9 days solo trip to Sri Lanka

Tripoto
4th Mar 2017
Photo of 9 days solo trip to Sri Lanka by Abhishek Modi
Day 1

I reached Colombo from Bangalore and departed from Habarana. I took the combination of bus and train to reach Habarana by 11am. The details of the itinerary in detail are here.

After check-in to hotel, I left for Dambulla caves which were mesmerizing. The rain made me leave early and reached the hostel back by 4-5pm. Since it was too dark, I decided not to leave hostel for dinner. I slept and had decided to leave early next day for Sigriya fortress to see the sunrise.

Day 2

Lazy as I am, I woke up at 9 am. I quickly packed my bagpack and left for Sigriya. Sigriya has an entry charges but discounted for SAARC nationalities. It wasn't too hot there. The climb was not too difficult and worth the view after reaching the top.

The another hill is free of charge but I was not having much energy to do that track as well. I got back to hostel and again slept without dinner.

Day 3

Next day I left for Kandy. The hostel in Kandy was good and I was not alone as in Habarana. I visited the Temple of the Tooth, Kandy Lake and the Kandy Cultural show on the same day.

Day 4

The train ride from Kandy to Ella is considered one of the best train ride in the world. No doubt the rush was maximum. I could only find the space to stand in the much crowded train.

I stayed in Ella for two days. Ella is the hippie place for all the tourists travelling. The first day was spent in travelling in the train. On the day 2, we went to Ella rock for the track.

Next day, I boarded the train to the south to Unawatuna.

Day 6

Unawatuna is another great place to be. The beach is serene and has the cleanest water that I have seen in my life. Don't even think about spending couple of hours so as to see the sunset. It is not possible to see the sunset on the western coast.

What is life on the beach without a morning walk? Next morning I went for the morning walk and a cup of coffee. Not a single place was open despite the signs suggesting that the place opens at 7 am.

Day 7

I kept the bags at Unawatuna and went to Galle for the interesting cricket match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Apart from the cricket, there is Galle Fort which is a good place to visit.

After wandering in the Galle Fort, I headed back to Unawatuna for the night stay.

Day 8

I boarded the bus from Unawatuna to Colombo which was around 3 hours journey. I had booked the hostel at Galle Face in Colombo which seemed to be a bit up beat place. There was a concert organized for the night at the beach by Udit Narayan.

Day 9

Though the Airport is in Colombo I decided to leave very early for the airport. During the time of my visit, the airport was under renovation. The airlines had explicitly instructed to reach 5 hours before the time.

I reached Bangalore on the say day as I had to join the office from the next day.

The cost for the trip was around Rs 15,000 INR excluding the flight tickets (INR 10 to 12k)and the visa charges (INR 1,200).