Srilanka: The final leg of our one year around the world journey.
Going to Ceylon after about a month of touring India seemed the obvious thing to do.
We couldn’t wait to get there after the hurdles we experienced in there.
So… Was Sri Lanka worth it?
Srilanka was a nice surprise as it was much cleaner and we got to see more women roaming around, which made us feel much safer than its neighboring land.
We took the typical itinerary that most tourists follow. We skipped Colombo, stayed two nights in Negombo, took the train to Kandy, followed by Ella for the tea plantation, Tissa for the safari, Tangalle for the beach, Unawatuna for more beaches then Colombo for our farewell.
Tips to make the trip go smoother:
Use Uber in Colombo and Negombo. You can get an Uber to take you to Kandy and skip the train nightmare.
Why is it a nightmare? Because you can not buy tickets online, and tickets are sold out months before your arrival to the island. So what’s one to do? We tried the scammy agency that gets you a ticket for a humongous fee.
Which explains why I say: Just take a taxi to everywhere in Srilanka. It costs much less than the actual train ride.
When Uber is not available, try Pickme. It is a local “Uber” app that came in handy in most cities.
When in smaller towns and both Uber and Pickme are unavailable, we found that hotel managers gave us better taxi deals than any other places. This might change depending on seasons, people and many other factors so don’t hesitate to negotiate with everyone before you book your next ride.
Attractions:
Sri Lanka surprised us with its overpriced touristic attractions. The Fear Of Missing Out was the only motivation we had to keep visiting, but after every single one, we were left with a bitter taste. We assume the reason behind it is because of the lack of tourism infrastructure. Hotels, restaurants, drinks… pretty much anything tourist related was ridiculously overpriced. But the value would you ask, you can’t put a price on value. You can when it completely lacks the said value.
We recommend you get a local to help you with places where to eat. Trip advisor was a mess. Every time we tried a highly rated place, it ended being bland. The best meal we had during our 15-day journey was a local breakfast made by our host.
So what’s not to miss?
Honestly?
Were the beaches just as pearly white as they show on Instagram? No.
Were the fruits tropical and juicy? Not during January when we went, no they were not. The only fruit we found was bananas, bananas, watermelons, and some pineapples.
Was the food delicious? Some things were good. But it was on rare occasions, unfortunately. Srilanka needs more happy to cook chefs and not just “It’s tourist season, better open a shack and feed hungry foreigners anything to make a quick buck”.
Were the hotels fancy? Nope. There was no shower pressure in any of the hotels we went to.
Was it safe? Yes, we felt safe walking even late in the evening.
Was the safari good? NO! The safari was such a ripoff. You pay to get in a jeep with 4 other people (6 in total), race in the park chasing elephants and birds. Is it worth spending one night in Tissa, waiting for the pickup to come get you at 5am, get to the park at 5:30 and wait in the open car (yes, it is freezing at dawn and no one tells you you’d need a jacket on a tropical island) until 7am to get inside the park, munching on a sad dried sammich the hotel offers you as an extra service? NO!
So, did we have any fun while in Srilanka? Any experience is a good learning experience. We appreciate every single day on our journey that made us learn about the world, the cultures, and people. But would we go again?
So, did we have any fun while in Srilanka? Any experience is a good learning experience. We appreciate every single day on our journey that made us learn about the world, the cultures, and people. But would we go again?
It’s a no from me.