We are creating an independent travel itinerary for Sri Lanka

This article is intended to help those who are planning to visit Sri Lanka on their own, without the use of Sinhalese, English or Russian speaking “helpers”. Such “help” provided by various dubious personalities on social networks not only costs inadequate money, but is also, from the legal side, a fraud.

Having taken money from you for a transfer or excursion, these persons do not bear any legal responsibility for you during your trip, because they simply do not have the right to engage in this type of activity either on the territory of Russia or on the territory of Sri Lanka, and if they do, it is already a tourist firm.

By the way, quite recently the mutual extradition of criminals was officially approved between Russia and Sri Lanka, so we wish the Russian-speaking scammers of Sri Lanka to be more restrained in deceiving tourists.

With a little preparation for an independent trip, you will be able to create your own personal route. If you have made a choice in favor of independent travel, you will certainly be faced with a number of standard questions, here is their approximate composition and order, this will help, first of all, to coordinate the actions of those who are going to travel for the first time. To make the data more clear, recommendations based on official information and personal experience are provided here.

One of the main recommendations would be: use the achievements of progress - just having a tablet or mobile phone with GPS navigation and mobile Internet can reduce travel costs many times over! There is no need to pay for what the Internet allows you to get freely.

Planning an independent trip to Sri Lanka

Question: First, you need to determine how to combine a beach holiday in Sri Lanka with a leisurely, but eventful and sometimes expectedly intense excursion route? What part of the holiday is best to include it in?

Recommendations: It is best to schedule an excursion program in the middle of your vacation, since after a long journey, even when traveling on the shortest flight and with an excellent airline, it is very difficult to immediately set off along the route. It will be a very correct and wise decision to give yourself a few days of rest, adapt, acclimatize and get used to the reality of Sri Lanka. Also, spending some time on the beach and getting a tan is useful in the sense that you won’t be torn apart by local sellers who want to immediately sell you, who have just arrived and stand out with your snow-white skin, at least something. In addition (!), all luggage can be left for storage at the hotel and you can go on the road lightly.

Recommendations: Assess your physical capabilities and desire in advance to determine the number of days on the route. Most tourists planning to see the country should choose a tour duration of no more than 3-5 days for the first route. On one- and two-day excursions, more time will be spent on the road and all sorts of package-obligatory places. Five days is enough to explore all the main attractions of the island, and there is no need to fit all the objects of interest into one visit. Moreover, the main purpose of the trip is usually not so much a mandatory excursion program “for show”, but an opportunity to get to know the life of Sri Lanka better.

Question: How to choose what to see in Sri Lanka from a huge list of attractions?

Recommendations: To prepare, it’s easier to make two lists - obligatory objects and those that you would also like to include, but you can skip. In this way, the key points of the route are indicated - we look where they are located on the map, close to which cities, and immediately visually estimate possible options for connecting these points into a circular route line. Already at this stage, as a rule, some objects are eliminated due to the fact that they in no way fit into the scheme.

Soberly assess the time spent on travel, because looking at the map of Sri Lanka for the first time, a deceptive illusion is created that the island is small, all the attractions are nearby - what’s the problem? The fact is that, firstly, the roads are often winding, passing through mountains and hills, but by helicopter in a straight line it takes only five minutes. As the locals say: the journey in Sri Lanka is measured not in kilometers, but in hours. It's true. The second point is the limited speed: on large roads, due to the fact that all kinds of wild animals periodically cross them, it is limited to 70 km/h, but at short distances, for example, a tuk-tuk moves at an average speed of 40 km/h.

Question: How not to get confused in new titles and select the most interesting?

Recommendations: In order not to get confused by places, unusual names and objects, you can include a brief description of the places - a photo, the name of the attraction and what exactly is interesting there - this makes it much clearer and easier to use the data. Interesting objects that cannot be included in this route will not have to be processed again when drawing up the next trip plan. The breakdown of objects, in particular by proximity to certain cities, allows you to more clearly imagine the traffic pattern. So, the cities have been identified, marked on the map, and what will soon become a clear route is gradually being formed.

