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Lanka Land
My trip across Sri Lanka. It took me 3 days/2 nights
After research this destination, I decided it was best for me to rent a car & driver to visit the cities I wanted to. Using recommendations from this blog post, I contacted Mr. Hasantha (nilupul7h@yahoo.com; 0094723427049) a few days before my trip for prices and availability. He responded within a day, we agreed on itinerary and price.
Cave Temple, Dambulla
I arrived in Colombo at 11pm on July 16th, went straight to my hostel – Drift BnB. The driver from Mr. Hasantha picked me up at 9am the following day, we had breakfast and began the 100 mile (161km) drive to the first stop – Dambulla. I slept for most of the ride so I can’t speak about the scenery. We had lunch before going to the Cave Temple. I got a big shock when I arrived there – there were lots of monkeys. If you know me, you know I passionately dislike monkeys. And I read a lot about these sites, none of the blog posts mentioned the presence of monkeys!
Cave Temple
Anyways, I summoned the courage and started on the steep climb to the Cave Temple. While walking up, several local men attempted to approach me. Before you ask, ‘oh, what were you wearing?’, I was wearing long loose pants and short sleeve t-shirt!! After a while of this uncomfortable instances, a white couple observing these foolishness asked me to walk with them, it helped.
Rock Fortress, Sigiriya
The cave temple is beautiful, several statues of Buddha in various positions and sizes. Coming down from the cave temple, I saw monkeys attacking people that had food with them. After the cave temple, we went on to Sigiriya – which is just 30 mins drive away. We arrived at our second stop – Lion’s Rock Fortress. I opted to pay for a guide because Mr. Sam (my driver) told me there were monkeys there as well. Mr. Sam contacted a guide for me, the guide was amazing. I would recommend you use him if you visit the Lion’s Rock in Sigiriya area. He name is Bandara & number is 077-825-6963.
Taking a break: Rock fortress, Sigiriya
To get to the peak of the Rock Fortress, you have to climb 1200 steps. Sounds intimidating, right? You can do it. I stopped several times to catch my breath. But it was all worth it. The view is great as well. We were struck for 30 minutes when trying to get down because of hornets’ attack. When that was cleared, we were allowed to go. I spent the night in Sigiriya, the guest house I stayed in was fantastic! The owner and his family were pleasant and the food was delicious. Do check out The Otunna Guest house on your next visit to Sigiriya.
Dinner at Otunna Guest House (700Rupee=USD$5)
The next day, we proceeded to Kandy – a 56 mile (90km) drive. We stopped at a Spice Garden, where they school you on various tea, spices and herbal plants. You also get a semi-free head and neck message. I ended up buying a spice tea. Next stop was the Temple of the Tooth Relic. Also lots of monkey here as well and I saw there grabbing flowers from those people bringing flower offerings to Budda. I didn’t quite understand the temple of tooth relic, maybe I used have used a guide. After the temple, we have lunch at an amazing restaurant in Kandy. The view is spectacular.
After lunch, we began the 47 miles (76km) drive to Nuwara Eliya. We
Ramboda waterfalls
stopped at the Glenloch Tea Factory and Ramboda Waterfalls. The Glenloch tea factory exports most of its tea but they have some available for sales in Sri Lanka. To see the Ramboda waterfalls, you have to go through the Ramboda Falls Hotel. You can’t swim there, there are two viewing platforms. Stunning waterfalls!!
We drove past what looked like the good hotels and ended up in the shit hole of an hotel I was to stay at. It was late and I was tired. Pls do yourself a favor and not stay at Glen Fall Inn in Nuwara Eliya. It was gross. We left around 9.30am the next morning. Before driving back to Colombo, we stopped for a bit at the Lake in Nuwara Eliya. It is a pretty town with lots of colonial buildings. The weather is way cooler than the rest of Sri lanka. No monkeys!! :). On the drive back to Colombo, we stopped at two other waterfalls – Devons and St. Clair, they are 10 minutes drive apart. No swimming, just viewing platforms.
Lake in Nuwara Eliya
We arrived in Colombo around 6.30pm, the end of my 2 nights/3days trip to other parts of Sri Lanka. I had two more nights in Colombo. The following day, I had a TukTuk tour at 4pm, so I went to the Dutch Shopping Precint area before going to the meet up point for my tour. Nice place to chill.
The Colombo city tour started promptly at 4pm, the tuktuk was beautiful, we got lots of stares. We stopped at the biggest Hindu temple& biggest Buddish temple in Sri Lanka, the floating market, tea shop, a local eatery, independence square and independence shopping arcade. It was a great way to explore Colombo’s highlight. Definitely, check them out for your Colombo City Tour – TukTuk Safari Sri Lanka.
The next day – my last day in Sri Lanka, I went to Mount lavinia Hotel to spend the morning since my flight was at night. There’s an access to the beach but you can’t swim there because of strong current.
Devons Waterfall
5 Tips for Sri Lanka
- If you don’t want to bother with navigating public transport, renting a car with driver services will be your best shot. Also if you are traveling with your family or a solo female traveler, you might want to consider this option. The service includes, the driver, all fuel/gas, parking fees, driver’s food & accommodation. You will have to pay entrance fee for the sites you visit, your food and accommodation.
- Booking.com has the most selections of places to stay in Sri Lanka. Go through the reviews, you will find something great in your price range.
- If you are a black woman, the local men will stare at you endlessly. They will even follow you around. Sometimes a smile might do the trick but other times, you need to say NO firmly and give them the death stare.
- If you are like me and deeply frighten by monkeys, well, they have a lot in Sri Lanka especially in places like Sigiriya, Dambulla and Kandy. Get a guide if you can and don’t have food on you.
- Women, I know we shouldn’t be judged by how we dressed. However not everybody understands this. You might want to wear above the knee and no strapless or sleeveless clothing while in Sri Lanka especially if you are a solo traveler. Also most temples will not let you in dressed like that.
P.S: If you need a car/driver service in Sri Lanka, contact Mr. Hasantha at nilupul7h@yahoo.com; 0094723427049. I was satisfied with his service. Like with everything, you will need to communicate what you want to see or do, they will suggest places, you can accept or reject the ideas.
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