Cities visited: Dambulla, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Kandy, Ella, Tissamaharama, Unawatuna, Galle, Colombo, Negombo
Duration: 9 amazing days
Budget: $500 (2 pax)
We arrived to Colombo Airport on the 8am flight from Dubai. Our first stop was Dambulla where a tuk-tuk guide (pre-booked) was waiting for us.
We took a tuk-tuk from airport to Negombo (Rs 1000) that was way to expensive, which we could have easily take a bus - Airport Bus station is 1 km away from airport and from there you can take a bus to Negombo.
Sri Lanka is very well served by bus. There are many routes, high frequency, very cheap and they run in schedule!
In Negombo we got the 9am bus to Kurunegala (Rs 235). Kurunegala is a hub for the northwest part of the island, from there we took the Kurunegala - Dambulla (Rs 205) bus.
In Dambulla Wasantha was (really) waiting for us in his tuk-tuk.
Tiago found Wasantha phone number in a blog a few months before the trip. I used to talk to him using WhatsApp (+94 775852892) and booked 2 day tour in Sigiriya. Apart from Sigiriya he also helped organizing the entire trip giving information in how to go from one city to another.
We had a quickly local lunch (really good one) and went to visit Cave Temple. It was just a sample of what Sri Lanka was about to be... way to many steps and expensive monuments (Rs 1500). Dambulla is one of the ancient cities and World Heritage Site by UNESCO, so it worths a visit.
Then we went by tuk-tuk to Sigiriya where we spent 2 nights at Sigiriya Corridor. There we met an Argentinian girl, traveling alone for 6 months in Sri Lanka and India. On that day we had dinner together on Danushka’s sister’s restaurante, 5 minutes away from the guesthouse with local food but international prices (10 $/person).
On the next morning we went visit Penderagola at 5am - 1600 steps, hard to clim cause the steps were not perfect (so take hiking shoes). It totally worth climbing. The view is amazing - the Lion Rock and could have been better if it was not cloudy.
We went down around 7am, directly to the guest house to have breakfast and then we walked to the Lion Rock, which was 1 km away from. The Argentinian girl also joined us.
Cons: way to expensive - 30$/person; way to many tourists, way to many Chineses with their gadgets, drones, tabblets and tripes taking 1000 pictures and again to many steps. The sky was clean so it was really hot. Take water with you, or an empty bottle, you can refill in the Gardens.
Pros: the entrance is amazing, the gardens and lake are impressive; the rock itself is astonishing. And on the top, it used to be a city, people lived there! Enjoy the view and prepare to go down.
On the way down try to see the lion paws which we didn’t see on the way up. It was 11am and we were done with Sigyria.
- Quadrangle
- Royal Palace
- Vatadage
- Rankot Vihara
- Gal Vihara
Suggestion: take a bus or tuk-tuk and visit Anuradhapura or Polonnaruwa and by the end of the day return to Sigirya. We didn’t visit Anuradhapura but it was a mistake.
On that afternoon we stayed in Sigiriya and we went fishing with Wasantha, his brother Khintaca and their friends. The lake is amazing, we even saw a elephant bathing. They have nets on the lake, so they went there collecting the fish. They cut it, seasoning and grilled it on the boat. Really tasty. First fish in Sri Lanka. After, they invited us to have lunch at Wasa restaurant (he is also preparing 2 rooms for tourists).
Next day, I woke up with my legs hurting, I was in pain wishing there were no more steps to climbing. After amazing breakfast from Danushka’s wife, we said goodbye to Sigiriya and went by tuk-tuk to Polonnaruwa, 50 km away almost 1 hour.
Again, we could have done it by bus, but we had the backpackers, so it was easier to go by tuk-tuk, allowing us to visit and leaving them safe.
The ancient city of Polonnaruwa is also UNESCO site, again, very expensive to visite - 50 $/person. Around noon we finished visiting the most important sites.
We had lunch in a touristic buffet restaurant on the side of the road and then we took a bus to Kandy. Long way... almost 4 hours.
We arrived to Kandy which, in my opinion, was the city I enjoyed less. We were coming from beautiful cities in the middle of the jungle and then we arrived to caos. And also we didn’t had the best experience with our host. We had book a room in Airbnb, which said it was 15 minutes from train station, breakfast and pick-up on arrival included.
