[libranof1987]

Here's an index for quick navigation:

Logistics and planning
Automotive scene in SL
Trivia about SL

The plains:
Travel to SL and Colombo
Colombo - Pinnawala - Dambulla
Sigiriya Rock

The hills:
Kandy
Adam's Peak hike and Nuwara Eliya
Ela, Tissa, Yala National Park

The beaches:
Galle
Bentota
Wrap up in Colombo

[libranof1987]

Logistics and planning:

We’d been considering a trip to SL for a while and I was closely following the SL and Indian tourism and external affairs ministry websites on when leisure travel would be permitted. The Twitter handle of Sri Lankan Airlines was the most responsive, and completely accurate.

When it seemed like travel would be allowed for (fully vaccinated) Indians, I started checking with friends on their experiences travelling to the country. BHPians ampere and nitrogary gave a lot of insight based on their visits and that helped in understanding the country's tourism. nitrogary connected me with the tour organizer (turned out to be one of the most awarded / popular) that he had planned his trip through.

I got in touch with Aruna from Absolute Lanka Tours and we started discussing how we could go about our trip. I shared my list of places to visit and things to do with him and details like our budget (for nature of hotels to be booked) and he started working out an itinerary. Over the course of two weeks, we had a bunch of back and forth to refine the plan, as he gave us suggestions and we researched on points of interest and what suited us best.

(Note: this was an entirely private tour: not with a group)

Finally, we had an itinerary locked down. We would have a vehicle and driver/guide along with us the whole time – from the time we land to the time we depart. Given our travel party size, this was the Nissan Caravan; additionally, he got a car seat fitted, so my toddler could travel comfortably, and safely. All the hotel and site bookings were done by him. So, we just had to show up.

This trip necessitated that we had all arrangements in place and a firm itinerary. Now that we’ve explored a good deal of the country, I’d love to backpack across and spend more time in each town without an agenda.

A popular itinerary for those interested is the cultural triangle: Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya.

Here’s how we travelled across the country:





Visa: Indians are eligible for visa-on-arrival; you just need to have the ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization). It takes 5-10min to apply, and during working hours, often approved within minutes/hours.

Apply here: https://eta.gov.lk/slvisa/

(I will deliberately not mention any of the Covid norms when we travelled so as to avoid confusion, given how frequently and drastically they have been changing – please refer to Govt. rules and notifications.)

Payments and Currency: Payments are accepted in LKR everywhere, and in USD in cities and most big towns. Very basic shops (bakeries, stores), especially in the smaller towns, might not take USD or credit cards. INR is accepted at some establishments as well.

Here’s what we did: carried INR in cash equivalent to the cost of our trip and handed it to our tour organizer. After deducting the full cost of the trip, he gave us the equivalent LKR for daily expenses. At some places, we used the credit card.

Roughly, 1 INR = 2.7 LKR (Lankan Rupee).

[libranof1987]

Automotive scene in Sri Lanka:

New cars are prohibitively expensive, because of high import and registration taxes. Add to that, there’s a quota on importing new cars: reserved for Doctors and certain other professionals.

That makes the used car marked very prominent. The economic crisis has made the situation worse, given rising taxes (to boost revenue) and a strained economy and livelihood for the citizens = lower purchasing power.

The auto market is pre-dominantly Japanese: the streets are flooded with Suzuki’s entry segment cars – Alto, WagoR (the global model, not Indian), Celerio and then Swift to some extent. Then there’s Toyota and Nissan – they absolutely dominate the SUV and MUV (Hiace, Caravan) segments. You’ll see very few Europeans: majority are BMW and Mercedes, a few Audi and absolutely very rarely a Skoda or Renault or Americans. We were surprised by how few Honda or Hyundai vehicles are in the country. Of Honda, Civic being the most popular.

Commercial Vehicles are pre-dominantly Indian (Mahindra, Tata Motors, Lanka Leyland) and Chinese.

Amidst the various things banned from import, there’s a two-year ban on new cars’ import effective since March 2020, which means factory-fresh automobiles will be off local roads.

