Sri Lanka

draker

Hi there,

I am planning my hols for 2007 and I am very keen to find out more about Sri Lanka, both in terms of holiday costs and recommendations as to where to visit.

We are looking to travel in October for a maximum of 12 days. Ideally we would like to fly from Birmingham if possible, or can travel from London or Manchester. Preferably we would like to package together our own holiday and would appreciate ideas and recommendations as to accommodation and 'must see and do's'. We will also consider packaged tours if they offer good value for money.

Any advice and help will be much appreciated.

draker

Delirium_2

I've been a member of this board for ages & never been as compelled to post as I was when I saw yours! (stupid huh? :rotfl: )
SL is an amazing country & I completely reccommend visiting - I had the most incredible time there & I'm sure you will too!!

You can get fantastic deals - usually around £650 pp for 3 weeks, & they usually include all flights, accomodation & a selection of tours.

Good places to visit:
- Sigiria rock; absolutely beautiful & well worth the climb
- Pinnawela elephant sanctuary
- the beaches of Bentota
- Dambulla buddist temples

Anyway, I hope that's of some help...It's made me want to go back there!!

davidlizard

In addition to Deleriums recommendations, who clearly likes the place as much as I do:

Kandy: Temple, botanical gardens and tea gardens. This can all be done in one day, and usually with the elephants mentioned above en-route.

To do the trips, there are plenty of locals with minibuses and the like who hang around outside hotels who will take you around at a fraction of the cost of organised tours. Get about 4-6 of you together and negotiate with them. Sri Lankans tend to be extremely friendly and on the whole honest and reliable people.

River safaris (along the mangrove swamps) are worth doing for a couple of hours, with tons of wildlife and giant lizards to spot.

Beaches, especially on the south and east coasts are excellent as noted above, but the sea can be a little rough for swimming at times.

To get an idea of costs, 8 of us ate locally in Kandy, and two courses including drinks came to £14 for all of us, however £5-£8 per head was more typical. Tuk Tuks were about 20p/mile (very negotiable). Very basic (local) accomodation was about £5 per night per person, but this would not be anywhere near the standard of package hotels. All inclusive deals whilst convenient are not a great money saver, and TBH the money is better spent in the local communities.

Many of the attractions have two rates, a local rate and a tourist rate (about 5x).

Do be prepared for the temperature, and even more so the humidity - it is like a sauna.

Its worth noting that some companies offer two centre trips, firstly to Sri Lanka, then on to the Maldives (which is about 1.5 hours flight away).

Sallys_Savings

We adore Sri Lanka and have made some firm friends there too....I'm sure you will love it.

The beaches are beautiful, the people friendly and the scenery breathtaking.

We have been several times but one place we are still waiting to go up is Adams Peak..my younger brother went up and said it was amazing. (hopefully on our next visit )

I'd go with Davidlizards recommendation about using the local people for travelling, they are so extremely friendly and the money will help the local community. The trips from some of the hotels are very expensive when I was talking to people we met. Some people on the beach are registered tourist guides too so ask to see their badge if you wish or photos/recommendations if you're really concerned as there may be people who have used them in the hotel.

If you go to visit the elephant orphanage (which is a great place to visit!!! and make sure you time it so you can see the elephants going to the river to bathe.....lovely to see them marching down the row of shops to the water). But also take a trip to the nearby Millenium Elephant place, you can have an elephant ride (just around the elephants neck and not on a carrier) and bathe an elephant in the stream. My daughters absolutely loved it!!! But be careful when you pay your entrance fee, as when you ask how much they normally give you the most expensive price (which is quite a bit), but then we went for the shortest elephant ride and to bathe the elephant the price is alot different. You get to bathe the elephant and sit on its back while it sprays water over you ...alot of fun. Make sure you take a totally new set of clothes with you and towels. There are very basic shower facility for afterwards so you can get changed.

Kandy is a great place to visit, the temple of the tooth, we saw a brilliant dance show in kandy too, botanical gardens.

