Ayubowan everyone ! 🙂 Back here again and much sooner ! 🙂 Our last long vacation was to Bhutan (If you haven’t already, please read it here ). During the journey, when we were discussing the Dec trip plan, Shashank suggested Sri Lanka. Honestly, Sri Lanka was not on my bucket list. There were many other countries I wanted to cover before that. But, Shashank had already been to Sri Lanka and he was raving about how great it was ! So, we all gave in. We girls, casually chided the guys that planning and booking for a trip is always our responsibility. Right there, the guys decided that they would plan the next trip to Sri Lanka and it would be a total surprise. Though I’m a bit of a control freak and love to plan(half the fun of a trip lies in planning and packing for me 😀 ), I wanted to let go this time and just be surprised! It was very exciting !
A couple months later, the flights were booked and there was silence again. Even our husbands managed not to spill out any details ! When we had to start packing, we asked the guys for a rough idea on the kind of places planned to pack accordingly and we got such a detailed itinerary! 😛
Day 1 – Beach
Day 2 – City tour, etc 😀
It was hilarious !
22nd Dec’23 : Our flight to Colombo was at around 7pm. We had packed methi chapathis(rotis) and ennegai(brinjal curry). Had an early dinner at the airport and boarded the flight. 12 adults, 6 kids, 2 infants – a small group 😉 We reached Colombo at around 8:30pm and a bus was waiting for us. We were taken to a hotel in Negombo where we spent the night.
23rd Dec’23 : Post breakfast in the morning, we started to some place. On arriving, we were told its Galle(pronounced ‘Gall’ like ‘ball’ – but heard different pronunciations even amongst the locals). We asked the driver to stop at a vegetarian restaurant and he took us to some restaurant which was just ok. With such a hungry group, all food vanished in no time ! Both our souls and stomachs were left wanting for more. While I was packing for this trip, I wondered if I should carry any ready to eats for my 1.8 years old son. As a backup plan, I carried some adukale products like Upma, kesaribath and gojjavalakki. Thankfully ! If not, I would have a hungry, cranky baby throughout the trip 😀
We visited Galle fort and spent sometime admiring the views of the sea. From there, we traveled to Tangalle. We reached there late evening and we saw that the roads were quite narrow. The road leading to our resort was not made for a Sri Lankan driver, or our driver atleast 😀 (Indian bus drivers would have raced next to each other on that road 😉 ) He was totally distraught and refused to go ahead. Finally after much cajoling by the guide and resort guys, he dropped us at a nearby ground and we walked from there. After having dinner at the resort, we crashed in for an early night to be ready for the next day.
24th Dec’23 :
Scuba ! We had to start early as the scuba dive was booked at Hikkaduwa which was about 2 hours from the resort. We had to dive in 2 batches, since kids below 8 weren’t allowed. Each batch was supposed to take about 4-5 hours. So, needless to say, our entire day was spent at this beach. As my son was comfortable enough to stay with my cousins <3, me and hubby could go together in Batch 2. While the 1st batch was on, we looked for a place nearby to have some breakfast. Shashank found a cafe a few blocks down the road with good reviews – Sudha’s Eatery. Food was really yum ! Pizza, pasta, sandwiches – everything was fresh and tasty! Feeling contented, we took a walk in the area, shopped a little bit and then hit the beach. It was just me and my nieces and nephew. We had a blast ! The water was so clean and pristine blue ! Also, nothing beats time spent with kids! The first batch was done by about 2pm and when they were back, a couple of them had backed off from the deep dive and a couple had thrown up on the boat. They said it wasn’t really worth it. It also started drizzling! But we still went ahead 🙂
We were first given an intro to scuba dive through a video(which was fast forwarded as we dint have time;)). After wearing all the gears, we were taken for a practice dive in the shallow reef. This was my 4th dive overall but the first time where we had to demonstrate our skills and only those who passed were eligible for the deep dive 😀 During my earlier dives, the instructor only demonstrated what is to be done when water enters inside our eye mask and had us practice on land. But here, the instructor actually put water into our masks and until we were able to clear it, did not move to the next 😀 There were a few other scenarios like letting go of our regulator and retrieving it back in the water, clearing water from regulator etc. We were able to see a variety of fish in the shallow dive. The guys saw a turtle too but we were unlucky ! 