Dhanya Damodaran

Jan 6, 20228 min read

Sri Lanka, The Exquisite Teardrop of Indian Ocean

Visited in December 2021

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ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට සාදරයෙන් පිළිගනිමු!!!

The pandemic era continues...Covid 19 virus is still active and not sure how many more years we will have to live with the virus. While in some months of the year, we feel life is kind of getting back to normal, suddenly the cases surge and borders close, pushing us to reconsider or cancel travel plans, how sad!!

We had shortlisted South Africa or Morocco for a trip in the December of 2021, but all thanks to surge in Omicron variant of covid cases around the world, that the borders to these two countries were closed. However, we decided to go ahead with a trip and Sri Lanka seemed to be the most favourable destination. The beautiful island of Sri Lanka welcomed visitors who are fully vaccinated with no need to quarantine.

We planned a 5 days trip to SL. Our itinerary was,

Day 1 - Negombo, Pinnawala, Sigiriya

Day 2 - Minneriya, Dambulla, Kandy

Day 3 - Kandy, Nuwara Eliya

Day 4 - Kitulgala, Bentota

Day 5 - Bentota, Negombo

Day 1 - Negombo, Pinnawala, Sigiriya

We landed early morning at Colombo airport and decided to take a hotel room in Negombo, only for a short nap and get fresh to start our Sri Lankan expedition. We had booked our travel in a private mini van with driver, through Sanki Leisure Private Limited, a tour operator in Sri Lanka.

We started the day with a visit to the markets of Negombo which was close to the beach and had several open stalls run by fish mongers selling fresh fish and dry fish.

After Negombo, we set off to Pinnawala, which has a big Elephant Orphanage that houses several wild elephants which were injured or left out from their herd or abandoned. We can have a close watch of them eat, bathe and play. Got to see a mom and her cute ele babies and was fun watching them play.

After lunch from a Sri Lankan restaurant, we headed off to see the much awaited Sigiriya - the Lion Rock

Sigiriya or Sinhagiri means Lion Rock. The fortress around Sigiriya was built by King Kashyapa. The archaeologists have excavated vast remnants of the huge fort with several rooms, thrones, pools, fountains in Sigiriya and is a UNESCO world heritage site. As we climb up the rock, we get to see several arena of frescoes and paintings. The steep steps posed a bit of challenge as it began to rain cats and dogs half way through our climb.

The heavy rain was quite unexpected but gave us a totally breathtaking experience of the entire trek to the top of the Lions Rock. We, including our camera, got fully drenched in rain and it stopped working :( The photos of the rest of the trip were captured on mobile.

It was a tiring day with lot of hiking up and down in heavy rain, fully got wet and was super hungry also. We had dinner and checked into our tree house in Sigiriya.

Day 2 - Minneriya, Dambulla, Kandy

We started early morning in a jeep to Minneriya National Park for a safari in the wild life reserve forest. The cool and fresh morning air was quite refreshing and energizing for a good start of the day. We got to see a few elephants, wind buffaloes, peacocks etc in the wild.

After the safari, it was breakfast time. We had authentic Lankan spring hoppers and tasted really well. We checked out of our tree house and started our journey to Dambulla.

In Dambulla, we visited Buddhist temples - The Golden Temple and The Cave Temple.

The Golden Temple:

The Cave Temple:

This is indeed an incredible place, the air around is filled with calmness and serenity. One has to climb a flight of rock cut stairs to reach this sacred Buddhist temple which houses more than 150 holy statues of Buddha, paintings related to Buddhism and shrines of Lord Vishnu, Ganesh. The temple complex dates to first century BCE and has a functioning monastery. It was interesting to see Buddhist and Hindu deities in the same temple complex and is common in Sri Lanka.

The prayer flags in Sri Lanka looked different from those in Tibet. We get to see these arranged around the Bodhi trees and the temple complexes.

Next, we visited the spice garden of Sri Lanka. The guide provided an orientation of various herbs and spices used in preparation of Ayurvedic oils and medicines. We bought several products at the end of the session. Also, we did enjoy a nice head, shoulder and foot massage here.

We drove to Kandy and spent our night at a cozy hotel there, near the lake. The Yo Kandy hotel is neat and clean and also has nice views from the balcony.

Day 3 - Kandy, Nuwara Eliya

When I hear Kandy, the first thought that comes in mind is the Temple of Sacred tooth relic of Buddha (Sri Dalada Maligawa). This is a UNESCO world heritage site and is said to preserve the left canine tooth of Buddha. It is believed that a disciple of Buddha retrieved it from His pyre and handed over to the king and since then became a royal possession.

We visited the temple in the morning and a visit here in the early hours of the day is quite refreshing.

A visit to Sri Lanka would be incomplete without enjoying a Tuk Tuk ride :) It is the easiest, cheapest and most interesting way to explore places.

There is a big Buddha statue overlooking the entire city of Kandy, on the top of a hill. This one is Bahirawakanda Vihara Buddha Statue.

It was quite windy up thee and the panoramic view of the city was absolutely worth the visit. There is a small souvenir shop run by little monks where we can buy books, souvenirs etc. I got surprised to see the monks repair the road to the temple!

We did plenty of souvenir shopping in Kandy. Beautiful Buddha statues in wood and stone, paintings, masks etc.

Sri Lanka is famous of precious stones. Who can forget the beautiful engagement ring of Princess Diana, the blue ceylon sapphire and diamond studded exquisite jewelry is so elegant and stylish.

