First solo trip to Asia. Everything is not as scary as it seems!
Route: Negombo-Kandy-Dambulla-Sigiriya-Hikkaduwa-Tissamaharama (Yala Park)
The review contains only recommendations, you should get the impressions yourself.
PREPARATION
We rested together with my husband for 20 days in January.
Tickets were bought a month in advance, searched through momondo. ru, bought through biletix. ru. For two - 59 thousand, flight St. Petersburg-Dubai-Sri Lanka.
All hotels were booked in advance, the total amount is 25 thousand. It is better to book through
agoda. ru, there are more offers for Asia than on booking. com. We also used the Ostrovok website. ru. (hotel in Hikkaduwa), the site was unfamiliar to me, but everything was ok with the reservation.
The visa was issued through the official website of the Department of Immigration and Emigration of Sri Lanka /, there is a Russian version. The form is filled out in English, a sample filling can be found on the net. Confirmation came almost instantly.
We took out insurance, bought backpacks, wrote out the names of hotels and addresses, even printed out maps to show to taxi drivers. We also bought a tablet, an indispensable thing on the road.
Do not take large bags or suitcases if you are going to travel around the country by public transport - there will be nowhere to put them.
Take a sweatshirt on the lock, in the mornings in the center of the country it is cool, especially in Kandy.
Buy mosquito repellent on the spot, it's called Lemongrass Oil. Mosquitoes have been seen a couple of things all the time, in January it seems to be not the season for them, besides, in many hotels there are mosquito nets over the bed.
I will not write about the flight. If you are flying through Dubai for the first time - do not be afraid, and although the airport is large, everything is in order with the signs there.
Sri Lanka airport
At the exit, change money, you can even most of it - the rate is good. Sims are expensive by local standards, it so happened that they were not used at all. Dialog is the most popular operator, but there will be so many ads that the phone needs to be recharged all the time.
Long-distance travel is very cheap, we spent more on tuk-tuks, you have to bargain well with them or not be lazy and use the bus.
It’s not scary to drive to Kandy for four hours, although the road is in the mountains, but without a serpentine.
We spent 2 nights in Kandy. It is better to settle on the hills around the lake, at the bottom there is a road and very polluted air, and the view from a height is more beautiful.
We stayed at the Kandy Paris Hotel - I do not recommend it. He has a beautiful terrace, but in our room (the closest to the reception) there was a harsh, unbearable smell of dampness. I read about it in the reviews, but I thought it was nitpicking. Settle higher, maybe it's better there, sniff.
What we visited: the first day - the Temple of the Tooth Relic, walks around the city. The second day - the Royal Botanical Gardens (20 minutes by tuk-tuk from Kandy). Be sure to walk in the garden to the bridge over the river, look at the bamboo thickets and giant trees. There are cafes and toilets in the garden.
There are tuk-tuks at the exit, so you can go back without any problems.
Kandy Dambulla
The next morning we went to the bus station, it took about two hours to get to Dambulla. Dambulla is, in fact, just a temple by the road, there is nothing else to see there.
In the cave temple you need to climb high steps in the rocks. Backpacks can be left in the shop to the left of the main entrance to the Buddhist Museum (the building on which the golden Buddha sits).
Have change money with you to pay at the temple for storing shoes.
From Dambulla by tuk-tuk we got to the hotel in about 20 minutes. The Eden Garden Hotel, deluxe, but standard could have been.
To visit Sigiriya, Dambula and Polonnaruwa, it is convenient to stay at this hotel.
On the same day we went to Sigiriya: 15 minutes from the hotel by tuk-tuk. Climbing the rock is not so difficult, except that it will not be easy for people of age.
The driver was waiting for us at the foot of the cliff. Descent, inspection, ascent will take two and a half hours.
Polonnaruwa
From the hotel, a 2-minute walk to a bus stop is very convenient to get to Polonnaruwa. The staff learned the bus numbers and directions. To go two hours in the concrete wilds. The ruins are scattered far from each other, you can’t get around on foot, on bikes (I read that there is a rental), it seems to me that it would also not be convenient. At the bus stop, we were immediately heaped up by locals and offered a tuk-tuk tour of all the ruins. These guys work past the cash register, as we later found out. But they did not regret that they went, as it was convenient, and most importantly, they visited places without tourists at all - only antiquities and the jungle. Inspection took more than three hours, then went to the hotel.
In the morning we again arrived in Kandy.
The new hotel Nathashiya Holiday Inn is highly recommended, the views from the balconies in the room are just superb.
Immediately booked a taxi at the hotel to the tea plantations. I do not advise you to go by tuk-tuk - a trip to the mountains, so it will not be comfortable.
Round-trip, with a stop at the tea factory and the store costs 1.500 rupees. Buy tea at factories - it's cheaper and better, but you shouldn't go to the spice garden, the inspection is free, but then ointments for all diseases are sold for a long time for unrealistic prices.
In the evening we went to national dances to drum music - "Kandy Dance". The concert is 40 minutes long, inexpensive, curious, interesting, but don't expect much. The concert hall is within walking distance from this hotel, right on the slope.
