Surprising Sri Lanka – Howzat?!

We booked our holiday for some Sri Lanka travel before Lonely Planet awarded this as their number one country to visit in 2019. It felt good to be ahead of the rush.

So it’s sod’s law when our youngest falls off a bike in Bolivia and comes home for surgery. What’s a Mum going to say?“Sorry Son, I have a holiday booked to the hottest place in the world right now, see ya?“

Not me… and I didn’t go.

I’m not really a Drama Queen (much) but you can read about it here at I’m a Death Road Survivor. 

It’s a good test of family communications to see how the family survives and thrives under these circumstances. I did like their comment on the first night:

“Oh shoot, Mum’s not here, did anyone bring a guidebook?”

It’s nice to be missed! So having planned this holiday, surprise, surprise I only get to enjoy it like you, through their photos!

Why Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka was a geographically central decision for our family spread out across three continents arriving from Europe, Australia, and Asia.

There are lots to see and do in Sri Lanka for a mixed-age group who like fun, fitness, and adventure. Although after Bolivia Boy’s dramas I’m now banning any whiff of too much adventure!

Sri Lanka is famed for its mix of religions and cultures. You can have everything from ancient temples to a wildlife jeep safari, you can go hiking in some specular countryside or just chill and be a beach bum.

… Oh and for us, a big bonus, the English cricketers were playing Sri Lanka in Galle!

Yes, we fail the true Aussie test… you’re still a Pom at heart if you still cheer for England. Howzat for a laugh?

England V Sri Lanka Galle

Why the first week in November?

Working out when to visit Sri Lanka is slightly complicated and depends on where you want to go. There are two monsoonal rainy seasons and different climatic conditions on different sides of the island.

We live in Asia and we never really bother about the best times to visit a place as every season has its unique offerings. When we choose this week, the Melbourne Cup holiday weekend had a lot to do with it!

The route:

Negombo (Jetwing Lagoon Hotel 1 night) —> Colombo (Colombo Swimming Club 2 Nights) —> Galle (Air BnB 2 nights)  —> Nuwara Eliya (Jetwing St Andrews 2 Nights) —> Kandy (Air BnB 1 night —> Negombo (Jetwing Lagoon 1 night)

Admiring the view Colombo Swimming Club

The Accommodation:

We like to mix it up and seek out a mixture of places to stay.

We started the holiday at Negombo, close to Bandaranaike International Airport, which is 35 km outside Colombo as everyone was arriving and departing at different times. The Jetwing Lagoon was a good choice, although because of the lagoon, there would have been other hotels closer. 

We tried to book the Jetwing hotels centrally through Jetwing Sri Lanka Tailor-Made. I did smile at their greeting:

“Ayubowan” which apparently means ‘May you live long

and I got to understand what this really meant as rooms were booking out fast, I blame the British Barmy Army cricket fanatics. After the Jetwing hotels went on stop-sale, the Travel Agent recommended I book direct and I ended up with my trusted Agoda booking site which still showed availability. It was a long-winded process but patience is a virtue and with the Ayubowan blessing we finally made it.

For the first time, we kept the costs down by adding in some Air BnB apartments in Galle and Kandy with mixed results. Both places were in fantastic locations, but the apartment in Galle was rather unclean (and if my lot complain then it must have been) and full of mosquitos.

The Colombo Swimming Club was with reciprocal rights from our overseas sports club. Both this and Jetwing St Andrews were added in for some colonial step back in time charm.

Transport:

By all accounts driving in Sri Lanka is as manic as elsewhere in Asia and finding a good reliable, safe driver was important. Despite several attempts to have his pre-organised, they ended up organising this locally on arrival, using the Company that picked them up from the airport.

This gave them the opportunity to check out their driving skills, order a large van and negotiate a price directly. Although it felt uncomfortable not having this element of the holiday pre-sorted, it worked out fine.

The highlights:

England Vs Sri Lanka Galle International Stadium

Mr Wren was keen to see the Test Match cricket in Galle which did determine the route and was ironic as they didn’t end up getting tickets to get inside the ground. But as in all travel, what they ended up with, sitting on the ramparts of the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Galle Fort to watch the match, was memorable and probably more fun!

The Galle International Stadium is in the middle of a roundabout. Despite all indications that whilst pre-sale tickets went to official tour groups, plenty of at-the-ground tickets would be available on the day, this was not the case.

There was no option but to join the locals in the cheap seats and head to the top of the fort for a free ticket to all the action. The comment was, you are no further away than in the back seats at the MCG,  Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Wildlife Safari:

The next highlight was the safari between Galle and their time in the Highlands. There were plenty of opportunities to get up close and rather too personal for our eldest daughter with some of the locals.

Honestly wading through someone else’s safari photos can be a bit of a yawn but this one did tickle my fancy. Wot,  I called ‘Tree Trunk’ on my earlier Instagram posting:

There was plenty of variety of animals to be seen in the vast savanna of the Udawalawe National Park. Ok, it’s not an African safari but by all accounts, everyone was pretty impressed and they felt like they’d had a true wilderness Jeep adventure.

The books all claim that it’s a pretty unforgettable bird-watching experience which is obviously true and they did say ‘Dad was a bit of pain wanting to stop and photograph every bird going!’ That’s my man!

Hiking in the Highlands

Leaving behind the big English Barmy Army crowds of cricket fans in Galle to cheer England onto victory, they retreat to the hills following in the footpaths of the old colonial British to find themselves in the cooler climes of the city of Nuwara Eliya, known as “Little England”

The tea plantation area at Nuwara Eliya and the Horton Plains National Park offered the opportunity to stretch their legs and go for some spectacular hikes after long days of travel in the van. They were high up in the mountains amongst the clouds resting upon a blanket of tea plantations. It’s pretty stunning scenery.

Everyone appreciates the cooler climate there, although as you can see it was misty and rather wet at times.

With more time (and better organisation!) it would be possible to include a ride on the scenic train to Kandy.

I have always had the view that one should never try to do everything on a holiday – leave something to come back to. In this case, I have the whole lot to come back to, and I can’t wait!

Sri Lanka as a destination has a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and something for everyone don’t you agree? I am sure we will be back as a family to see some more of wonderful Sri Lanka.

Where are you traveling to next? If it’s Sri Lanka let me know any hot tips for places to see and do!

“Ayubowan” to us all!