[ninjatalli]

The Plot:
We had been planning a long overseas trip since the end of 2019 and the pandemic made sure we keep delaying that plan year after year. So as 2021 came to an end, we decided to stop delaying it further and look at the options we had on our hand. Thailand was opening up with limited options on the table with select districts allowing entry on specific programs that didn't seem that enticing. A few other options across SE Asia were quickly considered and dropped immediately. Then a special announcement by the Sri Lanka government of the country opening up its border in October very quickly the decision for us. No quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers. Easy entry & immigration process with the visa literally being a documentation process at most. And a tourist destination that thankfully still was operating at ~50% capacity and wouldn't be that much crowded given the year end week.



The Plan:
A 2 week holiday requests had been applied and approved ages ago. Visa process was a one day affair with the approval coming almost on an immediate basis. Flights were dirt cheap, especially if the return flights were booked from Chennai (we booked Bangalore - Colombo - Chennai - Bangalore). Return was on 2nd January as we wanted to allow us the option to keep 31st Dec as free as possible (from location constraints).

We were clear on doing a backpacking trip; the idea had been fixed in our minds long back. Generally, Indians land up in Sri Lanka on a pre-planned & fixed itinerary, with a rental car booked/planned in advance. We kind of wanted to keep it fluid, allowing us to do any changes depending on what we liked on the ground. And something we stuck to, till the last day of stay in Sri Lanka.

There were certain agenda items
- Stay was to be in homestays keeping it as local as possible, resorts were a no-no.
- Food was strictly to be local cuisine. We wanted to stay away from the tourist-oriented options as much as possible.
- Travel was to be done using public transport wherever possible. Initially we did explore getting a rental Enfield but dropped it to getting a scooter/bike for rental at each of the locations we stayed in.
- Activities were to be given a big preference. Hiking up over 1000mts in the night? YES. Trekking through leach-infested routes to hidden waterfalls? YES. Scuba-diving and kayaking in the ocean & lagoons? YES.



The Itinerary:
As mentioned earlier, we wanted to keep it fluid so we kept it that way. Our itinerary was Colombo - Kandy - Sigriya(?) - Dalhousie - Haputale(?) - Nuwara Eliya(?) - Ella - Mirissa - Galle/Unawatana - Colombo. The locations with question marks were options that we had to finalize midway.

Colombo was a strict entry and exit point for the flights and trains/buses. We hardly spent more than a few hours in the city. We booked 2nd class train tickets online through an agent for the first leg of the journey, Colombo to Kandy and did the next few legs of the travel bookings once we reached Colombo Fort station, and then took it ahead on a day by day basis.



The Outcome:
Sri Lanka is a drop-dead gorgeous country. We were blown away with the beauty of the countryside both in the mountains as well as the extremely scenic beaches. Don't know why it hadn't popped up as a destination in my circles at all so far. Amazing & friendly people and wonderful locales all over the country.

Over the 2 weeks, we have hiked mountains, trekked over forest trails to hidden waterfalls, scuba-dived, snorkeled & kayaked in the ocean, traveled in trains and buses backpacking through beautiful tea gardens and what not! We had delicious local food made by our wonderful homestay hosts as well as hidden restaurants located and run by families in their homes.

Our itinerary finally turned out to be this
Day 1: Colombo - Kandy
Day 2: Roam around Kandy and nearby areas (on a rented scooter)
Day 3: Roam around the mountains surrounding Kandy (waterfalls, treks, etc.)
Day 4: Train to Hatton followed by a bus to Dalhousie for our overnight trek
Day 5: Trek to Adam's peak and travel back to Hatton for train to Haputale
Day 6: Stay & rest at Haputale + local sight seeing on a tuk tuk
Day 7: Waterfall treks around Haputale and train to Ella
Day 8: Stay & rest at Ella + local treks around Ella
Day 9: Stay & rest at Ella + local sight seeing on a rented bike
Day 10: Taxi to Unawatana + chill at the beach
Day 11: Travel around nearby beaches on a rented scooter
Day 12: Scuba diving + local beach(es) travel
Day 13: Kayaking & snorkeling + Galle city travel
Day 14: Head back to Colombo airport for late-night flight to Chennai

Was the route that we did the best? Hardly matters - turns out any place/direction you head to in Sri Lanka would be a good option. We left North & East Sri Lanka for a future trip that we definitely want to do on a rented motorbike. The country has fabulous roads and excellent traffic/road sense followed diligently by the local folks. It's a dream destination for a road trip if one has the means to be behind the wheel.

