[ninjatalli]

It's interesting to see the same/similar trip from a different person's eyes and how they percieve/narrate their experiences.

I'm happy you guys had rainfall on Adam's Peak climb (for us the heat especially on the way down was unbelievable) and plus the surrounding views would have been great during the trip with the occasional rains but then your train journeys were messed up due to the same reason, and that's a bummer.

You did beautiful Nuwara Eliya while we opted for the quaint Haputale instead (we deliberated between both till the penultimate day lol). And so many smaller individual (different) decisions around the same place/area. And yet, each decision turned out to be a great experience (I can pick several reasons from your trip that I'd want to redo a visited city again lol).

Excellent log!

[vikramk]

Thanks for a well-written and easy to consume travelogue. Sri Lanka has been on my bucket list and now I'm clear that it's a must visit.

[@og_adi]

Excellent travelogue libranof1987! Checking off visiting Sri Lanka (virtually) after reading the very well documented threads by you and ninjatalli. Though I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon, I wish to drive around the whole of Sri Lanka in a self-driven rental Pajero.
I love how you brought in a brief post about the automotive scene there which makes up my 50% reason of visiting a new place . It is indeed true that only a BHPian can understand what another would love to read/see!

[JohnyBoy]

Thanks for the great write-up.
I love Sri Lanka. This gave few ideas for my next trip. Thanks.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Road discipline is incredible! Literally incredible! Except the (unsurprising) tuktuks and two-wheelers, all vehicles follow lane and speed discipline very strictly.

Just wanted to ad d a point here. Last time I was there, I witnessed an accident. In Nuara Eliya in front of the Seetha Amman temple. Bus hit a bike which was trying to overtake a car dangerously. Few people gathered immediately, somebody took care of the bike guy (moved him to the side, giving him water etc), couple of other guys came with chalk and marked the locations of the bus and the bike. The bus driver ensured the bike guy was not in any danger and all of them went on. Police would come later and check the chalk marks and take action.
No fighting, no blaming, just 5-10 min stoppage of traffic, that's it.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

It's interesting to see the same/similar trip from a different person's eyes and how they percieve/narrate their experiences

Totally. I'm tempted to travel the country by bus and train the next time, courtesy your TL!

I'm happy you guys had rainfall on Adam's Peak climb (for us the heat especially on the way down was unbelievable)

True. We started climbing Sigiriya Rock around 9.30am on a hot and humid morning; and with a 12kg toddler in the arms, it was quite the workout! And then it started pouring heavily, thankfully when we were just a few steps away from the parking lot.

Originally Posted by @og_adi

I wish to drive around the whole of Sri Lanka in a self-driven rental Pajero.

Do go, you'll love it there. Although we were incredibly enthusiastic about self-driving, two main reasons we didn't:

1) After the intense Adam's Peak hike, it would have been difficult to drive off the same morning, and with nothing to do in Nallathanniya, it wouldn't be efficient
2) We wanted to take the train to Ella; and then either one person would miss out on the train journey (to drive the car) or we'd have to take the return journey as well.

But on our next trip - definitely. Especially if we plan to include the north as well.

Do note that an IDP / Indian DL isn't enough to self-drive in SL; you have to get the Driving Permit in SL as well. Both 2 and 4W.

[powershift]

Excellent write-up!

I wish to buy a travel package for my retired parents to Sri Lanka. Does anyone suggest any tour package? Any previous experience?

Thanks

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by powershift

I wish to buy a travel package for my retired parents to Sri Lanka. Does anyone suggest any tour package? Any previous experience?

Do you want them to go in a group (like Veena World, or Thomas Cook) or by themselves. If you want a private tour package, Arun from Absolute Lanka Tours has several that you can choose from, and make changes as you're comfortable.

Arun/Aruna: https://www.absolutelankatours.com/
+94 76300 9100
+94 71713 5036 (yep, there are only 9 digits, you can chat/call on WhatsApp)

PS: I have no commercial interest/connection with this group, just multiple excellent experiences.

[black.beauty]

Elaborate and beautifully explained travelogue, I lived it as I was reading this. As also commented by og_adi, enjoyed reading the brief on the automotive scene in Sri Lanka. The first observation I make on landing in any country is on their prominent cars.

Made many notes for my visit to the country (whenever that happens). However, not sure how long the country can manage before succumbing to the debt traps laid out by China combined with diminishing USD reserves.

1 suggestion though, if you can share the INR values within the brackets next to any LKR, as I had to convert each time to compare with Indian prices: whether it's the cooking gas or the cars.

