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Wonderful Island: Our Adventures

27 October 2015 • Travel time: with 10 February 2015 on 24 February 2015
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Friends, I hope my review will be useful to you ...

Arrived with my wife at Colombo airport at about 4.00 local time. There are many taxi drivers at the airport and those who want to give tourists a lift for dollars to the place of rest. The calculation is based on fatigue after a long flight. According to the plan, Ceylon was supposed to rest for 2 weeks. The first place was the resort town of Hikkaduwa in the south of the island.

Taxi and tuk-tuks


The most convenient way to get there from the airport, as well as to any place, is by taxi. The alternatives are buses, trains and tuk-tuks. I’ll tell you right away about the cost: a taxi is the most expensive type of transport, most likely you will be asked to pay in dollars. I recommend to exchange currency in a small amount (100-200 USD), so to speak, for the first time. We changed at the rate: 130 Sri Lankan rupees for 1 dollar. Before the trip, we studied on the Internet the features of local life on the island and, of course, the routes of transport.

The budget and most affordable after taxis and tuk-tuks is the bus. There are no problems with them on the island. But in our case, it was necessary to wait for the first bus until 06.00, that is, another 2 hours after almost a day of transfers and flights. We decided to take a taxi. The most expensive fare I've heard to Hikkaduwa is $80 for two, a little haggling and agreeing to drive for $40, but we were lucky and, together with another couple from Moscow, agreed with the driver of an air-conditioned Toyota Hias minibus for $30 per couple , is the cheapest option. Taxi drivers will not take you below $30. We arrived at the resting place in about 3 hours, drove a real Schumacher, it was already pressed into the seat. This is how all taxi drivers do it. Who likes to move more quietly, it is better to choose a tuk-tuk or a bus. Although there are special high-speed buses that do not differ much from taxis.

They also considered the option of taking a taxi to the Colombo bus station in order to continue the further journey by bus, but here, too, not everything is going smoothly, they asked for at least $ 25. For those who still arrive at the airport during the day or want to wait for the bus, I’ll tell you that the approximate price of a bus to the bus station is no more than 2 dollars for two. You can get to Hikkaduwa or other cities in this direction by bus number 02 on the Colombo - Galle route. Drive to Hikkaduwa 4-4 hours. 5. Cost no more than $5 for two.

We stayed in a small guesthouse. At a cost of about $20 per night. The room was clean, there was a mosquito net above the bed, a fan under the ceiling, a shower and a toilet in the room. We specifically chose this housing option, since we like to travel and overpay for additional meters, there was no point in air conditioning with a TV set.


At the cost of guesthouses in the Hikkaduwa area - with large rooms, TVs and air conditioners start from $ 50 per day, hotels can be found from $ 100, food for an additional fee.

As for food, according to the experience of past trips (GOA, Bali), $ 20 is enough per day for 2 people without alcohol, but this is a minimum. I indicated just such an amount due to the fact that seafood, unlike the usual meat, quickly becomes boring and there will be no desire to constantly eat expensive shrimp or lobsters. At a price in coastal cafes, for a cooked lobster or huge shrimp, they will ask for 25-30 dollars. All other food is much cheaper. For fresh and alcoholic drinks, prices can change several times a week in cafes. For the most expensive fresh in a cafe on the beach in Hikkaduwa, they gave 3 dollars, the cheapest cost 1.5 dollars.

Stable prices in supermarkets, they look like Ukrainian ATB, but there is a strong alcohol department.

There is only one such store in Hikkaduwa, located just opposite the 4-star Citrus Hotel. On vacation, we always buy local alcoholic drinks, so I will give an example of the cost of beer and rum. An iron can of local beer "Lev" 0.5 volume with a strength of 4.6 costs 160 rupees, for the same beer in a glass with a volume of 650 ml you will have to pay 200 rupees, for a bottle of "Lev Strong" with a strength of 8.8 already 220. A liter of local rum white or red costs 2000 rupees approximately 15 dollars. I recommend taking alcohol with you, we brought 2-3 liters of vodka and never regretted it.

Returning to the beaches, in Hikkaduwa they are cool, almost limitless, interrupted only by fishing villages and dozens of fishing boats.


The beaches are clean, the sand is yellowish, the waves are always a few meters, so it is better to swim in the ocean from morning to 10 o'clock, then go to the lagoons protected by coral reefs that are found along the coast. Compared to the beaches of Goa and Bali, the beaches of Sri Lanka have almost no pesky hucksters or so-called "guides". For lovers of sun loungers, I advise you to immediately clarify this point before the trip, since they are mainly located at the hotels by the pool, and in guesthouses 80 meters from the ocean, there are only a few exceptions. It is better to buy sunscreen on the spot, at prices it costs about the same as in the usual stores, only it works better.