Hope you enjoy this photologue through which I'll try to illustrate the different facets of our Sri Lanka backpacking trip.

[ninjatalli]

Our original travel plan was to get an Enfield (Royal Enfield has a showroom that rents out bikes) and go around the country on a bike. Most cities/locations are 100-200kms distanced so the plan made sense. But our run-time plan did not give us sufficient time to go that route so we decided to look at local rental options at each of the cities that we were traveling to.

By the book, one would need a local (temporary) license that is valid for 30 days from DMV Colombo. It's an easy process (google it for videos that explain the process) and at most a half day effort to get it. However I opted for another option - getting a permit from Automobiles Association, Sri Lanka that allows one to ride a 2/4 wheeler across Sri Lanka. They have relaxed the process to allow one to get it with a valid (home country) license and a 5000 LKR fee. And that is what I got for myself, once I landed in Kandy. I was stopped by traffic police once during the entire trip and they let me go once I showed them the permit.


Our bus from the bus stand near Colombo airport to Colombo city (Fort station). While taxi(s) is the default option to the city, this was a delightful alternative as we almost had the bus empty for most of the ~2 hour travel


Colombo fort station reminded me of Indian railway stations a few decades ago - a simple & barebone setup that still operated like a government entity, running at it's own pace


The counter where one can either pick up their online booked tickets (via agents) or book reserved tickets in advance. We picked up our pre-booked Colombo-Kandy tickets as well as booked our Kandy-Hatton & Hatton-Haputale journey tickets right then


The inside of the station literally took me back to my childhood memories of Indian railway stations. A canteen, a few stores and limited # of trains on a simple station setup


Enroute to Kandy while passing through the plains. If we thought Colombo station was barebone, we were in for a surprise as most of the enroute stops were literally tiny (but pretty) single platforms


We soon started climbing up and the temps started dropping as we neared Kandy. Sunset kind of started early over here - this was ~5pm or sorts


The pretty hill-station feel kind that Kandy station gave us. A consistent observation that we saw across the country - the government institutions written in English, Sinhalese & Tamil


I kid-you-not: this is the train information display at all major Sri Lankan railway stations (the smaller stations didn't even have this). No idea if it was diligently updated as per the actual train schedules


Most roads in the hills around Kandy would eventually cut across the railway tracks as we discovered while riding around aimlessly


The highway back to Colombo (we briefly went along for a while) passed through interesting structures


On the last day at Kandy, we decided to head deep into the mountains leaving behind the city - the mountains never seemed to end


Following the footsteps of the locals, we never really took off our masks or wore it under the chin. This was something we saw folks diligently following even in the hills


One of the many scenic enroute stops as we headed towards Hatton. The train you see is a Chinese made intercity express (similar to the one we were traveling in)


Our travel option from Hatton station to Dalhousie, which would be our base for our overnight trek to Adam's peak. If not for the bus one could opt for a tuk tuk or a taxi


It was on these short ~2 hour trips that we were easily able to connect with fellow backpackers from different countries. A much much better alternative than traveling in a rented taxi if you ask me


Enroute to Dalhousie through one of the best travel routes that had to be done by a bus. We did the return on a cab and that was not as much fun as doing it in a state transport bus


Sri Lanka is dotted with reservoirs like these that still haven't yet been commercialized (no boating etc.) thankfully


Sitting on the doorstep while traveling from Hatton to Haputale. With average speeds of ~40kmph at most, this was a slow but extremely pleasurable way to travel across the mountains


