Sri Lanka Travel Answers

Hi there, It's a limited time and Lanka is 'large' due to slow travel times. So I'd restrict yourself to one inland area, one beach stay and maybe one entertainment place in order to avoid spreading yourself too thinly. The best beach area in June is Trinco and ABay (east coast) but they're at least 7 hours from airport, and Trinco doesn't have much development outside the hotels and guesthouses yet. Good watersports though on the sea. So two models I can think of: a) Combine Trinco beach with Habarana (or another base in the Cultural Triangle). The Triangle has wildlife safaris and nice other sights like Sigiriya Rock too. And maybe at last night Negombo or Colombo, close to airport, which have more nightlife - Colombo e.g. casinos. b) Combine Habarana with Bentota beach. Good watersports in the huge river but not the best beach weather in June, though still some good sunshine periods. And Colombo for shopping and casinos. All the best, & [Sandya]

Yes, water sports is good in Bentota. There are several water sport centres along the river. However, water sports are quite expensive, e.g. 15 mins jet ski costs approx. USD 30. Weather in June in Bentota can be quite unsettled and unpredictable. You may experience 3 types of days: - Fully clouded with the odd shower, light or heavy - 3-4 hours sunshine after 8 am and clouds building up in the afternoon with hefty thundershowers late afternoon, evening and night - sun-clouds-rain-sun again and so on with the sunny spells lasting at least an hour and minimum 4 hours per day.

Thanks for the advice. Other than searching for Tour Operator, I am also looking for some companion, since I am travelling alone. Is it safe nowadays in Sri Lanka?

Yes, Sri Lanka is a very safe country - even for solo travellers. Take the same precautions that you would do at home.

Yes, and sorry I forgot replying to your tour operator question. Big names, but not necessarily cheapest, are Aitken Spence - Classic Vacations - Red Dot - Tangerine - Walkers. All the best, & [Sandya]

How about following plan. I do have capacity to extend for couple of days. 9-Jun-12 Colombo / Kandy Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. In the evening visit the Tooth relic temple and A Cultural dancing Show in Kandy. Overnight stay in Kandy. 10-Jun-12 Kandy / Negombo Overnight stay at the Beach. 11-Jun-12 Negombo / Kithulgala White water rafting . 12-Jun-12 Ella / Udawalawa Adventure activities in Ella. (Aerial rope, Slithering rope, Toddy Taper). Transfer to Udawalawa. Evening Wild Safari in Udawalawa National Park. Overnight stay at Udawalawa 13-Jun-12 Udawalawa / Sinharaja In the afternoon trekking in the Sinharaja Rain forest. Overnight Stay at Sinharaja. 14-Jun-12 Sinharaja / Bentota Relax on the beach. Overnight stay in Bentota 15-Jun-12 Bentota / Hikkaduwa / Bentota Coral safari in the glass boat and snorkelling. Visiting mask Museum in Ambalangoda and the turtle hatchery in Kosgoda. Transfer to Bentota. 16-Jun-12 Bentota Overnight stay at the beach.

Hi again, As a combination of sights: another decent combi, it swaps Triangle for Udu Walawe and Sinharaja as wildlife destinations. As a sequence quite crappy, with too much of backtracking. So if this is the plan, I'd adjust as follows: 9-Jun-12 Colombo / Kandy Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. In the evening visit the Tooth relic temple and A Cultural dancing Show in Kandy. Overnight stay in Kandy. 10-Jun-12 Kandy / Kithulgala White water rafting . (Cut out Negombo, it's close to airport and a useless 2nd beach base.) 11-Jun-12 Kithulgala / Ella with its adventure activities 12-Jun-12 Udawalawa / Evening Wild Safari in Udawalawa National Park. Overnight stay at Udawalawa . 13-Jun-12 Udawalawa / Sinharaja In the afternoon trekking in the Sinharaja Rain forest. Overnight Stay at Sinharaja. 14-Jun-12 Sinharaja / Bentota Relax on the beach. Overnight stay in Bentota 15-Jun-12 Bentota / Hikkaduwa / Bentota Coral safari in the glass boat and snorkelling. Visiting mask Museum in Ambalangoda and the turtle hatchery in Kosgoda. Transfer to Bentota. 16-Jun-12 Bentota Overnight stay at the beach. It's a bit packed with 5 bases instead of the 2 that we suggested, and could easily deserve a 2nd night (e.g. close to Sinharaja, as morning walks in Sinharaja are much nicer than afternoon ones), but it's just doable. All the best, & [Sandya]

Could you tell me approximate cost for your a & b Model plans with mid range hotels keeping in mind that I will visit for 10 days(9June-18June). Also for my proposed one after altered by you.

