We took off at 9.00 am from Sunrise Hotel, Negombo. Negombo is a small suburb of Colombo. It was a small boutique hotel good for a short half night stay. Clean and nice. It was run by a family. When we met them in the morning, the owner’s sons were watching a cricket match between Sri Lanka and Australia.

We left Negombo and first went to the Dambulla Rock Temple. It is a Buddhist temple carved in the rock. Entrance fee was about $8 per person. It was a small 20 min climb. The temple is very old. There were cave paintings and Buddha in different poses. We learned the difference between a sleeping pose and a nirvana pose. We were given a guide, but his English was so bad that Anu had to translate his English for me 😊

It took us nearly 1 pm to reach Sigiriya. We were supposed to check into a hotel in Habarana village. Instead we skipped the hotel and also lunch, and went directly to the elephant safari. Earlier, we had decided on Minneriya National Park, but apparently, all the elephants had migrated to the nearby Caudulla National Park. The cost of the safari was $30 per person. We negotiated a little, but the safari owner did not budge. It turns out that the actual ticket charged by the national park is around $10 per person. So it is not cheap for the owner. That is why they would not lower the price further.

Our safari started around 2.15 pm. The safari experience was awesome. Luckily for us, the rains had stopped as well during the safari. We saw hundreds of elephants.

We came back from the safari at around 6 pm. It started raining again 😊. Luckily for us, it did not rain when we were doing the safari in the open jeep.

We checked into Cinnamon Hotels, Habarana. It was a 4-star property, and it was laid out really nicely in a small village kind of setting. Very cozy place. Buffet dinner was nice. By the way, Haba rana (Rann means battlefield) was a place where an important battle was fought.

We also had some Sri Lankan food. We had expected South Indian style Idli-Dosa, but it turned out that Sri Lankan food is quite different. They had Sambal (similar to a dry salad, dry chutney). They make their dosa really soft. They had brinjal bhaji. Kiribath, Boiled Manioc, Pol Roti, String Hoppers, Lunu Miris. We sampled the local curries, Jackfruit curry. Banana Flower curry. 

We slept quite early around 9.30 pm, quite tired that day.

We started at 8 am for Anuradhapur, the ancient capital of Sri Lanka. It was a nearly 3 hour drive. This was a Buddhist capital set up by the brother of King Ashok of India. Hence, lots of Buddhist monuments from 2^nd Century BC. The city of Anuradhapur was excavated very recently by the archaeology department. All the monuments were previously under rubble and mounds of dirt.

The Jetavanaramaya is a Buddhist stupa,  located in the ruins of Jetavana monastery in the world heritage city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. At 122 metres (400 ft) it was the world's tallest stupa and the third tallest structure in the world when it was built by King Mahasena of Anuradhapura (273–301). He initiated the construction of the stupa following the destruction of the Mahavihara. His son Maghavanna I completed the construction of the stupa. A part of a sash or belt tied by the Buddha is believed to be the relic that is enshrined here.

The Ruwanwelisaya is a stupa and a hemispherical structure containing relics, in Sri Lanka, considered sacred to many Buddhists all over the world. It was built by King Dutugemunu around 140 B.C., who became King of all Sri Lanka after a war in which the Chola King Elāra (Ellalan) was defeated. It is also known as "Mahathupa". Two quarts or one Drona of the Gothama Buddha's relics are enshrined in the stupa, which is the largest collection of his relics anywhere.

Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi is a sacred fig tree (peepal tree) in the Mahamewna Gardens, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It is said to be the southern branch from the historical Sri Maha Bodhi at Buddha Gaya in India under which Lord Buddha attained Enlightenment. It was planted in 288 BC and is the oldest living human-planted tree in the world with a known planting date. Today it is one of the most sacred relics of the Buddhists in Sri Lanka and respected by Buddhists all over the world.

At the Bodhi tree, the guide made us give them a donation of Sri Lankan Rs. 200 per person. It seemed like a scam. The amount was not a whole lot, but just to see the tree, it seemed too much when no one else was giving it. Mahesh was particularly miffed at the guide for that 😊

Though Anuradhapur was decent, our experience was neutral. We had personally expected something similar to the temple complex of Hampi or the temple complex of Angkor Vat, where each temple was different and worth visiting. Instead, it was all Buddhist monuments, with Buddha in different poses. It got repetitive after a while. I would not say skip Anuradhapur, but just see a couple of monuments and drive through it. The cost of Anuradhapur visit was $12 per person. Double that for non-SAARC nationals.

We were done with Anuradhapur around 1 pm. We had the option to visit Mihintale.  Mihintale is a mountain peak near Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka. It is believed by Sri Lankans to be the site of a meeting between the Buddhist monk Mahinda and King Devanampiyatissa which inaugurated the presence of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. It is now a pilgrimage site, and the site of several religious monuments and abandoned structures.

