I went to Sri Lanka on 6th November, 2024 and returned on 12th November, 2024. This article describes my experiences on this trip.
We landed at Colombo, then directly traveled to Kandy and started there. From there, we went to Nuwara Eliya. Then to Bentota. And then finally back to Colombo. And then back to India.
The Pune International Airport is ten minutes from my home. We often enjoy listening to the planes flying above us vibrating our utensils, interrupting important meetings, and reminding us of the scientific progress enabling us to travel huge distances THROUGH THE SKY. The first flight was from Pune to Chennai. It was at 3:30AM so we planned to reach there at around 1AM. The flight was delayed a few minutes, but didn't really matter, our next flight was in the morning at 9:40AM.
So we went to Chennai from Pune, and stayed there till the morning sleepless. I explored the Chennai International Airport (MAA). It was mostly empty at this hour. It's a big airport. It's clean. I roamed around like a ghost for hours and eventually boarded the next flight i.e. Sri Lankan Airlines.
It was okay. We didn't get any meals we had added, but they were free so that's fine I guess, and the flight was just a little less than two hours long. I had a window seat. I think the seat layout was like 3-3-2. I was on the row with 2 seats. A nice lady sat next to me. She was having trouble putting on her seat belt, I swiftly helped her out and reassured her that seat belts are complex sometimes. She was Sri Lankan and spoke a little in Sinhalese or Tamil I'm not sure. We exchanged a few words in broken English after quickly realising the language barrier. We had a few more interactions throughout the flight.
The flight was smooth. We rose above the clouds many of which were shaped like Ramayana dieties, and some like rabbits, while some were simply cloud-shaped. As we approached Sri Lanka, the pilot notified us about it and led our attention towards the Sri Lankan coastline. He adeptly flew the plane above parts of Sri Lanka leaving us mesmerized of the scenery finally landing to the Colombo Airport - Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB).
I didn't explore the Colombo Airport. The Sri Lankan lady who was sitting next to me said goodbye pushing her luggage out the airport. I waved back to her too. Seems I made a friend on the flight whose name I don't know and who I'll never meet again, and I think I won't remember if I ever see again. We took our luggage from the baggage claims area and headed out of the airport. Outside the airport we found a taxi service and booked a taxi to Kandy. On second thought, it would have been better to book a taxi from inside the airport maybe (a PickMe booth was near the exit), and get a sim card in there too.
The taxi ride was mostly uneventful, we waited at a nice place for lunch, and then once for a King Coconut drink.
For lunch, the place we went to offered a buffet. We tried a variety of rice and chutneys and some different curries. Our first Sri Lankan food was good. They gave us curd, some random fruit juice, some random sour juice (probably Jal-jeera), and honey mixed with jaggery too.
We reached Kandy in the afternoon and checked into our hotel - Galaxy City Hotel (booking.com). It's a good place, and the staff is good too. We talked to the owner and the guy at the counter often and they promptly and politely gave us any information we needed. We relaxed there, and in the evening set out to explore the city.
We walked out the hotel and soon saw a tuk-tuk and stopped it. We wanted to go to the city center, but before that we needed a Sim card, so we headed to a sim card place. In this tuk-tuk journey, we started a conversation with the driver which headed towards politics of Sri Lanka, and surprisingly the tuk-tuk driver was well versed about not just Sri Lankan politics, but Indian as well. Of course, no emotional takes were involved, just a discussion about the current state of Sri Lanka. It seems that an average Sri Lankan citizen is quite politically aware (if I could consider the knowledge of tuk-tuk drivers as similar average Sri Lankan citizen's knowledge about it, since often other drivers we met were quite aware of the political situation in Sri Lanka too).
I got a Dialog sim card, and a large data pack. I got 15G data, which seemed enough at the time but now I realise it was much more than we needed - at the end of the trip I still had about 12GB data left. The sim card was mostly reliable, though sometimes, I had internet problems with the Telegram app.
Our go-to place at Kandy for dinner was Balaji Dosai. They served a few different kinds of Dosa's, and it seemed that the place was quite popular for tourists and locals. In contrast to Balaji Dosai, most restaurants around were mostly empty.