For surfers, there are places for this, but the waves are not the same as in Bali, for example. In all the time in Hikkaduwa I have not seen paraselling, jet skis from water entertainment, apparently this is simply not the case in this part of the island.

But it is common: motor boating to coral reefs, snorkeling, ocean fishing from a boat and diving. At prices, everything is individual, in the so-called tour centers located in the direction along the Colombo-Gale highway, there may be booklets of specific excursions with prices, but it’s too early for an ordinary tourist to rejoice, since prices will be maximum and you still have to bargain or pay in full. But not all at once, for excursions a little later.

I want to return to the ocean, in this part of the island it is clean and transparent, in some places coral reefs come right to the shore and without any special equipment you can see schools of colorful coral fish, sea urchins and crabs. My wife and I were lucky to see even a moray eel, just less than a meter from the shore, about one and a half meters long, her teeth were still the same.

In shallow water, when the tide goes out, local dogs come to try their luck in catching fish that have remained in natural traps. In the area of ​ ​ ​ ​ the 4-star hotel "Citrus" there is a coral reef that can be reached independently armed with a snorkel and mask. Also, several huge turtles live on this reef, they are not averse to eating sea grass from the hands of vacationers right near the shore, which local entrepreneurs will kindly provide for a small fee, and of course a small photo session as a keepsake. In principle, it makes no sense to go specifically to the turtle farm, you can spend time on something else.

Returning to the fun, locals can offer to rent fins, a mask and snorkel for $20 for the whole day, the alternative is to bring your own set from home or buy the same in a coastal store for $10-15.


In addition to motor boats, you can ride on a watercraft, as the locals call it a "catamaran". I met similar boats on the shores of Goa and Bali, but their purpose was only fishing. In Sri Lanka, they guessed to use it for entertainment purposes. They represent the basis - a long narrow boat from 5 to 8 meters to which a balancing log is tied on ordinary sticks. Everything looks very handicraft, especially when you imagine that this miracle boat will be driven by a frail peasant, you will have to sit on a specially reinforced board, and there is no protection from the sun on the catamaran, and a dumb peasant will row with one oar, as a rule, he does not speak English. On such a catamaran, extreme tourists swim on a coral reef to watch fish on a budget. I did it on my own, armed with a mask and snorkel.

Considering that the reef started right from the shore, in my opinion, a boat or a catamaran is not needed to explore it.

The water temperature in the ocean does not drop below 29 degrees, so it is very comfortable to watch the aquatic inhabitants, of course, be sure not to forget Go-pro for unforgettable pictures underwater and not only. After a long exploration of the coral reef and not only, vacationers can take a shower on the street near the beach of the same Citrus hotel. I didn’t notice right away, but a few observations and the conclusion is that the shower is free, the hotel security does not pay attention to such trifles. So take note, a useful thing.

Flight and spinning

I am an avid fisherman, before the trip I read a bunch of forums and articles on the net, but somehow everything is blurry on this topic. In general, I took a couple of spinning rods, so that for sure for river and ocean fishing.

For ocean fishing carp spinning 2.10m long, very rigid and durable, Sadei J3FR50 reel on 11 bearings with bitrunner. Instead of the usual fishing line, I installed a nylon cable 0.5 mm 100 m long, made the leashes from a special material from the company "Edelstahl vorfach" to withstand a load of 20 kg, stocked up with weights from 25 to 95 grams and various sizes of wobblers and barracuda hooks. For river fishing, I took an ordinary folding crucian spinning rod and, accordingly, a simpler fishing line.

The second question I had was how to transport carp spinning, because even in the disassembled state, the length of its parts is 110 cm each, which did not allow placing it in a sports bag or suitcase. Google helps me, but I couldn't get a definitive answer. Since the flight was from Kyiv, and not from my native Dnepropetrovsk, I didn’t want to risk my favorite spinning rod, in the future I didn’t want to give it to the representatives of the airport.


There are no fishing rods in the list of fishing rods prohibited for transportation in hand luggage, there are only spear guns and most of the reviews on the forums are still for the fact that it is possible to transport spinning rods in hand luggage without hooks. For transportation in luggage, you need to buy a special tube or, as forum users recommended, strap it to the bag and convince border guards with airline representatives that this is a special design of the bag. The last thing that was done was a call to the airline and to my question, the answer was received that for about 500 hryvnia at that time it was possible to issue my favorite spinning as an oversized cargo. I did not want to throw out 20 bucks and decided to act according to the circumstances on the spot.

After sleeping in a compartment car on a train, on a wonderful sky-bus for 50 hryvnia per ticket, we arrived at the no less wonderful and beloved airport of Boryspil.

