Sri Lanka (5N,3D)

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Sri Lanka, India’s Teardrop, is an isolated island with incredible wildlife, beaches, culture, and food. It is a great place to visit whether you are single, a couple, or a family.

As for me, 2020 Chinese New Year was coming up, so I would have a 4 day holiday. Although airfare would be expensive during this period, I could not pass up this opportunity to travel.

My personal goal for this trip was to take in as many aspects of nature. Therefore, after doing my research I divided my trip into the following:

• Safari = Udawalawe National Park Safari
• Swimming = Scuba diving at Mirissa/Weligama Area
• Climbing = Sigiriya Fortress

Now that I decided what I wanted to do, the next task was to decide on the itinerary. I broke it down into the following:

Itinerary

• Leave Sri Lanka to Singapore on a morning flight

Things to PRepare PRIOR TO TRaveling

• COVID protocols between your country and Sri Lanka
• Apply online for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to enter Sri Lanka. You will have to pay a small fee in U.S dollars depending on your nationality. Make sure there are at least six months of validity on your passport on your expected date of departure from Sri Lanka.
• Hire a driver if needed.
• For mobile data decide if your going to get a SIM card, wifi router, or just wing it (if you have a personal driver he will be with you the whole time so you should be fine for making your around. Plus you can access wifi at your hotel and restaurants)
• Negotiating skills

Day 1

My flight was on Friday night so I had to work during the day. I prepared most of my backing during the week so everything was set to go when I came back from work on Friday. My flight departure from Singapore to Sri Lanka was at 10:10 pm, so working backwards I always try to arrive 2 hours before departure for an international flight, add 30 minutes for the drive to the airport, and an additional 1 hour to get ready when I get back from work. Thus, I would have to arrive home by 6:30 pm.

Everything went smoothly and I arrived at the airport excited about this solo trip. For all my trips departing Singapore, I always rent a wifi router or SIM card and pick it up at the airport. For this trip, I bought a SIM card since it was cheaper and this was a short trip. After picking up my sim card and checking in for my flight, I was off to the silver Kris lounge at Changi Airport until boarding.

One of the reasons I was looking forward to this trip was because it was the first time I direclty booked a business class seat. Not only did I book a business class with Singapore Airlines, the Top 3 world’s best airlines, but the flight cargo was AIRBUS A350-900. This would mean the seat can convert to a fully flat bed and I would have my own aisle, giving me a more private space. I would never consider buying a business seat due to the high cost, but the economy class seat for this flight was inflated to $900 SGD, due to the holiday period, when the normal price is usually around $600 SGD. However, the cost for SQ business class for this trip was $1360 SGD which was the same as the normal price it would go for year-round. Therefore, I figured to pay the extra fare for business class to get more value for my money, and yes it was worth it.

Check out a short tour of Singapore business class ↓

After a 4 hours relaxed flight, I arrived at Sri Lanka’s Bandaranaike International Airport (BIN) in Colombo. During my planning, I booked a hotel in Negombo, a 25-minute drive from the airport, since I figured I would be tired when I arrived, and I wanted to start the next day early. Immediately after immigration, there was a currency exchange counter and converted to the local currency, the Sri Lanka Rupee (1USD=200LKR as of FEB,2022). Since my itinerary included a lot of driving I hired a driver & car beforehand. After exchanging for currency, I went to look for the driver but ended up walking past all the signs with names. Panicking a little bit I walked across the aisle again and luckily I found my name and had a sigh of relief. From there the driver drove me to my hotel in Negombo.

General Guideline for Getting Around Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka does have trains and buses at a cheap price, but it may be frustrating since they are slow and are often late. You can also make your way around with a private car and driver, taxi, or tuk-tuk. There are a limited number of domestic flights with Cinnamon Air, thus you are probably better off hiring a private driver and car if you need to cover a lot of ground and limited time. You can also pre-book a driver for better rates for several days and avoid the hassle of finding a driver, interviewing the driver, and negotiating. But if you have the opportunity and time, try to travel by train to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

The cost for a private driver will depend on several factors like the size of your group and the type and size of vehicle you rent. For drivers, a general rule of thumb I used was $50-60 per day will cover between 80 to 100km. Additionally, it is good practice to tip the driver about 10%.