Question: Is it possible not to use the services of a guide, but still get quality information about Sri Lanka?

Recommendations: The choice is definitely yours. But a compiled list of attractions with a brief description of the places will not only help you find your way around if you need to adjust the route, but also, if desired, can become a full-fledged replacement for a Russian-speaking guide, and you can also completely refuse any kind of accompaniment on a trip around Sri Lanka. Lanka. This is possible simply because when selecting places of interest, information accumulates, often exceeding the knowledge of any of the local guides.

If you wish, you can find a Sri Lankan guide via the Internet with a national license and developed conversational Russian language skills. Availability of a special national license for a Sri Lanka tourist guide can be checked on the website of the Ministry of Tourism of Sri Lanka. Modern means of communication will allow you to check your speech skills remotely - just call, for example, on Skype, Viber or WhatsApp, and talk to him in Russian for a few minutes - this way you can easily assess his level of speech proficiency. You can only evaluate the professionalism of a person as a guide on the spot.

Question: Is it possible to do without renting a car with a driver?

Recommendations: If you decide to refuse expensive, but not necessarily high-quality, escort, there are two travel options: go by a combination of public and private transport or rent a car with a driver. If the distances between key points of the route are not significant, within 50-70 km per day, renting a car with a driver even for 5 days is not always economically feasible, but it is somewhat more comfortable. That is why you can easily refuse to rent a car in favor of traveling around the island on your own. There are absolutely no difficulties in hiring private transport for small trips between nearby cities, the main thing is desire. Any tukker standing nearby always has a “relative” who is ready to earn extra money by delivering you to your destination.

Question: How to organize travel along the route? What transport should you use?

Recommendations: It is more comfortable to travel long distances either by car or by train. There is also the option of public and private buses. This method of travel is tens of times more economical, but in terms of comfort it is not suitable for all tourists, primarily due to the lack of a clear schedule on the Internet - it can only be found out in fact, at the bus station. Fortunately, in 2018, a service for booking a seat on long-haul routes of state buses appeared, where the cost, class of the bus and its schedule are indicated, which makes life much easier for travelers.

When going on a trip by bus, public or private, remember that you can often encounter dishonest conductors who inflate the price of the trip for tourists, and therefore be sure to check the correspondence of the point of arrival and the cost of travel indicated on the ticket. Also noteworthy among the disadvantages of traveling by bus is the loud Sri Lankan music that always accompanies the entire trip, and private buses may also have air conditioning operating at a temperature of +20C.

When planning a trip to Sri Lanka on your own, it is worth considering that the Sri Lankan railway scheme is designed in such a way that it is impossible to get, for example, from Kandy, Ella or Nuwara Eliya to Bentota, Hikkaduwa and Mirissa, bypassing Colombo. Colombo Fort Station is the largest interchange hub station connecting the western resort area with the northern and central regions of the country. In this way it is convenient to travel long distances; for shorter distances to travel between cities, you can rent a minivan, or use buses and tuk-tuks. By the way, there is an application on Google Play where you can view train schedules, prices and classes of cars, and also choose the travel option you need.

An important point: try not to plan your movements for the evening - firstly, it gets dark at 18:00, and traffic on Sri Lankan roads cannot be called calm. Secondly, it is better to have a small reserve of time in case of some unforeseen little things, for example, if the hotel where you planned to stay is very different from what you expected and you need to find a new place to stay. Well, thirdly, in the central regions of the country after 21:00-22:00 it is very difficult to find a place for dinner, even in large cities, not to mention villages.

Question: How to pay a real price for a tuk-tuk ride, and not an inflated one?

Recommendations: My personal conviction is the principle of a reasonable price for foreigners, this means that I, as a foreigner, am willing to initially pay more than locals, but it is very important to understand that this difference should be within a reasonable framework within 20-30% of the real cost of the service , and not the standard 300%, which is increased for me only because of the color of my skin. But how can you find out the real cost of travel - often one of the most expensive items during multiple moves? If you have a tablet with access to Google Maps, you immediately get this complete and undeniable advantage.