Although this is not entirely about Sri Lanka, I simply cannot miss such a moment and not share it with him. Once at the airport at the entrance, they immediately scam you like a swindler, things are scanned, then with suitcases and bags you get directly into the terminal hall. Police patrols are everywhere. There are almost no passengers. An important detail is that given the unstable political situation in the country, fluctuations in the exchange rate, a limited budget and a great desire to relax, as well as having to do with air travel, plane tickets were taken as employees, on the one hand cheaper, but on the other there is a chance to fly away not immediately, if there are no vacancies. At the Boryspil airport, I went up to get my tickets and at the same time to clarify about spinning. The airline employee kindly said that you can take my favorite spinning rod in hand luggage, but with tickets it’s a little more difficult, it was worth waiting for the airline representative.


About an hour later, a man appeared with broken glasses, somewhat reminiscent of a minibus driver, whose manners apparently were not taught, in general, at first he didn’t even talk to us, then there were supposedly no seats on the plane, a little later he came up with a story that there were already 3rd day his friend sits and cannot fly to Sri Lanka. As a result, in a half-empty plane, I was happy with my wife and my favorite spinning rod and flew to Sharjah Airport. Having waited a little at the ticket office, our happiness knew no bounds, since we still found a couple of places. But the happiness was short-lived, it would seem that everything is going great for us, but we were stopped at the inspection point because the border guard did not like my spinning and he simply said that he would not let me on the plane with it. He didn't explain why, he just put it aside.

My wife was more fortunate, she got a seat in row 10 surrounded by locals. Fly 4.5 hours to Colombo airport. For the first half hour, it seemed to me that this was the “end”: the staff was constantly walking, since my legs rested on the compartments where food was heated and drinks were stored, I constantly had to move, my flight neighbor was generally cheerful, he stood almost all the time after takeoff, due to lack of space. But I didn’t hang my nose, because in addition to a successful landing on a plane, my spinning also flew in my luggage and the thought that I would soon swim in the warm ocean did not leave me. The stewardess kindly provided a half liter bottle of water for free. My mood went up. Gradually I got into a conversation with a seatmate, then with 2 flight attendants who served passengers sitting in the second half of the plane. As it turned out, I was the first white person to fly in this way.

Then a toast was immediately drawn, and closing the curtain, I and my neighbor were treated to whiskey, and the flight attendants themselves drank something non-alcoholic. Throughout the flight, we talked, joked, the flight attendants treated us to drinks and drinks, at the end they even fed us a good portion of rice, meat, salad and fish. I, in turn, treated them to apples and tangerines taken from Ukraine.

Having landed at the airport, my spinning rod appeared first from the luggage of the entire plane, making sure that it was intact, we headed to the exit from the airport. Summing up on the topic of spinning transportation, the position of airport employees in some countries does not always coincide with the opinion of airlines, so if your route is in transit through the UAE, it is better to carry tackle in your luggage initially so that there is no risk of losing them for good.

Fishing


Walking along the evening beach with my wife, we saw how a local pulled out some kind of fish resembling the usual catfish, a kilo and a half offhand. I caught it on a piece of thick fishing line, at the end of which there was a hook, if you can call it that. The local said the name of the fish, explained that he was catching squid, but given that this is a reserve because of the reef, fishing is prohibited for tourists within a radius of 2 km.

The next day on the beach we met some peasant who recognized us, said that the night before he had bought the above fish for his restaurant. After talking, he offered to take him to a nearby place where fishing is allowed in the evening. For some $ 2, he drove to our guesthouse and took us approximately to the beginning of Hikkaduwa to a place where river water mixes with ocean water. It was a breakwater artificially made from granite. The depth is good, there are currents, fishing promised to be successful.

But as a result, I caught only the same catfish as that man, only 3 times less and not for a wobbler, but for a squid. The next morning we went by bus to the city of Gale. Regarding trips to local attractions, I immediately warn you that one way to your destination, on average, you need to spend 3 hours of time, due to the great remoteness of the objects. If the vacationers did not work out with knowledge of English, then this is not a problem, naming the desired city or bus number will always tell you the right direction, and an even better way to find your way back is to get to the nearest bus station. The bus station in Gale is located between the old and new towns.

Old Town

After replenishing our water supplies at a local shop, we headed to the old city, which is protected by the walls of a fort built by the Portuguese. Along the way, we still manage to get to the fish market.