Since my itinerary had a lot of traveling in a limited amount of time I wasn’t sure if it was feasible. Therefore, prior to my travel, I looked online for a personal driver in Sri Lanka to inquire about my itinerary. I came across Darshana Tours, which had good reviews, and they were fantastic. I just told them the dates, my destinations, the number of people, and they came back with a quotation. Including airport pick up and drop off, the total cost came to USD 275. I took the deal and thus did not have to worry about transportation upon arriving in Sri Lanka.

Day 2

I Woke up early morning on this day to get ready for my driver to pick me up for my drive from Negombo to Udawalawe National Park Safari. I was told I would get a different driver on the 2nd day. That change enhanced my trip experience since Hasi was so nice, respectful, talkative, and funny (Check out his Instagram here). The drive took about 4 to 5 hours for which most of the duration I passed out. The reason I choose Udawalawe National Park, the 3rd most popular Safari in Sri Lanka, was because it was closer to the Weligama, where I would be scuba diving. In addition, this park has over 500 elephants in its natural habitat, so I would definitely be seeing one. Sighting a Leopard here is rare, so if you want to increase your luck go to the most renowned safari, Yala National Park. Another popular safari to see leopards is Wilpattu National Park. Keep in mind that you are not guaranteed to see a leopard.

Upon arriving at the park there was a jeep rental and park entrance fee. I cannot remember what I paid, but generally, you pay $15 USD for the entrance fee and $25 to $65 USD for the private jeep and guide depending on whether you do a half-day or full-day tour. You can always try to negotiate the price as well. If you come along with friends you could split the bill to save on cost. Please keep in mind, that they only accept cash. Also, a reminder to tip the driver.

Udawalawe National Park was huge as it covered over 30,000 hectares (1 hectare = 10000㎡). To be honest, Yala National Park and Wilpattu National Park are more renowned parks, but that benefits Udawalawe National Park because it is much less busy and has fewer jeeps roaming around. The best time to visit the park is morning or late afternoon since this period is when the animals are most active due to the low heat. I came in the late afternoon so I was in luck.

During the safari drive, I saw crocodiles, countless water buffalos (they will just stare at you the whole time), turtles, peacocks, and tons of other different species of birds. As for the elephants, I saw at least 15 of them all ranging in different sizes. Some of them just passed by the jeep close by as though you were already part of nature. I got to see them take baths, interact with one another, and eat. I even got lucky and saw two male elephants quarreling over a female. On top of that, I witness a separate elephant charging at our vehicle, as it thought we were invading its territory. Luckily my driver recognized this aggressive behavior and fled the scene.

Was it worth driving all the way to Udawalawe National Park? YES!! The park has a beautiful landscape, I enjoyed witnessing the natural habitat of the animals and wildlife, the price was affordable, and it was my first safari trip. In addition, before coming here the only elephants I’ve seen are in the zoo, so the fact I got to see so many elephants not stuck inside a cage, made an ever-lasting impression. For my standards, a half-day tour was more than enough.

After witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime experience, Hasi started the next leg of the trip. The drive from Udawalawe to Weligama would take about 2 hours, the place where I would be scuba diving. After arriving in Weligama at night I checked in to my hotel and grabbed dinner to end the day. Keep in mind if you decided to stay in Weligama is that restaurants and nightlife are limited since it is located near a fishing village. I did manage to find a place that served Kottu, a local Sri Lanka dish served with a mix of roti, veggies, egg, cheese, and meats.

Day 3

The reason why I choose Weligama for scuba diving was that off the coast of Mirissa between December and March you could see whales. Although coming across a whale during scuba diving is rare, I always dreamed of having a random encounter with a whale. I know these occurrences are very unlikely since there are so many factors that need to align such as time of diving, weather, visibility, season, and others. But all you need is a small chance to be lucky. No risk it no biscuit.

The only dive center in Weligama would be Weligama Bay Dive Center. They offered a Single Tank Boat Dive which was $35 USD including equipment and two-tank boat dive which was $60 USD including equipment. I signed up for the two dives so I would start at 8:30 am and return back roughly 12:30 pm. There are a total of five dive sites off the coat of Weligmama ranging in depths of 12 to 30 meters.

