[vinayrathore]

Great travelogue grkonweb!! Just when I was thinking a Srilanka trip.

Thanks for the beautiful pics. It indeed makes for one holiday worth doing.

Originally Posted by naveenroy

My fav pic of it all - where people are standing at disciplined distances and lanes at the railway crossing - which doesn't even have a gate!!

Naveen, if you click and open the pic, you can see the gates. Only thing more shameful for our ultra disciplined road users is that they have gates covering only the lane which its supposed to. The last I saw such a railway crossings was in Switzerland.

[pedrolourenco]

I also did a Sri Lanka trip a couple of years ago. Beautiful place. What amazed me was the level of cleanliness and well behaved people. It's a shame that Sri Lanka can do it and we can't.
One place you missed out was Raja Bhojun in Colombo. I loved the food and so did all the people I recommended it to.

[StallionAmit]

Originally Posted by grkonweb

After seeing the tablet strip I felt like throwing up

With travel agents, you'll have set itineraries mostly crammed with no liberty to visit the places you want and the pace you want. And moreover, the travel agents rates were premium for so-so hotels they offered. So we decided to look up the itineraries to get an idea and draw up our own!

Amazing travelogue and this is exactly what dreams are made of .

One question, since you are also a travel and auto enthusiast, did you by any chance inquired about the 'carnet process ' where we can take our own Indian Vehicle in Srilanka?

[grkonweb]

Originally Posted by StallionAmit

Amazing travelogue and this is exactly what dreams are made of .

One question, since you are also a travel and auto enthusiast, did you by any chance inquired about the 'carnet process ' where we can take our own Indian Vehicle in Srilanka?

Thanks! It didn't cross my mind to take my car there. It's not yet simplified - shipping, customs, etc will make it expensive and the time delay. We are still a long time away from driving our cars to the island. I recently heard that our Govt is *considering* building a sea bridge to Sri Lanka costing Rs.24000 crores. http://www.thehindu.com/news/nationa...cle7996560.ece

And the Lankans deny the proposal: http://www.thehindu.com/news/nationa...cle8012458.ece

As & when that happens, it is possible. Until then, the max we can do is hire self-drive car option from the taxi operators in Colombo and explore at our own pace.

[grkonweb]

Originally Posted by pedrolourenco

I also did a Sri Lanka trip a couple of years ago. Beautiful place. What amazed me was the level of cleanliness and well behaved people. It's a shame that Sri Lanka can do it and we can't.
One place you missed out was Raja Bhojun in Colombo. I loved the food and so did all the people I recommended it to.

You are right sir! The civic sense people have over there is really amazing and has to be appreciated. Also the disciplined traffic even in the capital city has to be seen to be believed. No unnecessary honking, or filling in the gaps by 2/4 wheelers at traffic signals. And they truly respect the traffic cops.

Will try out Raja Bojun next time for sure!

[AshyRocks]

A truly mesmerizing travelogue there, with some lovely photographs to top them. I have a couple of relatives down in Sri Lanka, and I have always put off a visit owing to the instability of the nation. However, this might be a very good time to put together a plan and get it done and dusted for good! Those beaches are very inviting, and I am very glad to hear that self driving options are available as well. So this looks like a very enticing proposition indeed.

On a side note, I am a wild life buff, so the elephant show is one I will be giving a miss.

A well deserved 5 stars for this post and a wish that you have many more dream destinations explored in the years to come! Cheers!

[anandpkumar]

Great travelogue! thanks for sharing.

It's amazing how clean the place looks. Your description regarding how disciplined the sri-lankan traffic is also interesting to read. Goes to show that India can learn a lot from our neighbours regarding civic sense, even through we may be much larger than them in terms of economy, GDP etc.

[siddutta]

Hi, a few queries for a Srilankan holiday :
1. which part of the city to stay in Colombo, if we were to see more of ancient buildings, architecture ?
2. what are the approximate van charges if we need to go to Bentota from Colombo and back?

[grkonweb]

Originally Posted by siddutta

Hi, a few queries for a Srilankan holiday :
1. which part of the city to stay in Colombo, if we were to see more of ancient buildings, architecture ?

2. what are the approximate van charges if we need to go to Bentota from Colombo and back?

1. Not sure about this. However, the city is small when compared to Indian metros and traffic is smooth, well-regulated. So traveling around shouldn't be a hassle. We stayed at Ocean Colombo (at Melbourne Avenue) overlooking the Indian Ocean for the views it offered.

