Kathie

Craig, I loved your report. I had the opportunity to re-live many memories of Sri Lanka and to think about things I'd do next trip.

CFW

Craig, We REALLY enjoyed your report. Sounds like it was a perfect vacation -- so relaxing and beautiful.

hawaiiantraveler

Craig,

Well this is one that I will file away for future reference. Love your traveling style.

Thanks again for the report.

Aloha!

Mohammed

It was a real pleasure reading your report Craig and that you had an overall good trip to Sri Lanka. Sometimes I feel you did not explore enough along the South coast, but then again if you wanted isolation and peace and quiet and not really looking for an idyllic beach to swim/snorkel etc I supppose Tangalle was a good choice. Mirissa, Galle, Hikkaduwa right up to Bentota has a lot more that what you saw. I was also surprised that you travelled in a Van rather than in a car. Vans are actually cheaper than cars to hire, and generally bumpy and less comfortable. Was also surprised that you had Rammuni plus a separate driver. Never heard of that before! Dirk and Anitra are known to me and just last Saturday we were at a pary together and were planning on doing some fishing toghether. I must point him to your report.

Craig

Mohammed - it is surprising that you say that about the van. We found our ride to be pretty smooth. We also had enough room in front of us to extend our legs fully if we wanted to. Maybe in the rear of the van it would be bumpy. I can't imagine a van would be cheaper with gas prices the way they are - maybe if there are 8 in the van the per person price would be cheaper - could you check on this for future reference?

I really don't know what the deal with Rammuni was but it worked well for us - we were truly surprised when he showed up with another driver. I have only communicated with Anitra but give both Dirk and Anitra my regards if you see them.

rhkkmk

i loved every minute of the report...can't wait to see pics

bob

Mohammed

Hi Craig surprising it may seem but typically vans do cost a bit less because they they have a different lower duty/tax structure, also they run on diesel which gives a lot more mileage, and also the diesel is heavily subsidised in Sri Lanka. Sometimes one can pay more for a very new luxurious 15 seater van, and vans do have an advantage of higher ground clearence which is sometime useful on estate roads.

Craig

Mohammed, I would advise anyone then to go with a bigger vehicle providing they aren't charged a premium. My experience with Boutique SL and Red Dot Tours was that they wanted to charge a significant premium for a larger vehicle.

Mohammed

Craig,

I really beg to differ on that one, IMHO a car is really more comfortable and also a bit quicker too (no crazy speeding though). That said, please tell me how did you do on the long drive from Tangalle to Negombo. Rammuni sounds a good guide and I think you did well. You could hve perhaps saved 10 lousy bucks a day on the hire so that would not count for anything significant in the grand scale of things. I really wish you had stayed the last night in Colombo as there are such nice hotels both big and small here too and the drive to the airport is really fine. We do it all the time. This Villa Araliya place just does not sound very exiting.

Craig

Mohammed, we kept up with the smaller cars pretty well but I would agree that a lesser vehicle would be a tad bit quicker. As for comfort - to each his own. We do not travel lightly. We had three big bags, two smaller ones and two carry-on type bags. It would have been a very tight fit in a sedan. On the very long drives it would have been uncomfortable being cramped up in the back seat of a small car. With the van, we had enough room in front of us that we could extend our legs fully when we wanted to. There was also enough room that I could put my carry-on bag right next to me on my seat. Maybe the ride is bumpier in a van but I did not find it particularly bumpy.

As for the drive from Tangalle to Negombo - it was a long day but we had several stops to break up the trip (see report above). Villa Araliya is not exciting but we arrived pretty late - we ate dinner, went to sleep and got up early to get to the airport. I don't think we would have appreciated staying at a nice place in Colombo for that short amount of time.

robmac

Craig,

I really enjoyed your trip report--as usual.

Looking forward to seeing the photos.

offwego

Craig

Photos up yet?

Lori

Craig

Lori,

I'm working on the photos - long Easter weekend will help get it done. I'll post when they are up.

Craig

rhkkmk

the market's so quiet, what's the problem??

Craig

Our photos are up - here's a link:

http://craigandjeane.smugmug.com/

thursdaysd

Wow, Craig - great photos! Thanks. Love the frog!

Kandalama Hotel looks fabulous - I think I've been spending too much time In Europe - time to get back to Asia, lol!

CFW

Beautiful photos. Also enjoyed reviewing the pics from your prior trips, which have all been great.

Comparing all of the places you have visited in Asia, which has been your favorite?

Craig

Carole, Our favorites are Myanmar followed closely by Bali and India.

rhkkmk

where does sri lanka rate and why??

Craig

Bob, Sri Lanka would rank close behind Myanmar, Bali and India. I am not sure I can really put a finger on "why". Perhaps it is that with each trip we take, our expectations get higher. While it is a beautiful country with friendly people, for us SL lacked a certain "wow" factor that puts the others ahead of it. We did have a fabulous time and do recommend it to anyone interested in exploring that part of the world. I can elaborate more when we get together next month.