Sri Lanka

Koho mada !!! That means "How are you" in Sinhalese. Something I picked up along the way.

Me and Jyoti decided to embark on a journey around Sri Lanka and it turned out to be one of the best travels we have ever made together. 

We traveled using public transportation the entire time and got a chance to meet some amazing people along the way. Read on to find out a thing or two on our experiences while there.

Our journey covers : Colombo > Dambulla >  Anuradhapura > Mihintale > Vavuniya > Jaffna > Vavuniya > Kandy > Hatton ( Adam's Peak ) > Nuwara Eliya ( Horton Plains )  >  Ella > Tanggalle > Unawatuna > Galle > Mt Lavinia > Colombo > Matara > Arugam Bay > Trincomale > Colombo

Flight Details:

Air Asia: Kuala Lumpur – Colombo International airport

19^th January 2013 - 18th February 2013

Travel Duration: 1 month

Budget : RM 2500 / pax ( I had few hundreds left at the end of the journey since we spent less than budgeted ) 

Expenses based on location
1 Malaysian Ringgit = 39.48 Sri Lankan Rupee
Location	Amount Spent per pax (RS)
Dambulla	LKR 7,126
Anuradhapura	LKR 6,827
Vavuniya & Jaffna	LKR 3,773
Kandy	LKR 5,573
Hatton	LKR 1,852
Nuwara Eliya	LKR 3,037
Ella	LKR 3,610
Humayana Blow Hole	LKR 824
Unawatuna - Scuba diving included	LKR 13,550
Mt Lavinia	LKR 2,178
Colombo	LKR 8,795
Matara - Mi Ella	LKR 4,835
Arugam Bay	LKR 5,265
Trincomale - Nilaveli Beach	LKR 8,184
Colombo	LKR 15,904
Total in LKR =	LKR 91,333
Total in MYR =	MYR 2,313.39

 

I did Couchsurfing : www.couchsurfing.org along the way while I was volunteering in a village in Mi Ella in between my travels. 2 hours of a winding bus ride from Matara town. If you are interested to contribute some time with the kids by teaching English, you may get in touch with the host : Firdouse, at https://www.couchsurfing.org/people/firdoouse/ . I was glad to share a part of my life with the family and kids that came to learn English. Till a point where few sessions was conducted due to good response. What a wonderful time. So, do stop by to spend some time in this awesome neighborhood !

Shihama (Firdouse's wife) and Her wonderful kids at Mi Ella village.

Kids playing after school time.

While in Anuradhapura. we cycle around with a rented bicycle to visit the archaeological sites under the wonderful sun. Jyoti got lost before she found her way back after few hours.

I would say Anuradhapura is one of my favourite places to visit in Sri Lanka. The city is well organized. Tourist friendly place. You can clearly see and feel the city, it has its own charm without much effort put into it. I wish we stayed longer here..... oh well, travel must go on !

Jyoti riding in Anuradhapura

The largest Stupa - Anuradhapura

Daily routine  - Anuradhapura

Our home stay in Anuradhapura - Mansion guesthouse

While I was sipping a bottle of Coke with Sampath hoping that Jyoti will find her way back soon. Got to know that Sampath has a dream of traveling and to further His studies in the future. For now, He is helping his dad in the bicycle rental business for tourist.  He speaks a little bit of every language having mixing around with tourist often than not. He even joined us for the 1000 steps temple in Mihintale the next day morning. Not to mentioned Sampath and His dad walked us back to our guest house at night when we were being followed by some ruthless guys. God bless this young man and his family and may his dreams come through !

Having  a chat with Sampath - the guy that rents bicycle while waiting for Jyoti to find her way back ( She got lost !)

The place we get our supplies while in Anuradhapura

Having a chat over tea with the monk and the guy - Mihintale

Can't remember exactly but after around 4-5 hours bus ride from Colombo to Dambulla, We checked into Blue Sky guesthouse before we call it a day after dinner. A good start of the journey with the tasty local Sri Lankan dish. Visited Sigiriya and Golden temple while there.

