Our holiday in Sri Lanka
I want to tell you about our trip to Sri Lanka, we visited there in September 2017. I want to say right away that I am not a fan of advertising or anti-advertising, so I will simply describe my impressions of the rest and talk about the people I met ...
So, we bought a ticket from the Join UP operator (we forgot the negative impressions from the trip to Egypt from the same operator and we again fell for the low price of the tour), we chose the Kogalla Village Club hotel.
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We arrived to Kyiv, this time we departed from the Zhuliany airport, to which we have to walk a little more from the bus.
I want to warn those who can't stand flying on an airplane right away - the road is very difficult and exhausting, so think 100 times whether you can calmly endure a long road that involves a transfer.
We flew from Kyiv to Dubai, the flight took 5 hours and 40 minutes, in Dubai we are waiting for a transfer, about 2 hours, the luggage was not picked up, it had to be reloaded onto another plane, further Dubai-Colombo, the flight took 4 hours and 30 minutes, we got there to Colombo, we are looking for our luggage on the tape, everyone has already received it, but ours is not. We look, everyone began to sit down on the bus that should take us to the hotel, and we stand and do not know what to do ! ! ! For the first time we go to the hotel without things!! ! ! Confusion, horror, panic, bewilderment and hope for the guide's help! ! ! On our “happiness”, the guide from the above operator came across as always “the best” in this office, his name is Grigory, unfortunately he was only interested in excursions, tourists’ money, but not their problems, taking the receipt from me about the loss of the suitcase, he was just I gave it to the reception and went about his business.
The luggage did not appear either in the evening or in the morning of the next day, and only after I talked with the staff at the reception with the help of Google translator, things began to move forward, they began to call the airport, etc. , it took a long time to describe all this horror, but by the evening of the next day the suitcase brought J Even then, I realized that now I would definitely not contact the Join UP company and their guides, who do not care about customer problems at all, even despite the low price of the tour. If the employees of this company are now reading my review, I ask you on behalf of many tourists, please pay even the slightest attention to us when you are taking us to the hotel, be as kind as in other companies, tell us at least elementary what country we are in, what there are customs, what is possible, what is not, what currency, etc. But do not pretend that we are just a PRODUCT !! ! ! We are PEOPLE!! !
Who spent their money on a good mood and impression, and let it not matter to you which of your clients what happened, what problems, etc. Dear Grigory Popov, do not forget to add EVERYONE who leaves the hotel to the list of leaving, please decide customer problems if you are assigned to the hotel and MOST IMPORTANT! ! ! -DO NOT IMPOSE YOUR EXCURSIONS, WE ARE ADULTS AND WE WILL DECIDE WHERE AND WHEN WE SPEND OUR MONEY!! ! !
Let's move on to nutrition: we took only breakfasts and thank God, after talking with those who took breakfast, lunch and dinner, we realized that we made the right decision. For those who have already been abroad, the food will seem rather poor, if not worse: scrambled eggs, rice, noodles, cheese, butter, buns, bread, muesli, milk, potatoes, curry tuna (not everyone can eat), gravy, salads , beans, fruits, tea, coffee, juice. All this in a very small amount. Those who were in Turkey, just cry!!! !
: ) The staff is very hungry, when you eat, they stare blankly at you with hungry eyes (and this is not only my observation), when I put a couple of buns and a muffin in my bag, since we flew away in the afternoon, and read above about the duration of the road), several people some of the staff flew up to me poking me in the face with a paper in which it was written that food from the restaurant could not be taken out, I was horrified by the wild attitude, calmly put everything back and again remembered Turkey, where such wildness was out of the question, especially since I I took what I hadn’t eaten... But this is not the worst nightmare, the next day a company of people arrived and the girl saw the “variety of dishes” and demanded to call the cook and the manager. When they approached, she began to be indignant that there were no sausages, no cheese (and they simply “forgot” to bring it that day), etc. And what do you think ?? ? ? They brought sausages from the kitchen to their table!! ! ! And the next day, bacon appeared on the menu!!! !
They dared to approach our roommate in the restaurant and report in broken Russian that she ate not 2 bananas, but 4 !! ! ! In short, whoever was there will understand me, I asked those who took full meals, they said something for breakfast, almost for lunch and dinner, they just added soup. Oh, by the way, the food is all incredibly spicy, even for me, although I'm a spicy lover! At the request to bring a glass of water, they also expect tips, although they did not receive them from me purely on principle. I think if the food is so spicy, then water could at least be put in the hall. But with all the shortcomings of breakfast, we did not remain hungryJ
Now the territory: I really liked the hotel itself, the first thing you see when you enter is a hall with access to the ocean, with this view, all problems and failures are immediately forgotten.
The territory is very well-groomed and beautiful, there are unrealistically many chipmunks, they look like squirrels or Chip and DaleJThe truth is so fast that you couldn’t touch itJ There are unusually many security guards on the territory, this has never been seen in hotels before.