We visited the gem museum, where the guide narrated us the hard work and hardships the miners go through in the entire process of gem mining and how much a game of luck it is! No wonder why the stones are so expensive, considering all the work that happens behind the scene to produce the marvel of a jewelry out of each crude stone that's mined from the deep treasure chests in the secret chambers of Earth. We also bought two small blue sapphire stones and a garnet stone, which were pocket friendly :)

I wish I were Lady D who could spend millions of dollars on a single ring :D

After our 'grand gem shopping', we drove towards Nuwara Eliya, the beautiful town which is more of a hill station with lovely lakes and plenty of tea estates. Sri Lanka's tea is world famous for its richness and taste. We get to see several estates all around Nuwara Eliya. We chose to stay in a colonial style suite in Heaven Seven hotel here.

Day 4 - Nuwara Eliya, Kitulgala, Bentota

The early morning walk amidst the mist and fog, by the lake side...cool breeze, chirping birds, sip of hot steaming ceylon tea!! feels heavenly!!!

We walked towards Lake Gregory from our hotel, which was around 3 km away and strolled around its perimeter in the morning and it was a cool experience.

After breakfast, we visited the botanical garden, Lord Rama temple, view point facing St Clair waterfalls.

Botanical Garden

Lord Rama, Sita and Hanuman temple

St Clair Waterfall

The next stop was Kitulgala, the much awaited leg of our trip - we were going to experience water rafting, for the first time in life!!!

We stopped by the shop, paid and then were all set for the adventure. There were two guides and they briefed us about the procedures, instructions to follow and safety measures involved. We walked towards the river and it indeed had medium and fierce rapids, favourable for rafting. The entire experience was captured by one of the guides using a go-pro camera. The adventure ride went on for about two hours, towards the last 15 minutes, we could freely swim in the mild rapids and float around the cool waters of the river.

The hunger stroke hard on our stomach and we had a good lunch by the river side restaurant and then we continued our journey to Bentota, the beach side town. We checked into our Sri Lankan traditional styled chalet in Kurumba Villas, had dinner and slept well.

Beautiful gardens, nice villas, a good swimming pool, great food and very friendly staff - the Kurumba stay was a good experience.

Day 5 - Bentota, Negombo

As usual, a beautiful morning walk, today its to the beach... The Indian Ocean flaunted all its glitz and glamour to us with the sandy beaches cladded with huge rock boulders. The waves hit the rocks to splash water all around, the breeze was cool, weather was awesome... best time for a walk by the ocean.

My walk by the railway track which we crossed to reach the beach

After breakfast, we visited a Turtle hatchery. There a few hatcheries in Bentota whose volunteers collect the turtle eggs from the beach, hatch them at the nursery, nurture the baby turtles and send them back to the ocean once they are grown up enough to protect themselves.

Next, we visited the mangroves by the river for a boat ride. We got to see small islands, a cinnamon garden, Buddha temple and enjoyed a fish foot spa as well.

Boat ride through the mangroves

Cinnamon garden and Buddha Temple

Fish Foot Spa

This was our first time too...I was unable to withstand the tickles when the fish bit my toes...ended up lifting my foot out of the water most of the time whereas my hubby and son thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Like how I said about Tuk Tuk ride, a visit to Sri Lanka would be incomplete without enjoying a refreshing King Coconut drink. Plenty of small stalls selling these can be found by the side of road and even in the middle of the river!!

After having lunch by a sea side resort, we left to the airport. There was a huge facility for foreign travelers to conduct PCR test which provides results within 3-4 hours, for their onward journey to their home country. Till the time we got the covid test results, we went to a nice sea side restaurant and had a good dinner and then left for the airport to say goodbye to this little princess of the Indian Ocean.

Sri Lanka - People, Food and Places

All our interactions with the locals were very warm and friendly. I found Sri Lankans very kind hearted and loving. Let me share my own experience. When we were climbing Sigiriya, it began to rain and our local guide helped us stand by a cave to wait until the rain stopped. We waited for more than 15 minutes and the rain showed no signs to stop, rather the downpour got heavier. Our kind guide ran all the way back to the car parking which was definitely 750 m away, collected umbrellas for us and a plastic bag to keep our camera from getting wet. He made sure we are safe and we enjoy the climb in spite of the rain. With him, we thoroughly enjoyed the climb, in spite of the harsh weather. It became an incredible experience rather than a dismay.

We enjoyed Sri Lankan food - spring hoppers, rice and coconut milk based curry, fried rice and indeed not to miss the local beers and arrack based cocktails. The gastronomy of Lanka is very similar to that of Kerala - spicy, loads of grated coconut and coconut based curries, white and red rice... no wonder I felt home away from home!

The nature and geography is exactly like Kerala - There were several occasions during the drive where I felt I am back home! Sometimes I felt I was driving in Thrissur, sometimes Alappuzha and sometimes Wayanad, It was that similar, just that we see several Hindu temples in Kerala, where as in Sri Lanka, there are many Buddhist temples. The divine presence is felt in the 'Gods own country' as well as this beautiful island. How surprising was it to find similarities in several words and even Sinhalese alphabets to Malayalam!

The spice gardens, vegetation and most importantly, Ayurveda - all these added to similarities with Kerala. Overall, my Lankan expedition was incredible, and I think I should visit again to explore Jaffna, Yale, Galle, Ella etc.

Our family moments