But we decided to skip Mihintale. Later when we read about it, we wish we had gone there. 

We picked up lunch from a really small roadside shop. Some dosa rolled with red chutney, vada and a couple of Sri Lankan desserts. The lunch turned out to be quite delicious.

We proceeded to the Sigiriya Rock Fortress (about 25 mins from Habarana) and reached there around 2 pm. This a fortress that is at the top of a very steep rock. It was created by King Kashyap who killed his father and move the capital from Anuradhapur to Sigirya Rock Fortress. The price is a little steep $15 per person and it was raining but it was a great climb. The place is also really well kept. They have also created very nice stairs against the rock face. There were cave paintings from about 800 years ago, which depicted the culture of that time. Apparently, Kashyap’s younger brother Muglan had fled to India and he came back with an army to fight Kashyap. The battle was fought at Habarana and Kashyap lost and committed suicide.

We came back from Sigiriya Rock Fortress to Habarana around 6 pm. We just sat around chatting. Overall, we liked Sigiriya. Though slightly expensive, it was worth it.

On all these drives, we noticed that while Sri Lankan roads were narrow, the road quality was quite good. However, what was noticeable was the lack of good options for public transport. For example, we did not see any Volvo type buses. The public buses were also the State Transport type simple buses. We were happy that we had decided to get a private van and not rely on public transport.

We started from Habarana Village at around 8.30 am. We proceeded for Kandy. The road to Kandy was not that great. It took us about 4 hours to reach Kandy by about 12.30 pm. We saw a few places along the way.

We checked into the hotel Golden Crown. It was a 5-star facility. We then spent time by ourselves exploring Kandy.

First we went to a burger place. The reviews were awesome, but the service was slow. Only I ordered a burger while the rest wanted to eat elsewhere. The burger turned out to be ok. Everyone else was teasing me about the burger.

Then we went to a place called Global Kitchen. Swati, Mahesh and Anu ate there (I had already eaten my burger). It was Indian food, Dosa, ragda pattis and bhel. It was run by an Indian. The food was very good.

Then we walked to an ice cream shop call Cool Corner which had great reviews. We reached there around 2.30 pm. It turned out to be great place. They had many different ice-cream flavors. I would recommend going to this place. The owner Ramesh is also a great photographer.

I also picked up a couple of mangoes from the local market just to taste. Their taste was ok, but not great.

We then walked near Kandy lake, which is a huge lake built in the middle of the town. Kandy is a hill station, so lots of mountains.

In the evening, we went to the Kandy Cultural Dance at 5 pm. This was a 1 hour show. We enjoyed it. The cost was $6 per person. I thought it was worth it. I felt that if the stage light was even grander, then the show would have looked even better. But the artists did a fine job. There were 10 different types of dances. Especially the firewalk was simply unbelievable. Artists walking on burning coals and holding a live firestick in their mouth. Hard to believe.

Then at 6.30 pm we went to the Temple of the Tooth. This is where a fragment of Buddha’s tooth is kept. It is revered by Buddhists and there are elaborate ceremonies thrice a day where they do a “showing” of the casket that holds the Buddha tooth. By the way, Sri Lanka is 70% Buddhist. They also have Christians, Hindus (mainly Tamil) and Muslims.

The Temple of the Tooth was nice to visit, but the casket and the ceremony was ok. No big deal.

We reached our hotel around 7.30 pm and went for dinner. At dinner minestrone soup was awesome. They also had a pasta live counter which was great. It was interesting that the hotel did not mark vegetarian and non-veg food with green and red dots. Mahesh, Swati and Anu were a little unhappy about having to ask veg vs non-veg for every dish, especially desserts 😊

We started from Kandy at around 8 am and took the 8.30 am train from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya. This is a 4 hour train journey going through hilly regions and quite beautiful. It is rated as one of the most scenic train journeys in the world. Though the journey was beautiful, I thought it was a little hyped. I found it similar to the Pune – Mumbai train journey through Khandala and Lonavala, but a little longer. A 2^nd class train ticket was 210 LKR (about 84 INR). Lots of hawkers selling stuff on the train. I bought everything that I could eat 😊

We reached Nanu Oya Train Station at around 1 pm. This is the train station for Nuwara Eliya, a hill station. Our driver Kapila came to pick us up at the train station.

 We first visited Seeta Amman temple. It is the site of the location where Sita sat under a tree and gave Hanuman the ring to give back to Ram. This is where Sita was kept. The entry to the temple is free.