😦 So, after a pretty intense class and test :P, the results were announced and one of my cousin hadn’t made it ! 😀 They said he panicked too much. But we were able to convince them and all of us got onto the boat which took us to the middle of the sea. There we had to fall backwards from the boat and then the dive began. Barely a minute into the dive, water entered my mask and I had some trouble clearing it. Luckily, we were still near the surface and I could take it off to clear it. So much for all the practice, phew ! 😛 We could see a huge variety of fish and it was quite amazing to swim among huge rocks. The divers could barely speak English and hence, their instructions were really funny! Also, since I dont swim, they should have ideally held my hand but we were left on our own! It was good in a way but when he used to ask us to navigate in different directions or to come over to a point, I was like what ! 😀 I need help ! 😀 Especially, at one point, there were these huge rocks, like hills, on either side, pretty close to each other, in a V-shape and he just went ahead between them. We were like, kinda stuck, but we were able to help each other and follow him. It was quite funny ! But the reef was not alive. So, not very colourful and it made me wonder if we(people who dive) had any role to play too(apart from pollution and global warming) as many a time, our fins unintentionally hit the corals and we also happened to touch the rocks and corals to navigate. Anyway, after the dive, we got onto the boat and Shashank asked the guy to take us for a longer ride in the boat. The guy gestured some number, which Shashank interpreted as some amount and he responded with a gesture too – bringing his 2 hands together and interlocking his fingers, which according to him meant, do it for love and not money. God knows what the other guy interpreted it as ! 😀 😀 All of us on the boat had a laugh riot ! Shashank still claims he took us for a longer ride, although we think it was the same distance. The entire bus ride to our resort, we couldn’t stop laughing ! 😀
Our pre-ordered authentic Sri Lankan dinner was waiting for us when we arrived at the resort and it was really yum !The sambal was exquisite! It was a powdered version of Karnataka’s churmuri ! Curries were good too. It was the first time we enjoyed food in Sri Lanka.
25th Dec’ 23: Started the day with a good yoga sesh by the beach ❤ Thanks to Shashank for waking up to capture the pics ! ❤ Nothing on agenda for the day but it was one of the most memorable. We did not even step outside the resort. All day, we played throw ball in the pool and on the beach. The kids had a helluva time and so did we ! 🙂
At dinner, my son was asleep and since we hadn’t had dinner yet and the restaurant was only a few steps from the room, we put him to bed and proceeded to the restaurant to have dinner. My husband was returning to the room and checking once every 5 mins. When he was done, he returned to the room and came back running saying he couldn’t find the baby !!!!!!!! He was very frightened and I couldn’t believe what he was saying !! Where could the baby go ??? We ran to the room and I immediately started calling out to him loudly. It was a pretty small room. I checked under the bed and in the bathroom. It was then, that we heard a cry on the other bed opposite to ours !!!! We found him neatly tucked under the bedsheet !!! Though we were relieved to find him, we just couldn’t believe it ! The cots were pretty high and there was no way a toddler could wake up, get down from the bed, climb the other bed and tuck in !!!! I just couldn’t digest it ! Our family pacified us and we were thankful to have found him safe ! Phew !
26th Dec’23: Our 11th year wedding anniversary ! ❤ We checked out from the resort, bid goodbye to Tangalle and started to our next destination – Ella (meaning ‘waterfall’ as this city has many). It is about a 3 hour drive and we arrived in time for lunch. We looked for a veg restaurant and found one close by in the market – A K Ristoro. We had some yummy starters, pasta, sushi and pizzas. After lunch, we proceeded to Little Adam’s peak by tuk-tuk. It is a pretty easy hike and the view from the top was just breathtaking !
We spent sometime here admiring the views and then headed to our resort – Zion View Ella Retreat. The road leading to this place, or any other hotel in the area is pretty scary! The roads are pretty narrow and since it’s a hilly area, the roads are very steep. When a vehicle slows down or stops when going uphill, it starts to roll down!!! :O The view from the resort was spectacular ! The resort opens to a restaurant which has great views of the surrounding hills, we can see the famous Ella-Kandy train on one side and the Ravana waterfalls on another. The resort is so beautifully designed to have each villa share the same view of these hills. Our room was 2 levels beneath the restaurant and it was beautiful !