How it works: there is a rate for traveling 1 km on a tuk-tuk = 50 rupees. This figure is not entirely correct because in reality it is something like 45 rupees and varies from city to city, but in this case 50 is taken as an average for ease of calculation, and also keeping in mind the previous principle of a fair price for foreigners. If you have a tablet/smartphone with GPS connected to the Internet, by plotting a route from the current location to the planned one, you will find out the distance of the journey and visually represent the route. This way, based on the above rate of 50 rupees, you can estimate the real cost of travel and will always clearly understand where exactly you are and which way you are being taken.

Question: Do I need to book hotels in Sri Lanka in advance?

Recommendations: If you are not traveling in a large group or your visit does not fall during the Esala Perahera festival in Kandy or New Year on the west coast, then there is no need to worry about hotel availability. And in this case, the room will simply cost a little more. A tablet or phone connected to the Internet will completely solve the problem of finding a hotel - on any of the popular booking services and will help you avoid overpaying hoteliers. Often a situation arises at the hotel reception when you are told a price that is $10-20 higher than the price on Booking or Agoda; in this case, you can book a room right there online. By the way, almost any hotel has free Wi-Fi at the reception. However, it is worth mentioning that all this applies to hotels with a certain star rating and mini-hotels; for guest houses the prices are, of course, lower, and they are also less represented on the Internet for online booking.

Thus, using a regular tablet with GPS navigation and mobile Internet, you can not only create a tour program in Sri Lanka yourself, but also pay several times less for it, without losing, but essentially gaining, as received. There is no need to be tied to the terms of renting a car or a guide, to find out the details of his licensing and level of education and language proficiency, to be nervous and argue with the organizers of services in the event of a breakdown of the rented car, losing money on a burned-out hotel reservation. It is this freedom and independence that is the real appeal of solo travel.

We will tell you how to create a comfortable 5-day tour of the island of Sri Lanka in the next article, and also present our ready-made version of the route with a description.

To Sri Lanka - on your own!

So, you decided to go to Sri Lanka on your own, and plan everything the way you want, and not the travel agent on the next street. A laudable wish!
This guide will allow you to do this easily and simply..

The tour to Sri Lanka is divided into 2 stages: Excursion and Beach holiday. The specificity of excursions in Sri Lanka is such that to visit most attractions you need to spend the night in the center of the country. That is why a classic tour of the country is at least 3 days and 2 nights. In most cases, immediately upon arrival there is a tour, and at the end of it a beach holiday. Decide right away how many days you are willing to spend on the tour, 4-5 days are recommended, the most important things can be seen in 3. Accordingly, a hotel or guest house for a beach holiday should be booked after the tour.

If you buy a ready-made offer from a tour operator in your city: hotel + flight (sometimes this can be profitable), then try to agree not to pay for the hotel for 3-5 days in order to spend them on the tour. Unfortunately, this is not always possible and depends on the travel agent.

Sri Lanka is a country rich in culture and very beautiful and diverse. Staying in Sri Lanka and not going around the island means not visiting here at all! When you have decided how many days you will spend on the tour and how many on the beach - make a request. Be sure to make all accommodation requests through the website. Please provide correct information initially so as not to receive a voucher for Vasya Pupkin or Mikhalych later.
The same applies to dates and times of arrival and departure. It is better to write your First and Last Name in full and in English, as it is indicated in your passport

If you liked several guest houses, then indicate your preference in the comments (in order, from largest to smallest). In this case, if one of the options is occupied, we will go through the list until we find an available option. Remember that a guest house is not a hotel and the booking process is quite complicated. You need to call and check availability, confirm the price, and only after that we can give an answer to tourists - that the room is available. Sometimes the owner can be caught for several days. Therefore, in order to save your and our time, do not order everything, but choose carefully and ask only for what really suits you.