Tea plantations surrounded us in all directions with small waterfalls and wild forest ranges inbetween them


Our mid-route decided destination turned out to be a tiny sleepy hill station that was perpetually covered in mist most of the day. We weren't complaining


Our homestay was quite close to the railway tracks and allowed this beautiful view of the few trains that passed through the town


One of the short 'route' to travel across Ella from our homestay was to use the railway track. Any sightings of passing trains was a bonus of course


Of course it offered the opportunity to goof around as one of our friends demonstrated here


Enroute during one of our daily local travels on a rented scooter. Roads in excellent condition, limited traffic and excellent weather - what more one could ask


My most favorite 'seat' on trains - one that I had to literally fight for with fellow travelers on the train.


A normal day in Haputale. The mist would appear and disappear within 10-15 mins duration


Seems like Sri Lankans had a much different kind of animal/bird crossings to consider. We didn't see any elephant crossing signs or any other animal sign


The 'international' bus stand near Galle fort (adjacent to the main bus stand) where one could avail AC buses to Colombo and Negombo airport


We were glad to see a proper Volvo-sorts AC bus that would take us directly to the airport. Economical, fast and no-nonsense option


It was nice to experience (even if for a short while) the 'city' traffic of a different country while riding on a scooter. This was the small but active city of Matara. We found this was the best way to explore Sri Lanka (and hence our main option for the next trip)

[ninjatalli]

Honestly we fell in love with the food of Sri Lanka even though they have a much limited option as compared to India. Key reason being the availability & choice of vegetables and grains that Sri Lanka, unfortunately, doesn't seem to have as much as we Indians do. The most frequented item on the menu that we went for was "Rice and Curry". This basically meant a moderate amount of rice, with small amount of dal, 2 to 6 curries (mostly we would get atleast 3) and some fried papad. If one opted for a non-veg option, the above would be supplemented with the meat/seafood of your choice.

Note: Sri Lankans are notoriously slow in their food preparation and delivery. The average time taken before ordering and getting our food would be around an hour, sometimes even upto 2 hours.


Fruits are available in abundance across the country. We jumped at the option of delicious mangoes from day one


This is the default rice & curry option with prawns. The place was a non-descript home based setup that one would not even identify as a restaurant. But the best food options came from such places


The 'rice & curry' option from one of our favorite places in Ella that was suggested by our homestay owner (image sourced from google as we were too hungry to even wait and take a pic!)


Another 'rice & curry' with chicken at one of the restaurants we frequented in Haputale.


After over a week's of local cuisine, the Bangalorean in me finally work up and we hit one of the 'hip cafes' near Weligama beach. But nopes, this was no comparison to the local food, and we went back to our default options the same day.


Another constant for our daily food affair - the loads of black tea that we gulped down on a daily basis. English tea was unambiguously common across the country and we made the best of it throughout the trip (although I wouldn't have complained if I got some filter coffee once in a while)


And the fruits in display in full colors. While most fruits might seem similar to our local scene, the quality and taste of some of them were mind blowing and much better

[ninjatalli]

What do you get when you put two active folks in a lockdown situation for over a year? Subsequently, all holiday trips get planned around activities. And that was the core mantra of this trip. Both of us had our own 'options' pre-picked and we stuck to it - Adam's peak, Ella rock, waterfall treks near Haputale and Ella, and the sorts.