Travel Kandy-Hikkaduwa by train
There is a direct train from Kandy (! ) straight to the coast. It leaves at five in the morning, only third and second class carriages. For two tickets they gave 600 rupees (2 cells). We booked a taxi at the hotel, bought tickets before leaving right at the station, there were no queues. Drive more than 5 hours, but the seats are soft. Toilet in every carriage. The view of the mountains and the dawn will be on the left, the ocean - on the right in the direction of travel.
When exiting the vestibule, hold on to the handrails, the train is chatting, and the car doors are always open. I do not recommend buying food on the train (if only for extreme sports), take it with you. In general, there is nothing wrong with local trains, it is quite comfortable.
Time n Tide Beach Resort. We took a standard room without air conditioning, but with a fan. The hotel has a side sea view, so the best rooms are those closer to the ocean.
I will not write anything about the resort - everything is there for tourists, there is nothing to explain. We liked everything!
Galle (old fort)
To get there, get off the main road of Hikkaduwa, get up at the bus stop and catch any bus, almost all of them go through Galle. The bus station in Galle is located near the fort, you will understand where to go. Drive 30-40 minutes. In the same trip, include a visit to Unawatuna Beach, you can get there by tuk-tuk.
Yala National Park (safari) from Hikkaduwa
Yala Park is a five-hour drive from Hikkaduwa, so plan your overnight stay right away. The most convenient place to stay is Tissamaharama (in Sri Lanka they simply call Tissa). There are many hotels, we chose Hotel 4 U, very good.
What to take with you: Panama, pants or long shorts, water, food, Lemongrass Oil against mosquitoes (there were a few in the room).
How to get there: You need a bus that says Kataragama, they all go through Tisza. Ask the hotel staff to stop the bus, as intercity bus stops sometimes fly by. You can go from the Hikkaduwa bus station, keep in mind that most buses don’t even stop at it, but stop nearby on the road. Ask a local to stop the bus for you.
The trip is long, but tolerable, leave early in the morning, while there is no heat.
Booking a jeep for a safari in Tisza is no problem; at the bus station, locals guard white tourists and immediately offer a tour.
You can also say at the hotel that you want to go on a safari and the staff will arrange everything. This pleasure costs about 60 dollars for two - this is for two places in an eight-seater jeep, or you can rent a whole jeep - it's already 90 dollars. hours. During this time we saw: crocodiles, elephants, buffaloes, jackals, a leopard from afar, wild boars and various birds. In addition, there are amazing landscapes.
From Tisza, for the sake of curiosity, you can go to Kataragama - there is a sacred city, an interesting place, there are no tourists at all. Bus stop next to the hotel, 40 minutes drive. This is the final stop of transport, from it you can go straight to the coast. We drove to Hikkaduwa with a transfer in Matara.
From Hikkaduwa it is worth going to Dondra Point. This is the southernmost point of the island, on which stands an old lighthouse. It can be climbed for a fee.
The trip can be combined with Mirisa beach. Be sure to climb the island in the water near the beach - it's beautiful. On Mirisa beach, swim with caution, I was almost swept into the ocean, even in Hikkaduwa with its waves this was not the case.
Hikkaduwa-Colombo
A taxi costs $70, but we decided to take the bus. As already mentioned, the bus station in Hikkaduwa is kind of rotten, everyone rushes past. We could not stop the bus for a long time, they were all overcrowded. The tuk-tuker offered to take us to Ambalangoda - buses to Colombo are formed there. The journey took about 40 minutes. In Ambalangoda, we boarded an air-conditioned bus like our minibuses. We drove for a long time, but in comfort.
I didn’t feel like dragging around Colombo with backpacks until the evening, so we booked the Monsoon Suites hotel, a deluxe room. The hotel is new, inconspicuous from the road, looking for a long time. I recommend the hotel, very nice rooms, good price.
In Colombo itself, we did not walk - noisy, dusty, stuffy, a lot of people. I read on the net that the main attraction is located 6 kilometers from Colombo - the Kelaniya-Raja-Maha-Vihara temple or just the Kelaniya temple. They called a tuk-tuk, paid 1300 rupees, it took 30 minutes to drive. They didn’t regret it, it’s a very beautiful place, they got to the full moon festival.
It takes about an hour from the hotel to the airport. Taxi paid 2000 rupees.
If you plan a couple more days in the center of the country, you can visit Nuwara Eliya and Anuradhapura. There is also Adam's Peak for the brave, we haven't been there either. We never figured out how to get to it on our own, and tours from the coast were too expensive. If you are traveling with a group, then the price for the tour is divided by the whole group.
WHAT TO BUY AND TRY
Red rum, pastries in Kandy, pineapples on the beach, small bananas, fruit salad with ice cream in restaurants.
Try the procedure in Ayurvedic salons, when warm oil (Shirodhara) is poured on the forehead. There you can also buy royal coconut hair oil and local perfume - these are oils from lotus, temple flower, lily, etc. If you like spicy, try nuts with red pepper, sold everywhere in transparent packaging.
Have a nice trip!