Tea plantations and the hill country....(blast my mind has gone blank to where this is called) but its great to wind up and down the hills. Driving through/stopping off at tea plantations. There are little shops/shacks at the side of the road which quite frankly I don't know how they are stay up as they are on the very edge of the hill, supported by stilts etc. The scenery is breathtaking, lovely to see the colourful tree pluckers scattered around the hills,

Sigieria Rock.....great to visit but a long climb. There are some lovely paintings along the side of the rock too.

Dambulla, lots of stairs to climb but a lovely view at the top. Their are caves to visit with beautiful drawings/statues in.

Polonnaruwa, beware of the monkeys as my daughter got a little too close to one at Polonnaruwa and he gave her quite a warning scream

Kathagarma...we went on a pilgrimage with a Sri Lankan family we are friends with and it was a great experience.

The river trips are a must too, we stopped off and sort mats being made, cinnamon being stripped.

Visit local gem mines...amazing to see these men go down a basic shaft just covered with a small thatched roof. Often you can go into a shop next door and buy gems that have been made into jewellery from that very mine. Please dont feel pressurised to buy anything however, be firm but friendly if you dont wish to buy.

Water falls

Galle, there is a fort here to see.....you may of remembered when the Tsunami hit there was photographs/news film of floating buses, that was taken here at the bus station. The cricket ground is just outside the fort and its worth seeing the colonial houses inside the fort walls.

If you're the sort of person who doesnt like sitting around all the time you just have to get on a train along the colombo to galle even if its just for a few stops and come back again....its crowded but great fun too

Yala Safari park, an early morning in the back of a bumpy jeep....lots of fun and saw lots of beautiful animals. Our hotel had packed a scrummy breakfast for us to take along too..fresh fruit etc and we stopped off in the park to eat it arrggghhh, bit worrying to get out of the jeep.

Herb/cinnamon gardens...yes visit but dont buy from them as they cost alot more than in local shops.

A warning if you are at any of the buddha statues, NEVER take a photograph of yourself infront of the statue..it is strictly a no no and if guards are about they will pull you up on it as well as the locals.

The stilt fisherman are a sight to see if you're staying nearby.

Releasing turtles into the wild at night time was a truly remarkable experience for us so if you have this opportunity, take it up.

sorry I seem to have rambled rather...Sri Lanka is well worth a visit and we're definitely going back

Have a look at virtualtourist.com, especially the Sri Lanka Forum which has hotels/restaurants/places etc in peoples profiles and you can look at their photos too. Look for a profile called Maxus, he has visited Sri lanka 9 times and leaves lots of tips/photos on his page.

Any questions please feel free to pm me and I'll ramble on some more lol
Also if you are any where near Ahungalla I know of a Sri lankan reliable driver and a guide (who is registered) that I could give you details for you to contact.

Have a fantastic time.

i1189

I went to Sri Lanka a couple of years ago. I stayed all inclusive at the Club Hotel Dolphin in Waikkal. The rooms were basic, but the food was great, and there are 2 lovely swimming pools. The sunsets over the beach were fantastic as well. I also spent a night at The Oasis, which was somewhere in the south, which was also nice.

I can recommend the National Parks at Yala and Bundala. Bundala was my favourite although it doesn't have as many animals. It has a lot of birds and crocodiles though. The road to Yala was absolutely terrible, and would be best in a jeep, although we somehow managed it in a Toyota Carina.

The elephant sanctuary at Pinnawela is also a must see, and the turtle sanctuary near Galle if it is still there.

If you go to the temple of the tooth at Kandy, you need to go in barefoot, so it is worth taking along some tissues or wet wipes to clean your feet afterwards, especially if it is wet. Also the public loos were nasty, so again take tissues.

draker

Many thanks to all those that posted with their top tips. It sounds as though you have many fond memories of your holidays to Sri Lanka.

Cheers

draker

Raggamuffin_2

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I just wanted to echo the great things about Sri Lanka. We got back from Sri Lanka on Sunday night and absolutely loved it. We stayed at the Kandalama, which is about 15 minutes from Dambulla and roughly 30-45 minutes from Sigiriya. There are 2 'Wings' to the hotel. The Dambulla wing and the Sigiriya wing. We stayed in the Sigiriya wing and had views of Sigiriya from the hotel rooms.