A 5-year-old Toyota Land Cruiser, for instance, was reportedly on offer online for an eye-watering 62.5 million rupees, i.e. close to $312,500, which is triple the pre-ban rate, and is certainly enough to buy a house in a middle-class Colombo neighbourhood or even a new luxury apartment in the city centre!
Even a decade-old Fiat five-seater with a busted engine, which might be stripped for parts elsewhere, was listed at $8,250, which is more than twice Sri Lanka's average yearly income!

https://www.indiatimes.com/worth/new...is-560961.html

As per the National Budget 2022, the ban is to continue further in the foreseeable future. When inquired about this decision from Finance Ministry officials, we have been informed that importation of vehicles is an area that they have not even considered due to the prevailing foreign currency issue.

https://www.ft.lk/opinion/National-B...tion/14-727640

Here’s a quick reference to current prices:
https://www.pricelanka.lk/suzuki-car...-in-sri-lanka/

The OTR cost can often be 300% of the ex-showroom cost. A rough idea of costs, in LKR
Tuktuk 1.2 m
Alto (earlier 1.6m): 2.4m
Typical SUV: 3m
German: 20m

Now, here’s the most interesting bit. Just as car ownership is expensive, so is car maintenance. Repair costs are huge and because manufacturing is minimal, everything is imported. Which includes spare parts. What this has led rise to, is the concept of using refurbished parts. These refurbished parts come from Japan directly: they’re either from totalled or accidental vehicles: after repair and a fresh paint.

The entire country is littered with garages and accessories shops that stock car spare parts in often two-three storey building: everything from headlights, electronics, to bumpers and doors. The entire concept is very popular and is the primary way of fixing accidental cars.









The cars are predominantly petrol, and a litre of petrol costs 200+ LKR.

License plates in SL: there are three main parameters mentioned-

1) Province: Southern, Western, Northern and so on (there are nine)
2) Two alphabets
3) Four digits

[libranof1987]

Trivia about the country:

The road network: Sri Lanka has three main types of highways:

1) Expressways: high-speed, access-controlled (four/six lane) corridors. The ones most of us will commonly use are E1: Colombo – Galle / Hambantota, and E3: Colombo - Bandaranaike International Airport (the main airport, near Colombo)
2) A roads: equivalent to our NH
3) B roads: equivalent to our SH

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

The diamond and the zigzag lane separator indicates that a pedestrian crossing is coming up.



Misc: (verbatim, our drive/guide)

- There are no lions in SL; their prominence in Sri Lankan culture is due to mythical references
- Fish is expensive (because of transport costs); so, most households eat rice and curry, breads/sambar. The most common menu in most restaurants are: 1) rice and curry, and 2) Chinese fried rice/noodles
⁃ Rice production can’t meet demand, so it has to be imported from India/Pak now
⁃ Milk is imported from NZ; there are very few cows in the country and almost no buffaloes and no goats/sheep
⁃ Every Full Moon Day is a Govt. holiday
⁃ Bakeries are very common in the smaller towns because all adults in the family tend to work, and consequently have little time to cook all meals at home
⁃ Watermelon and banana (70 varieties) are commonly grown, papaya and pineapple are other household favourites
⁃ The fruits in SL are just incredibly delicious. Most hotels and restaurants have a generous spread of fresh fruits, esp. during breakfast. We went crazy, liberally gorging on fruit slices, and juices at all meals



- Across the country and especially in pre-dominantly Buddhist towns, you may come across this Buddhist flag hung above the road in close succession. What it denotes is that a death has taken place in a household and that they are hosting meals for monks. (This is a representative picture of how the flags are hoisted)



Coming to cricket: (verbatim, our drive/guide)

- Roshan Mahanama, Marvan Atapattu and Lasith Malinga do a lot of charity. Muttiah Muralitharan has (had?) a very popular biscuit/bread factory
- Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Arjuna Ranatunga are most loved
- The involvement of politicians in cricket led to a lot of issues with the team (forced retirements or exile)

Some notes to help you in your trip:

1) If you have an Indian passport, carry it everywhere. Most places/point-of-interest have (much) lower, subsidised entry fees for Indians and they will only offer you the rate if ALL tourists show the passport
2) Photography is allowed in most temples, as long as your back is not towards Buddha

Economy:

To put it simply, they’re in really bad shape. Politics, and then the pandemic have brought havoc to the country. The cost of basic necessities: everything from tooth paste, to food grains, to gas have more or less doubled in the past few years.