Top of the list was the monstrous Adam's peak climb of ~5500 steps spread over a 1000 meter climb. This had to be one of the most strenuous treks that I have ever taken up, and one that had to be completed in ~4 hours. Well, the start seemed innocently simple, or so we thought


There were clear signs of what we should have been doing at 2 am in the night. Unfortunately, we didn't understand the signs at all


After a short moderate climb for the first hour, the angle of climb suddenly went up to over 30deg


The views thankfully paid for the climbing efforts. Somehow we were lucky enough to keep up the pace in line with the sunrise that was happening behind us, reaching the top just when the sun started peaking out


The temple at the top already had a decent amount of crowd so we decided to halt right there and enjoy the sunrise


Ironically the climb back down seemed more strenuous on the knees especially as we went down the steep decline sections


I don't think I would have been able to do this climb during the day, especially as I looked at the overall height we came up


A last look at the peak before we headed back to our homestay


The monastery that seemed like a dot from the top (2 images above)


One of the numerous but harmless bugs that we saw on our waterfall treks around Haputale. I wish I could have said the same for the leeches that bit us


A view of the surroundings as we headed deep into the forest


The trail went through pine trees with a layer of pine cones at our feet


And finally the end destination that we were heading to. Our tuk-tuk driver offered to be a guide and we were happy to take his services


One of our numerous 'walks' around Haputale. It was fun to just cut through tea gardens while tea garden workers gave us weird looks


Enroute to the top of Ella rock with fellow travellers on a hot afternoon but with cool winds


The views at the top were not that great but we had fun doing the short ~2 hour trek up the mountain.


Contrary to the top, we got excellent views of the valley enroute to the top. But we weren't complaining. After Adam's peak, we were content to do any climb without steps. Plus we had some good company too!

[ninjatalli]

The hilly region of SL is filled with tens of pristine waterfalls spread all over the country - about only top 20-30 odd falls I guess would be frequented by tourists while the rest hardly seen any major footfalls. While we 'visited' a few after doing some amount of hiking, we passed numerous ones while traveling across different modes of transport. Basically, you'd have to try really hard not stepping into a fall if you ever did a trip to Sri Lanka. Below are a few snapshots of the few that we made time to visit.


The first proper falls that we traveled to was Huluganga falls, one that was located about an hour's travel from Kandy city. The falls itself was located under the state/rural road that we took and was just a short walk down to the view point


We actually missed this falls as we passed the small village - there were so many such falls that we only realized when GMaps told us we were heading away from the falls and had to turn back


Our destination for the day's riding was Saree Ella falls - in a serene location surrounded by hills this was a wonderful 2 hour ride from Kandy town through picturesque hilly ranges that reminded me a lot of Western ghats of Karnataka, especially our recent trip during the monsoon season


Another waterfall just next to the highway - something we got used to seeing time and time again. This was on the way to Dalhousie from Hatton


An unnamed waterfall that we passed by as we were heading to Bambarakanda Falls - the tallest waterfall in SL.


And the tallest falls of SL. Although the water flow was much reduced, making us wonder if it really was the tallest and how exactly do they measure against the falls of Western ghats (KA, MH). Deja vu - this reminded me of Hebbe falls near in Chikmagalur. It was here the attack of the leeches started.


And then started the short trek to Lanka Ella falls. The route was over-hyped by our homestay owner so we went for a guide for this trek, something that we realized wasn't really needed as the route was clearly visible all the time


But the destination was definitely worth the trek. I would have loved to jump into the moderately sized pool at the falls but the multiple leeches bites till then had made sure we wouldn't be jumping into the water that enthusiastically


One of the falls that we passed by as we headed to Ella rock (climb). The falls was empty as we went up the climb and we had decided to get into the water on the way back. A decision that backfired on us as many others had planned similarly and were already in the pool when we came back


And the much famed Ravana falls of Ella. This was one I would have enjoyed getting into the water but there were checks here (only place I saw across the entire trip) to prevent anyone to get into the water completely. Guess there's been enough incidents in the past


we saw so many falls like these on the the train journies that after a while we stopped taking pics everytime we passed a waterfall. The countryside is filled with them

[ninjatalli]

Sri Lanka has a huge huge coastline that is littered with beautiful beaches starting from the west (Colombo side) to South (Galle onwards) to deep into the East (Trincomalee side). While some of them are extremely popular (e.g. Hikkaduwa, Unawatuna, Mirissa, etc.), there are numerous coves that are much much more pretty and still untouched as compared to the more popular ones. We had planned 5 days to spend on the beaches and were sure this wasn't going to be enough even if we just spent it on the southern front.