1st Dive was at a location called Noisy Rock. Visibility was 10-12 meters, 23.5 meters in Depth, Bottom time was 46 min, and Bottom Temperature was 28°C. Maneuvering through rocky caves and rock formations I witnessed something that looked like a rock but looked a little subtly different. To my surprise, I discovered my first scorpionfish, one of the top 3 poisonous fish. Scorpionfish are very good at camouflaging with rocks and reefs so I was happy I didn’t accidentally step on them as they release their venom through the spines on their back. The more pressure applied the more venom. Yikes! Some other notable marine creatures I recognized were nudibranchs, blue line grouper fish, blue ring angelfish, snapper fish, shrimp, starfish

2nd Dive was at a location called Yala Rock. Visibility 10-12 meters, 18 meters Depth, Bottom time 52 min, Bottom Temperature 28°C. During this dive, I spotted a titan triggerfish, scorpionfish, lionfish (another top 3 poisonous fish), nudibranch of lobsters, and pennant coralfish. Towards the end of the dive we stopped by a boulder with a myriad of fishes in which they were so clustered I could not distinguish each. The reason they came to this boulder was that they were feeding off of the rock by breaking some shells. This was definitely the best part of the dive, being surrounded by so many fish. However, there was a strong current and I was holding onto dear life on the rock while trying to take footage. Afterward, my finger had scatches from the rock, so lesson learned I bought a Scuba pointing stick after my trip to maintain my position while taking footage.

After scuba diving, we still had time before going to Colombo so Hasi took me to the Koggala Sea Turtle Conservation Project since it was nearby. This was an eye-opening experience as I learned that the turtle population is endangered due to human activity or natural events. Unfortunately, people poach turtles, some turtles are hit by ships, and some baby turtles don’t even make it to the ocean as they are picked off by sea birds. This center is implementing actions to protect the turtles as well as treat and rehab adult turtles. Please consider visiting to show your support, as your ticket cost goes back to supporting the center. As a bonus, you will even have the chance to hold a baby turtle with your hands.

After driving 2 hours from Galle Fort, Hasi dropped me off at my hotel in Colombo and told me he would pick me up in the morning for our big trip to Sigiriya tomorrow. If you are in Colombo I highly recommend you visit Cafe on the 5th to eat some delicious hoppers, a Sri Lankan dish. Hoppers are bowl-shaped pancakes with crispy edges. The batter, which is typically composed of fermented rice flour, coconut milk, coconut water, and sugar, is fried and then served with a fried egg in the middle.

Day 4

On this day I would be visiting the famous ancient rock fortress, Sigiriya. This UNESCO world heritage site, also known as the “Lion Rock”, is a rock pillar that used to be an ancient stronghold founded by the king of Sri Lanka, intended to be a safeguard against their enemies.

Sigiriya is about 660 feet (220M) tall so make sure to wear shoes for your climb. The fortress is open from 7 am to 5:30 pm and you need to pay a 30 USD entrance fee.

After about, a 4-hour drive from Colombo it was time to start climbing the fortress. While climbing there are steep areas and some staircases are near the edge of the cliff so please be careful. In particular, the wind can be strong near the top so just take your time while climbing. During my climb, I encountered several monkeys just chilling on top of the handrail, with their tails wrapped around the post as a lifeline as you can see in the video below.

The climb was long but it paid off as the view at the top was breathtaking. I got to soak in the beautiful landscape of Sri Lanka. Check out the photo below.

For dinner, I was in for a treat as Hasi treated me to some awesome Kottu. I can’t remember the name of the store but the cheese kottu was amazing. If in doubt just ask your driver for recommendations.

Day 5

If necessary, I could have gone back on a night flight the previous day. But, it would be a hassle to cancel my hotel reservation and pay additional fees to change my booking. If I had urgent matters to attend to the next day, then I would have changed my flight. Since that was not the case I figure I would get a good night’s sleep and enjoy Silk Airline Business Class. The big differences between Silk Airline Business class from Singapore Airline Business class were the seat configuration was 2-2, no champagne served, no TV monitors in the seat in front of you so you were provided with an iPad instead, and the seat could not recline to a bed. Nevertheless, I’m not that super picky and I still enjoyed the flight.

uSEFUL TIps

• Buy bottled water, rather than drinking tap water
• Buy insect repellent
• Hire a driver if covering a lot of ground
• Credit Cards were widely accepted
• Remember to carry cash for tipping

Conclusion

To be honest, Sri Lanka was not high on my travel list initially, but after visiting, Sri Lanka left me with a great impression and is one of my favorite places I visited.

In my opinion, 4 days was enough to enjoy Sri Lanka. If I had more time I would have wanted to visit Kandy.

I was so glad I contacted Darshana Tours as this trip would not have been possible without their driver arrangement.

After every trip, I like to buy a souvenir that is a major landmark of the country or an item that reminds me of that trip to add to my trophy collection.

Thanks for reading and hope you were able to get something out of it.