Hi again, Okay acco would be same in all options: 9 nights @ Rs 7,000 for a double room BB in a 2-3 star hotel. And don't forget entrance fees (and jeep hire), these can be nontrivial - e.g. a safari for 2 is around Rs 10,000 including jeep. Transport makes the difference: a] Habarana and Trinco is only about 600 km all-in-all, but you're 'hit' by the daily minimum mileage of car-driver which for now we'll suppose to be 100 km. So make it 1,000 km. Can be made considerably cheaper by doing it Airport-Habarana-Trinco and then parting ways with the driver; return to Colombo by (day) train and then taxi to Negombo for the last night before departure. In this case only 700 km (600 km but including the one-way drive to Negombo). b] Habarana and Bentota would be 900 km all-in. c] Kandy-Kitulgala-Ella-UW-Sinharaja-Bentota would be 1200 km all-in. So that's * Acco 9 x 7,000 makes 63,000 * Transport a] 1,000 @ Rs 45 makes Rs 45,000 a]-modified is 700 @ Rs45 = 31,500 b] 900 @ Rs 45 makes 40,500 c] 1200 @ 45 makes 54,000 All the best, & [Sandya]

Million Thanks Man. You have given very detailed info. I appreciate that

So make it 1,000 km. Can be made considerably cheaper by doing it Airport-Habarana-Trinco and then parting ways with the driver; return to Colombo by (day) train and then taxi to Negombo for the last night before departure. In this case only 700 km (600 km but including the one-way drive to Negombo). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- One-way drive to Negombo - from where? Trinco to Negombo is close to 250 km.

What I meant is a] Train Trinco-Colombo b] Taxi Colombo Fort (or Ragama/Gampaha if the train stops there) - Negombo That taxi is only Rs 3,000 while in the ballpark estimation I used 100 @ Rs45 is Rs 4,500, but this way also the train fare and the airport drop-off at last day are included. The empty return of driver (a few days earlier) to starting point is in the 600 km already... Tnx, & [Sandya]

How about below plan suggested by one tour operator. Date Location Things to do 9-Jun Kandy On route visit Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. In the evening visit the Tooth relic temple and A Cultural dancing Show in Kandy. 10-Jun Hatton Train ride from Kandy to Hatton and visit a working  Tea Factory in the afternoon. 11-Jun Kithulgala Visit a tea Plantation with aresident planter. Transfer to Kithulgala. 12-Jun Ella White Water rafting and transfer to Ella in the afternoon 13-Jun Udawalawa  Adventure activities in Ella. (Aerial rope, Slithering rope, Toddy Taper). Transfer to Udawalawa. 14-Jun Sinharaja Udawalawe wild Safari in the morning. Transfer to Sinharaja. In the afternoon. Overnight Stay at Sinharaja 15-Jun Hikkaduwa Morning trek to Rain Forest Transfer to Hikkaduwa. Afternoon Coral safari in the glass boat and snorkelling. 16-Jun Departure Visit the Mask Museum and Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery on route and transfer to Colombo by evening.

Seems about similar to my corrected version, no major problems with it at first (admittedly quick) glance. All the best, & [Sandya]

Travel Agents are trying to Rip me off, for 10 days trip they have quoted me 2,500-3,000 USD. Is it worth it? is it nice to go there & then look for local travel guide? I think it will be much cheaper.

Price highly depend on your hotel requirements, but that seems to be quite a steep price for 10 days. There are many independent guides/drivers that can arrange your tour. Both in advance and after you have arrived in Sri Lanka. You can find contact details for my usual guide here: "Tour guide/driver" - Bentota Transportation Tip by HansDK

Thanks dude.