Inside the fort there are many surviving Portuguese-built houses, powerful walls around the entire perimeter of the city speak of its security both from the ocean and from land. The preserved lighthouse is impressive, although it no longer serves its intended purpose due to the upset city, but the clock on it always shows the exact time. You can hide from the heat and have a bite to eat in any of the restaurants on the territory of the fort. And by the way, it is most profitable to buy magnets and souvenirs here, since prices differ significantly in the resort area along the coast of the island. After taking a couple of dozens of photos for memory, we return back. You can get to the city of Gale and back both by bus and by train, the railway track runs parallel to the road along the coast.

Tour of the local lagoon

The owner of our guesthouse kindly agreed to organize a tour of the local lagoon.

Invested with his services in 30 dollars somewhere. And the next morning we were on our way. It's nice to drive an air-conditioned car when it's hot outside. We drove about 40 km to the neighboring town of Balapitiya. We left the track to the Maadu River, where a guide with a motor boat was already waiting for us. We headed along the river, passing small bridges, to the local cinnamon maker. The process is interesting, but I had to buy a pack for $ 3 so as not to offend the craftsman. Here we were also shown how palm leaves are used to make a durable coating for fences and roofs.

The next stop was a Buddhist temple, inside which we were met by a real monk, who told us about the principle of chronicle writing on palm leaves, then blessed and gave us some kind of books. At first I thought that I just needed to sign up, like a visitation journal, but in fact it was a journal where people write their data and how much someone donated to the temple.

It’s good that they exchanged money the day before, otherwise it wouldn’t be enough for everything. The monk allowed me to take a picture with him for free, after donations, after which the next stop on the lagoon was the fish farm "Galmanduwa". They take 200 rupees per person, but you can put your feet in a specially designated compartment, where hundreds of fish will gnaw on your legs so that their interest does not disappear, you are given a plate of food that needs to be thrown into the water so that the activity of the fish does not decrease. This farm has bays with rays, small crocodiles and crabs. The owner of the farm offers to take a picture with a small crocodile for free. Then we return back to the car.


Tourists are transported in packs around the lagoon, especially for group tours of Germans and Chinese. Of course, hotels for such excursions take an order of magnitude higher. But we are simple people without problems, for the sake of a good price, you can talk with the local people.

On the shore, they were waiting for us with cool drinks and wet towels to relieve fatigue after a boat trip. Although it is a trifle, it is nevertheless pleasant.

On the way home, the driver offers to stop by a mask factory. It was ugly to refuse and it was interesting to see. There is no mandatory entry fee, only if you wish, you can donate to a specially equipped box at the entrance. The factory consists of several parts: shop, history rooms, woodcarving department, painting department. About 8 artisans cut and process at this factory. Their workplace is located on the side of the store building under the roof. In the store itself, in addition to masks, there are a lot of souvenirs and magnets, but it makes no sense to buy there, in such places it is always more expensive.

Initially, they wanted to charge us 80 dollars for half a day of fishing, but in the end they agreed on 55. It was not possible to fish in the river due to the ban. The next morning, on a tuk-tuk with his wife, a man took him, who on the eve was given a deposit for fishing. We drove up to the beach in the lagoon area near the hotel "Citrus". After about 10 minutes, another person swam up to us on a motor boat and we went on a long-awaited fishing trip. Unforgettable impressions, the open ocean, we are sailing on a motor boat, I am with my favorite spinning rod in my hands in the hope of catching fishing happiness, my beloved wife, who is shocked by everything that happens, getting unforgettable impressions of pitching on big waves. I hung a large wobbler weighing about 20 grams, and a weight of 75 grams, which at a speed allowed the wobbler to swim in the water column at a depth of 5 meters.

Having sailed about 10 km from the shore, we rode on the open ocean in the hope of catching something big, but luck turned away and we decided to just do deep-sea fishing. I changed the wobbler to a regular hook and managed to catch one half-kilo for a squid.


But imagine for a moment that the depth under the boat was 70 meters and to make transfers when you have to release almost the entire supply of the cable in the coil, a good simulator for pumping muscles. I don’t complain, because I caught modern tackle with an inertialess reel, which made the process much easier, but the locals caught on primitive tackle, which is a babin, on which a thick fishing line is wound to a thickness of a finger, and at the end something from a distance resembling a hook . And for several hours of such fishing, manually winding and unwinding almost a hundred meters of fishing line each time is not easy.

My wife caught the first fish with such a tackle, 300 grams in a stripe, the locals said that it was impossible to eat it, and after a memory photo, it was released back into the ocean. On the way back, I trolled again, but to no avail. The captain made another circle to the coral reef, where we fed the fish, and returned back to the beach. Although we didn’t catch a big fish that day, my wife and I got a lot of pleasure from fishing and positive emotions, the day after that it seemed that we were on the waves on a boat, and so the body shook.

