Sri Lanka, How to spend 6 days in Paradise
If there is paradise on earth, it is in Sri Lanka.
The tear of India -as Sri Lanka is called- is a large country with many things to do and cities to visit. I had only 6 days to spend and I will share my itinerary with you. If you have more time, I suggest spending 10-12 days as the distances are quite long and there are a lot to see.
After lot of consideration, I chose to spend my first two days in Kandy, located in the center of Sri Lanka (2:30 hours by car from Colombo’s international airport). To avoid changing hotels each day, Kandy is a good base to do some day trips and start discovering the north and central part of the country. The city of Kandy is very busy full of buzz and traffic; thus, I would advise you to stay a little outside of the city center. I stayed 2 kilometers from the center with a great view of a green landscape and sense of fresh air each morning. Each full moon in Sri Lanka is holiday and celebrations take place. One of the most popular ones is the celebration for the full moon of august which is the biggest festival of the city called Kandy Esala Perahera Festival (https://kandyesalaperahera.com/). During festival days every afternoon the roads are closed as in the evening elephants dressed in lights and colorful cloths, dancers and musicians do a parade in various routes. The tickets for the first lines are quite expensive (around 100 -120 euros), but you can find a spot if you go earlier and stand with the locals to be able to enjoy the parade. There are also tourist policemen that can help you find a better spot for free. The only negative of being at this time of the year is that due to the festival it is not easy to access not only Kandy’s popular sights like the Temple of the Tooth Relic, its iconic and popular lake but also restaurants, streets and cafes that are located around the route of the parades.
To get around Sri Lanka you will need either a private driver or to grab a taxi or tuk tuk (a very local experience and affordable choice for short distances- (reliable applications to use are UBER and PickMe).
About an hour from Kandy you can find the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, a government orphanage for elephants that live and are taken care of at an immense natural area. You can see baby elephants with their moms, elephant feeding and bathing at a very close to the orphanage river. You can also help bathing them in the river which is a unique experience.
An absolutely one in a lifetime experience when being in Sri Lanka is to visit Sigiriya Rock. It is about 2:30-3 hours distance by car from Kandy. During the route you can admire Hindu temples and taste delicious tropical fruits and coconuts if you stop at the street sellers. Sigiriya Rock is an ancient rock fortress in the middle of an endless tropical landscape. You need to climb 1250 stairs up to the rock but the view from its top totally worths the effort. You are on a rock literally in the middle of a jungle, surrounded 360° only by nature. I felt like being part of the Lion’s King cartoon movie, waiting for the father lion to bring to the rock the baby lion and show it to the enthusiastic crowd.
On your way back to Kandy, you have also to visit the popular Dambulla Cave Temple. After climbing up a few more stairs you arrive at a cave complex full of Buddha statues (about 153 in total). The immersive atmosphere of the Buddhist temple and the view from its top are a perfect closure of the day.
One of the most scenic and beautiful train routes in the world is rightly considered the train journey from Kandy to Ella which has a duration of 7 hours. For those that would like to see a part of the route but are not in the mood of spending 7 hours in a train (like me) there is the possibility to take the train from Nuwara Eliya to Ella that is about 2:30-3 hours and totally worths it. The train passes through beautiful rice fields, hills and little villages. Find a seat nearby the window and enjoy the ride. You can pre book 1st, 2nd or 3rd class tickets with a seat reservation, but you can also buy the tickets for the train the same day but without a seat reservation. I had bought 1st class ticket but the day of my trip I was informed that my train was cancelled, and I had to take the previous one. I got really stressed but I can confirm that it is easy to find a ticket for 2nd and 3rd class on the same day and even find a seat in the train as it is not packed all the time. Actually, I believe that the 3rd class is better spot if you want to take a picture hanging out of the train (be careful though).
If you decide to take the train to Ella from Nuwara Eliya, you can discover many interesting places in your way to the train station. At the University of Peradeniya, is located the oldest tree in the country (around 300 years old). Its trunk and branches are that long that touch the ground.
For the tea lovers, a visit to a tea factory is absolutely necessary. Sri Lanka exports high quality of different kinds of tea to all over the world. I visited the Storefield Tea Factory that is about 100 years old, and saw the whole process of how black, green, white and golden tea are made from scratch. Only a small amount of white and golden tea is exported as it is more difficult to be produced in large quantities that makes it more rare. At the end of the presentation, you can taste 8 different types of tea for free and you can buy if you wish the ones you like (I wanted them all!).
Another stop till the train station would be Ramboda Observation Deck. The view from the deck consists of rice fields, mountains, lakes, waterfalls. You can make a short stop to take photos with a gorgeous background. Not far from the deck you can also visit one of the most beautiful waterfalls Ramboda Waterfall. You need about 1 hour walking to the waterfall but if you have time the landscape is magical.
Upon arriving at Nuwara Eliya, you will be under the impression that you are at another country. When British were in Sri Lanka decided to build their houses in Nuwara Eliya as the climate there was more humid and colder that made them feel more at home. For this reason, the city’s architecture has a British color and the weather is indeed colder and rainier. At the center of the city, there is the first post office of the country, and it is still operational and beautiful.
As my train arrived at Ella late in the evening, I passed the night at this beautiful small town surrounded by nature and mountains. The altitude is that high that you feel that you can touch the clouds. Ella is a town with different style, more touristic and European one I would say. Its basic road is full of modern restaurants, cafes, pubs, stores and more nightlife than Kandy. One of the best sightseeing’s of Ella is the Nine Arch Bridge, a 20th century stone bridge with an active rail line. You can follow a path, or you can take a tuk tuk to take you to the bridge. if you are lucky enough you can see the train passing as due to train delays, you cannot calculate exactly what time the train passes. Even if the train passes or not the bridge itself deserves a visit.
Apart from nature, Sri Lanka has a wide range of coastline to offer. The country’s beaches are stunning (they looked like the ones I had in posters in my room during my adolescence from tropical destinations). Depending on the season you visit the country, you need to choose the more suitable ones. During summer the beaches at the north are better not only due to the weather but also due to the sea’s currents that create enormous waves. I visited the south beaches during my stay at Sri Lanka, believing that I could handle a little rain (august is rainy season for the south beaches) but I found out that the problem with this side at this time of the year was not the rain but the currents that provoke huge waves making it challenging to swim and sometimes even dangerous. I was informed by locals that during winter the same beaches are very calm and create the ultimate paradise.
Even with high waves I loved Sri Lanka’s beaches. I spent my last days in the country in Tangalle. Tangalle is a fish village, close to many lovely beaches. A good idea if you know how to ride a moto is to rent one and go around to all the beautiful beaches. Otherwise, you can go on foot or take a tuk tuk. The most ideal beach is Silent Beach. Due to low season, it was almost empty that made it the absolute paradise. Close to the Silent Beach you can find also Unakuruwa, Goyambokka, Red Beach and Tangalle natural swimming pool. In the natural swimming pool was easier and safer to swim as natural sea walls prevented the huge waves to reach the coast and you had also the chance to be around to local people who were also enjoying their swimming there. A little more far you can find the endless Marakolliya Beach, and you can visit the Wildliife Turtle Project Kapuhenwala. During evening hours, you may be lucky and come across with sea turtles that will enhance your whole Sri Lanka experience. If you decide to stay at this area don’t omit to eat at Let’s Sea, a lovely, delicious and economic fish tavern. Its owners love also to give tips regarding activities in the area which are very helpful.
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