we had booked a deluxe room in the Classic wing. We knew that facilities would be better in the modern wing but wanted to experience the old colonial feel that this hotel offers. Our room was huge, overlooking Galle Face Green. This grand old hotel is certainly worth staying at.

At this point it was time to settle up with Rammuni and to say goodbye to him and Mano. I have to say that the service provided by Rammuni was first class in every way. Faultless, and I have no hesitation in giving him the highest recommendation.

We weren’t over impressed with Colombo. We set out to walk from the hotel to the Barefoot store but abandoned the walk after around an hour. Walking along that road is an obstacle course indeed. Never seen footpaths in such disrepair. And the constant bombardment from touts and tuk tuk drivers was, well, just tiresome. It was incessant. We found a bookshop called Meekone, I think, and were able to purchase the books we were after.

This trip far exceeded our expectations, and we hope to return again some day.

We were indeed……Captivated, By Beautiful Sri Lanka !

Very nice report. Sri Lanka is on my "maybe" list for next winter along with southern India or Burma. In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently? Based on your experience, I think we will skip Galle, or at least drive to it in 2 days. My DH is not good on windy, mountain roads.

Thanks for your report, Leugh. As you know we plan to return to Sri Lanka in the next couple of years, and your report has been helpful in my thinking about that trip. The consensus from the Fodorites who have been to Sri Lanka this year seems to be "no" to Columbo and "maybe not" to Galle. That will make my planning easier.

Shelly,
We would have spent more time at Cinnamon Lodge....we would have skipped Kandy, as a stopover.
Galle was very nice, and worth the effort but......Not a must.

Kathie,
For us Colombo was an experience, but not one we want to repeat.
Galle is interesting and rewarding .......just tooooooo far out of the way.....if you have time constraints.

Could you please give me the email contact for Ramunni. You said on another thread that you wished you had involved him more when planning your trip as it would have been more efficient. Could you elaborate on that.

Hi Shelley, you can find contact details and reviews for Rammuni on the following link.

http://www.leightravelclub.com/rammunitours.htm

We underestimated some of the traveling time. Judging it from looking at a map just doesn't work. Had we asked for his advice during planning he could have helped with that.
We wanted to take a train journey, but to get seats in the observation cars you need to book at least ten days in advance. We should have discussed this with him and asked him to book for us according to our itinerary.

Of course, before we made this trip, I didn't know Rammuni, and I wanted to do what WE wanted and not what our guide wanted. A little bit arrogant I know, but after a bad experience in China, I vowed never to let a tour guide dominate our traveling again.
I needn't have worried because with Rammuni and his driver, you are completely in control.
Basically, you have a guide, Rammuni, a driver, Mano, and their little air-con mini-van at your disposal to do pretty much as you wish.......but with input of advice and suggestions from an expert.

Very highly recommended and if you do go for Rammuni, or any other guide, communicate with him during the planning stages. I'm sure that will pay big rewards.

Hope that helps.

Thanks so much for the information.