Locals fishing with a net

Each cafe on the island is unique in its own way. Here I remember one seemingly inconspicuous, but inside is clean and with its own atmosphere. At the entrance to the cafe there was a poster of Bob Marley hammering a joint, and next to it was a surfboard. After a little snack, we went back to the beach. To my fishing happiness, the locals decided to drag the seine and allowed me to participate in the process.

It can be described as follows, several guys on a catamaran swim 200 meters into the ocean, dragging the net behind them. One edge of the net on the ropes is held on one side, and when the catamaran makes an arc through the water, throwing the net, the second edge of the net is also held by the ropes at a distance of 250-300 meters from each other. Then the guys in the catamaran sail back to the ocean and make sure that the net is evenly distributed from the left to the right edge, and at the signal of the catamaran, people on the shore begin to slowly pull the cables and pull the net. All in all, it took about an hour, if not more. For the sake of fun, many onlookers of tourists took part in the action. As a result, they pulled out the net, offhand there was a kilogram of 20-30 small fish. I took the promised pair for the restaurant where they fried it.

Bus Colombo-Galle-Negombo


February 24 was a day of rest on the ocean, without global outings. We enjoyed the huge waves and relaxing on the coast. On February 25, having packed our things, we took the Colombo-Galle high-speed bus number 02 to Colombo, and then on another bus to Negombo, another part of the island, from where it is closer to get to the sights. To Colombo for two, tickets cost no more than 3 dollars, and the ride is almost 4 hours. Taxi drivers for the same distance would cut down at least 40 dollars. At the Colombo bus station, we quickly found the Colombo-Negombo bus number 240 we needed, and also a new, soft, air-conditioned one, the route of which passed along the highway, which saved an hour of travel time. Cost about $4 for two. Arrived by local standards quickly, an hour and a half.

Briefly about the villa where we lived: a one-story house, three rooms, a hall and two bedrooms, one has air conditioning with a fan, and the other just a fan. The kitchen is good, spacious, with a gas stove, refrigerator and microwave, all necessary cutlery. The bathroom is spacious, combined with a toilet, even with a washing machine included. The water supply system is very confusing, but on the 2nd day it was already used as a native. There are 4 coconut trees growing in the yard, from which we partially ate coconuts. Also in the yard is a summer shower and toilet.

So about the food, we decided to eat like at home, went to the market and bought a small tuna for 1.2 kg for 3 dollars. The woman who sold it to us offered to clean it, and for free. In a minute, the tuna carcass was ready for frying and chopped into 8 pieces. At home they fried it and ate it with pleasure. It tastes like beef meat.

The difference in cooking with a cafe is that maybe there were not enough spices thrown, but this did not spoil the overall picture. An iguana, a chameleon, geckos and a lizard lived in our yard, and right in the house there was a sparrow's nest with chicks.

The beach was not as clean as in Hikkaduwa due to the proximity of fishing villages, the waves are smaller, but the ocean is the same.

Negombo city center walk and local buses

The next day we decided to walk to the center of Negombo, about 5 km from our place of residence. Walking to explore the local flavor is much more interesting than from the window of a taxi or bus. On the way there were different temples: Hindu, Catholic, schools, shops of sellers and hotels. Attention was drawn to local schoolchildren, or rather their uniform, all white, both for girls and boys. This is a very interesting observation, I've never seen anything like it before. The local police ride both bicycles and motorcycles, minibuses and jeeps.


I saw a paddy wagon several times, but unlike our understanding, it is an ordinary bus there, the only difference is the bars on the windows. After shopping at a local supermarket, we headed back. We decided to take the bus. 15 minutes walk and got to the bus stop. The only bus number 905 from the bus station went in our direction. The bus is quite budgetary, designed mainly for locals. The cost of a trip from the bus station to the place of residence was the cheapest 30 rupees for two, the most expensive 50. Let me remind you, the dollar to rupee rate is 1/130. Tuk tukers ask for such a distance from 250 to 600 rupees, so you need to bargain. Taxi drivers are very affected by refusal, a 180-degree turn and movement in the opposite direction, in 90 percent of the cases they agree with your price option.

Returning to the local buses, I was struck by the driver's warning system about the need to stop.

It works like this: in the cabin of the bus, in addition to the driver, there is always a controller (conductor) who cares for the passengers, who makes sure that everyone gets off and on. Along the entire bus, a nylon cable is stretched like a snake under the roof, which ends with a bell near the driver. The passenger who needs to get off first pulls the rope, thereby ringing a bell near the driver. The driver, in turn, chooses where it is more convenient for him to stop. After the stop, the passenger gets out, and the conductor, making sure that it is possible to go, pulls the rope a second time, a bell is heard to the driver or simply shouts quickly, they say go. But I repeat that such buses mainly travel on domestic routes. Intercity buses travel at high speed and stop only at stops, and express buses only at the so-called key stops and bus stations.