Tourism is the backbone of the country and the lack of it because of Covid has driven the country to the verge of bankruptcy. While tourism is picking up, it is mostly Indians. And we pay in INR, which doesn’t help them a lot since it is USD that drives their economy.

Here’s a sad read:
https://www.firstpost.com/world/expl...-10325191.html

Cooking gas can cost around 2000 LKR for the 12.5kg cylinder, and availability is a big problem. There are long queues to get cooking gas cylinders.



The Govt. announced a ban of fertilizers and pesticides a couple of years back which has led to a drastic drop in farm produce, necessitating import of food grains.

[libranof1987]

All right then, let's get to the travel bit!

Day 1:

We travelled from Mumbai to Colombo, on the Sri Lankan Airlines direct service. Thanks to (Covid-specific) travel tips from itwasntme, we could speed through Immigrations and Customs and were out of the airport within 45min, around 2pm.

We were greeted by Aruna and Ravi, our driver/guide at the terminal. Aruna had already ensured everything was in place so after a chat about how dismal India and Sri Lanka were at the recently concluded T20 World Cup, we set off!

Since we were well rested and well fed before we landed, we weren’t in any hurry to reach our hotel on the Galle Face.







We visited Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara, a Buddhist temple. It is said that a gem-studded throne on which Buddha sat and preached, is housed in the stupa. Although the stupa and the surrounding park were closed, we could visit the temple.







After a quick visit, we found our way to the hotel, taking a longer route to drive through Colombo. Our hotel was right on Galle face: a promenade that gives views of the Arabian sea.





On the far right of the Galle face and throughout Colombo, you can see the extent of Chinese investments in infrastructure: huge dockyards, skyscrapers being built across the town.







For dinner, we had a reservation at the famous Ministry of Crab, the seafood restaurant (chain) founded by Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Dharshan Munidasa.



This restaurant in Colombo is located within the Old Dutch Hospital premises, now hosting an array of restaurants and bars.





Lovely food and a short walk around the area later, we set off to head back to our hotel. Again, we took a longer route back and drove through the city.

[libranof1987]

Day 2: Colombo – Pinnawala – Dambulla - Sigiriya

There’s a local rail network that runs right on Galle face, and we couldn’t resist the temptation of hopping on the train for a short journey. The sight of the waves lashing onto the rocks a few away from the train on a monsoon morning is enchanting. A few stations later, we wound up at the central station where Ravi picked us up and set off for Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage.







Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is an orphanage and breeding ground found to care for wild elephants that have been orphaned or are sick. Spread across a large area, you can sit in the gallery and watch as the elephants go about doing their day – which is mainly playing around.



The other attraction is when they take the elephants to the nearby river for bathing. Unfortunately, the water flow was quite high on the day of our visit so the bathing was cancelled. Instead, the elephants were bathed within the premises.

Our next stop was the Royal Cave Temple at Dumbulla.

Said to be the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in SL, this is where King Valagamba sought refuge after his exile from Anuradhapura. He spent a majority of the 15 years that he was in exile. He built the temple as a note of gratitude, once he reclaimed his throne.

The objective of the five (main) caves was to document and preserve the teachings and culture of Buddha and Buddhism.













You have to climb about 400 steps to get on top, a moderate climb with proper steps laid out (albeit steep).



On the way down, we took the opposite trail to the Golden Buddha statue.



With nightfall approaching, we retired to our hotel in Sigiriya.

[libranof1987]

Day 3: Sigiriya Rock – travel to Kandy

A hugely popular attraction, Sigiriya Rock is a large block of hill which was converted into a rock fortress, and his capital, by King Kashyapa. The rock/hill resembles a lion, hence the name: Sinhagiri / Sigiriya.







There is a huge garden complex surrounding the hill; atop, are the remains of the capital and the King’s mansions: a few foundation stones and a water body.

There are about 1200 steps to get atop the rock, and most of the steps are artificially built (steel structures bolted into the rock), quite steep and narrow. It’ll take the average person about 45min to an hour to get there.








There’s nothing on top, and almost no shade so carry ample water, some food (beware of monkeys), and sun protection.







On the way down, there’s a small staircase to a fresco with some artwork.

We then got some lunch and set off for Kandy

Delicious Sri Lankan rice and curry.



From the plains, we were now heading towards to hills. Enroute are the famous spice and herb gardens.

