Vacationing in Sri Lanka with my wife. We drove with the goal, as they say, to get drunk and forget about Moscow smuts, to flounder in the ocean and lie under the coconut palms. I understand that The Fortress 5 * hotel is one of the few on the coast that civilization has not bypassed: solid, clean, comfortable.
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Vacationing in Sri Lanka with my wife. We drove with the goal, as they say, to get drunk and forget about Moscow smuts, to flounder in the ocean and lie under the coconut palms.
I understand that The Fortress 5 * hotel is one of the few on the coast that civilization has not bypassed: solid, clean, comfortable. The hotel area is not big, but quite cozy. Rooms with decent modern furniture. The staff is friendly and happy to help. In general, the level of service is at its best, even the cleaning of the room was a pleasant surprise (in my opinion, for Sri Lanka, this is on the verge of fantasy).
An unforgettable view of the ocean from the room, the noise of which on the first day we thought that it would not let us fall asleep... but then we quickly got used to it. Now, in the homeland, this exotic oh, how not enough. The ocean is like a bomb: impressive, but quite dangerous.
A little to the left of the hotel there is a small lagoon, protected from the open ocean by rocks. Here you can safely hang out in a natural jacuzzi, see big turtles, and on weekends, the local Sri Lankan population. By the way, few of the locals know how to swim... they swim knee-deep in water.
Extreme lovers can walk 200 meters to the right of the hotel (opposite the Koggala Beach hotel) and swim there in the open ocean, but be very careful! Further than the waist categorically do not go! There is no high wave, but even Russian bogatyrs-athletes should not measure their strength with the ocean, especially after a couple of glasses of local rum... personally verified. The ocean is very treacherous and does not forgive mistakes. As an alternative to swimming in the ocean, the hotel has a nice and clean swimming pool.
The hotel is good, but after three days we realized that we want to get to know Sri Lanka better. It’s just that “I want” and “I can” are different things. Going on organized excursions with a crowd of 15-20 people, and even more so in English or German, is a dubious pleasure. We guessed that Sri Lanka is not Turkey, where even dogs bark in Russian. . .
It turned out that it is not so easy to replenish an account in a local stall without knowing languages ... We give 1000 rupees and a phone with a local SIM card, and the seller smiles sweetly, but does not even guess what they want from him.
But apparently we were born in a shirt. A young local boy who bought cola in this stall asked in RUSSIAN "Can I help you? ". I will not hide, they were delighted with him as a native. Turns out this guy is a self-employed tour guide. He called us as Lyosha (Alexey), although the Sri Lankan name is Litti. He knows English, German, he himself learned Russian and even learns Ukrainian.
Lyosha became not only a good guide for us, thanks to which we saw the real Sri Lanka outside the hotel, but also became a real friend for us... we are waiting for a visit in the winter.
As it turned out in Sri Lanka, in addition to the breathtaking ocean and the coast with coconut palms, there are some things that must be done:
1) Go on excursions and see the country from the inside... especially since there is where to go and there is something to see.
I was very impressed with the two-day excursion to Kandy-Sigir. We spent the night in a decent hotel, drove in a good car, which is important in Sri Lanka with an adequate driver. Very rich and interesting program. Lyokha told us all the time where it is better to take a picture, what to pay attention to, etc. We got a lot of pleasure from riding on elephants.
I really liked the excursion to Yalla Park, where we saw a leopard in wildlife. We visited several spice gardens.
We went to a large beautiful waterfall, where we stayed at a hotel on top of a mountain with an unforgettable view from the room to the waterfall and tea plantations.
In his free time from excursions, Lesha drove by tuk-tuk (local taxi) to a beautiful large lagoon with turquoise water, where you can safely swim.
2) There is something to buy in Sri Lanka.
Tip: when buying tickets, order 10-20 kg of extra baggage. . . this is from personal experience. . . come in handy!
Lesha told us what to take and what to pay attention to, and what we can do without.
We bought a lot of Ayurvedic medicines. My wife is now delighted with natural creams and oils.
Not without jewelry with sapphires and diamonds. Stones are mined in Sri Lanka and they cost an order of magnitude cheaper than in Moscow. They took a few stones without a jewelry cut as a gift to relatives (otherwise, as always, you will not please).
Out of competition highland Ceylon tea.
Interesting wooden figurines, local textiles and other small souvenirs.
We bought solid leather travel bags... so that all the acquired goodness had something to carry.
3) Have something to drink. We sentenced the local Calypso rum. Drank Lyon beer.
4) Have something to eat. In addition to traditional rice dishes with curry, you can order lobster, squid, lobster, shrimp. By the way, a couple of times Lyosha himself bought and prepared sooooo delicious shrimp for us. You can not ignore the fruit market.
5) There is a desire to return to Sri Lanka again in a while!!!
Our friends are planning to go to Sri Lanka in December. We are confident that their vacation will be as comfortable and exciting as ours.