A few words about buses.

There are private and public, and the price depends on it. In private, the conductor just pays for passengers, while only asking where to go and at his own discretion says the cost of the trip, and in public, the conductor walks with a device attached to his hand, reminiscent of a terminal in supermarkets for credit cards, and prints a receipt with the distance and cost trips. But in any case, you ride in one or another bus, it is many times cheaper than using the services of a taxi or tuk-tuker.

An interesting observation was to understand the purpose of some vegetables in the market. The wife asked about one vegetable, in appearance like a greenhouse cucumber, only 5 or 6 planes still clearly protruding from it. The merchant smiled and said that we would not need it, the locals make an antidote for snake bites from it. It was interesting to see the variety of bananas from which the soup is cooked.


Outwardly, they differ from ordinary ones in a coarser skin. And we were looking for a cucumber for salad in general, but as it turned out, they look like our long white zucchini, and cucumbers in the middle. In general, there are enough marvelous fruits and vegetables, you won’t remember them all.

Road from Negombo to Kandy, to Peradeniya botanical garden

Our next goal was to visit the national botanical garden of Peradeniya, near Kandy. So, on February 27, from the very morning, on the same 905 bus, we went to the bus station, from where, according to the schedule, the first bus to Kandy should depart at 7.00. A little late, we got on the right bus number 01 "Negombo - Kandy" and ahead of us were waiting for an unforgettable 4.5 hour journey. For the price of one way paid for two, too, somewhere around $ 2. The day before, the tourist centers found out that the cost of this trip for two was $ 100 and separately payment for the entrance to the botanical garden.

The road to Kandy was long.

The bus window offers a beautiful view of the jungle, local streams, unusually shaped trees and birds. Considering the large number of tourists and locals traveling both in passing and in opposite directions, the speed on the road in mountainous areas is low, traffic jams also occur, because of this, a lot of time is spent on the road. Having passed all the obstacles, we still got into the city itself, the movement is very difficult. Some 40 minutes and we are at the bus station in Kandy.

Without a navigator and a map, it was difficult to understand in which direction to move, or rather, to understand the distance to the botanical garden. After a bite to eat in a local cafe, we went to tuk tukers and for 600 rupees we reached the Botanical Garden. It turns out we went back a little. The bus route on which we were traveling just passes by the Botanical Gardens, but we did not find any information about this on the Internet before the trip.

Under each tree or bush there is a sign with the name, so the additional services of a guide are also superfluous. If you are very tired or for health reasons you cannot walk for a long time, there is a golf cart service, also, of course, for an additional fee.


Monkeys and flying foxes have also been seen in the park, hanging by the thousands from the tops of the trees. Some tourists do not even pay attention to them, although they need to raise their heads higher and look up. The park is clean and well-groomed, there are fountains with drinking water, and for those who are hungry, there is a specially designated place for cafes. It is impossible not to note the suspension bridge across the river at a height of 30-40 meters. For a good shot, you must visit, but again you can get there by standing in line, if you are not lucky, since a special controller lets in no more than 4 people at a time for 5 minutes no more.

An alley of crooked pines and a huge green meadow are impressive, in the center of which is the largest ficus in the world, "Ficus Benjamin", and schoolchildren in traditional white uniforms run around. When we stopped under the ficus for a halt, schoolchildren came up to us, they were very interested in talking with white people, just like us with them, then a photo as a keepsake. A little later, a little older guys approached us, they were already college students, after talking with them, they also took pictures as a keepsake and continued on our way.

In order not to get lost, the policeman was asked in which direction the bus station and where to take the bus. The policeman kindly prompted us and after 10 minutes we were already sitting on the bus. The ticket price is very symbolic, 40 rupees for two. From the bus station, we went to the Buddha temple, getting a little lost, got to the prison, located almost in the center of the city, as it seemed to us.

Discussing what we saw, we went further and met 2 more monitor lizards in the lake, but smaller in size, having documented what we saw with a camera, we continued on our way.

Practically in front of the temple, my attention was attracted by something near the water, coming closer we saw a bird, but there was no head. This surprised me and decided to look for the bird's head, took a nearby stick and let's poke the bird's body, but there was no reaction, then I poked harder and I don't know who was more frightened, we or she, but I almost hit a huge beak. It turned out that the bird hid its head from the rain under its wing, maybe it was just sleeping and did not expect such a turn of events. From what he saw, the bird jumped sharply to the water, waving its large wings, but for some reason it didn’t take off, but dived, either its wings got wet, or from fright, having swum under water for several meters, it surfaced and stopped, making sure that everything was in order with it, we went to temple.


