Sri Lanka

Dear lilioftheworld.com reader, here is Lili, your co-editor. In this article we will travel in direction Far East and we stop in the wonderful land of Sri Lanka. In fact, this was the first country outside Europe, which I visited at the age of 22. Back then I was still working as a flight attendant. We spent more than a month there training a newly establishing local airline. Despite the long period I spent there, I did not travel much.

That is why when a second opportunity to explore Sri Lanka came later in my life, I embraced it with eagerness. Because Dimo hadn’t been to Sri Lanka, we agreed that we will include it as a part of a bigger trip. For 17 days we traveled through three different countries in Asia- Vietnam, Malaysia and Sri Lanka (the stories about Vietnam and Malaysia coming soon). Sri Lanka was our last stop and the place where we planned to actually have mainly relaxing beach holiday.

Before going further, I have to mention that this journey took place in 2016. Some things might have changed since then, so you better check carefully when planning your trip.

Lili’s 5 good-to-know tips when travelling to Sri Lanka:

For the first comers to Sri Lanka, and especially those who haven’t been to India or other similar places in Asia, it can be a bit of a shock. Find which are the 5 most important things to have in mind when traveling to Sri Lanka.

• Traffic

Similarly to other countries in the region (Vietnam, India, etc.), the traffic in Sri Lanka might seem chaotic. And to a certain extent it is. The reason is the high number of tuk-tuks. These are motorized or cycle rickshaws. Most have three wheels and usually do not tilt, although the last depends on the speed and the way one drives it. That is why crossing the streets is a small adventure itself. In other words, you have to be always aware of the surrounding.

• Transportation

In short, the only transport we haven’t tried during this trip was a bus. We tested the train, tuk-tuk, private transport by small van and a car. Just like you, I was initially terrified by the idea that I will have to get on those trains in India we have seen on TV. With people hanging from each part of the wagon. In fact, there was a high probability that we take such train.

For some reason we could not buy our tickets online and we left this for the morning before departure. There was only one train with limited number of seats in first class (the one for tourists), then the rest were second and third class. Later I will tell you more about our trip by train from Colombo to Kandy.

Most of the time we were using private transfers. The only thing you should be prepared for is that you need to bargain a lot. Not only for transportation, but for everything else. Only the entrances and the restaurants have fixed prices. The rest is subject to negotiation. The ride fares differed depending on the place where we were, but honestly I do not remember them to be expensive. The one for which we paid a lot was around €100, but it was a 6-hour drive from Adam’s Peak to Hikkaduwa.

• Currency

The Sri Lankan currency is the rupee (Rs) and currently the exchange rate is 200 Rs for €1. This means that you can easily become a millionaire there.

• Vaccinations

There aren’t obligatory vaccination, but hepatitis A&B is a good idea for everywhere in the region. In addition to this you have to be careful what you eat and to keep good hand hygiene. For example, we avoid eating some street food and fruits, which are already peeled.

• Religion

Sri Lanka’s population practices a variety of religions. As of the 2011 census 70.1% of Sri Lankans were Theravada Buddhists, 12.6% were Hindus, 9.7% were Muslims (mainly Sunni) and 6.2% Roman Catholic. Religion is an essential part of the life of almost every citizen. You will easily recognize this. If you are there on a cultural trip, you will surely visit a lot of temples. There is a huge difference between the Buddhist and the Hindu temples for example.

In most Buddhist temples you have to take your shoes off as a sign of worshiping God. You should also cover your shoulders and legs. This rule is valid for both men and women. Having proper clothes with you (ideally a scarf) is very useful.

The program of the trip to Sri Lanka

Initially we had a slightly different programme, including only beach holiday in Sri Lanka. While we were still in Vietnam, Dimo had the idea to take a train from Colombo and visit the town of Kandy. It is famous for the many religious temples in the vicinity. Also he wanted us to climb Adam’s Peak- one of the most sacred places in Sri Lanka. Why not- I happily embraced the idea.

We spent two days in Kandy. One day was for exploring Kandy and on the second day we went to Adam’s Peak. On the way we visited a couple of temples in Kandy’s surroundings. After climbing Adam’s Peak, we headed towards our last destination- Hikkaduwa. There we spend four days on the beach with a short one-day trip to Galle and the famous spot for stilt fishing. More details to follow below.