The website is divided into several main sections:

1. Guest houses, hotels, houses, villas, apartments- the place where you will live during your holiday. (horizontal menu at the top of the site). Prices are usually indicated for two people in a double room. The most popular places, as well as places that we especially recommend, based on reviews from tourists, are in the Best Offers section
   If you are not sure which beach to choose, we also recommend reading:
   • for relaxation, depending on your preferences and season
   • guest houses, apartments, houses.
2. Tours and Excursions- First, just get acquainted with the main attractions of Sri Lanka. We tried our best and selected the most interesting ones, without bypassing even little-known but nevertheless interesting places. Each attraction has a detailed description.
   After you have submitted what interests you, you can use our automatic tour selection system and choose a tour from more than 150 ready-made options. For your convenience, we have made a convenient excursion filter. Just mark the attractions you are interested in and you will receive a list of excursions with them. If the list is still large, you can also filter it by price and number of days on the excursion.
   The excursions themselves are divided into two groups.
   • Batch: on this tour you spend the night in hotels according to the selected comfort level (3-4-5*), breakfast and dinner are already included in the price. During the entire tour you are accompanied by a Russian-speaking guide (always Sri Lankan, there are no Russian guides). The price includes entrance tickets. Meeting and transportation to the end of the tour. The tour is individual. There will be no one else except you and the guide and driver. The travel plan may be slightly changed, since all hotels are booked and paid for in advance. Prepayment for such a tour is 50% of the total tour amount. The balance of the amount is payable upon arrival in Sri Lanka
   • Independent: in this tour we specify the route; overnight stays will be in guest houses along the route according to the level of comfort you specify (hot water, air conditioning, breakfast, dinner). The driver speaks English but is not a guide. He knows the route, will answer your questions, and will take you wherever you say as part of the tour. As a rule, a standard guidebook in Russian is enough to explore everything around, and a vocabulary of 50 words is enough to communicate with the driver. The price also includes entrance fees to attractions. Meeting and transportation to the end of the tour. The tour is individual. There will be no one else with the driver except you. The travel plan can be changed as you wish, since advance hotel reservations are not made. The advance payment is only $80. The balance of the amount is payable upon arrival in Sri Lanka
   The difference in price on such tours for 2 people is about 35%. For 4 people - about 30%, for 6 people - about 20%.
   All tours are private. That is, there will be no one else except you and your comrades. (not including driver and guide)
3. If you need a meeting at the airport, transfer to the hotel, or vice versa, you need to be picked up from the hotel and taken to the airport, then you can order a taxi from us. Transfers by cars, minivans, and buses are possible, depending on the number of people.

I landed in Sri Lanka on November 8, 2015 to begin my first independent journey through this country, completely unknown to me. All I had heard about before was tea, Buddhism and some similarities with. However, after 2 months of deep, slow contemplation, I suddenly saw some features that I want to talk about.

There is plenty of general information about Sri Lanka on the Internet, but not enough impressions and meanings. I will fill this gap and write a review! I’ll tell you about the most vivid moments deeply ingrained in my memory and the lessons that I managed to learn during the short time that I lived here.

Commodity-money relations

1. In tuk-tuks, cafes, small shops, they are very fond of calling the price suddenly 10-50% more than what you agreed on, or what you expected when looking at the price list. Just like that, for a fool... The white mister is tourist meat and is ready to easily donate an extra dollar for the benefit of the mustachioed owner of the teahouse. The money, of course, is small... But based on the principle that you can be outright fooled, such behavior takes on universal proportions. The cure for this is: vigilance, finding out all the details on the shore and clearly explaining why the seller is wrong. Helps ;)
2. They tried to deceive me so many times that I almost stopped being angry. Attempts were even noticed at gas stations.
3. Prices for attractions are outrageous. I have only seen the above in China. Therefore, I decided long ago that my travels would take place in less publicized places.
4. Visa extension for Kazakhstanis - $6 for 2 months (Kazakhstan is included in the Other Countries list). The extension for Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan is something like 30. Sometimes being an outsider is useful)
5. The price per night at a hotel can be reduced by 30% -50%. But the markets are reluctant to trade even in the absence of buyers and the outright illiquidity of the goods

How to get to Sri Lanka

All logistics begin at Colombo Airport, the only international airport in the country.

Transport

Cheap and extreme!