The sun sets in Sri Lanka at around 5:30PM - 6PM, and soon after most shops start closing. We walked the streets of Kandy to go back to our hotel at around 9PM. It looked as if it's the middle of the night 1AM or something.
The next day we had good breakfast in the hotel and soon left for Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. On the way there, the tuk-tuk driver first stopped at a bridge where we saw a good view of a valley and saw some monkeys chilling around.
Next, the driver stopped at a Herbal Garden where a guy showed us different kinds of herbs. The owner of the herbal garden showed us around the place and described different plants and trees there. Basically it was an advertisement for his products. Every other plant leaves were plucked out and held in front of our nose so we could smell it and re-affirm the owner's belief that it does indeed smell good. There was a lotion he made that in a few minutes removed all hair with no pain at all. He had different kinds of lotions for different skin problems, and even other medical problems. The guy claimed to have studied from Colombo University. It was fascinating to hear about the Ayurvedic solutions to different problems modern medicine struggles with. At the end of his tour, the owner offered a massage (which I declined politely) and a brochure detailing all the products they sell. We left the garden and headed towards the Elephant Orphanage.
The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage does not accept USD, but luckily there's an exchange close by. There's a nice souvenir shop just at the entrance. We forgot our selfie stick there and thankfully the nice people at the shop had kept it safe when we went back to get it after about an hour after we left. The Elephant Orphanage is a nice place with lots of elephants and information boards everywhere about different things related to elephants. We left there happy and headed to a place for lunch (after which as stated earlier we went again to the orphanage to get our selfie stick). For lunch, we ordered String hoppers and Sri Lankan fried rice I think, along with fruit juice.
We went back to Kandy through the same tuk-tuk and witnessed the scammy tuktuk culture we had read about. We had never asked that same tuk-tuk driver to wait, in fact, we booked another tuk-tuk, yet the same guy had picked us up, later charging us for waiting time as well. We got off the tuk-tuk near the Kandy Lake and walked around there. Often some random guy would come to us and try to act as a guide trying to take us to one place or another. We deftly avoided these kind of people and enjoyed the Kandy Lake view for a while, and then walked towards the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. We had unfortunately reached Kandy a little late and missed the cultural dance show at Kandy Lake Club.
The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is said to be housing the relic of the tooth of the Buddha. We reached here at 6:30PM for the ceremony. A lot of tourists were at this place. We went barefooted inside the temple. At the entrance, saw the moonstone (a random guide told some tourists), and moved ahead inside where a Buddha idol stood within the sanctum. In front of the sanctum were three drummers half naked ready to start the ceremony. They stood within a square area surrounded by ropes around which all the visitors stood and watched the performance. The drummers started their energetic music and more people gathered around them. Meanwhile there were a few people standing on the stairs at the corner of the hall. They carried a bowl of white flowers or flower petals. People watching the drummers moved towards the stairs after a while and went up, I watched the drummers for a while and tried to get the feel of the place and then eventually moved upstairs too. The upper floor was very crowded. There were two separate queues separated by a rope. The inner queue that was closer to the wall was less congested and seemed to be moving freely, while the outside queue was very crowded and one could smell the sweat around. I backed off from the queue and moved away from it towards the other end of the hall where I could breathe properly and watched the queue move along. There was another sanctum here and I think the relic was here too. A set of stairs went down from this room. There were a few idols there and the exit. We moved around the temple for a while, and eventually left the place after taking a few photos.
The next morning we woke up early and visited the Kandy View Point. We watched the city of Kandy and waited to see the sunrise though it was still bright we wanted to see the sun come up (later we realised that's a sunset point and the sun would be at the opposite direction). Most of the houses there seemed to have sloping roofs, while there were a few structures which had a terrace. We saw a house at the top of which there was a basketball court and a person was practicing there missing shots continuously. The Kandy Lake was fully visible from here, and it seemed much smaller than we previously thought. There's also a big buddha statue in Kandy, but it was far away from the view point. A few monkeys visited us, and we observed them as they observed us. After a while, we walked down and found a marketplace where we spent some time and eventually went back to the hotel.