In short, Sri Lanka is a big country and it is so rich in history, culture, traditions, landscape. You will not regret spending two weeks or more there.

First hours in Sri Lanka, Colombo 

We landed in Colombo from Myanmar (after a short flight). We had just one night in Colombo and in the morning we had to catch the train to Kandy. The ride was not long- around three hours. There were two reasons I could not sleep the night before the ride.

We had chosen a hotel which was really awful (this happens rarely with us). It was in the middle of a dodgy area (thankfully it was dark when we arrived). There were cockroaches in the room and the ones in Sri Lanka are pretty big. We slept with our lamp lit, cuddled in the middle of the bed. We were waking up every ten minutes to see whether something was not creeping on us. It was one of the worst nights in my travel life so far.

My other concern was that we did not have a ticket for the train. The thought of traveling three hours in a wagon with chicken, goats and other animals was not very appealing. 

At Colombo central train station

Thankfully the morning had come and we headed to the train station. Luckily we could buy tickets for the first class. We arrived early (as we did not want to spend more time at the hotel), so we had more than an hour until the train leaves. We found something like a cafe. The pictures below can tell you why I’m calling it “like a cafe”. Instead of a normal napkin for the breakfast, they gave us a piece of newspaper. They gave the same to people who wanted to go to the toilet instead of toilet paper 🙂

Train from Colombo to Kandy

The train route from Colombo to Kandy is known as a very picturesque and romantic one. You pass by sparkling green rice fields, palm forests and tiny villages. The 1st class of the train was pretty OK. And I’m not saying this because I come from Bulgaria :-). 

This was the last trip when we traveled with a big suitcase. We had to carry it through the whole trip, we had to think about whether we will fit in the tuk-tuks, so I’m so happy that we switched to hand luggage only (thanks to Dimo).

After three hours, we arrived in Kandy. We had to bargain some time with a tuk-tuk and we finally managed to find one to drive us to our B&B accommodation. Although the view from the house was good, it was a bit scary- both the way to it and also the house itself. The host though was very friendly and helpful, he helped us find transportation on the day after. It was also clean and comfortable, but I would choose more central location for a next visit. Anyway, if you are interested, our accommodation was called Pearl House.

What to do in Kandy

Kandy is both an important administrative and culture city, being the capital of the Central Province. It is the home of the Temple of the Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa), one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist world. Moreover, it was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in the 1980s.

There are also a lot of other temples in this province- Hindu or Buddhist, each of them having something unique. Here is a list of the temples we visited.

• Temple of the Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa) 

It is located just in the heart of Kandy and people believe that Buddha’s tooth is kept there. The relic (Buddha’s tooth) has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. The entrance fee for the temple is (was) around €7.

As I mentioned above, you have to take your shoes off. One thing we witnessed is how they distribute the donations gathered. They gathered all the money collected in a box, just in front of the eyes of the visitors. Not sure what they did with the money afterwards, but I think this is something they should do at least at other part of the day.

Certainly, the temple is a peaceful place and you can easily spend 1-2 hours there. There weren’t many tourists by this time, the majority of the visitors were locals.

• Kandy lake 

The lake in Kandy is an artificial one, built in the beginning of the 18th century. Initially it was bigger in size and it had a beautiful pond in the middle named ‘Kiri-muhuda’ (a ‘sea of milk’). Later the whole lake took this name. You can take a stroll around the lake, but have in mind that there isn’t anything special to see or do.

• Aluvihare Rock Temple

It is also known as called Matale Alu Viharaya and is located in Aluvihare, Matale Disctrict, 30 km North of Kandy.

This is a Buddhist temple, built in a rock. During our visit there was a group of school children which made the experience even more emotional. The little girls were obviously quite interested in my skin color. I could not resist and politely asked the teachers if I can take a picture with the group of students.

Aluvihare Rock Temple was the historic location where the Pāli Canon was first written down completely in text on ola (palm) leaves. The temple keeper showed us how to write on banana leaves. This type of paper lasts for many years without changing its quality.

The temple consists of many caves and the biggest one contains a huge statue of reclining Buddha. It still remains a mystery to me how they managed to put it there.