27th Dec’23: One of the most visited places in Ella is the iconic Nine Arches bridge which was constructed during the colonial times. People throng this place to witness the train to Kandy pass by ! So, naturally this was on the agenda too ! 🙂 In any country/place we visit, we love to hire a two- wheeler and roam around. A few from our group wanted to take tuk-tuk and a few of us wanted to go by a bike. We were told there is only 1 train that passes by at 9:20am or something, so a couple of guys went to hire bikes at 9 am. We needed 4 bikes and since one shop had only 2, the guys took 1 bike and were on the way to get more(without a helmet as they had not rented it yet), when a policeman caught them. As the policemen couldn’t understand English well, it was a long drawn conversation and we girls left by tuk-tuk to catch the train while the guys went to the police station ! 😦 From the drop-off point, it is a small hike to the bridge. On the way, we could hear the train and we were disappointed that we missed it. But then we got to know, there is one train every hour or so. I personally felt the bridge might be a little over-hyped. It is amusing to see so many people waiting for hours to catch a glimpse of the train. The guys joined us too in sometime(They had to pay a small fine) and we took a lot of photos. We witnessed the 11am train pass by on the bridge. We hiked to a view point from where we could get an aerial view of the train. This was definitely much better and we were lucky to see another train pass by from here too !
We started back on the bikes and my husband told me that the brake wasn’t working !! I was really worried about going on the brakeless bike, that too on such steep roads !!! Add to that, our 1.5 yr old son who was with us !!!!! (My daughter was with my cousins.) I was terrified ! But my hubby was quite composed and he did a really good job keeping our limbs intact ! 😀 After lunch at the hotel, a few of us went to Little Adam’s peak again as we wanted to try Zip lining. Zip lining here is organised by “The Flying Ravana”. It stretches for more than half a kilometre and offers a bird’s eye view of the beautiful lush green Ella estates. We really enjoyed the zip lining ! It was so fun !
For dinner, we were back to our resort where I wanted to try the vegetarian Poke bowl(nicknamed “Elephant bowl” by my cousin, due to the huge portion size). It was really yummy ! U can choose the carb, protein and other fruits and veggies that you want to add to your bowl along with sauces. Do try it !
28th Dec’23 : We took the early morning(6:30am) train to Kandy. We had heard wonderful things about this train journey and were looking forward to it.
It was drizzling and we were carrying packed breakfast to eat on the train. When we were trying to get on board the train, my husband who was carrying a lot of such bags turned and cautioned others to board carefully. Just as he said that, he slipped on the step and fell with a huge thud with one leg inside the train and another on the steps !! 😦 😦 His knee was so badly hurt that he could not stand up for a while. He could not enjoy the journey as much as he was in terrible pain 😦
It was a 6.5 hours journey through tea estates and it was sooo good ! The weather was good too and every moment of the journey was Instagram worthy but even the iPhone camera couldn’t capture it as beautifully ! We reached Kandy in time for lunch and ate at an Indian restaurant. We then checked in to our hotel “The Radh” and rested for a bit. The rest of the group proceeded to a temple nearby “Sri Dalada Maligawa“. My son was napping and my husband was in severe pain . We applied some spray and put an ice pack and went to sleep. When my son woke up, I was bored and thought of joining the rest of the gang at the temple. It was drizzling. Maps showed the temple was only a short walk away. I did not carry a local sim and hence, just looked at the directions, carried my son and walked. Turns out the entrance to the temple was only about a block away from the hotel ! I entered hoping to find my cousins soon. A big loud Indian group shouldn’t be hard to catch right ? But turns out, the complex is huge !! There are many small temples, each dedicated to a different god and they are all pretty far from each other. I was finally able to see a huuugee white building and there was a ticket counter too. I figured this is where they might be and tried to buy a ticket but I was short of cash! Thankfully, I found an Indian family and requested them to lend their phone to make a call. I called my cousin and they told me they are at the Tooth Relic and they did not buy any tickets. When I tried to enter, I was asked for a ticket and I said I’m with the Indian group that entered. They nodded familiarly and allowed me to enter ! 🙂 I was in for a shock when I entered the temple. It was again a huge hall with a small structure in the middle and huge stairs leading to another floor. There was some ceremony going on and the crowd , omg ! Now, I had no hopes of finding my group. People were also thronging to go to the 1st floor, so I decided to give that a try. I repented as soon as I entered. I have only seen such crowd in Tirupati ! It wasn’t moving too as they were waiting for the curtains to open. By now, my son was crying and I wanted to get out of the place, even if it meant I could not see the tooth relic. Many people were also trying to get into the priority queue by jumping the barrier. Amidst all this chaos, a few locals helped me get in front of the relic and also explained the history. Legend has it that this tooth was extracted from Buddha when his mortal form left the world.