We checked out from the hotel and headed towards Nuwara Eliya in a taxi. We stopped for lunch at Queen's Hotel in Kandy where I tried Chicken Kottu. It started raining while we were finding a place for lunch, and continued raining the whole journey to Nuwara Eliya.
Nuwara Eliya is in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. We moved up the hills through it's zigzag roads and I felt lightheaded for a while. I barfed at the side of the road and felt fine the rest of the way. We stopped at Ramboda falls and watched the majestic waterfall. It was diluted due to the rain, yet it was nice to see it. Next, we stopped at Bluefield Tea Factory where a guide told us about the whole process of how they make tea from the start to the end and showed us some very old machines that are still in use there. The guide was quite informative and we asked more questions along the way. We were offered free tea which we happily drank as the cold creeped in. The rain too hadn't stopped.
We reached a little late at Nuwara Eliya - maybe around 7pm - where we were welcomed by Asela the owner of the place we stayed at called Shirin1892. Shirin1892, located at the end of Shirin Road, is apparently listed as a heritage site. At it's entrance is a Ganesh idol gifted to the owner by some old guest. The owner Asela was a jolly friendly guy. He told us about the history of the place and gave us some coffee as we sat in his living room. Shirin1892 is named after a horse that was owned by the initial owner of the place. Asela's family came into possession of it in around 2000s I think and Asela lives here with his family while letting guests stay too. It's of Old British architecture and is supposed to stay like that. It gave a nice vibe to the place. In the living room, there were a few books kept around including a book on traveling in Sri Lanka, inside it was a letter to Asela from the person who stayed there for a while and enjoyed the stay and thus gifted this book.
We washed up and went straight to sleep. The first night it felt cold, so the warm blankets helped. The next day we went to Seetha Aman temple. The weather was perfect. No rain, and a little cold. We went to the Seetha Amman temple where Sita from Ramayana was supposed to be held in Ashoka Vatika. The temple was nice. A lot of idols. The fee was very low and the people and staff there seemed nice too. There's a footprint marked there which is supposed to be the footprint of Hanuman created when he visited Sita. We spent some time there, then walked around and went to Hakgala Botanical garden but we didn't enter it. We went back to Seetha Amman temple and had some free food that they serve everyday at 12PM. The food was good - it was rice and drumstick curry. We washed our own utensils and kept it back. There's a souvenir shop in front of Seetha Amman but it's nothing special.
Next, we got a tuk-tuk to go to Moon plains, one of my favourite places on the whole trip. The fee there for an adult was 1800LKR and if you want a jeep then the cost for jeep is 5000LKR, but since you aren't allowed entry without jeep, you need to pay 1800LKR + 5000LKR anyway. They don't accept USD either, so one must pay with LKR.
The jeep ride was very bumpy. We moved up the hills around twisted roads and watched beautiful scenery along the way. The jeep driver saw a peacock and immediately stopped the jeep so we could watch it and listen to it - it kinda sounds like a cat. The peacock jumped up a tree and went away. We were happy seeing a Sri Lankan peacock jump and kept going ahead up the hills. There's supposed to be potato farms here, and there were fences everywhere so random animals don't get in. We reached the top of the Moon Plains to see the breathtaking view. The clouds went through mountains, all the tiny houses, and nature in it's full glory. The air here was fresh and free of any pollution. We spent some time here just chilling. We sat in the open grass and looked at tiny houses far away. Next to us there was also the Hakgala mountain - the famous Sanjeevani Mountain that Hanumana is supposed to have lifted and brought to Sri Lanka to save Ram's brother Laxman. We came down from Moon Plains again via jeep. And again we saw and heard a peacock and the jeep driver kindly stopped the jeep so we could watch it for longer. We left the Moon Plains to head towards Gregory Lake.
Gregory Lake is a wonderful place. There are boats everywhere. The atmosphere and the vibe is lively, as families and friends gather to enjoy the scenic beauty and participate in water sports. We went on a speed boat first wearing thick life jackets. The speed boat driver drove us around the lake twice. We enjoyed the ride and the scenic beauty of the place. After this, we tried out the motor boat, and sailed around for about 40-50 minutes and thoroughly enjoyed Gregory lake.
