Our experience in Sri Lanka
A small preface: if you want to plunge into the exotic atmosphere of equatorial and subequatorial landscapes, see with your own eyes and feel the endemic flora and fauna with your own hands, eat freshly picked ananas and bananas, light up with native comrades at a private party, light a fire on the shore of the Indian Ocean from sawdust ficus and coconut shells and all this under the "live" reggae from Bob Marley and for more than reasonable money - then Shri is for you!!!
True, to arrange such a holiday for yourself on Sri is a rather tricky business and, at first glance, it may seem unlikely, since a hotel holiday on the island is mainly focused on couples and companies of self-sufficiently limited people who want to retire and relax. Therefore, discos, night bars and other cereal establishments along the coast, as they say, "in the afternoon with fire .. ", and hotel entertainment is more than unobtrusive ...
But for true romantics, there is a secret formula, the key to which lies in the native population, and more specifically in the "beach businessmen" who will definitely introduce you to themselves as soon as you stick your nose outside the hotel! Do not be afraid or avoid them, they are all exceptionally kind and peaceful.
We met one of these “businessmen”, and eventually became friends. His name is Malli (abbreviated name - the full one consists of 4 words, and it is not possible to pronounce it without prior preparation), we affectionately called him Maly - in the sense of "glorious fellow". This person really helped us make our holiday unforgettable. But everything has its time.
And so, the selection of the tour and the hotel was treated with all the seriousness and responsibility inherent in us! We proceeded from the considerations that since it is to be dragged into such a distance, it is better to play it safe from disappointments.
We stopped at the Blue Water Hotel, Wadduwa village, 50 km south of Colombo, and never regretted our choice.
For those who are traveling for the first time, I want to clarify that the excursion program can be ordered in advance when choosing a tour, or you can take it from the locals (like we do from Malli), the difference is that when ordering in advance, you will win in cost (you won’t have to pay for a simple hotel), but most likely you will lose in comfort due to the fact that you will probably be attached to a large group and driven according to a clear schedule (neither you pee under a tea bush, nor linger with a rendezvous with semolina, etc. ). But another option is also possible - you can plan the trip yourself, contact the locals (for example, with Malli), take an excursion from them, pay for the hotel only for the days when you will be there.
A few words about the hotel: the food is very decent - a large selection (we took breakfasts and dinners; for those who are going to spend all the time in the hotel, it makes sense to take all inclusive), the atmosphere is complete relaxation and palm nirvana, water polo is possible from entertainment, chess, table and tennis, SPA for girls, massage; the beach is just outside the hotel, but sunbathing is not recommended there, although it is possible (everything is possible for our brother); the ocean is always warm (>30 C), power is felt, even a small wave can overturn a negligent tourist and slap painfully on the large, resembling corn grits, sand of the beach. Take a closer look at the sand in the place where the waves wash the beach - it is all dotted with small holes, the largest - with a diameter of a thumb - small crabs crawl out of these shelters to stare at colorful tourists.
At night, the holes become large enough to completely hide a bottle of local water substitute - arrack (which is 750! ) ...
As for the excursion program, we took a one-day tour in Galle (a turtle nursery, local coral reefs, boating on the estuary of the Bentota River, etc. ) and a three-day Polonaruwa, Dambulla, Sigiriya, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya with two exotic overnight stays - near Polonaruwa and in Kandy . We were especially pleased with the first overnight stay, in a beautiful place on the shore of an artificial 700-year-old lake, where we were first of all warned not to open the windows and doors of bicoz semolina! We were delighted - they are everywhere, jumping along the branches so close that you can open the window and pull their long tails, trample on the flowers of 4-meter cacti, the size of an open palm ...And in general, our flowerpots costing from 200$. The most impressive was the royal palace complex - Sigiriya (V c.
), located from the foot to the top of a 200-meter cliff; an ancient cave temple in the rock - Dambulla - as we understood from the guide's stories, dating back to the 4th century. BC e. , where bizarrely (in other respects, as in the culture of the whole country) Buddhism and Hinduism intertwined. There we saw one of the local miracles - a small spring on the ceiling of the second and largest cave of the temple (which for some reason was not mentioned in our guidebook of the German edition) - water appears from nowhere, flows several meters up the ceiling contrary to the laws of gravity and digs into a special sacred vessel in the center of the cave. Locals say that science cannot explain this phenomenon. Perhaps science would have argued with the locals, but for the lack of its presence during our excursion, it did not succeed ... ; The botanical garden in Kandy is interesting not only for its exotic plants (for example, benjamin's ficus - crown area - 2.