[Livnletcarsliv]

Can you please share the entire trip expenses?
1. Flight fare
2. Tour package cost
3. Visa charges
4. Food expenses
5. Entry ticket expenses
6. Local/shopping expenses
7. Telecom expenses
8. Other expenses if any

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by black.beauty

1 suggestion though, if you can share the INR values within the brackets next to any LKR, as I had to convert each time to compare with Indian prices: whether it's the cooking gas or the cars.

Mentioned in my second post, 1 INR = 2.7 LKR. For simplicity sake, we generally just divided by 3 to find INR cost.

Originally Posted by Livnletcarsliv

Can you please share the entire trip expenses?

Visa: $20/person above 12+. Below 12 is free. Has to be paid in USD only.

Telecom: just activated int'l roaming (mainly for texts), didn't use calling. All hotels had WiFi, and tour organiser gave us a local SIM for use (calling + data)

Food: assume ~200-400 INR/person/meal at most restaurants. Rice and curry is typically 250-300 LKR so ~100 INR. Add some for juices etc. Most our meals across the country (for four adults and a child) were 5000 LKR; except Ministry of Crab, which was 20k LKR.

Shopping: up to your interests. We spent about 3k INR on souvenirs and a couple of tshirts.

Flights: ~35k INR/person round trip, Mumbai - Colombo. The fare seems to hold even now.

I'm happy to share the trip cost but I feel it won't help. We went two weeks after tourism was permitted so hotels had crazy rock bottom prices, and it wasn't tourism season yet. Also, our tour organiser gave us one final no. (which includes hotels, car+driver, transportation, guide charges, entry fees at sites and so on). Very ballpark, I'd say 3-5k INR/person/day excluding flights and food is a good number.

[Raghu M]

Thank you for sharing in such detail. SL was always on my visit list but with kids most of the long trips have been put on hold. I think from 2023, things should pick up well. I really appreciate you sharing all the basic points, they are indeed helpful.

[S2K]

With the current economic crisis in the country, I assumed that it wouldn't be safe to travel to and recently advised a friend, who is considering it for a honeymoon trip, against it. But reading all the instances of civic discipline, and from your overall experience, I think my paranoia was ill placed.
Would like to understand from the forum members who have been there recently if it traveling to the country is safe (in the sense that locals don't extort with very high prices or antisocial behavior like pick-pockets, thefts of money/belongings, etc). I might as well recommend it to the friend since this might the only good foreign tour option available for his honeymoon within the budget.

[sukhbirST]

There have been few recent SL trips in TBHP which ignited the spark for SL visit, but this one goes beyond and brought me really close to action. Excellent photographs with simple writeup giving details is what one is looking for. Thanks for sharing and I know whom to ask when I plan a trip. SL is so close yet so far case.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

Tbut with kids most of the long trips have been put on hold

Kids are way more resilient and flexible than we are, and what we think they are. My toddler daughter thoroughly enjoyed the trip; I'd ensured she had a car seat so she was comfortable during travel. In fact, she peacefully napped during our afternoon road travel each day. We just ensured she got her sleep well; didn't wake her up any morning (she's up by 7.30-8 at most anyway).

During travel when she wanted to take nature's call on a couple of occasions, shopkeepers allowed us to take her to their washroom, if we couldn't find a hotel.

Almost all restaurants went above and beyond to give us food to our liking, especially hers. F&B Managers prepared dosas or chapatis for her, even though it wasn't on the menu. On the rare occasion a restaurant couldn't (because they had fixed menus), she gorged on sandwiches.

Originally Posted by S2K

if it traveling to the country is safe (in the sense that locals don't extort with very high prices or antisocial behavior like pick-pockets, thefts of money/belongings, etc).

Absolutely. I've not heard of tourists facing any issues, be it misbehaviour or theft. Of course, no society is crime-proof. But tourism/tourists are very respected there.

The only place notorious for locals fleecing tourists is the Ella rock hike. Our driver mentioned that locals deliberately mislead tourists on the trail so they're forced to hire locals as guides. ninjatalli did that hike so he may know better.

Overall, no safety concerns whatsoever.

[vennarbank]

We did the tour the other direction from yours. From Colombo we went to Bententota, Yala, Kadigrammam, Nuwra Eliya, Kandy and back to Colombo. We also went for a big national park where we walked for around 8 or 12kms. The good things are cleanliness, understanding that tourism is the money spinner and less cheating on tourist spots.