[libranof1987]

Day 4: Exploring Kandy, and heading to Nallathaniya

Kandy is situated in the midst of hills, at an elevation and has a typical rainforest climate and is one of the few towns with a significant Tamil/Hindu population. It is famous for:

1) Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic: situated in the premises of the royal palace complex of the former kingdom of Kandy, a relic of the tooth of the Buddha is housed in the temple.















2) Kandy Lake: a huge water body nestled in between hills. You can take a nice walk around it



3) Observation point: located across the lake, this deck gives a bird’s eye view of Kandy and the hills and valleys around



If you’re crazy Indian food, Kandy is where you’ll find plenty!

A view of Kandy at night from our hotel room.



With Kandy done, this is where our trip took a detour from the usual, run-off-the-mill plan. Having read about it, and from a friend who’d visited a short while earlier, we had added Adam’s Peak (Sri Pada) to our plan.

From Kandy, we set off for Nallathanniya, the village at the base of the peak.

Adam’s Peak, also called Sri Pada, is the summit of a tall, conical mountain, believed to be in the formation of Buddha’s foot by some, that of Hanuman’s by others. The idea behind doing this hike was to do something different and soak in a new experience.

Kandy – Nallathanniya was our only journey on B roads and it reminded us of India for the state of the highways! We climbed hills through the journey littered with huge waterfalls and large water bodies. A few hydro-power plants are located on the dams in this region.











A proper hill station of sorts, we were greeted with sounds of water jostling through rocks and a nice chill in the air. A small village catering to those climbing the hill, Nallathanniya has very basic facilities and not geared up for casual tourism.

[libranof1987]

Day 5: Adam’s Peak summit!

The is by no means a walk in the park. With a trail of 7 kms one-way through 6000 steps at a very steep gradient, this is quite an intense hike. The summit is at 2,243m and the elevation gain through the hike is about 1,000m. Despite the nature of it, it is very popular, especially with foreign tourists, and is notorious for having a pile-up of hikers during peak season.

The hike typically begins at 2 – 2.30am with the idea of reaching the summit by 6 – 6.30am, in time to view the spectacular sight of sunrise over stretched out valleys.

And so we did!

Due to a low-pressure build-up in the Bay of Bengal in the past few days, Sri Lanka was experiencing unseasonal rains. And overall, very cloudy weather.

Most of our hike was in light rain, and the low 10 deg temperature added to the fun. Not straining ourselves to make the hike within a certain time, we eased our way up (not wanting to bust our knees over the steep cement steps). Our hike up was mostly in darkness so we had only the sound of waterfalls and mountain streams for company. This being a month away from peak season, we were also among the only climbers: there were only ten people at the summit, unlike the hundreds during peak season (mid-Dec to mid-Mar).

Setting off



The starting point



An hour into it



The first glimpse of the summit



Almost there



The temple on top



We reached around 6.15am and were greeted by a blanket of clouds. Their resolve to stick around was stronger than ours to watch the sun rise.



The temple was shut, due to Covid. With not a lot to do atop, we started on our return hike after about 15-20min on top.

The journey down gave us sporadic views of our surroundings, as and when the clouds cleared up. Lush green forests on all sides, high waterfalls disappearing into the trees and streams flowing down.















We reached back into town around 9.30.

Next on our agenda: the hill town of Nuwara Eliya.

We reached Nuwara Eliya, famous for tea factories and sprawling tea estates, a short while after noon.











We had a tour of the Pedro Tea Factory, one of the largest in the region.



The way it works in SL: there are several tea estates across the country and most end up selling tea leaves at auctions. Very few sell it themselves under their own name/brand. Even the large and popular tea estates sell most their produce at auctions where the popular brands buy and package.

Nuwara Eliya is called the little England of Sri Lanka for its seemingly manicured mountains, lakes, English-architecture houses and buildings, and clouds floating around.

The lovely Post Office

[libranof1987]

Day 6: Nuwara Eliya – Ella - Tissa (Yala National Park)

After a lovely stay in a colonial era hotel, we set off back to the plains.

Our original plan was to take the iconic train journey from Nanu Oya to Ella. Very unfortunately, the trains were cancelled due to landslides on the tracks caused by heavy rains.

En route, we stopped at the Seetha Amman Temple, believed to be the site where Sita was help captive by Ravana.





