Lovely Sri Lanka: a 9-day travel itinerary
- Nov 27, 2017
- 5 min read
Whenever I am home in Kuala Lumpur, Vince and I use this as an excuse to take full advantage of AirAsia to jet off to somewhere else in Asia. If you are flying into KL at any time, always make sure to check the AirAsia website in addition to Skyscanner. This time round we decided to check out Sri Lanka for the 9 days we had free.
It was very easy to fall in love with Lanka. Not only is it stunning, it runs at its own pace. I personally loved the more chilled out vibe that allowed us to float here and there. It was very unlike most parts of bustling Asia.
Initially we planned to do the whole trip on public transport, however, on our first night in Negombo our Airbnb host offered us an amazing deal to rent one of his cars for the next 8 days. Check out Francis and Carmaline Sea Street Villa if you are going through Negombo, Colombo. They were wonderful folk who were very keen on feeding us. Thanks to their help we got to see a lot more of Sri Lanka than we would've if we had taken public transport (even though it is good, it is slow).
We found driving around a very active process. You have to be constantly aware of other drivers, as they tend to drive way over the expected speed limit (never really saw speed limit signs except on one major highway), they don't use indicators and they are very familiar with their horns. Not that they use it in an aggressive way, it is more in a " watch out, I'm behind you way". Vince has literally driven on every side of the car and on every side of the road in a number of countries, so he is very comfortable driving anywhere and everywhere. IF you have not had a similar experience, I would be very cautious when thinking about driving around. Of course if you feel up to the challenge, we felt like it gave us a ridiculous amount of freedom.
I created a short 9-day guide on how we saw the best of Sri Lanka in just a short space of time. Check out my other posts for more detailed information on the different sites.
Day 1: Negombo
Negombo is a small beach town that we thought was great for bicycle rides, admiring the colourful wooden boats and checking out the local markets.
Negombo is much closer to Colombo airport than Colombo city, so if you are getting of a plane, it is much more relaxing to take a short 15 minute taxi ride (our Airbnb host Francis picked us up).
Day 2: Sigiriya/Polonnaruwa
We left Negombo in the morning and drove the 3 1/2 hours to Sigiriya. Sigiriya is a spectacular UNESCO rock fortress that you can easily spend 3 hours exploring.
From there we drove another hour until we reached Polonnaruwa, where we stayed the night at Seyara Holiday Resort (they serve a great Sri Lankan breakkie).
Day 3: Polonnaruwa/Kandy
In the morning we spent about 3 hours leisurely exploring the remarkable archaeological park. This was followed by an insane Sri Lankan buffet lunch at Gemi Gadara. This restaurant is a must if you want to experience incredible Sri Lankan food.
With full bellies we drove on down to Kandy in the afternoon (about 3 hours). On the outskirts of Kandy we found an awesome and quiet resort called Randholee Resort and Spa to stay for the night. There we treated ourselves to the gym, infinity pool and a delicious seafood dinner that the hotel organised for us outside under the stars.
Day 4 & 5 : Nallathaniya/ Adam’s peak
After a very relaxing fruity breakkie by the pool we headed to Nallathaniya where we spent the afternoon exploring and eating our way around the little town.
Feeling healthy after our workouts the previous day we thought we would continue the trend and do the Adam's Peak hike (the 5th highest mountain in Sri Lanka). We were supposed to wake up at 2am to get to the top by 5.30am to avoid the intense heat, however, we both slept through our alarms. Although this is the recommended way to do it, we were actually grateful for the late start. I'll go into this more in another post. The hike will take you about 2.5-4 hours to the top and less than that to get down.
We left late afternoon and drove across the tight winding roads in the pouring rain to Ella. This was the most spectacular drive as it goes along this escarpment that overlooks the southern plains of lowland Sri Lanka. This took about 4 hours and got us in to Ella in time for a magnificent dinner at the Ceylon Tea Factory.
Day 6: Ella
Ella is a favourite for a reason. It is beautiful, green and gives of an incredibly chilled vibe. We stayed in a cute treetop bungalow surrounded by jungle and monkeys at Silent Nest B&B. In the morning we hiked to Ella Rock (see my detailed account on how to get there as the instructions can be confusing), this took about 4 hours return. For lunch make sure try out Matey Hut, they serve huge portions of delicious Lankan food.
That afternoon we drove to Udawalawe where we stayed at Silent Bungalow guest house. The drive took about 2 hours.
Day 7: Udawalawe
The guest house have their own Safari Jeeps so we were able to organise our Safari through them. We were driven around Udawalawe National Park all day and got to see a huge range of animals. We had an absolute blast, it was our favourite safari since South Africa. That evening we drove to Rekawa.
Day 8: Rekawa
We spent our final full day enjoying the delights of Buckingham Place (that is actually what the resort was called), exploring the beach and swimming in rock pools. If you are there during January to April or on a full-ish moon make sure to check out the Turtle Conservation Project.
Day 9: Galle and back to Colombo airport
On the day we were to fly out we leisurely drove via Galle back to Colombo Airport. Make sure to make time for this exotic UNESCO historical town. We were lucky enough to be there in May and got to experience being in the very centre of the Vesak Day Celebrations, a popular and colourful Buddhist religious festival...we were literally stuck in the parade for a couple of hours. Worries about missing our flight aside, we got to spend a couple of hours surrounded by food stalls, dancers and music.
And that was our trip...
Other things to mention:
Visas for Sri Lanka
You must have a Sri Lanka visa to be allowed into the country. Arranging this is very easy, just make sure your passport is valid for at least 6 months. You can either apply online at www.eta.gov.lk, these applications are usually approved within a few hours. The online application costs $35 for a 30 day visa with double entry. If you forget to organise a visa before you leave or have no access to internet, you can still apply for a visa on arrival at the airport. This will cost $40.
Currency
The currency used is Sri Lankan Rupees. While we were there the conversion rates were as such:
1 USD = 153.6 Rupee
1 GBP = 204.8 Rupee
1 EURO = 182.9 Rupee
On average you can expect to pay 100 - 400 Rupees for a rice and curry. All costs will depend on the type of accommodation you stay in and where you eat.
Keep an eye out for my other related posts on Sri Lanka
Thanks for reading. Have a sunshiny day 😀 🐘
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