As evening approached, it started to get colder, we went towards the city center for some shopping, and then dinner at Ambaal's. Asela very kindly picked us up from the restaurant and took us back to Shirin1892. He also set up the fireplace where we warmed up for a while.
Next morning, we checked out and took a taxi to go to Bentota.
The Nuwara Eliya post office is one of the oldest post offices in Sri Lanka. When we reached there it was closed and we were about to give up and continue our journey but someone opened the door of the post office right on time, and so we went in and explored it. I got a Sri Lankan post card from there.
We visited Lover's Leap Waterfall. It's a 15 minute climb up a steep path. The taxi was parked at the bottom and we climbed our way up through the stone steps and reached the top exhausted to see the waterfall. On the way, there we saw a couple who reassured us that this is the Lover's Leap Falls, and we're close to the top. Given the exhaustion, it did feel nice to finally see the waterfall, though it's a bit smaller than Ramboda Falls. We relaxed there for a while and then went back to our taxi.
After that we visited a Shiv temple and one more temple. There were a lot of hindu idols all over the place.
The way down was long. We stopped at a place to just stretch our legs and fed some oriental fish and watched em fight for food in a small pond.
The views on the way down were fantastic - we missed those on the way up since it was mostly dark then.
Nuwara Eliya to Bentota is like a 5 hour ride. We had some lunch on the way. Had some King Coconut water too.
We reached our stay Wimala B&B after it was dark. The old lady there who's the owner guided us to her home. We talked to her for a while and she very kindly offered us some garlic tea, and then arranged a river safari for us.
Next morning, Wimala's son drove us in a tuk-tuk to a place where his boat waited with a boat driver. Didn't get his name, but the boat driver was a fun and kind person. He drove the motor boat for the river safari. There were no life jackets this time, we just sat on his boat and he took us through the Madu River in Bentota and pointed out random animals or birds he spotted. It was a nice experience and it felt calm going on the boat so early in the morning and looking at random birds. We saw fruitbats hanging upside down probably smelling fruit (dunno for sure they were far away). Baby kingfishers were beautiful and cute. And black monkeys seemed to be one of the popular spots of the river safari. There were lots of Water Monitors (probably Varaan in Sri Lankan) lurking around too. Heron's like in Nuwara Eliya were seen quite often just minding their own business. The driver also informed us about various establishments along the river.
The driver was very kind, and frequently asked us whether we are happy with the safari. He said that sometimes though it's rare but crocodiles can be seen in the river, and we said that we would be happy if we see a crocodile. Luckily, we succeeded and the driver showed us two crocodiles, and along the way he excitedly told other boat drivers where to go to see the crocodiles (probably Kibula in Sri Lankan language).
We checked out from Wimala's place, and headed towards the road to go to Colombo.
We stopped at Moragalla Beach and spent some time there. Beaches are awesome.
Next, we continued towards Colombo. Stopped at a place for a lunch. Stopped at a place just to stretch our legs. And finally reached Colombo our last stop.
We went to a Buddhist meditation centre. It was filled with pictures of the Buddha and stories along with it.
We stopped at Galle Face Green. It's so beautiful and mesmerizing. The atmosphere is pleasant. People are minding their own business and having a good time.
We chilled around over there and decided to watch the sunset here, though there was still some time left for sunset, so we went to see the Lotus Tower. It's a big tower shaped like a lotus. I don't think it blooms though. The lotus part is actually pink and glows in the evening. We chilled out there for a while, and there was a burger place behind the tower where we enjoyed some Sri Lankan rock that was playing on their speaker.
We went back to Galle Face Green, and sat at the edge and watched waves waiting for the sun to go down. The sun was orange and the weather seemed perfect. It was a beautiful sunset.
After Galle Face Green, we went to Gangaramaya Temple. It's a big temple with soooo many varieties of Buddha statues. I was baffled by the variety and enjoyed looking at each piece in detail. There was a super small buddha statue - smaller than a fingernail! - filled with details, we were able to look at it through a magnifying glass. There were also large statues of buddha and other dieties everywhere at the temple. There were also rooms in the temple displaying all of the stuff that was donated over the years. There were a lot of antics too. Many statues at this temple were surrounded by huge elephant tusks - same was the case for the Temple of Sacred Tooth Relic too. It was a majestic temple and truly made me appreciate the dedication to art people have.