Nuwara Eliya is the place where Ravan’s Lanka was thought to have existed. It is fairly down South in Sri Lanka, not near the Ramsetu from Rameshwaram. I thought it was good visualize Lanka and the place where Sita was kept in captivity. However, the importance given to Ramayan in Sri Lanka is negligible. Maybe it is the Buddhist influence.

There was another place near the temple called Ashok Vatitka. But let the name not fool you. It is not the place where Sita was kept. That place is in the temple. This Ashok Vatika is simply a botanical garden. Fee is $12 per person. Unless you love botany, ok to skip Ashok Vatika.

We had lunch on the way at a place called Indian summer. Again Indian food, made for our soul 😊

We also saw Gregory Lake, a beautiful lake in Nuwara Eliya, in front of the Indian Summer restaurant.

We checked into the Golden Ridge Hotel in Nuwara Eliya. Again a 5-star property. When we asked the manager about air conditioning, he said that they have only heating in Nuwara Eliya, no cooling required because of the hill station weather.

We then went to Pedro Tea Factory where they showed up how tea is made. We also understood the various grades of tea.

There was a waterfall called Lover’s Leap in the Pedro Tea Estate. The tuk-tuk (riksha) guy was quoting LKR 2,000 to take us to the waterfall. We said might as well do a nice hike. The walking was about 30 mins. The story of the Lover’s leap waterfall is that a local prince fell in love with a commoner girl. He was forbidden to marry her. Hence, the two of them leaped off the waterfall and died. Qayamat se Qayamat tak style.

We got to the waterfall and really enjoyed ourselves. Mahesh was in particularly romantic mood 😊

We got back to the hotel from the waterfall around 6 pm. We then went swimming in the heated pool. We had a hearty dinner, then slept around 9.30 pm. Temperature was around 10 C, so we turned the heater on. Felt nice and cozy. This hotel was quite nice.

We started from the hotel at 7.30 am. It was a long drive to Bentota, all the way to the west coast of Sri Lanka. We first stopped at St. Claire Waterfalls. There is a huge hydro-electric project in that area. That is why the volume of the falls is dependent on the upstream dam.

Then we went to Devon Waterfall, on the Devon tea estate. There are hundreds of tea estates in Nuwara Eliya, originally owned by the British, now in local hands.

We then stopped for a white-water rafting trip. It was 1-hour adventure. Cost was $25 per person. It was totally awesome. We jumped into the water towards the end of the adventure. We had a great time. We had lunch at the hotel where we ended the white water trip.

Starting the whitewater rafting trip.

We were completely drenched in the rapids.


Even Anu jumped into the water.





Enjoying lunch after the rafting.

We then proceeded to Pandanus Beach Resort in Bentota. We reached there around 4 pm. It was almost a 6-7 hour drive from Nuwara Eliya to Bentota.

We first went to the turtle hatchery. They work for preservation of turtles. Only 10% of turtles hatch. A tortoise has feet and can retract into a shell. A turtle has fins and cannot retract. It was quite cool to hold the turtles. There was an albino turtle that was particularly interesting.

We immediately went into the water. The water was nice, but the beach had a steep gradient. So could not go far inside.

Pandanus Beach Resort was rated 4-star. We thought the location was awesome, but food and rooms probably deserved only 2 or 3 star. Not bad, but not 4-star like Cinnamon.

The last day of our trip. We woke up at 6 am and went again to the beach. We went into the water and got wet. There is something about the beach, especially in the Arabian Sea or Indian ocean, where the water temperature is so nice that it makes you go back again and again.

We then did the Mangrove Boat ride in Bentota. We saw quite Water Monitors (lizards), Two crocodiles and a few birds. The ride through the mangrove was interesting but short. Overall, the boat ride took 1 hour till 10 am. I thought though it was good, it was skippable.

Then we proceeded to the city of Colombo and reached there around 12 noon. We had a whirlwind drive-through tour of Colombo.

Independence Hall, Lotus Tower, A few interesting buildings.

Lotus Tower

Finally, we finished the Colombo tour around 1.15 pm and we reached the airport at 2 pm for our 5.10 pm flight to Mumbai.

It was a great trip. Swati, Mahesh, Anu and I got to spend time together. We were chatting every evening, learning more about each other. For example, we learned that Mahesh and Swati like to eat Mukhwas many times a day, and not just after lunch 😊

Overall, what we liked: Dambulla Rock Temple, Elephant Safari, Sigiriya Rock, Kandy Cultural Show, Icecream shop in Kandy, Sita temple, Lover’s Leap waterfall, Whitewater rafting, Bentota, Turtle Hatchery, Colombo city

What was neutral: Anuradhapur, Temple of the Tooth in Kandy

What was missable: Ashok Vatika, Mangrove boat ride.

We had a great time and came back with lots of shared memories.