The only difference was that we came for predatory large fish, and were going to catch not on the traditional squid, but on the wobbler. After 20-30 minutes of dipping in the ocean of a wobbler and changing several places, nothing pecked. But fishing happiness nevertheless found us, and I felt like something pulled my wobbler into the depths of the ocean, but the fish had no chance, after a little struggle, I still managed to throw the predator ashore. My joy knew no bounds, it was a barracuda, as it turned out later, weighing 3 kg. Maybe of course this is not what I wanted to catch, but still nice. A small photo shoot with a trophy and we went home, where we divided it into several parts, fried it, and consumed it with a cool beer. Wife cooked a stunned salad and as a side dish of local rice. We have never eaten better fish.

To Colombo

According to the plan, in the morning of the next day, according to the planned scheme, we went to Colombo, the unofficial capital of Ceylon.

It so happened that it was a day off and the traffic on the road was difficult. Before reaching the bus station, the driver dropped off the passengers, as there was a huge traffic jam. Through the local bazaar, we headed towards the ocean. On the way, we saw probably the only monument to the telephone in the world, and elite hotels were already beginning to the left of it. There was a problem of money exchange. Banks in Sri Lanka do not work on weekends. Then we went to the famous Hilton-Colombo hotel. There, of course, the attendants met us as hotel guests and almost at the reception agreed to exchange dollars, but when they found out that we were not living with them, they politely refused. Having rested in the hotel lobby on the advice of the entertainer, we went to the local money changers, who were 200 meters from the hotel, but this idea was abandoned, because in order to exchange currency, we were shown the direction to a back alley, and then to some building.

We did not despair, and near the next 5-star hotel, the taxi drivers had a pretty good exchange of currency.

One even offered to take a tour of the city for a small fee. We agreed and for 500 rupees we swept through all the sights of the central part of Colombo, along the way we stopped at some supposedly exclusive shop. This was one of the conditions of the trip. In order not to offend our taxi driver, we smartly examined the souvenir department, then the jewelry department. Prices are in US dollars and are rather high. Jewelry at first glance is cute, but handicraft. The stones are unclear, it is not clear what metal the frame is made of, there is no sample anywhere. Referring to the fact that they did not take money, they continued the tour.


Of the main attractions, it should be noted the white house, an almost reduced copy of the American one, a recreation park, a local cricket stadium, an island where only couples in love walk and the main square of the city. At the end of the tour, we went for a walk along the main square, where locals and tourists like to gather. Although the area is not particularly impressive, almost all the grass has been trampled down, there is no entertainment. But people have fun flying kites, swimming in clothes right in the ocean. At first glance, there were several thousand people near the square along the coast. It was nice to see that people are mostly conscious, they throw garbage only into garbage cans, the police keep order. Places for breastfeeding mothers are equipped on the square, a special viewing platform has been brought out into the ocean, from which good pictures are obtained.

Charged with positive and a good supply of photos, we went back to the bus station to go home.

Pinavella Elephant Sanctuary

Our last major stop was the Pinavella National Elephant Sanctuary, located in the mountainous area of ​ ​ the island. Traditionally, we decided to take the bus. There was only a moment that we did not know the exact number of the bus to the reserve, its schedule and from which city we need to go. Rushed already late, and decided to act according to the circumstances. On the regular bus number 905 from the very morning of March 1, we drove from our village to the bus station in Negombo. They boarded the already well-known bus No. 01 "Negombo-Kandy" and waited for departure.

I was calm as an oak tree, but my wife was a little worried, since we had not yet recognized the city in which we had to get up to transfer to the bus to Pinavella.

The moment of truth, the driver got on the bus, we asked and he kindly answered that he would tell where to change. And again 3-3 hours. 5 local entourage on the way. In time, there was still an hour's drive left and we would have reached Kandy. One woman from among the passengers of the bus said that the city of Kegalle would soon come and from there we would get to the place. In Kegalle they already wanted to leave, but the driver said that it was still early, we see that the city had already passed and again a winding mountain road in the middle of the jungle.

And suddenly, suddenly, the driver cuts off some bus and says that we need to transfer to it, the conductor jumped out on the move and also shouted something at the local driver of the cut bus. Sincere people turned out to be simple, straight to tears. We quickly got on the bus and drove on.

We couldn't believe that being thousands of miles from home in a country where white people rarely use public transportation, some driver would care about us and help solve such a trifling matter. Immediately remembered our minibus drivers.


On the bus, the conductor came up to us, took out a notebook and wrote out a ticket for a carbon copy, keeping a copy for himself. The price is ridiculous, but the conductor, with the importance of his work, tore off two tickets for us and took 30 rupees for two. It was a completely local bus, as it did not have a number or route inscriptions in English. language, only some circles in the local. After about 5 minutes, the bus turned off the main road to the left and began to climb up. Through the window we saw the first elephants. These were private reserves. I tried to ask in my broken English how far it was to Pinavella, but the conductor, like the bus, was completely local and just got cold, apparently he didn’t know the language.