1. Very cheap travel between cities. Train from Colombo to Ella (), second class, without reserved seat - 2.5 dollars. It takes 7.5 hours. Buses - about 1 dollar per 100-140 km.
2. Traveling around Sri Lanka is great by train. But even if you have a second class ticket, it is not a fact that you will be able to sit for a 3-hour drive from Kandy to Colombo. (once we drove from Kandy to 6 hours sitting on the floor in the vestibule)
3. Buses on the roads are huge death capsules! If you are on two wheels, tremble! During our trip, I almost fell under a bus rushing towards me.
4. here, as elsewhere in Asia, it is very widespread

Train carriage from Kandy to Ella

And here is a wonderful video about my favorite attraction: the train through the fogs to Ella:

Local population

Affable, friendly, lazy and smart-ass!

1. The traditional Indian shaking of the head from side to side is also widespread here.
2. I feel comfortable and safe on the streets. The only external irritants are tuk-tuk drivers.
3. The choice of products in the markets is huge: vegetables, fruits, fish, meat. However, the most common dish is rice with a hot liquid called “curry”.
4. “No chilly, no spicy” is understood in a very Sri Lankan way. Those. no way. When a tipsy young Sri Lankan heard our request to make the food “not spicy”, he laughed loudly and commented: “yes, of course, not spicy... in the Sri Lankan style.” (Yes, of course, no chilly! Sri Lankan style). The phrase has turned into an aphorism.
5. Sri Lankans even often communicate with each other in English
6. Most of the communications with the local population follow the same pattern: “from what country?”, “your wife?” (pointing fingers at a fellow traveler), “Where are you going now?”, “Who do you work for?” Those. Quite general and primitive questions “about nothing”, very tiring, especially in places with large and isolated crowds of people. For example, on a train or visa application center.
7. In airport toilets, employees beg for money! I came in 4 times and 4 times they asked me for change. This behavior causes nothing but contempt.
8. Negombo is a den of sperm-toxic assholes. Single girls need to be on their guard. They don’t pester you too much, but in large quantities, which requires you to waste your nerves and energy.

Sri Lankan family and us in Ella

Attractions

Their name is legion! Traveling around Sri Lanka needs to be realized on your own and again on your own! For I have never seen such a variety of natural and historical attractions in such density anywhere else.

Another mythical attraction is the graves of Adam and Eve on the island of Mannar.

1. Entrance to many temples and national parks is free for locals.
2. Where else can you find stories about the great three-time visit of the King of Ceylon by Siddhartha Gautama Himself (at least the birthplace of Buddha does not cause such controversy), the graves of Adam and Eve and the man-made Rama bridge between Sri Lanka and India?
3. Wild elephants sometimes destroy village houses and cause train accidents.
4. In the city of Nuwarra Ellia, at an altitude of 1600 meters, frost sometimes occurs.
5. Around the attractions there are a huge number of crooks who, for a small reward, are ready to show “holes in fences.”
6. Along with sick stray dogs, huge monitor lizards walk along the roads and dig into garbage heaps, although...see point 7
7. The streets are surprisingly clean

Nature is the main asset of Sri Lanka

Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy

Other

1. Mobile Internet is the cheapest and most stable of all the Asian countries I have visited! Hutch packages are my clear choice!
2. Travel story. We are riding a motorcycle along a frankly rural road, we drive out onto a major highway and slow down a small bread tuk-tuk heading out of nowhere, from which we buy 2 sandwiches.

The oldest Buddhist temple in Dambulla

Conclusions and cons

Traveling independently in Sri Lanka is very easy, quite affordable and interesting! The thrill is in its enormous variety: if you want, hang out on retreats in meditation centers, if you want, ride a surfboard, if you want, lie on the beach (we, for example, lived for a month in), if you want, go to the tea mountains. Working remotely here is also a great pleasure, because the Internet is excellent, and visa conditions are very flexible.

At work in Hikkaduwa

However, as for my personal perception, after 1 month the initial delight was replaced by a certain amount of irritation, especially when contacting the local population. And getting anywhere further from Ceylon can also be quite expensive. More or less cheap flights have been spotted to India, and sometimes you can snag some kind of sale from Airasia aside. The rest of the directions are either “not about that” or too expensive. In general, I left without any regrets.

