Sri Lanka
1 EURO = LKR160
1 USD = LKR 152
spoken languages: Sinhala, Tamil, English
At 8.20am I arrived in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. To enter Sri Lanka you need a visa which you can get either on arrival for $35 or beforehand online at http://www.eta.gov.lk/slvisa/ for $30. The Airport is closer to Negombo than Colombo, so if you get there late consider staying in Negombo. Doing it before is the easier option and saves time and hassle at the airport. As usual there are plenty of cab and tuk tuk drivers waiting for you, the rates for the ride depend on your bargaining skills. I decided to take the cheaper option – the express bus to Colombo for LKR 120, which drops you at the main station in Colombo.
Hostels in Sri Lanka are slightly more expensive than in India, for an 8-share A/C you would pay around LKR 1000-1500. I stayed in Colombo City Hostel, a pretty cool hostel in the Centre of Colombo. You can enjoy a complimentary breakfast on the roof terrace with a great view of the city. My friends Dustin & Meaghan told me about TUK-TUK rentals, which is a really cool way of exploring the island.
I got in touch with ALMA Tours in Negombo, where I rented my own TUK-TUK. Rental prices vary on the rental time, I’m paying $11 per day & $50 Insurance + $100 deposit. To legally ride a TUK-TUK you need to get a Sri Lankan driving permit at the AAC office in Colombo. It’s not a big deal, you need to provide your international driving licence and pay a fee of LKR 3650 – they will issue the permit to you straight away. Then you’re good to go! Riding a tuk tuk is different to driving my big 4×4, I don’t feel as safe anymore. Also I need to pay a lot more attention to the other drivers. When driving in a big 4×4 other drivers in smaller cars make room for you. This doesn’t happen when you are driving a TUK-TUK, you’re the one that has to get out of the way. No exceptions. Although driving a TUK-TUK is easier then I thought it would be, it’s an unusual picture for the Sri Lankans – a white guy driving a TUK-TUK around the island. Everybody greets you in a friendly manner and smiles at you.
I met Alex at the Hostel in Colombo, she decided to join the TUK TUK trip. I was happy to have her on board. The first stop of the trip was Sigiryia. We got up at 5am the next day to climb Pidurangala Rock where you have an amazing view of the sunrise and famous Sigiriya Rock. It’s an easy 30 minute climb to the top of the rock, and only a few other tourists were up on the rock at this time of the day. We decided not to climb Sigiryia Rock, it’s a little out of the typical backpacker’s budget with $30 per person. The entry to Pidurangala Rock is only $3.
On the way back from Pidurangala Rock the TUK-TUK broke down, which wasn’t a big deal. Everybody who drove past stopped and offered to help. Another TUK-TUK driver towed us to the mechanic in town, where they fixed it for LKR 1500. It didn’t take long and we were soon back on the road to Trincomalee, which we reached after a 3 hour drive. Alex hadn’t driven a TUK-TUK before, I tried to show her so we could take turns driving but after the tenth stall I decided driving is not for her.
Most backpackers stay in Uppuveli which is just 4km from Trinco. White sandy beaches and crystal clear water, this is a great place to relax for a while. I did my PADI scuba diving course with the guys from Poseidon Diving. The cost for the 3-4 day course varies from $350-400 depending on the diving school. Those of you who haven’t been diving before, try it out- it’s a cool feeling to glide through the water nearly weightless. If you’re more into quiet places, check out Nilaveli, here there are only a few guesthouses and resorts.
On my first day diving we went to Pidgeon Island. Pigeon Island National Park is one of the two marine national parks in Sri Lanka. The national park is situated 1 km off the coast of Nilaveli. The island is a good spot for snorkelling, I even saw a reef shark. We got there early in the morning, when it was quiet on the island. Around lunch time it got really busy and hot. There is no water or food on the Island, so make sure you bring everything with you.
In Trinco we had a look at Fort Frederick, it’s still in use by the Sri Lankan army, but open to the public. Driving though we came across a lot of deer that live in the fort. At first I couldn’t believe my eyes, but there were hundreds of wild deer. The deers probably have the best life you can imagine. At the top of the fort is a temple, from which you have a great view of the Gulf of Bengal. Don’t miss it.
It’s definitely worth getting up early in Sri Lanka, the temperature in the morning is perfect for a run or workout, during the day it gets too hot. The temperature reaches up to 35 degrees. After spending about a week in Trinco we hit the road again. Driving through Sri Lanka is an amazing experience, even though it’s a little challenging.
Here are a few tips how to survive Sri Lankan traffic:
- The first thing to remember: follow the rules. The problem is, there aren’t any.
- The roads are like chess boards, move where you can. Don’t follow the normal rules of left and right.