If you're interested in old architectural buildings, head to Galle town down south and stay there for a day or two.

2. We engaged a van from Malkey tours. Check the rates here: http://www.malkey.lk/rates/with-driver-rates.html

[Neel]

Any feedback/Reviews for Mihin Airlines - Chennai to Colombo?

[tud]

Originally Posted by Neel

Any feedback/Reviews for Mihin Airlines - Chennai to Colombo?

Go for it.

If there is a Sri Lankan Airlines flight also taking off at the same time, it means the Mihin Lanka passengers will also board the same flight (for a much lesser price ).

Avoid Air India.

[rajshenoy]

Neat Review grkonweb, you nicely covered most of the tiny details of the trip.

I was planning a trip sometime this October and your review will surely be of good help.
My plan is to stay couple of nights in Kandy(hills) and spend couple of more in Bentota(and cover galle perhaps) for a 5-6 day trip.

Few queries:
1. Most of the hotels in India have checkin timings at Noon. So considering the flight landing at night, Do they allow early checkin ?or you have to pay extra ?
2. Does Srilanka receive rains during june-august or october-dec. ? I saw some of your pics capturing rain. Just trying to avoid peak rainy season if it falls in October
3. Turtle hatchery, Any specific breeding season ? Will i be able to make some plan for this during October ?
4. I seriously wanted to do this Whale watching, but after reading about the sea sickness, I think i will skip it. Some pics would have been of great help.
5. How is the availability of Indian(south) food ? I first thought Srilankan food will be pretty same, but for someone who is pure veg, i am thinking if it is wise to stay close to indian restaurants.

[tud]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Neat Review grkonweb, you nicely covered most of the tiny details of the trip.

I was planning a trip sometime this October and your review will surely be of good help.
My plan is to stay couple of nights in Kandy(hills) and spend couple of more in Bentota(and cover galle perhaps) for a 5-6 day trip.

Hi Raj, I did Kandy and Bentota this month.

Hotels have a similar check in - check out time like in India. For this specific reason, we flew with Air India instead of Spice Jet or Air Lanka.

If you go to Kandy from Colombo, take a flight that reached Colombo early morning - Kandy is 3 hrs drive from Colombo. If you stop at Elephant Orphangae en-route, add 60-90 mins to the travel. And you can check in to your hotel by noon.

We opted for half-board food with the hotels, i.e., breakfast and dinner buffet. My wife is pure veg and I'm right opposite. We both had a great meal time - awesome spread of veg and non veg. Lunch was also not an issue. Spiciness level in food can be compared to South Indian Chettinad.

Our return flight was in the evening so we checked out hotel at Bentota by 10ish, came to Colombo, shopped for a bit and took the flight out.

PS - Air India flight was delayed by an hour on the onward trip.
And by 4 hours on the return trip (which was good because we got more time to shop at Colombo).

Cheers,
Dinesh

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by tud

Hi Raj, I did Kandy and Bentota this month.

Hotels have a similar check in - check out time like in India. For this specific reason, we flew with Air India instead of Spice Jet or Air Lanka.

If you go to Kandy from Colombo, take a flight that reached Colombo early morning - Kandy is 3 hrs drive from Colombo. If you stop at Elephant Orphangae en-route, add 60-90 mins to the travel. And you can check in to your hotel by noon.

We opted for half-board food with the hotels, i.e., breakfast and dinner buffet. My wife is pure veg and I'm right opposite. We both had a great meal time - awesome spread of veg and non veg. Lunch was also not an issue. Spiciness level in food can be compared to South Indian Chettinad.

Our return flight was in the evening so we checked out hotel at Bentota by 10ish, came to Colombo, shopped for a bit and took the flight out.

PS - Air India flight was delayed by an hour on the onward trip.
And by 4 hours on the return trip (which was good because we got more time to shop at Colombo).

Cheers,
Dinesh

Thanks tud , need to see how that works out. Basically with kids and baggage, getting fresh etc

Btw can you share your itineraries? Feedback on hotels etc

[tud]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

Thanks tud , need to see how that works out. Basically with kids and baggage, getting fresh etc

Btw can you share your itineraries? Feedback on hotels etc

Its a lovely place, you and your kids will love it. Unable to share the itinerary here due to formatting issues. I'll PM you the same.