Although mahouts limit contact with tourists, small elephants ignore this rule and seek communication with tourists, especially when the latter are treated to bananas.

The bathing time of the elephants was over and the herd was being prepared for transfer to the pasture. A policeman approached the tourists and started blowing his whistle to get them to leave behind the barriers and open the way for the herd. Making sure. that tourists and onlookers are safe, the policeman waved to the drovers and the herd gradually began to leave the river and move along the same street that the tourists walk. The unpredictable and naughty elephants are kept in chains by mahouts. Such a precaution, of course, will seem cruel, but it is necessary. After the last elephant passed, the tourists and we also followed the herd. We ended up in another part of the reserve. The view is very beautiful, a huge clearing overlooking the jungle-covered mountains.

Elephants already familiar to us graze here like our cows. Drivers make sure that tourists do not interfere with them and do not cross the conditionally separated line.

Again, for a conditional fee of a dollar, you can go up to the elephant and take a picture with him. Here you can also ride elephants. We also walked around the reserve. We saw how little elephants are bathed with a hose. They are very sociable and don't mind being stroked by tourists.

After shooting a dozen more frames, we moved to the exit. We got on the same very local bus and drove to Kegalle. We moved to another and went to Negombo. On the way, the bus stopped at some station and there was a stop for 15 minutes. During this time, the locals manage to have a bite to eat in a roadside cafe before moving on. That's what long stops are for.

Last day before departure, two Judas

We had one more day before departure, which we spent on the coast.


We swam in the waves and enjoyed the warm Sri Lankan sun. On the beach, we were approached by a local guy, as it turned out, he was a tuk-tuker and part-time catamaran captain. We refused a walk on his sailing catamaran, we agreed only that he would take us to the airport at night.

As it got dark, we went to the town to buy some souvenirs and something to drink on the path. There were 2 coconuts in the refrigerator in the house, which we borrowed from the palm tree of the owner of our house, Uncle Jude. Having drunk on the track and having a bite to eat already bored with us barracuda, we began the process of packing our suitcases. Everything went quickly. It remains to solve the issue with spinning, take it in hand luggage or tie it to the bag. I had another option to push it to Uncle Jude, as good tackle is worth its weight in gold on the island. There are no shops for fishing tackle and spinning rods. And this person showed considerable interest in my spinning.

Only on the threshold stood some kid and his name was also Jude. Probably this name is common as we have, for example, "Vasya". In general, I explained the situation to him, and practically dragged him by the scruff of the neck. When we approached the wife said that she got through to our Jude and we do not need this guy. The poor boy turned around and went home to sleep. This night he will never forget, at least I would not forget.

Soon, Uncle Jude rolled up on his bike. He probably expected that I would give him a spinning rod, but he said that it was expensive to buy. For a moment it seemed to me that he was a Jew, they had already reached the islands, apparently. On this positive note, realizing that it would not work, I tied the spinning rod to the bag with the help of garbage bags and adhesive tape, it looked like a guitar case, put the luggage in a tuk-tuk, said goodbye to the owner of the house and went to the airport. For 1000 rupees per driver was happy to take us.


On the way, he spoke about his whole life of first love and the dream of living in Moscow with his beloved. Tuk-tukers are not allowed into the airport itself, so we unloaded 100 meters from the entrance. But this did not frighten us, because 100 meters is nothing compared to what we had to go through on this journey. This is not the end, to be continued……

Translated automatically from Russian. View original
To add or remove photos in a story, go to album of this story
одна из прикормленных черепашек в Хиккадуве
пляж в Хиккадуве
рыбалка на камнях
изобилие
в местном автобусе
рыбный базарчик в Галле
Известный маяк, Галле
прогулка по лагуне
ох уж эти рыбки!
Ланкийские маски
а вот и процесс изготовления
в этот автомобильчик с мороженым
классный мужик и классная кафешка в Хиккадуве. Жена заказала салат из авокадо, а у него они уже были не совсем спелые, так он бегал за авокадо в ближайший супермаркет, лишь бы нам угодить.
Рыбалочка с лодочки, троллю
скромный улов
тянем-потянем
ginger beer имбирный напиток
и снова - в автобусе этот помоднее
с местными студентами
со школьниками
как местные: зонт не от дождя, а от солнца в Королевском Бот саду
слоники!!! в Пиннавеле
лисицы летучие в Королевском Бот саду
варан на озере в Канди
Дай пять!
супер улов
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