We reached our stay Green Olive Villa late in the evening after shopping in Colombo. The owner helped us out, we quickly made our payments to the taxi driver as well as our stay since we were checking out at night itself for our flight back. Green Olive Villa provided airport drop facility. We only slept a little there. They had a large jeep which they used to drop us sleep-deprived guests to the Bandaranaike airport.
Our flight to Chennai from Sri Lanka was mostly uneventful. There was some turbulence due to bad weather conditions, yet we still reached Chennai much earlier than expected.
I again roamed around the very familiar Chennai Airport waiting for the next flight at 9:40AM. Had breakfast there - idli + sambar. The flight was delayed for about 15 minutes. We boarded the plane yet it took a while for it to take off due to bad weather. And the flight too was rough and we faced a lot of turbulence. And that was the end of the journey, we reached Pune safely.
Sri Lanka is a culturally rich country. During taxi and tuk-tuk rides we often saw groups of people celebrating some festival or dancing together.
They also seemed to follow traffic rules well. And the school kids looked obedient as they held each other's hands in their Temple of Sacred Tooth visit, or the Lotus tower visit. They also always seemed to walk outside the white lines that mark roads. Cars and bikes immediately slowed down before zebra crossings, and people crossed the roads through zebra crossing without looking. Seat belts were compulsory in four wheelers, and helmets on two wheelers. It seems to be a good country for pedestrians.
King Coconut is a coconut native to Sri Lanka. It tastes so good. We also tried other Sri Lanka native fruits, and would've loved to try more.
Though, we had a bad experience in Kandy with one tuk-tuk driver, many of them were also good and honest. Tuk-tuk's are a nice way to move around the city - one can even rent a tuk-tuk in Sri Lanka. Also, haggle culture is strong here it seems. We did have to haggle a lot from tuk-tuks to markets everywhere, but the shopkeepers there sometimes are very persistent in making the sale. One shopkeeper even called us while we were moving around multiple times with a lower price, till finally we were satisfied with the price.
There were times when I was being mistaken for being Sri Lankan. It was funny, but now that I think about it, maybe learning some Sinhalese and Tamilian would've helped a lot. Would've at least helped with knowing the authentic prices of things :P
Overall, it was a fun experience. I loved Nuwara Eliya, Bentota, Kandy and Colombo, and the travel in between. If I go again, I would try out the famous Nuwara Eliya to Ella train ride, visit Sigiriya, visit more places in the city that we missed, try out more exotic food and Sri Lankan street food, and spend more time on the beach.
As I look back on my trip to Sri Lanka, I am struck by the incredible variety this small island nation offers. From the misty highlands of Nuwara Eliya to the serene beaches of Bentota, and the bustling streets of Kandy and Colombo, every place left a unique imprint on my mind. What stood out the most was the warmth and friendliness of the Sri Lankan people, whether it was the tuk-tuk drivers sharing political insights, Asela's heartfelt hospitality at Shirin1892, or the kind shopkeepers who safeguarded our belongings.
The journey also offered a chance to step away from the pace of everyday life, giving me time to connect with nature, history, and spirituality. The calm of Gregory Lake, the mythological ties of Seetha Amman Temple, and the breathtaking vistas of Moon Plains served as a reminder of the beauty that exists in simplicity.
There were moments of discomfort too—like the winding roads of Nuwara Eliya or the occasional scams—but they added to the authenticity of the experience. Travel, after all, is about embracing the unexpected and learning from it.
Sri Lanka taught me to appreciate the interconnectedness of culture, nature, and history. It reaffirmed the importance of stepping out of our comfort zones to explore new places, interact with diverse people, and soak in stories that shape a place and its people.
As I return to the rhythm of daily life, the memories of this trip inspire me to travel more, immerse myself in new cultures, and perhaps even embrace the occasional bumpy road. The world has so much to offer, and this journey was just a beautiful beginning.