• Muthumariamman Temple

A few hundred meters away from Aluvihare Rock Temple we saw one completely different building. Very colorful, with a Pagoda in a pyramidal shape. It was clearly a temple of another religion. Arulmigu

Sri Muthumari Amman Kovil is a temple in Matale, Sri Lanka, which both Buddhist and Hindu people worship. The prefix “Muthu”, literally means “pearl”. “Mari” means rain and “Amman” means mother. The temple is dedicated to Mariamman, the goddess of rain and fertility. The temple was originally a small statue under a tree to pray to. It was later further  developed by the people in Matale.

One interesting thing we noticed is that everyone passing by the temple raised hands above the head. This is a symbol of worship.

Just behind the temple a couple of people were preparing food in а huge pot. There was a ceremony at the temple and obviously afterwards they would all gather around the meal.

• Embekka Davalaya (or Embekka Temple)

On our way to Adam’s Peak, we stopped at another temple used both by Hindu and Buddhists. Here we had a guide who was explaining the different elements of the temple. He showed us a door from the 14th century.

The Embekka Temple consists of three sections- the “Sanctum of Garagha”, the “Digge” or “Dancing Hall” and the “Hevisi Mandapaya” or the “Drummers’ Hall”. Certainly, the most interesting about this temple are the splendid wood carvings of its ornate pillars and its high pitched roof. In order to preserve them, visitors aren’t allowed to touch these ornaments.

The road to Adam’s peak was a real challenge. It took us around 3 hours to get there and the last miles were the most difficult. The road was tiny and with a lot of turns. A huge abyss was opened on our right hand side as we were driving up the steep mountain. The speed of the driver was definitely not the proper one, but luckily we got to our hotel.

Adam’s Peak

A bit about the place itself. It is a holy place of the Buddhists. There is a temple located on Adam’s Peak at the height of 2243m. The only way to get there is by climbing the 5500 stairs to the top. The pilgrims are doing this every year, while tourists like us go there for the amazing sunrise.

Basically we went there just to climb the peak. We chose one of the hotels located nearest to the beginning of the path to the top. The hotel was nothing special, but for a couple of hours, we had everything we needed. The name of the hotel is Grand Adams Peak and it is just 500 m away from the park entrance.

We arrived around 17:00- 18:00 and the first thing we did was to visit the small “shop” nearby to stock provisions for the hike. I say a “shop” as it was rather a booth. We bought just water and a few bananas, the choice was not rich. As we had to get up at 02:30, we went to bed very early. Basically all hotel visitors did the same- everyone comes here in order to visit Adam’s Peak.

A hike to remember

At 02:30 we were up and already on our way to Adam’s Peak. It was very dark and we were not sure whether we are going in the right direction, but we just followed the crowd. Where else could these people go in the middle of the night. There were big crowds on the way up. Different nationalities, ages and religions. You can see some disabled people being carried by others- to get to the top with the hope to cure or just as a pilgrimage. This is when we realized how spiritual the place was.

The hike was not an easy one. Every couple of hundred meters there were some kind of stations in order to take some rest. We saw even restaurants there, but we had read that it is not advisable to eat there. There is no running water and people carry everything on hands to these locations. I do not think we even bought anything.

It took us around 2 hours to go up and another 2 to go down

During most of the time on the way up, it was dark. However, it is light as almost during the day and it was easy to walk. Every time I looked up, I could see the lights leading to the top. I was asking Dimo about our location every ten minutes (quite annoying, I know). We needed about two hours and a half for the hike to the top.

Like in many other cases, I did not have the right clothes- a dress and and some ballerinas :-). Most tourists had brought their hiking equipment. Unlike them, the pilgrims were wearing flip-flops. The temperature at the peak was around 10 degrees which is much lower than the one at the hotel. Bring some warm clothes with you.

Despite the lack of sunrise, it was worth it

We waited for the sunrise just next to the temple. Unfortunately we were not lucky and all we saw was fog and clouds. Anyway, I was super happy we did the climb. The spiritual feeling is something that I cannot compare with anything else and would never forget.

The way down was actually more difficult. It took us ages (at least it felt so). The breakfast we had at the hotel tasted amazing- maybe because of the whole experience: the view from the hotel terrace was really spectacular.

On one side you can see Adam’s Peak (which was not in fog anymore) and on the other side- the tea paddies. Women were going there to pick up the tea leaves every morning at 7:30 and were working almost until sunset (at 17:30). One interesting fact the locals told us is that the Government gave these fields at concession to the Indian Government for a period of 95 years!