Will I come here again?? I don’t know yet... Therefore, I leave Sri Lanka on a shelf somewhere between and Thailand, which, despite my sincere interest in them, after visiting them, stopped attracting me.

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Sri Lanka visa

To visit Sri Lanka for tourism purposes, citizens of Russia and the CIS must obtain an Electronic Travel Permit (ETA) or Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) - Tourist ETA visa. This can be done via the Internet on the website of the Department of Immigration and Emigration of Sri Lanka. It's very simple, you just need to go to the website and follow the instructions in Russian - fill out an individual or group form, pay, after a while you will receive a confirmation by e-mail. It is best to print out the confirmation and take it with you on your trip. The cost of a monthly visa is $20. You can also get a visa on arrival, it will cost a little more - $25. Before your trip, check the Sri Lanka Embassy website for the latest information regarding visas, as well as the independent travelers forum.

Hotels in Sri Lanka

There is one peculiarity of the hotel business in Sri Lanka. In many hotels, the price from the “street” may be higher than online. If you are faced with such a situation, you can always use free wifi and book a room directly at the hotel through the system.

Transport in Sri Lanka

On this route we used the following transport (for 5 people):

• Minivan Colombo -> Polonnaruwa (rented upon arrival at the airport, as usual there is no bargaining at the airport, prices are too high, the alternative is to go to Colombo and rent a car there, wasting time)

• Tuk-Tuk in Polonnaruwa (offered by the guesthouse owner, after some haggling they agreed)

• Car Polonnaruwa -> Sigiriya (rented through the guesthouse owner)

• Minivan Sigiriya -> Perediya -> Pinnawela -> Nuwara Eliya (rented via tuk-tuk in Sigiriya, 16,000 rupees, 2 days)

• Neighborhoods of Nuwara Eliya (rented a minivan at the cafe where we had breakfast, 5,000 rupees for the whole day)

• Minivan Nuwara Eliya -> Nanu Oya railway station (rented on the main street of Nuwara Eliya, there is a parking lot for rental cars)

• Train Nanu Oya -> Ella (tickets were purchased half an hour before departure, price from 2 to 10 $, depending on the class of carriage, 1st class (~3 $) is comparable in comfort to Aeroexpress trains to airports in Moscow)

• Minivan Ella - Tangalle (rented on the main street of Ella, 8000 rupees, a dozen cars offer their transfer services to anywhere in the country. We agreed in advance with the driver that he would take us to hotels in Tangalle)

• Local bus Tangalle -> Galle (ticket costs 140 rupees, if you sit down and do not ride standing during rush hour, then it is quite comfortable. They go quickly, the seats are located in two rows, one has two seats, the other has three. The distance between the seats is quite normal even for my height of 190 cm)

• We returned from Tangalle to Marakolliya beach by minivan for 5,000 rupees, a tuk-tuk for the same route costs 4,000 rupees

• Minivan from Marakolliya beach -> airport in Colombo (rented at the hotel, drive 4-5 hours)

For comparison, look at the prices for transfers from.

Transfer from Bandaranaike Airport (Colombo) to Polonnaruwa

Travel insurance for Sri Lanka

Beaches of Sri Lanka

If the main purpose of your trip is a beach holiday, then there is no need to go to Sri Lanka. There are many other places for a beach holiday, for example. A beach holiday in Sri Lanka can only be interesting as an addition to an excursion program; this combination is the main value of a holiday in Ceylon. If we talk about the southern and southwestern coast, where the season is considered to be from October to March, then in my opinion, the most beautiful beaches are east of the city of Tangalle. The beach, in my opinion, is a very good choice for 3-5 days at the beach.