We arrived at 4:30pm and we went directly to the train station to buy train tickets but reserved tickets for the next 5 days were sold out, no reserved tickets were only available on the day of the trip.
We took a tuk-tuk to the temple of the Tooth Relic where our host picked out luggage. We visit the Temple we won’t see the Tooth which inside a gold box that looks like a “dagoda” which is also inside a door. Nevertheless at 6:30 pm they have a cerimonia to pilgrims where they open the door and you can actually see the “dagoda”. Rs 1500 - Barefoot, knees and shoulders covered. It is a hudge temple, with different sites inside, for example, the World Buddhism Museum.
As Kandy is not that much interesting, we decided to leave on the next morning to Ella. We arrived the train station at 7am, half an hour later the counter #5 opened and we were able to buy tickets, second class is advised as you can open windows.
At 8:47 we left by train to Ella! One time trip!
Suggestion: Try to arrive Kandy around 4pm. Choose a place to stay nearby the train station. Drop your luggage, take a bus / tuk-tuk, visit the Botanical Garden and at 6pm go to The Tooth Relic Temple in time to see the ceremony at 6:30pm. Next morning catch the 8:47am train to Ella.
The train trip was amazing. You don’t need to take food as the local vendors go in and out the train selling food. Locals and tourists in the same place, everyone wants to take the best picture. Around Nuwaria Elyia and when we train curves you get the best pictures.
After 7 hours, around 4pm we arrived Ella. It was unanimous, Ellya was the place we liked the most.
Our guesthouse was 1,2 km away so we decided to walk and have something to lunch in between.
On that afternoon, in a 20 minutes walking, we we went to visit the Nine Arch Bridge, and we were lucky because we were able to see the 5:30pm train passing.
Next morning, 5am we went to Little Adam’s Peak. The sun was not rises yet but it was lightning enough to climbing till the top. From the top the view is amazing, the mountains and all the green from tea plantations.
On the way down we met some women heading off to work in Tea plantations. They were the ones who asked “picture” so they could ask for tip after.
On the same morning, in the junction Passara and Main road, we took a bus and went visit Rawana Falls. With 17 m hight they are far to be the most visited Falls en Sri Lanka.
A little further down we visited a Rakkhiththakand Len Viharaya Cave Temple. After leaving the bus we took a tuk-tuk up and negotiate 10 minutes waiting to visit the temple. As we were the only tourists there we had a private tour and explanation. Foreigners that visit this temple stay a few days as a place for retreat and meditation.
After visiting the Temple in order to visit Uva Halpewatte Tea Factory on the Bandarawela - Badulla road we took a bus direction Badulla and left on the road. But the Factory was 1,7 km up the hill and there was no tuk-tuk. We decided to walk and a few minutes late we took a ride in the back of a truck!
Visiting the Tea Factory is something you HAVE to do but nothing special. We had a lecture about the Tea production process. As a Chemical Enginner that was interesting to learn but, unfortunately, I didn’t understand half of what Mr. Tea was saying. After the class you could see the Mill (hopefully it was a production day), after we tried different teas and by the end we were invited to visit the shop with very expensive Tea (rates in dollars)! Instead we bought Ceillon Tea from a supermarket in Ella, I guess there is no significant difference.
As the sky was getting dark and chances to rain in Ella are hudge, we went home. That night Nishanta’s wife offered us dinner, tasty curry with vegetables.
On the next day, after breakfast where I had (again) coconut Rotti, we left direction Tissa on the 8:10am bus to Galle.
After almost 3 hours we left the bus on the Pannegamuwa junction and we took another bus on the Tissamaharama Road direction Tissa and then another one direction Kataragama. We stayed one night on the Wild Heaven Hotel where we had booked a Safari (55 $/person). In order to leave early on the next day, direction Galle, we decided to do an afternoon safari, as we were told changes of spotting leopards and bears are the same
We left the Hotel at 1:30 pm, it’s almost 30 minutes from Tissa to Yala National Park.
On the gate a Guard from the park joined us on the back on the Jeep.
It was a strange safari as the driver looked like he was on a rush, driving really fast, making impossible to spot even a dinosaur!
We saw many peacocks, deers and water buffalos and a few wild dogs and elephants.
