Sri Lanka
In January 2024, I took two weeks off work and travelled around Sri Lanka alone.
I arrived at Negombo late in the evening. I stayed in a local homestay near the airport.
The next morning, I woke up to my first Sri Lankan breakfast! The lady of the house was cooking mountains of hoppers, garnished with spicy coconut sambal.
After breakfast, I made my way to Kandy, a city in the interior of the island.
Kandy
Kandy is a chaotic city, quite different from what I expected based on the peaceful photos of temples and lakes.
Here is where my adventures started.
First, I got in trouble with the local police over the scooter I had rented, and the validity of my driving license. After about an hour of confusion, phone calls, and waiting around in the middle of a busy intersection, I paid a fee and was let go.
Also, while I was out, monkeys broke into my hotel room (I had left the balcony door unlocked, so they just let themselves in). They found all the sugar and instant coffee packets, and ripped them open. They also chewed at my water bottles and threw them around the room. I came back to a mess. Thankfully, it was nothing more than that.
All of that happened on my first afternoon in Sri Lanka!
Luckily, I had no more situations like this afterwards, and was free to explore the city.
I stuck to the foresty areas, and stayed away from the chaotic city parts. I had no interest in the touristy activities (I think there was a dance performance that was advertised everywhere, which I was happy to skip).
The next day, early in the morning, I checked out of my hotel and headed to my next destination: Sigiriya - on my scooter.
I was happy to get out of the chaos of Kandy, and excited for the road trip ahead.
Sigiriya
I took the small roads to avoid traffic, and to enjoy more of the countryside landscape. It was a great decision. The trip took quite a bit longer, but the views were amazing, and the roads were very calm.
I drove by temples, small villages, rice fields, jungles and limestone cliffs.
When I arrived in Sigiriya, it was already dark.
There was a little village for the tourists, with cute little restaurants and local accommodation. Everything looked quite simple, which I loved. The place felt remote.
I drove down a small road in complete darkness to the place where I was staying - a treehouse in the jungle! It was also not a fancy place - a little cabin lifted above the ground. I loved it, and the owners were super nice.
I went to bed and quickly fell asleep to the sounds of the jungle.
The next morning, I woke up before dawn to visit Lion Rock.
Lion Rock is a nearly 200-meter column of rock sticking out of the jungle, with an ancient fortress built on top of it. It’s like something out of a movie. Unfortunately, it’s also very touristy, which kills the magic of the place for me.
So I visited its neighbor - Pidurangala. This is another rock, less famous, which gives you amazing views of Lion Rock and the jungle around it. Win win.
I arrived here around 6am and hiked to the top. There as almost no one. I sat and watched as the jungle was waking up. This was absolutely magical.
Later I drove back to the little village for breakfast, then relaxed in my treehouse. It was still quite early.
The owner of my treehouse introduced me to a little chipmunk that his wife saved when it was injured - now the chipmunk was health and free, but still coming back every day. Soo lovely :)
Around noon, I reluctantly checked out of the treehouse. I could stay here a lot longer.
I stopped at one of the cute little restaurants for rice and curry, then drove all the way back to Kandy.
The train journey
In Kandy, I returned my scooter, and checked into a hotel only for the night.
The next morning, I took the famous train to the highlands of Sri Lanka.
I split the train journey in two parts. I was going to spend one night in Nuwara Eliya, a tea plantation town in the highlands.
The train journey was an interesting experience. The train was packed, as I expected. There were plenty of tourists, but also plenty of locals just using the train to commute. I was lucky to get a seat, which made it quite comfortable for me. I enjoyed the views.
In the afternoon, I arrived in Nuwara Eliya. It was cold and rainy.
I had booked a homestay near the station. It was just a local house, and I was staying in their upstairs bedroom. It was basic but pretty cool. I had dinner with the family in their living room! The most delicious rice and curry ever :)
Nuwara Eliya
The next morning, I went on a tuk tuk ride to see the tea plantations and the town of Nuwara Eliya. The nature was beautiful and I loved the rolling green hills. My tuk tuk driver also took me to a waterfall, and to a tea factory. It was very interesting to learn about the tea processing, and the history behind it.
Afterwards, I grabbed my luggage and got back on the train for the second leg of my journey: to Ella.
Ella
The train journey to Ella was intense, the train was quite packed. Luckily, I managed to get a seat again. I also made some friends! However, the train was delayed 3 hours, and we arrived after dark.
I got dinner with my new friends, and checked out the town. I didn’t enjoy it, it was quite loud, there were bars and nightclubs. So I headed to my accomodation.
Again, I booked a local homestay. I got a tuk tuk, and he dropped me off at what seemed like the middle of nowhere. The road was too small here, I had to walk the rest of the way.
As I was walking, a figure appeared from the darkness, and approached me. I was a bit spooked out, but it turned out it’s the owner of my homestay! He had come out to meet me. He spoke very little English, but he led me through the darkness to the place.
Again, it was a very basic place. He lived downstairs with his wife. Later I saw that he has a wooden leg - from the war. He seemed like an interesting person, but the language barrier made it hard to communicate.
I went to bed to the sound of running water, and the next morning I woke up to the most amazing view.
That was the view right out of my window! The family served me coffee and a humble breakfast. It was raining, I enjoyed watching the rain with tea.
Later I went for some hikes with the friends that I had met on the train. It kept raining on and off, but it was beautiful. The nature here was amazing.
We checked out the famous train bridge, but the place was quite touristy and crowder. However, the other hikes were much better!
To get to town, we had to walk on the rails! The train passes only a few times per day, and you can hear it from far away. This was quite cool.
I didn’t spend much time in the town of Ella, but I did find some delicious rice and curry, as well as hoppers :)
I spent two days in Ella.
Then I travelled all the way down to the South Coast of Sri Lanka.
On the way to the south, we passed by Udawalawa national park, where we stopped to see the wild elephants!
(The elephant in this photo is behind the fence of the national park - it’s a ver large area that’s fenced off for protection of the animals.)
Hirikiteya
The next morning I woke up in Hirikiteya - a small surf town on the south coast.
I spent the last 4 days of my trip here. It was a perfect place to relax after all my adventures around the island.
I spent my mornings
I loved how small and quiet this town was. The tourists here were mainly surfers, and not that many. There were a few cute little cafes along the beach. And simple local restaurants, serving amazing rice and curry. The jungle was touching the sea, and there were lots of animals - monkeys and different birds. I just loved it.
I was staying in a local homestay once again, and the family that hosted me was soo nice. They made breakfast for me every morning.
Finally, it was time to leave Hirikiteya. Again, I could have stayed here longer. It’s very possible that I come back here in the future, and spend a month or two learning to surf (I tried this in Bali, but it was too intense for me there).
Galle
On my last day in Sri Lanka, I made my way to Colombo, with a stopover in Galle.
Galle is a famous city with colonial architecture. It was a bit touristy for me, but I enjoyed walking around and checking it out.
In the afternoon, I took the train to Colombo. This was a very local experience, very non-touristy train. I couldn’t get a seat here, so I spent most of the 4-hour journey hanging out by the door, in a packed crowd of people.
When I arrived in Colombo, I headed straight to my hotel (which was in Negombo, next to the airport). Early next morning, I started the 6-hour-long journey back to Bali.
I’m very happy with this trip, I enjoyed my adventures in Sri Lanka.
There were also some sketchy moments, and things that I didn’t really like.
But I’ll probably come back in the future. I want to spend more time on the south coast, live the island life, and surf. I would also do a motorbike trip in the highlands around Ella. Maybe go back to Sigiriya because I loved how remote and wild it is. Maybe in 2025.
Until next time, Ceylon!