Map of the route to Ella Rock

So, how to get to . First of all, we reach the railway and move along the sleepers towards Nuwara Eliya. After about an hour, before sign 166 1/2, you need to turn left onto the path (sharp turn). Continue across the bridge over the river and at the first fork go left up. Continue along the path without turning (sticking to the widest path) for about 20 minutes. Further past the tea plantation there is a slight (gentle) rise of 50 meters, then you will see a destroyed foundation with a wall on the left. Another climb and we reach the first observation deck before the steep climb. Then all the way up a steep climb with a height gain of about 200 m. And now, at the end of the path, there is an exit to the observation deck - with a view of the town of Ella (to the left) and the small Adam's Peak (straight ahead). The height of this place is about 1320 m.

I spent more than one week planning our trip, taking into account all the details, and seeing as much as possible during the nine days that we spent on the island of tea. And maybe my work will be useful to someone else, I will be glad if people see this island the way I saw it!

I want to say right away that in my opinion, Sri Lanka is not for a beach holiday, this island is fabulously beautiful. There are unusual cities, amazing mountains, huge waterfalls, incredibly beautiful tea plantations, interesting temples, theaters, mysterious nature reserves, and all this is located in the depths of the island, quite far from the coastline. Of course, the beaches are incredibly beautiful, but they have big waves almost all year round, so lovers of leisurely swimming are unhappy with their holiday in Sri Lanka, but there are no minuses without pluses, but there are blue whales, and you can really see them! The nature of the island impressed me more than the nature of Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, India, and about the same as the nature of the island of Bali.

How my route in Sri Lanka was created:

1.First, I drew a map of the island by hand (see photo)

2. I read about all the interesting places in Sri Lanka, and those that I considered necessary to visit, I marked on my map. It was important for me to create a circular route, from Colombo airport around the island, the last two or three days on the beach, and home.

3. After all the points appeared on the map, I drew a rough circle and started reading about how to get from each point to the next.

So, now in order, Day 1.

We arrived at Colombo airport at about 5 am, found a storage room and left there the souvenirs we bought in India. By asking the locals, we found a bus stop, waited for the bus to Kandy and went. I don’t remember the prices for travel on public transport, but it’s definitely not expensive. By the way, the dollars were changed at the airport; as it turned out, there was the most favorable rate.

Arriving in Kandy, we got into a tuk-tuk and said that we needed a hotel or a house for two nights, the driver took us to a couple of places, and we chose from what was offered, without bothering too much, because... We were only supposed to sleep there. We settled down, took a shower and went for a walk!

Kandy is a cute town among the mountains, in the center of which there is a very beautiful lake with swans and a circular embankment, while walking along it, we found a theater - we went, many shops - we dressed up, McDonald's - we had a snack and a restaurant - we had dinner and went home to bed.

DAY 2

Early in the morning we went to the bus station, asked about a bus to Sigiriya and went, it took about an hour. Sigiriya is a huge rock with a whole city on top, a city on a rock - can you imagine? Of course, we climbed it, I won’t tell you all my emotions, I’ll just say, it’s worth a visit, especially since it’s the calling card of SHL. It is better to go as early as possible so that you can return before dark. After walking around to our heart's content, we drove in the opposite direction to the Dambulla stop, where we looked at the temple in the mountain (inside the mountain/in a cave), the views are amazing!

Day 3

Early in the morning, with our things, we start at the railway station, take tickets for the train to Nuwara Eliya, the best class (very clean, uncrowded and comfortable, mostly tourists, and not a single Russian except us). About three hours by train - this is one of the best memories of SL. It feels like the road is laid along the tops of the mountains, more like flying. We're sitting in the doorway , legs dangling, the views are incredible. Spirit It’s exciting because sometimes there are cliffs and waterfalls below you and it seems like you’re flying on a bungee, and not on a train. Three hours just flew by, I wanted to go again and again - this is the best train of my life, it’s definitely worth taking a ride on this route!

Nuwara Eliya is a town lost in the mountains, very cozy and beautiful, similar to an Austrian village. It’s cool, and even cold at night, because it’s high up, but the air is just delicious, mountainous. There are golf courses and a very picturesque park. We walked around, saw enough, ate at all the places we liked, and also agreed with the taxi driver - tuk-tuk driver about an excursion for tomorrow.