Although we are doing sports regularly, I had really painful muscle ache after the hike. It came on the second day and it lasted a couple of days. It was that bad, that I could not even sit properly :-). Still, I would do it again- the whole experience is priceless.

Hikkaduwa

Right after breakfast, we started our drive to Hikkaduwa. We had bargained our transfer the previous day. The ride cost around €100. Although it is only 235 km, it took us more than 6 hours to get there.

Hikkaduwa is a small town in the southern part of Sri Lanka, located just 17 km away from Galle. As Galle was another point of interest for us, Hikkaduwa was a good choice for longer stay. The name Hikkaduwa means “sword of knowledge”. Due to its beach and nightlife, Hikkaduwa  is a popular tourist resort. However, do not imagine party place like Phuket for example- it was rather peaceful. In 2004 Hikkaduwa suffered from big tsunami. In the aftermath of the tsunami, many of the families who had lost everything were given sewing machines as part of the relief operations. As a result, the town has a multitude of tailors who will custom make shirts, pants, and shorts.

Hikkaduwa accomodation

As we had to book our hotel last minute (due to the change in the initial plans), we did not have much choice. We picked a quite new hotel at that time with the name L&D Lodge.

I just saw that it still has very high rating on booking.com, so maybe it is worth checking it out. It is not right on the beach, but at around 10 minutes walk. The hosts were very kind, the rooms were clean and the breakfast – delicious.

We chose Hikkaduwa because it offered great snorkeling opportunities right off the shore. Just a few hundred meters offshore you can find the Coral Sanctuary. It has a variety of multi-colored corals as well as different fish. We managed to also see a sea turtle. Hikkaduwa is also a popular place for board surfing. 

Basically this is what we did in Hikkaduwa- relaxing and snorkeling. We skipped the snorkeling boat tours and we swam to the nearby island. It was not very smart of us as at times the current was too strong. Still this was one of the best snorkeling places we have been so far.

Galle 

In the 16th century it was the main port of the island. This happened during the occupation of the Portugese. Galle reached its development peak in the 16th century during the Dutch colonial period. Certainly, one of the most remarkable things about Galle is the fort. It is right next to the shore and it is a world heritage site. Galle fort is the largest remaining fortress in Asia built by European occupiers.

In 2004 Galle also suffered from the huge tsunami, following the Indian Ocean Earthquake. Subsequently, big part of the town was devastated and thousands of people died. You can still some signs from this tragic moment in their history.

Because we did not have much time to explore it, we just visited the fort and the streets around. It is definitely a must-visit place on your trip to Sri Lanka.

Stilt fishing 

The last thing I would like to share with you is something we saw on a beach south of Galle.

Stilt fishing is a fishing method people all along the coast in Sri Lanka used after WWII (at least records date back to this period). However, after the devastating tsunami I mentioned above, the locals suspended this practice.

In fact, nowadays it is more a tourist attraction. When we visited this beach south of Galle, there weren’t many tourists. However, people make long trips with the only purpose to visit this place. That is why I can highly recommend that you arrange return transport as well. 

When we wanted to go back, there weren’t many tuk-tuks around. We wanted to stay there for sunset, so we spent a few hours waiting for it. My idea was to take a pic of the fishermen at sunset, but they were quite rude and wanted some money for this.

Although the stilt fishing looks quite easy, it requires special skills, mainly balance.  The construction consists of a vertical pole with a crossbar which is embedded into the sea floor in the shallow water.

Sunset view

The crossbar allows the fishermen to sit enough above the water in order to avoid reflection which scares fish. The fishermen catch mainly herrings and small mackerels and collect the catch in a bag tied to the pole or to their waist.

Although it is a must-see thing in Sri Lanka, be ready that it is an attraction, in other words is a bit of a tourist trap. And they ask you to pay for taking pictures of them. If you pay, you can even get on one of these constructions.

Instead of conclusion

This was the end of this long, but super exciting trip to Sri Lanka, full of different, memorable emotions. That is to say, my second visit to this Asian country made me realize how much I missed during the first one.

If you need more Long-Haul Trips inspirations, just visit the respective section. With 70 countries visited, we have a lot to share with you.