I am just loading up some holiday pictures at the moment, you're welcome to give me a shout if you would like to see any.

I can't rave about this hotel enough. It was absolutely amazing and I would love to go back.

Sam_Bee

Raggamuffin - Kandalama is one of my favourites in the world - we went their post the Tamil attack on Colombo Airport, so it was deserted, but it was an amazing place. We had dinner in the cave built into the rocks. I would put it down as a 'must stay' if you are going that way.

info_addict

We went in November 2002 and organized everything ourselves, mainly over the internet. Flew from Manchester with Czech Air (long flight times but cheap). It was their first flight into Colombo and we were greeted with flower garlands and a band.

Stayed at the Goldi Sands in Negombo to get used to the heat and jet lag and arranged a driver. Just walking down the main street, we were approached by many drivers with air con minibuses. Some had books with testimonials from other tourists, which was good advertising. A minibus is a great way to tour the island and you get great views. We chose a driver who spoke reasonably good English and tested him out on a tour around Negombo town. Then we arranged a rate. Either day rate or kilometer. We went with kilometer, as we wanted him for 11 days. It was the best option, for us. Day rate we thought he wouldn't want to do so much driving and kilometer rate he would want to get as much as he could. We researched our trip extensively before hand, but he still took us to places we hadn't found in the guide books. We ended up paying £16 a day, for the driver/guide, fuel and minibus. Excellent and he deserved his tip we gave him. Oh, and most hotels provide free accommodation for your driver.

We visited Anurhadapura, Polonnaruwa and Sigyria, all from the Culture Club Hotel were we stayed for 3 nights. Then it was down to Dambulla and Kandy for 2 nights at the Mahaweli Reach Hotel. Also visited both the elephant orphanages and liked the Millennium one best. Fewer elephants, but quieter and more contact. Yes, as noted above, my wife got the free elephant shower!!

Then it was up into the hill country and tea plantations. Stayed at the Ramboda Falls Hotel (great views, but not recommended, bit damp due to the nearby falls)

From there we traveled down to Katarangama (driver recommendation) and then Mirissa for 2 days on the beach. Basic but beautiful, at the Paradise Beach Resort

Then up the west coast, visiting Weligama (stilt fisherman who demand payment for photos) and Galle on the way. Stayed in Hikkaduwa overnight (driver recommend) and the wife had some clothes made.

Back up to Negombo, visiting the Turtle sanctuary on the way.

There were many other stops to visit plantations, silk shops etc etc. Your driver will get used to what you want to see and what you don't.

One thing we found was that if your driver takes you to a shop or restaurant, he gets a small kick back or free meal. We didn't mind this and would agree to stop at a cafe/ restaurant if even just for a drink.

Your driver will become a major part of your tour. I really wanted to try proper Sri Lankan food, not just the hotels adaptation. So he took us to place outside Polonnaruwa and for once he joined us. He ordered and we got worried when 25 dishes came out (yes we counted them). The food was fantastic and with drinks for the 3 of us the bill came to £4 each!!

Sorry if I have rambled on a bit, but as you may have guessed Sri Lanka affects you this way. It is really a beautiful island and the people are great.

Raggamuffin_2

Sam_Bee wrote: »

Raggamuffin - Kandalama is one of my favourites in the world - we went their post the Tamil attack on Colombo Airport, so it was deserted, but it was an amazing place. We had dinner in the cave built into the rocks. I would put it down as a 'must stay' if you are going that way.

I SO agree with you! This was my first time there, but my parents have been 6 times previously, and I can really understand why. We had such a welcome when we arrived as it was Mum and Dad's 6th time. We got picked up from Sigiriya air field and driven most of the way to the hotel. We got out by the water reserve, on the other side of the hotel, and got a boat ride to the hotel. Once we got there we were greeted by staff, people on horse back and an elephant dressed up in the Kandalama's colours. It was amazing.

Whilst we were there they only had 41% occupancy. It's a real shame. It is such a stunning hotel and the staff are great. Unfortunately since getting back to work, my holiday seems like a distant memory!