Sigiriya - Dambulla

My RS 200 lunch - Fried rice + Chicken

While at the Cave temple , Dambulla

We stayed here while in Dambulla

 Ella, a place higher than a thousand feet above sea level has one of the most seek after hiking spot for outdoor enthusiast like us. We hiked up Ella rock which took about 3 hours or so to finish. Little Adam's peak - worth going to have a good view of the surrounding area. You will find elderly folks picking tea leaves as you walk pass the tea plantation up to Little Adam's peak. Don't be surprise if you see someone come running out after you to invite you for a tea. ( its a restaurant - you have to pay )

Little Adam's Peak , Ella

A regular train ride in Sri Lanka

Part of Ella Gap - Ella

Little Adam's Peak

Ella rock - Ella

If you have not been to Kandy, you have not been to Sri Lanka. This cool place up the hills will bring you to surprise. We got into the traffic jam when we arrived. The rain did not help to ease the traffic.

Sevana Geusthouse - Kandy

Our tuk tuk driver was smart enough to maneuver his way through and brought us safely to our guest house - Sevana guesthouse , which expectedly happens to be up the hill too.
.

Traditional Kandyan dance

Traditional Kandyan dance

Tooth Relic temple - Kandy

It was a festival at Tooth Relic Temple - Kandy

Next day, we took a local bus to Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage and it was a relaxing one. You may start getting souvenirs here as I did not see similar thing can be done in Colombo. I didnt manage to find shops with souvenirs in Colombo. Not sure if Pettah Bazaar in Colombo has it. It was too busy for me to even try looking there.

Related : Arugam Bay - Sri Lanka

Try to avoid going to the herb's garden if you see people calling out to you. They will try their best to offer you a body massage using traditional herbal products and sell you stuff after inviting you for a demonstration. Me and Jyoti felt weird and left after the whole thing finished. We did not feel comfortable with the guys there. Anyway, this is part of the journey... so, no complaints. Life goes on

Elephant Orphanage

hhhhmm...guarding the elephants ?

up the hills in Kandy

We managed to hike up Adam's peak too while in Sri Lanka. So much for being on an adventure. We hiked up, stayed for a while under the freezing cold weather and finally got to see the sun rise before we make our way down and continue our travels. We stayed at Dellhouise which is just meters away from the entrance of Adam's Peak. You do not have to pay to hike up Adam's Peak.

Do arrive early as there is a  Temple up there where you may witness the morning prayer along with the sun rise.

According to Wikipedia : "It is well known for the Sri Pada, i.e., "sacred footprint", a 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) rock formation near the summit, which in Buddhist tradition is held to be the footprint of the Buddha, in Hindu tradition that of Shiva and in Islamic and Christian tradition that of Adam, or that of St. Thomas^."

Adam's Peak - Hatton

If you wish to skip going to Nuwara Eliya, you are making a HUGE MISTAKE !!! It is one of the best out of the best places to visit !  It never cross my mind how beautiful and vast landscape this country has to offer. I am glad I visited Horton Plains. No words can describe how amazingly beautiful it is in the morning. It feels like you are in a Safari land in no where close to Sri Lanka. You have to brace the morning cold to witness the magical morning. I can bet you it will be worth while.

Horton Plains - Nuwara Eliya

Horton Plains - Nuwara Eliya

Horton Plains - Nuwara Eliya

Horton Plains - Nuwara Eliya

More pictures from my travels in Sri lanka , hope you would find Sri Lanka as magical as we did.

Scuba Diving in Unawatuna

Train ride : Mt Lavinia - Colombo Fort

Sunset - Mt Lavinia

Temple - Jaffna

Nilaveli Beach - Trincomale

Arugam Bay - Pothuvil

Galle Face - Colombo

Find out more here : https://www.facebook.com/pinparadise.blogspot


Dambulla : http://pinparadise.blogspot.com/2015/02/dambulla-sri-lanka.html

Arugam Bay :http://pinparadise.blogspot.com/2015/01/arugam-bay-sri-lanka.html


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