Day 4

Again, early in the morning, a nice boy picked us up at the appointed place, took us to breakfast, and then to a tea factory (we visited a tour - interesting, educational, especially for tea lovers like us), bought tea, and went to the waterfalls, they are in this area chic. They splashed around, got sunbathed, saw enough, crawled with all their hearts. The driver helped us slightly adjust our further route, and we decided not to hesitate and move on today!

We go to the stop with our things, take a bus to Hatton station, there we change to a bus to Maskelia station, and another bus to Dalhousie (each took about 40 minutes) - this is a village at the foot of a mountain called Adam's Peak - the highest point of the SL. Thousands of steps lead to this peak. Tourists and pilgrims from all over the world climb all night to see the sunrise from the top of the island. We arrived in Dalhousie at about two in the morning, went to bed for an hour and a half in the first hotel we came across, and at 3:30 we began our way up...

Day 5

We climb to the top very cheerfully, we go in hats and sweatshirts, but it’s terribly cold, we worry that we’ll be late for dawn, but in vain. We made it! And again, complete delight!!! Sitting above the clouds, among like-minded people from all over the world, and seeing how the sun comes out centimeter by centimeter, illuminating the peaks of the mountains is an incomparable pleasure. It’s hard to describe, but now, as I write, the memories of that morning give me goosebumps, it’s amazing! It gets warmer with sunrise! And if you walk to the other side of the mountain, you will see the shadow of the mountain, this shadow has a regular triangular shape. We walked, looked, rested and went back. Of course, it was already light and the views were amazing, but my legs didn’t want to obey, the descent turned out to be more difficult than the ascent. Tired and happy, we talked all the way about the beauty of the universe and moved on. We will sleep on buses.

Bus to Hatton, change to a bus to Cadwell station, change to a bus to Matara, and another to Mirisa. It was already dark, the journey took 6 hours, we were very tired, but there were three days of beach holiday ahead. We found a hotel on the spot, settled down and went to the ocean - we missed it, freshly caught fish on the shore for dinner, and walking barefoot to the sound of the waves - a thrill...

Day 6

No early rise, we swim, relax, after lunch we went to the port of Galle (again by regular buses, half an hour one way). The port looks like Portugal - although I haven't been there, narrow cobbled streets, colonial buildings, vintage shops, hills and ocean views. We rented bicycles and had a great time. Wedding photo shoots take place in this port, we admired the colorful couples, brides in saris and grooms in something similar, we even took pictures with them, the day was a success, a wonderful day!

Day 7

We are going to the neighboring town of Dondra (bus to Matara, then from there to Dondra, all about 40-50 minutes). There is a lighthouse there, but there are practically no tourists, and therefore all the locals looked at us with undisguised interest, and we were not against meeting each other and communicating. We joined the guys playing volleyball, my husband played, and I took pictures. They were delighted with such a tall, white-skinned blond. Afterwards we finally reached the lighthouse, got up, and from there we looked at the sunset and the bay in which it is located, very beautiful!

Day 8

Early, early, at 5 o'clock we go to the port and take a tour on a yacht. They promise to see blue whales. We swim out to sea, have breakfast, admire the sunrise, and then they come! First a school of dolphins, then killer whales, and then whales. We only had time to look first on the right side, then on the left side. I can’t say that the spectacle is impressive, but when you see the huge back of a whale and understand what a colossus it is under the water, it will take your breath away. And so, just a pleasant boat trip!

Day 9

We take our things, go by bus to Matara, and then take the train to Colombo. The train is a great solution to complete the route! You sit, look out the window at the fleeing views of palm trees and the ocean, sip some tea, and you’re already starting to get bored. The images of everything you saw are spinning in your head, and you can’t believe that all this happened in just 8 days, and that all this was in one country... There will be enough impressions for a lifetime!

In addition to the beauties we saw, we met interesting people, sometimes funny and strange, and periodically found ourselves in ridiculous situations.

At the time of writing this article, two years have passed since that trip, and after that we have traveled to new countries more than once, but the emotions and impressions of SL are still fresh and distinct. While I was writing, I realized that I remember everything very well, and the article helped me relive everything again.

Have a nice trip everyone!