This was a small Girls only trip, for only 4D/5N from India to Sri Lanka. In these 4D, we wanted to cover as many places as possible and still have a good time to enjoy and for it all to not become so hectic. So, we booked a package from TravelTriangle which included Hotels, Transfers, Breakfast and Sightseeing. We were 4 girls and it costed us only 11000 INR per person for the whole package.
We booked our flight tickets by ourselves 2 weeks before the journey, so it costed very cheap. We reached SriLanka on 19th early morning by 5am and there we had our car waiting for us to pick us up. And let me mention, that the cars that the travel agencies in SriLanka use are very comfortable and very luxurious, I haven't seen such comfortable travel vehicle ever. It is Toyota Hiace and it has very big and comfortable and convertible seats.
So on our arrival at 5am we went from Airport directly to Sigiriya, which is a 5-6hrs drive. But, we were all sleeping dead so we didn't even notice. We reached our hotel by 12 noon.
We booked the hotel, Ayobowan Resort, which is a 3 Star resort in Sigiriya. The resort is very beautiful and cozy and has a pool and restaurant too. It has very spacious and cozy rooms. People don't under Hindi much, but you will be able to communicate in broken English.
So, after checking in, we went to a place nearby for lunch. And by 2pm we set off to climb the Sigiriya Lion Rock. It is just a half m hour drive. And the ticket is 2000 LKR per person. I know costly. The climb takes about 45-50 mins to reach at the top. It is very beautiful, you are able to see complete Sigiriya and the greenery of Sri Lanka. Best time to climb is either by 10am so you reach the top by 11am or by 2pm so you reach the top by 3pm, as between 12-2pm are the hottest hours, and it is very difficult to climb in those.
After that, we climb down and went back to our Hotel, and in between, we picked our dinner. Please note that food is very costly in SriLanka so you have to find cheap options. And also, and imported item, that is not made in Sri Lanka, be it any small Chocolate to food to Alcohol, everything has 200-300% tax. So everything that is imported is super expensive.
And then in the night, it was pool time.
On second day, we had our Breakfast in the Resort. And then we checked out and started our journey towards Bentota, SriLanka. It is 5-6 hrs drive again, but in between we had a few sightseeing stopovers to see. We stopped at Gem Shop, Spice Garden and a Museum. But, you can stop at Dambulla Temple, Sea Turtles conservation site or Boat Safari. In route to Bentota, we also crossed over Kandy, which is a beautiful Hill area of Sri Lanka, it is full with greenery and some street shops. We stopped there for a while. And the drove straight to our Resort in Bentota.
For our resort, we booked Selavi Resort, which also a 3Star resort, it is very beautiful and gives a very soothing and homely feeling. It is on the river side, it offers a complete view, and has all the amenities like laundry, iron, coffee machine, restaurant and anything that you will want. In the evening they arrange music and good food, which you can have by the river in the breeze. The host, Aundrae Peter, is the best. The management arranges for all the comfort.
On our Day 3, we had our Breakfast in the morning in our resort. And then we went off to Kandalama for our Coral Reef Boat Ride. It costed us 6000 LKR per person. You can negotiate, and ask for a discount. There you can also engage in Snorkeling, Deep sea diving and Scuba Diving.
After Boat ride, we went to Galle Fort near Unawatuna. It was build by Dutch when SriLanka was under their ruling. It is very beautiful and must see heritage site, and also free.
After the fort, we went to Jungle beach by 4pm. We did not liked this beach at all, because it was very dirty and very crowded and it was not a long beach to walk, it was very small. There is a 10-15 mins climb, which is easy to climb down and difficult to climb up and there are not lights by the track, so it is better to come out before the sunsets completely, that is by 6.30pm.
After that we went to our Selavi Resort and partied in the restaurant, they had set up lights and music.
This was our last day to roam around and see some places, but beach was still remaining.
So, in the morning, we woke up at 6am and went straight to the Bentota beach. It was very beautiful, clean and so less crowded. It is the best time to visit a beach and there is still the morning sun. It was amazing at that time. It was just a half n hour drive from our resort. The best location.
We spent good 3 hours at the beach and then came to our hotel. Had breakfast, checked out and went off to Colombo. The main Capital City of SriLanka. We stopped at the Barefoot Cafe in between. The Barefoot Cafe is hippie paradise. It is a gift shop in front, where you can buy the most colorful and boho gifts, the cafe is all very colorful and lively. And behind that is the restaurant, where you can chill for long hours, enjoy live music by artists, smoke and have amazing food.
So after Barefoot Cafe, we reached Colombo by 4pm and went to the most famous temple of Sri Lanka that is, Gangaramya Temple. It is a Buddhist temple. 75-80% of the SriLankan population is Buddhist and rest are mix of Christian, Hindu and Other religion. The temple is very beautiful and made by the river, it is very peaceful.
We had our flight next day early morning, so we booked a small hotel just nearby the Airport in Negombo, it was Hotel Euro Star, it is just 5 mins drive to the airport. So, before going to our hotel, we went to Negombo Beach to chill for a while. It is a family beach, with street food all around it. We spent 2-3 hours, just sitting and then we picked up our dinner and came to our Hotel.
On day 5, we had our flight at 6am so we left our hotel at around 3am, that is why booked a cheap and small hotel because we had to stay for just 3-4 hours.
This was our first girls only trip, and Sri Lanka treated us very well. We have travelled in India on our own and we have never felt completely safe, but in SriLanka, we absolutely did. The people were very generous and kind. We made many friends and are looking forward to go back. We would never be able to forget anything about Sri Lanka.