With our base being at Unawatuna beach, we got ourselves a scooter and roamed around in both directions (west & east) over the next 5 days. And tried to make the best of things possible given our lazy attitude as the final leg of our trip came up before we headed back to Bangalore.


A lot of the time was also spent on the Kindle lounging at our stay and drinking loads of tea


Once in a while I'd just go take a dip in the blue waters of the beach. Perks of having a stay right beach front with easy access to shacks and other restaurants all around us


This was at the popular Talpe beach with natural rock formations for one to 'chill' in. Instagram is filled with images from this beach. Unfortunately I picked a morning with heavy tides and the waves made sure I'd keep that in mind


What I had imagined was me chilling in a rock 'pocket' with small waves all around me. What I got was heavy waves crashing at me (inspite of the rock boundaries) every few seconds


Another look at the beautiful Unawatuna beach right outside our stay


The famed Sri Lankan stilt fishers (unfortunately without any fishers) on the way to Weligama bay. This stretch of road was a beautiful one with the sea coast accompanying the road for kilometers


We eventually saw someone making use of the stilts to do fishing however this definitely wasn't the fishing scene we had imagined in our minds


Somewhere enroute to Weligama bay - one of the numerous points I wished I just stopped and jumped into the waters


Weligama bay surprisingly had a large number of small ships and even a few yatch; something that I hadn't observed even in Galle


Taprobane Island, a small outlet in Weligama bay. Although this was easily approachable from the beach, the gates were locked and online info suggested this was a privately owned place/island


Our temporary one-day stay at Marissa beach right on the beach front. While the hotel service was hardly anything to talk about, the facility to jump into the beach as well as the shacks being next door made it a fantastic location for a short halt


Marissa beach was famous for surfing - something that we didn't explore trying this trip (we already had attempted scuba diving, kayaking and snorkeling by then). But it was fun to see a mix of locals and foreigners try to surf as the sun set behind them


Marissa beach at 3 in the night. Similar to Goan beaches, some of the SL beach shacks were open till early morning hours. With limited tourists and less policing, it made a fun night to just hang out till the wee hours


As the morning came up, so did the surfers. Kids and adults hit the waves again and again, sometimes the kids doing much better than the adults!


On the ride back to Unawatuna beach, I decided to hit one of the pretty beach coves that we had passed by the previous day. It was definitely worth it getting into the blue waters under the afternoon sun. No matter how many times and at different beaches I got into the water, I just never got bored of it

[ninjatalli]

And finally the other aspect of visiting an international country, the touristy things that we did. Well, this wasn't the main focus of our trip so we probably missed out a lot of the important 'tourist points' that a usual traveler would have gone to (This is something a lot of our friends have already pointed out who couldn't believe we didn't do many of the 'important' tourist locations that they had been to). Well, we aren't built that way - I thought I was a rare one (e.g. haven't been to Niagara falls or Empire state building in spite of living in NY for over a year), but my wife turned out to be equally bad!

Here's a 'tourist' view of how we experienced Sri Lanka


A wonderful train museum a little head of Peradeniya junction (outside of Kandy) that had some amazing beauties next to an active station. Unfortunately, the museum cafe that was located in the black trolley car was closed due to Covid. We were hoping to have a cuppa over there but had to make alternate plans


A view of the museum from the adjacent station


The meh feeling we got at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic at Kandy. We found this small museum of Raja, the first royal tusker of the king much more interesting than the main temple. Unfortunately on top of that, we had to pay a hefty entry fee for something that we got bored in the first 10 mins


And a customary picture of the extremely popular Temple of the Sacred tooth relic


Fellow locals at our homestay at Kandy. These fellas were more interested in what we were upto as much as were interested in their doings


From the city viewpoint that gives a 240deg view of Kandy city and especially the lake. While Kandy is a nice town, what we liked about the city is the option of making it a base to travel around in a 200 km radius around the city