- Beware of pedestrian crossings – Don’t stop! You may do so only if you enjoy being bumped in the back. Pedestrians have been strictly instructed to cross only when traffic is moving slowly. Even at a Zebra crossing, only stop if there is a police officer managing the traffic.
- Stay clear of locals buses, they move fast and drivers care little for people in front.
Traffic in Sri Lanka is congested. Narrow two-lane highways, overloaded trucks, poorly driven buses and a variety of vehicles on the road, ranging from ox carts and bicycles to new four-wheel-drive vehicles, make driving dangerous. Cars, mopeds and rickshaws are all vying for space so getting around isn’t easy.
Night-time driving in Sri Lanka is like Russian Roulette. Drunk drivers are rampant and very dangerous, so stick to the path and walk. You always get a better feel of the town using your feet.
But if, after all this, you still want to drive in Sri Lanka, have your lessons between 8 pm and 11 am – when the police have gone home and the locals can enjoy being crazy together.
I had lot’s of fun driving in Sri Lankan traffic. I’m used to Indian traffic, which is way worse than this. Just forget everything you learned at driving school, forget all traffic rules and pay attention and simply just enjoy. The police tried to stop me a couple of times, I only stopped once. After showing them all the papers they asked for, they let me go. Surprisingly cops over here are less corrupt than in their neighbour country.
The max travel speed by Tuk Tuk is around 60km/h, it might get up to 70km/h if you go downhill and the wind is in your favour. Buddha’s Birthday known as Vesak is a public holiday and is celebrated on the first full moon day of the month of May. People engage in religious observances and decorate houses and streets with candles and paper lanterns as well as bamboo-framed lanterns.The police gave out free bread and ice-cream along the lagoon in Batticaloa. The celebration took 2 days, everyone dressed up and spent time with their family or friends.
After spending 2 weeks in 35+ degrees we decided to hit the mountains of Sri Lanka, the drive was remarkable, even though the Tuk Tuk didn’t like it that much. Fully loaded, uphill for about 2h – it took forever. The Dunhinda Falls are on the way to Ella, so we had a quick stop. While Sri Lankans pay LKR 20, foreigners pay ten times as much – LKR 200. Besides us I only saw locals, everybody we met was super friendly. Whenever they looked our way they smiled and greeted us. It’s a really cool walk to the falls, a couple of small shops where you find fresh orange juice and Sri Lankan snacks – dahl vaide & samosas.
As we arrived in Ella it rained for the first time in 4 months for me, it felt so good and refreshing. The temperature dropped down to 18 degrees, no more A/C or fan rooms, no more sweating, no need to take 3 showers a day. YAY. Ella itself is a tourist town, everything is made for tourism, which i didn’t like that much – it seems too much. Construction sites are all over the town. It’s crazy how tourism can change such a little mountain village. On the other hand there is lots to see and great outdoor activities around.
It’s a place where you can go hiking above 2000 m, walk to the end of the world, or in the footsteps of Adam. Welcome to the Hill Country! This is perhaps the best place to go hiking in Sri Lanka.
After a day out, stop by 98 acres Resort, have a beer and enjoy the amazing view from the restaurant. 98 Acres Resort is surrounded with breathtaking views of mountains, tea plantations. The Restaurant and Cafe is open to public, so you don’t need to stay at the hotel, which I definitely couldn’t afford. The resort is made up of several beautifully crafted chalets tucked within the leveled landscape of the plantation, rooms start at $150 and go up to $550 per night.
The 9 arch bridge is worth a visit too, located in the jungle and surrounded by tea plantations it is one of the most popular photo motives in Ella. The train is still using the bridge, from time to time a train will pass, you will hear the horn from miles away.
In Ella town there are many bars and restaurants, too many in my opinion. Chill bar is my favourite. It’s a great place to come in the evening to sit in the newly designed loft, sip a cocktail and chat with friends. The spacious loft has a great vibe and benefits from a cooling breeze in the evenings. They offer a variety of Western and Sri Lankan dishes for a reasonable price, beers for LKR 400 and tasty cocktails from LKR 650.
After 2 days in Ella we made our way to Haputale, another mountain village about 1h drive from Ella. 5 minutes out of town, the brakes of the tuk tuk stopped working. A look at the brake fluid told me what was wrong, it was empty. Something is wrong here I just filled it up 2 days ago. I slowly drove the tuk tuk to the next mechanic, it took him 2 minutes to fix. “Mister look, problem” he said as he pointed to the leaking brake pipe. “No problem Mister” and he disappeared in his workshop. A few minutes later he came back with a thick grey looking paste, he applied on the hole, then looked at me “now waiting 10 minutes”. Im not quite sure if I trust this glue, but I don’t think I have any other options. 20 minutes later he ask for the keys – he did a little test drive, came back with a smile in his face “finish mister”.