5 hectares, bamboo more than 30 cm thick, the oldest palm alley in the world - 127 years old, sort of .. ) but also with plants planted by famous people, for example, Princess Diana, the same Gagarin Yura in the 61st year (although it’s not tall succeeded, then Gagarin's tree .. ). I'm not talking about the elephant shelter, various factories and small, but no less pleasant surprises that Malli arranged for us with a driver called by us - Gingerbread man for his physique and incredible mobility (it seems that they liked this name so much that it will be fixed for him for a long time ), for example, a unique garage in a rather modest restaurant at a hotel on the banks of the river, and inside the garage is a Jaguar, Cadillac and others, which have already become a relic but are still on the go, a car with a total amount of at least $ 5.000, 000 ...By a bizarre coincidence, the same Malli invited us to a party hosted by his friends in honor of the birthday of the guys from Ukraine. The movement turned out to be the same!
On the ocean shore, at least 30 people gathered in the house of one of the local comrades - they launched fireworks, lit a fire, arranged a night crab hunt, treated themselves to local wine from 5 liter glass bottles, washed down with Arak, ate vegetables and grilled fish, shrimp the size of ours crayfish, immediately plucked royal coconuts and drank this milk (it is, however, none, but that's not the point). And all this to live music in the style of Bob Marley and Miguli (“Earth in the porthole” performed by them - you need to hear it), they led round dances, steam locomotives, etc. , etc. - in short, everything is fair! Yes, and I must say that none of ours really spoke English, and they spoke Russian, but this never interfered with mutual understanding and friendship between peoples! I don’t even know what contributed to understanding more - the fact that they learned English from a rush-tourist or the amount of drunk arak ...In general, the rest was SUCCESSFUL!
And in conclusion, some useful information based on personal experience:
• Money - Sri Lankan rupees - 1 $ about 115 rupees (it is most reliable to change immediately upon arrival at the airport in Colombo and be sure to keep the check);
• Communication - very cheap but not very high quality: 1 min. A conversation with Ukraine is about 20 rupees (we bought a SIM card at the airport for 1000 rupees, we called almost every day);
• Vegetables and fruits can be bought very cheaply at the nearest market, which are full there, for this it is advisable to use the services of a local taxi called “tuk-tuk”, you are taken back and forth for a nominal fee, and they will also accompany you during shopping;
• Transport - the main taxi for short journeys - a three-wheeled motor scooter with a "tuk-tuk" roof. Very cheap and quite comfortable.
Usually a few always "graze" near the entrance to the hotel; driving in Sri Lanka is a rather dumb thing, not only do they have left-hand traffic, but to everything else, drivers constantly honk and drive into the oncoming one. Moreover, the signal is for them both a greeting, and a warning, and a request, and gratitude. In short, the signal is broken, you can not stick out on the road.
• Always and everywhere you can bargain (except branded boutiques and local non-tourist food markets). In most cases, we were able to drop the price by more than 50%. In general, things and products are 2 times cheaper than Ukrainian ones;
• During excursions you will be literally pursued by merchants. This can be very off topic - sometimes it helps to loudly, clearly and confidently say “I don’t need this” - they will leave you alone for a while; or relax and take a picture with them - when else will you be so in demand in society?
• Alcohol - sold only in special stores, so just in the market or in a store you can not even buy beer (near Blue Water, about 500m, there is a point); the most common drinks: Arak - coconut tincture 33 turns, Lion beer - sometimes light and strong, very worthy, bottles of 625 ml;
• There are no problems with water, I advise you to buy only bottled water and always have a bottle with you on the road;
• It is better to buy tea at tea factories - both cheaper and more reliable;
• The actual cost of a full body massage with oils, sauna and other local amenities for an hour and a half - 3000 rupees / person
Malli coordinates:
Asanka_malli@yahoo. com
Mob. : 0094776273444
He speaks English, understands Russian a little, has Russian-speaking friends who will help with correspondence. Honest and responsible, always trying to do more than agreed. We had a great time thanks to Malli so would recommend it to other travelers.
That, perhaps, is all.
We hope that this information will be useful to someone, and we are just pleased to share our impressions.
With wishes for a good rest, Alexander and Irina, Kyiv