Hanuman foot imprint



Next stop: Ella, a beautiful town famous for adventure activities and the Nine Arches Bridge

Ravi mentioned that 98 Acres, a hotel, had its own Zipline, a very famous attraction. The half a km zipline, running at 80 kmph at its highest, offers lovely views of the mini Adam’s Peak and the surrounding ranges. Naturally, we took that up!

Mini Adam's Peak



Ella Rock



We then hired a tuktuk to take us the Nine Arches Bridge.









A quick stop at Ravana Falls



From there, we went straight to Tissa, a town just outside the Yala National Park.

Day 7: Safari in Yala

We woke up early for a 6am safari to take us through Yala National Park. Ravi mentioned that he’d often seen wild elephants, sloth bears and Sri Lankan leopards.

In the three hours we were there, we saw a lone elephant about a km away, some deer and plenty peacocks. (Fellow hotel guests had the same luck during the evening safari, and the entire next day. Friends who went a few weeks after, saw all the above!)























With no agenda for the rest of the day, we relaxed in the beautiful property of the Blue Turtle Hotel, run by a lovely Sri Lankan – French family.

[libranof1987]

Day 8: Heading to the beaches! Tissa - Galle

The fun part of the trip. We took the coastal roads that had us travel to Galle alongside the blue ocean.



A ground named in honour of Sanath Jayasuriya



A quick hop at the happening Mirissa beach; famous for surfing





The Galle Cricket Stadium is a few feet away from the Galle Fort entrance. Incidentally the SL vs. WI Test series was beginning the same day we were there. Unfortunately, no spectators allowed inside the ground, not even on the Fort walls





The Galle Dutch Fort is a living fort in Galle; a lovely place that retains the legacy of Dutch architecture. We had deliberately decided to stay within the Fort to soak in the beauty and history of it.





An anecdote (verbatim, our hotel manager): when the tsunami hit this part of Sri Lanka, the town of Galle was affected by the high waves coming in. But the high walls of the Fort ensured not a drop of water entered inside, leaving it completely intact.

We spent the entire day and night walking through the cobbled streets of the Fort.









The periphery of the Fort





The Lighthouse





The erstwhile Dutch Hospital















Vegetable market

[libranof1987]

Day 9: Galle - Bentota

We spent the morning visiting Galle town, famous for spice shops, and then set off for Bentota.

First stop: Sea Turtle Hatchery. They conserve and care for sea turtles here. To give turtles a better chance of survival, they allow safe hatching of eggs, and then release the turtles into the sea. They also care for injured / sick turtles, found by fishermen in the sea.







Next, we took a boat ride on the Madu river. This two hour boat ride takes you to the several islands alongside the river, the most famous one having a large no. of cinnamon trees.







Mangroves


A Hindu temple on a small island





Cinnamon trees



Small fences with the twin aim of catching / trapping fish, and breaking the force of flow of water, to avoid the banks getting flooded





We then checked into our hotel and spent our day by the beach.



A view of Bentota town

[libranof1987]

Day 10: Wrap up, and head back to Colombo.

With our flight to India in the evening, we started our journey back to Colombo in the morning.

A quick stop for coconut water, and co-incidentally a memorial. This memorial was built to indicate the height at which waves triggered by the tsunami lashed this part of the coast. The statue of the Buddha indicates how high the water rose. Several houses destroyed by the waves still stand today, deserted because the entire families living in them perished.





Once in Colombo, we drove around for a fly-by of:

1) Lotus Tower: a telecommunications tower, courtesy the Chinese. Yet to open.





2) Old Parliament building



3) Clock Tower



With an hour to spare, we visited the Gangaramaya Temple, famous for being a mix of modern architecture and multi-cultural influences, and Seema Malaka. The Tempe premises also has a museum, which has a very diverse set of artefacts, very ill-maintained and unorganised.























We then set off for the airport, concluding our trip!

[libranof1987]

Parting thoughts: Sri Lanka is an exceedingly beautiful country, and the people are warm and kind, and very welcoming. With a diverse topography, climate and culture within short distances of each other, you can get very diverse experiences: be it the beaches along the periphery, the hills in the central region, or the plains to the south and west. We immensely enjoyed our time in the country, and very sincerely, can’t wait to get back.

[Aditya]

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