Perched at the southern edge of the Hill Country, the largely Tamil town of Haputale clings to a long, narrow mountain ridge with the land falling away steeply on both sides. On a clear day you can view the south coast from this ridge, and at night the Hambantota lighthouse pulses in the distance. On a not-so-clear day, great swaths of mist cling magnetically to the hillsides. Either way, it’s a spectacular part of the country.
The next day we visited Dambatenne tea factory which was built in 1890 by Sir Thomas Lipton, one of the most famous figures in tea history. The tour through the works is an education on the processes involved in the fermentation, rolling, drying, cutting, sieving and grading of tea. It’s probably the most comprehensive tea-factory tour around. The tour itself takes about 30 minutes, they walk you through the factory and explain every step of the process. They only process black tea, which is the most famous tea. The Estate of the plantation consist over 350 acres of land, the workers pick 25.000kg of tea day by day. The steep hills don’t allow any machinery so all the work is done by hand. To run a tea planation is more than just managing the factory. The workers and their families live on the orchard, it’s like its own little town, with a school, temple, church and shops- hundreds of people live there. On the top of the Estate you have a stunning 360 degree view over the area, named Lipton’s Seat after Sir Thomas Lipton. Make sure you go up during the morning hours because in the afternoon the clouds cover the hills. Enjoy the view with a cup of black tea and Sri Lankan snacks.
The best way to find budget accomodation is to just to drive around and ask in the homestay’s, many of them aren’t listed online. You can always bargain, the rooms are usually offered to us at LKR 3000-4000, when we turned their offer down they lowered their prices a lot. In the end we always got the rooms for about LKR 1500-2000. Half the money is better then no money.
Nuwara Eliya was the last stop in the hills of Sir Lanka, before I had back to the Colombo. Alex my English travel buddy heard about “high tea” at the Grand Hotel in town. I had no idea what to expect. So for those of you which don’t know what “high tea” is let me explain it to you. English High Tea usually involved a cup of tea, bread, vegetables, cheese and occasionally meat. Variations on high tea could include the addition of pies, potatoes and crackers. In Sri Lanka they also served Samosa. Famous Hotels like the Ritz in London offer high tea often for $40-50, we paid $8 at the Grand Hotel.
I underestimated the travel time to Colombo by quite a bit, it took me over 5h for the 150km long way. Driving down the hills in a tuk tuk is a challenge for itself, the breaks overheated a few times and made me stop. By the afternoon I reached Colombo, I stayed at the Colombo City Hostel LKR1650 again, its close to the IVS where I have to drop my Passport tomorrow.
When applying for an Indian Visa in Sri Lanka you have to do it trough IVS in Colombo. It’s a little tricky but once you know what do it is easy.
At first you need to fill out the visa form online, add 2 passport pictures with white background and bring it back to the IVS.
Then you have two options:
Option A:
You either leave your passport with IVS and pick it up any time after 7 days. So you wont have your passport for more then a week, which is ok if your planing on staying in Colombo for the whole time.
Option B:
You take your passport with you and come back any time after 7 days. (I went back at the end of my 3 week trip trough Sri Lanka).You will be asked to drop your passport between 8.30-12.00am. The following day you can pick up your passport after 5pm. Don’t panic if the office will be closed, just knock at the door and someone will open for you. During this time you can only pick up your passport, for any other request you need to come to the general opening hours.
The will also offer you a “visa service”, you leave you passport with the agency across the road and they will do the whole process for you. The agency will charge you $35 for their service, I did it by myself and saved some money.
I applied for a 6 months multiple entry – which allows me to enter and leave India multiple times, when I picked up my passport I realised they only issued a 6 months double entry to me. My flight was leaving the next day so I didn’t had time to complain, I took what I got.
Dustin is in town ! He messaged me saying he’s staying at the Hangover Hostel in Negombo, he will also rent a Tuk Tuk for 3 weeks. I met up with him at the Hostel, was good to see some familiar faces from India. On my last day in Sri Lanka I dropped of the Tuk Tuk at ALMA Tours, the owner wasn’t there even tho I called him twice telling him im on the way. His college paid the deposit out, he didn’t even bothered looking at the Tuk Tuk, so he missed the dent at the front (a Tuk Tuk guy backed up into my Tuk Tuk). Lucky me.
When I look back on the last 3 weeks, My tuk tuk and me drove over 1000km through a crazy, beautiful and surprising Country. I see a big smile in my face, I had a great time in Sri Lanka, it surprised me in may different aspects. It’s more modern, organised and less polluted then I thought, the cities still seem hectic, but the countryside is quite and relaxed. I haven’t seen all of the country so I might be back in a while 🙂
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