Then we saw way to many jeeps together, he approached and there was one leopard sleeping. Far away to take a nice pic but close enough to see in naked eye. Almost by the end, the driver received a call, one bear was spotted. So, as fast as possible, he did his best to showed me the bear, as it was the only animal I haven’t seen before. While the leopard was sleeping it was easy to spot, on the opposite, the bear was awaken and easily scared. So it was difficult but we did it, we spotted the bear!
Before leaving the Park, we visited the ocean, where it was built a Monument to the victims of the tsunami.
As the sky was getting dark and chances to rain in Ella are hudge, we went home. That night Nishanta’s wife offered us dinner, tasty curry with vegetables.
On the next day, after breakfast where I had (again) coconut Rotti, we left direction Tissa on the 8:10am bus to Galle.
After almost 3 hours we left the bus on the Pannegamuwa junction and we took another bus on the Tissamaharama Road direction Tissa and then another one direction Kataragama. We stayed one night on the Wild Heaven Hotel where we had booked a Safari (55 $/person). In order to leave early on the next day, direction Galle, we decided to do an afternoon safari, as we were told changes of spotting leopards and bears are the same
We left the Hotel at 1:30 pm, it’s almost 30 minutes from Tissa to Yala National Park.
On the gate a Guard from the park joined us on the back on the Jeep.
It was a strange safari as the driver looked like he was on a rush, driving really fast, making impossible to spot even a dinosaur!
We saw many peacocks, deers and water buffalos and a few wild dogs and elephants. Then we saw way to many jeeps together, he approached and there was one leopard sleeping. Far away to take a nice pic but close enough to see in naked eye. Almost by the end, the driver received a call, one bear was spotted. So, as fast as possible, he did his best to showed me the bear, as it was the only animal I haven’t seen before. While the leopard was sleeping it was easy to spot, on the opposite, the bear was awaken and easily scared. So it was difficult but we did it, we spotted the bear!
Before leaving the Park, we visited the ocean, where it was built a Monument to the victims of the tsunami.
On the next day, we catch the 8am bus to Colombo in Tissa - Kataragama road. It was a long way until Galle (Rs. 240) where we arrived around noon. We left the bus in Unawatuna and stayed at Paradise Garden close to Unawatuna beach. The area has great restaurants including a few spots to eat different varieties of Rotti.
We visited Unawatuna beach after lunch but it was nothing special, so we decided to go looking for the famous Dalawella beach!
And, much better beach, less people, better views and a natural swimming pool, ideal for snorkeling. And, out of the blue, there was a giant water turtle swimming with us. So, we decided to go back on the next day with the Go Pro.
On that on afternoon we took a bus to visit Galle Fort, historical sight, where the portugueses arrived first, followed by Dutch and finally by English people. The Fort is bigger than we expected, so it could easily take one hour just to walk to the lighthouse and go back. Outside the Fort, near the bus station, with much less tourists is the market, where locals go for vegetables and fish.
Next day, we went again to Dalawella beach, we were very lucky, the turtle was there again. This time we captured the moment!
Around 11 am we took the bus to Colombo (Rs. 240), 120 km that took almost 4 hours! It was a long trip!
In Colombo we stayed around 30 minutes visiting the area around the bus station and it is totally not worth our time. So we took another bus (Rs. 70) and went to Negombo.
After visiting Unawatuna and Dalawella, Negombo has no charme and nothing special to see. We stayed in Lewis road, the most touristic place in Negombo at Prince Residence.
That night, we looked for a typical restaurant, as this street has many touristic restaurants, where I could finally eat Sri Lanka style Spicy Crab! It was a difficult job, it took me almost one hour but it worth. Spicy and delicious!
- St. Sebastian church
- St. Mary church
- Fish Market
- The Fort
- The Lagoon
- Main Street
- Hamilton Canal
We spend the afternoon in Lewis street, shopping the last souvenirs. As our trip was close to the end, it was time to go to the airport. We took a bus from Lewis street to Negombo bus station (Rs. 20) and from there another bus to the airport (Rs. 30). From the airport bus station to the Terminal we took a tuk-tuk (Rs. 100).
We had the best time in Sri Lanka, our trip was much better than we expected. Sri Lanka’s people are really nice and genuine, always trying to give you the best without expecting nothing in return.
We highly recommend a trip to this fabulous country before it gets to crowded.
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