Bahirawakanda Vihara Buddha statue located at the top of a hill within the city. We enjoyed this much better than the main temple - and going later in the night offered minimal crowds and we practically had the top viewpoint completely to ourselves


The historic mosque right in the middle of the business area of Kandy. We had originally made plans to visit the famous Kandyan muslim hotel close to this place for it's amazing food but completely forgot about it


The picturesque Kandy lake. A walk around the lake would take around ~25 mins, something that we did more than once over the 2.5 days we spent at Kandy. The water was quite clean and we saw turtles, water monitors (which we mistook as komodo dragons), numerous birds and the ubiquitous monkeys


Our homestay at Haputale on paper had a nice view of the valley. What wasn't in the paper was the constant movement of the mist covering up the views. Well, we weren't complaining. Back at home, I would have considered this as smog so this was definitely better


In contrast, the mist at night made for a completely different experience at night. Walks like these made for a nice outing even if we were just walking through small lanes and bylanes


The relaxing Kelliebedde tea lounge, right next to the Kelliebedde tea factory in Haputale offering us tea and snacks; an option that we easily choose to do for over 1.5 hours as we had loads of time to kill (and loads of tea to drink!)


Our homestay at Ella offered us the luxury of watching glorious valley sunrises right from our room entrance. After the first night, this lost it's sheen of course (lol)


The Mahamevnawa Buddhist monastery near Ella that is still under construction. While the location is amazing given the almost 360deg view it offers, I found the w-i-p state a bit of a let down


The views were to die for. But unlike other Buddhist monasteries that I have been to in India, there was no observance of maintaining silence and peace. Locals and tourists were doing their usual stuff as if they were walking through a fish market and not a monastary


Our homestay at Ella had this nice beanbag lounging section that we never ended up using as most of the time we'd be roaming around on the scooter or lounging in one of the really nice cafes that were located in Ella. A pity, as this was one of the reasons we had selected this homestay (lol)


A visit to the famed nine arches bridge near Ella was a completely dud. So much crowd that I felt I was back in Lalbagh (Bangalore). We didn't even wait for the next train to pass - which apparently is what the crowd had turned up for


One of the unexpected benefits of our amazing stay at Unawatuna beach turned out the time we spent reading. I nearly finished 3 books in less than a week; something that I hadn't done for a very very long time (for those interested, I finished the first 3 books of The Wheel of Time over this trip. Currently I'm on book five!)


Something we observed very late in the trip was the abundance of clock towers across Sri Lanka. Some were in pristine condition, others in pretty sad state. This one was at Matara, near the fort.


One of the many such interesting but unknown structures littered around the cities of SL. No idea what religion this was for


A walk through the famed streets of Galle fort was nice but it really didn't pull the strings for us. We decided to head back home after walking for a short while around


Surprisingly the first signs of cricket we saw over the trip was on the 11th day when we were passing through Matara town. This match between two local colleges had a decent crowd watching and we decided to add to that


The famed Galle lighthouse. I was hoping they'd allow us to go up, which wasn't the case, unfortunately


However what caught our eyes was the use of shells and clams in the walls. It made for quite an interesting texture to the otherwise usual wall setup


One of the few souvenirs we got back from the trip - hand painted masks (we got the bottom left one, apparently the Tamil king of Jaffna). Now he adorns our dining hall grinning at everyone that passes by

[ninjatalli]

Epilogue
Honestly, the biggest surprise for me till date is how such an amazing tourist destination that is affordable, very amiable to our cultural preferences and still not yet a full-blown commercial setup (e.g. like Thailand) is not as popular as some of the other south east asia destinations.

But I'm glad we figured that out during a time period when tourists were in limited number and that worked fine for us. We were able to live up to our expectations of going through the backpackers route rather than going from resort to resort setup that I see a lot of my peers doing on a regular basis. And leave enough on the table to have sufficient incentive to plan another trip to Sri Lanka in the near future. And that one is for sure, when we'll be hitting the north and east parts of Sri Lanka on a bike during the summer months of the year.