When I was getting down the stairs, I found my cousin(phew, thankfully! :)) and called out to her. I was finally reunited with the group ! We had dinner at the hotel and went to bed.
29th Dec’23: Had breakfast at the hotel and started to Sigiriya. It is about 2.5 hrs away. On the way, we saw a couple of wild elephants on the roadside. The driver dint even flinch! They could have as well been dogs ! 😀 Must be a usual sight for them. I was very much apprehensive about this trek as my husband’s knee was still no good and he was in pain. But he is not one to give up! So, he joined us for the trek.
The weather was perfect for the trek. It did drizzle when we started but only for a few minutes. “Sigiriya” was originally called “Sinha-giri”, “Sinha” meaning lion and “giri” meaning throat( My guess was mountain :D) . It was so called because the huge rock we see here was originally the shape of a lion and to enter the palace on top, one had to go through the lion’s throat 🙂 Interesting , right ? Sadly, only the paws remain today !
Sigiriya was meant to be the summer palace for the royals. There are many kinds of gardens on the way to the palace – Rock, fountain, pond etc. There are 3 entrances – The elephant, the serpent and the lion. I guess the elephant and serpent entrances are natural. My cousin carried my son upto the stairs(seen above). The stairs were very steep and it was very windy ! It was quite scary to carry him on those stairs ! But, our friend Praveen managed to carry him the entire way !!
The view from top was just breathtaking !!! It’s very admirable that Sri Lanka has managed to maintain so much greenery. There was no a single bald spot that we could see even from that height !
Another observation was that most Sri Lankan homes, inspite of being in an estate and surrounded by greenery also had a loooott of potted plants in their verandah ! 🙂 They really value greenery !
Our guide suggested a place called “Habarana” to visit on the way back which was an elephant orphanage. This seemed to be one of the popular things to do here. The tour would also include traditional lunch at a village home. Needless to say, we were excited ! We were dropped at the tour point where we were taken on a bullock cart to a river. From there, a boat took us to the local home for lunch. It was almost 3:30pm and we were famished !!! The spread that they had laid out was finished without a trace in 10 mins ! The mango curry, especially was exquisite !! The hosts felt bad as not everyone got enough share and they added a few impromptu items, like salad. For dessert, they brought out cut mangoes and the plate dint even reach the table ! 😀 😀 She had to go back for a refill ! I know, it does not sound good, but that’s how hungry we were ! 😀
Post lunch, we returned to Kandy. Went to the local market and post some shopping and dinner, headed back to the hotel.
30th Dec’ 23 : With no set agenda for the day, we googled some nice places to visit and decided to do the Three Temple Loop in Kandy. We started post breakfast. The journey was quite comical as the neither driver nor the guide knew the route nor the temples ! 😀 We asked him to take us to Lanka Thilaka and he dropped us at Embakke Devalaya ! There was a small temple which was visible from the entrance. We were asked to pay for tickets and on entering we saw that the temple was closed ! The ticket collector did not even inform us that it was closed !! We asked him which god it belonged to, and he had no clue !! 😀 It was not even a language barrier as he knew English. He later translated the question to a localite, who answered ! 😀 Next stop was Lanka Tilaka. After a small walk and a few stairs later, we were at the temple. There was a huge buddha statue inside the temple and the monk was happy to answer any question. The view from the hilltop was great. Overall, was a pleasant visit 🙂
Next stop : Pinnawala Elephant orphanage. Unfortunately, we couldn’t reach during the elephant feeding time. We were able to catch the elephant bath, which the kids enjoyed and shopped a little. We had booked for the Kandy Cultural Show in the evening. It was at the local club. We reached a little early to get good seats. When we arrived, it was almost empty but slowly it filled up and was mostly full by the time the show started. And, boy, what a show it was !
We were given the program with details.
The performance was mesmerising ! Definitely, one of the must-do’s in Kandy. The dancers are extremely professional and graceful. Most dancers are repeated in the sequence and we wondered how they were able to change into their elaborate costumes so quickly! Peacock dance, harvest dance were especially great !
A fitting end to the trip !
31st Dec’23: Back to Bangalore with loads of beautiful memories ! 🙂 Needless to say, the guys did an amazing job planning this trip. We got to experience the local food and culture while also spending quality time together ! Sri Lanka is a beautiful country – with huge mountains, pristine beaches and lots of greenery. Unfortunately, we could not do the Ramayana trail this time – so that’s another reason to be back here ! 🙂 😉
swathijois 