Now about funny and sad things. Behind the fence, along the beach, there are “beach-boys” who offer excursions, cook caught fish, etc. They practically hang on the fence and the guards supposedly don’t see them. I never thought that I would fall for a divorce, but everything happens for the first time. We met one of them, his name was Sudu, then his brother came up, called himself Roma. Who was, knows that in the ocean there are fishermen on poles and they catch fish. They asked this Suda to buy fish and cook it, but since, according to his stories, he was without money, they paid him 1300 rupees for 2 large fish. We heard a lot of oaths and promises about how honest he is, a fine fellow, etc.
and if we think that he will deceive us, we can even take a picture of himJ The fish was delivered to us in the evening on a plate, deliciously cooked, but not 2 large tuna as agreed, but a plate of sardines that fishermen catch on our beach and sell for 250-300 rupeesJ Well, they were hungry, without a suitcase, without a mood, and they didn’t have the strength to quarrel. Later, when the luggage arrived, Sudu again hung on our fence. Asked for shrimp, lobster and 2 oysters or crab. He asked for as much as 4.000 rupees, swearing, as last time, to deliver everything by the evening. Some feeling didn’t give me the strength to give him all the money, I gave 2000, I promised to give the rest when the order came. But as an experienced tourist already understood, we were just stupidly divorced, Sudu did not appear either in the evening or in the morning of the next day. And only after 2 days, we swim in the pool, we hear a whistle, we look, the Court hangs on the fence and calls us.
We approached, we look at him with a plaster on his arm and again swears with an oath that he is not a fraudster, that he has an injury and by the evening we will have food ! ! ! We are still waiting for food J Then we saw his brother Roman several times, told him about how his brother stole money from us, for which they heard that he was not his brother J So dear tourists, do not be fooled by cheap divorces J Our neighbors were more fortunate, they met with the driver of a beautiful black tuk-tuk, his name is Sasha, and he drove them all the rest for a moderate fee on a tuk-tuk, and his mother cooked food for them. For those who are interested, you can find Sasha outside the gates of the Kogalla village hotel, where all the tukers are. So here is such a contrast among people. For those who love seafood, go to the fish market in Unawatuna, you can also get there by bus number 350, the fare is 30 rupees, just find a person who will then cook the fish on the grill for you.
Personally, we were lucky on the last day, sitting on the ocean shore, where the locals swim, a guy called him Sumit came up to us, got acquainted, talked, he offered us his services on excursions, etc. in their style, and since it was sorry for the stolen money, I complained to him at SuduJ, of course, they know each other there, but unlike Sudu, Sumit turned out to be from a fairly decent family who have their own business in jewelry and restaurant business. As usual, on the last day, local money remains, which is unlikely to come in handy soon, and we decided to go to his cafe on his own tuk-tuk for free, having discussed the menu and prices in advance. And if you knew where we were! To a fairy tale!!! !
We were transferred from the ocean shore to the forest, with a river, a lonely boat, a railway, a hammock and palm trees. It feels like we are in a fairy tale where actions and times are mixed. There were 2 tables on the river bank, as it turned out, the cafe was recently opened, Sumit himself who paid attention to us, but it was all so beautiful and unobtrusive that the only regret was that we met on the last day. The portions are large and cooked very tasty, and the prices were surprisingly not too high. With all my heart I would like to wish many to get acquainted with this wonderful person, kind, interesting, funny and modest. For those who are interested, I leave the coordinates, I write again that this is not an advertisement, but just a wish for tourists to visit there, in fact, it is not far from the hotel, but the cafe is in the outback, and you yourself will not find it.
By the way, next to the cafe, there are rooms that he rents, if I'm not mistaken, they cost $ 20 per room. His family is also engaged in the cultivation of bananas and you can buy them not for 100 rupees as in the whole of Kogalle, but for 50. Oh yes, girls for youJ - Uncle Sumit has his own jewelry store, if you need to ask, he will take you, the service is at the highest level, products of incredible beauty, they make good discounts, stones are checked with a special device and a certificate is issued. I did not have time to take a picture next to the store, on the gate there is a beautiful mural depicting an elephant, the store is called Jayadewa Jewelers Gem.
Here are the coordinates of Sumith for those who are interested Sumith Prasanna Liyanage 0094756669831, viber 0094720112917.0094779347539, skype sumith. liya
So, back to the restJ from the good things that remained in my memory: the hotel itself, a very beautiful view from the room - right on the ocean, for the first time we were so luckyJ Good-natured staff at the reception, good condition of the room, diligent boys who cleaned the room, good wai file, which unfortunately is only in the hallJ; towels and linen were changed every day, 2 bottles of water, tea, coffee, cream and sugar were left in the room, there was a kettle, hairdryer and cosmetics; very few vacationers; abundance of fresh fish; cheap spices, tea, precious stones and most importantly, the incredible beauty of the ocean, in my personal opinion, is the only thing worth moving such a hard road for!
From the bad: there is no civilization near the hotel, for almost everything you have to go to the city of Galle, 25 minutes by bus; hungry staff in the restaurant; thieves-beach-boys, from the neighbors of the Kogala Beach hotel - dishonest hotel employees who stole the phone and money
The overall impression is adventures that will be remembered for a long time! ! ! If I had the opportunity to go, I probably would have agreed, only not to Kogallu, but I would like to go to Khikaduwa, guys from other hotels shared their impressions, for comparison, it would probably be interesting to go again. I advise everyone to visit the Indian Ocean, these are incredible landscapes, air, friendly locals and a sea of u200bu200badventure, for this it is worth moving such a difficult road at least once in your life ....