And I'll end this with a short collage that represents some of the amazing folks we connected with - both locals and tourists and had a whale of time with them. I'll finally end this with a few short videos (a few of so many that we took) that symbolizes this entire trip in the best possible manner

On the way to Ella

On the way to Kandy

------------------------------------ Fin. ------------------------------------

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[A2B]

Great Post, and if you are planning a trip in Summer, know that it will be as hot and humid as Chennai. Now the snap you uploaded with this comment.
Backpacking Sri Lanka - A Covid Escapade!-pxl_20211231_060708424.jpg
"One of the many such interesting but unknown structures littered around the cities of SL. No idea what religion this was for"
Looks like its an Old Dutch trading centre, its on the board in the photograph.

[ampere]

Sri Lanka is a country that offers a slice of paradise to each and every one while also honouring every definition of paradise!

It can be drives, trekking, hills, valleys, beaches, spiritual, wild-life etc etc! You name it you get it!

Amazing log bringing out the backpacking part!

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

[I'll try to illustrate the different facets of our Sri Lanka backpacking trip.

Try? I think you've handed Sri Lanka Tourism enough content to create their next brochure. Brilliantly compiled. Looking at some of your earlier sojourns, it is a given that ninjatalli = nature thali(clap clap)

There were certain agenda items
- Stay was to be in homestays keeping it as local as possible
- Food was strictly to be local cuisine
- Travel using public transport wherever possible, getting a scooter/bike for rental at each of the locations we stayed in
- Hiking up over 1000mts in the night? YES. Trekking through leach-infested routes to hidden waterfalls? YES. Scuba-diving and kayaking in the ocean & lagoons? YES

Exploring a new land the simplest possible way, without driving, is the best way one doesn't miss out on the goodness and beauty on offer.

PS: I just got off a bus thread and while looking at the second collage you'd attached, noticed that the bus you took was an Ashok Leyland of around 2004 vintage.

[CliffHanger]

Excellent travelogue - the photos and narration, thanks for sharing.

What is the procedure to get the visa and currency exchanged, and what is the total cost of the trip?

[varadha_r]

Loved this. Srilanka is one of my fav destinations - being from TN. I simply love the monsoons in SL - it rains and rains and the greenery thereafter takes you to a sublime state. Miraculously its' much cleaner than India and the public much better behaved and far more hospitable. Your idea of backpacking on local buses and trains is a great one especially in a friendly, safe country like SL. cant' wait to try it out.

[rkw]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

The Plot:
The country has fabulous roads and excellent traffic/road sense followed diligently by the local folks. It's a dream destination for a road trip if one has the means to be behind the wheel.

Hope you enjoy this photologue through which I'll try to illustrate the different facets of our Sri Lanka backpacking trip.

Very nice travelogue. Had been to Colombo & Kandy in 2014. Excellent foreign destination to visit yet economical, familiar & nearby. Fully agree with your observation of the meticulous driving discipline of the people there.

Originally Posted by CliffHanger

What is the procedure to get the visa and currency exchanged, and what is the total cost of the trip?

As mentioned by OP, getting visa is fairly simple. E-visa can be obtained by Indians for tourist purpose online by visiting their immigration website. No need to visit the embassy / consulate & get the passport stamped prior. You can carry a print out of the approved E-visa. Stamping on passport will happen on reaching the point of entry which is only Colombo at present I believe. There seems to be a visa on arrival option but have not tried since getting E-visa is very simple.
Convert INR to USD in India & then get SL currency at Colombo airport. Though not a legal tender, INR is also accepted in many shops in Colombo. I can say this from my experience.
If you do a planned trip, expenses related to air tickets, hotel etc. will be similar to that in India. A Chennai-Colombo ticket will be similar to say Chennai-Delhi or Mumbai. Indian carriers have direct flights to Colombo. Sri Lankan, the national airline of SL, also has direct flights but might be more expensive than Indian carriers.