In general, the Fortes Hotel met all our expectations. Without prejudice, we recommend it.
We were happy to share with friends the phone number, email address and a very important PHOTO of our guide.
There was a case when an unfamiliar local resident introduced himself to us at the gates of the hotel by the name of our guide... It's good that at that time we already knew what our Lyosha (Litty) looked like, otherwise we could have paid loot for excursions... in general to get involved.
We are glad that our vacation from the beach so unexpectedly grew into an educational excursion.
Without the real color that we saw, the idea of Sri Lanka would be incomplete.
On vacation, we forgot about all worldly problems and received a lot of positive emotions, and our guide Lesha was invited to visit the harsh Russian winters!!!
If you have any questions, write. I'll be glad to help. . .
I understand that The Fortress 5 * hotel is one of the few on the coast that civilization has not bypassed: solid, clean, comfortable. The hotel area is not big, but quite cozy. Rooms with decent modern furniture. The staff is friendly and happy to help. In general, the level of service is at its best, even the cleaning of the room was a pleasant surprise (in my opinion, for Sri Lanka, this is on the verge of fantasy).
An unforgettable view of the ocean from the room, the noise of which on the first day we thought that it would not let us fall asleep... but then we quickly got used to it. Now, in the homeland, this exotic oh, how not enough. The ocean is like a bomb: impressive, but quite dangerous.
A little to the left of the hotel there is a small lagoon, protected from the open ocean by rocks. Here you can safely hang out in a natural jacuzzi, see big turtles, and on weekends, the local Sri Lankan population. By the way, few of the locals know how to swim... they swim knee-deep in water.
Extreme lovers can walk 200 meters to the right of the hotel (opposite the Koggala Beach hotel) and swim there in the open ocean, but be very careful! Further than the waist categorically do not go! There is no high wave, but even Russian bogatyrs-athletes should not measure their strength with the ocean, especially after a couple of glasses of local rum... personally verified. The ocean is very treacherous and does not forgive mistakes. As an alternative to swimming in the ocean, the hotel has a nice and clean swimming pool.
The hotel is good, but after three days we realized that we want to get to know Sri Lanka better. It’s just that “I want” and “I can” are different things. Going on organized excursions with a crowd of 15-20 people, and even more so in English or German, is a dubious pleasure. We guessed that Sri Lanka is not Turkey, where even dogs bark in Russian. . .
It turned out that it is not so easy to replenish an account in a local stall without knowing languages ... We give 1000 rupees and a phone with a local SIM card, and the seller smiles sweetly, but does not even guess what they want from him.
But apparently we were born in a shirt. A young local boy who bought cola in this stall asked in RUSSIAN "Can I help you? ". I will not hide, they were delighted with him as a native. Turns out this guy is a self-employed tour guide. He called us as Lyosha (Alexey), although the Sri Lankan name is Litti. He knows English, German, he himself learned Russian and even learns Ukrainian.
Lyosha became not only a good guide for us, thanks to which we saw the real Sri Lanka outside the hotel, but also became a real friend for us... we are waiting for a visit in the winter.
As it turned out in Sri Lanka, in addition to the breathtaking ocean and the coast with coconut palms, there are some things that must be done:
1) Go on excursions and see the country from the inside... especially since there is where to go and there is something to see.
I was very impressed with the two-day excursion to Kandy-Sigir. We spent the night in a decent hotel, drove in a good car, which is important in Sri Lanka with an adequate driver. Very rich and interesting program. Lyokha told us all the time where it is better to take a picture, what to pay attention to, etc. We got a lot of pleasure from riding on elephants.
I really liked the excursion to Yalla Park, where we saw a leopard in wildlife. We visited several spice gardens.
We went to a large beautiful waterfall, where we stayed at a hotel on top of a mountain with an unforgettable view from the room to the waterfall and tea plantations.
In his free time from excursions, Lesha drove by tuk-tuk (local taxi) to a beautiful large lagoon with turquoise water, where you can safely swim.
2) There is something to buy in Sri Lanka.
Tip: when buying tickets, order 10-20 kg of extra baggage. . . this is from personal experience. . . come in handy!
Lesha told us what to take and what to pay attention to, and what we can do without.
We bought a lot of Ayurvedic medicines. My wife is now delighted with natural creams and oils.
Not without jewelry with sapphires and diamonds. Stones are mined in Sri Lanka and they cost an order of magnitude cheaper than in Moscow. They took a few stones without a jewelry cut as a gift to relatives (otherwise, as always, you will not please).
Out of competition highland Ceylon tea.
Interesting wooden figurines, local textiles and other small souvenirs.
We bought solid leather travel bags... so that all the acquired goodness had something to carry.
3) Have something to drink. We sentenced the local Calypso rum. Drank Lyon beer.
4) Have something to eat. In addition to traditional rice dishes with curry, you can order lobster, squid, lobster, shrimp. By the way, a couple of times Lyosha himself bought and prepared sooooo delicious shrimp for us. You can not ignore the fruit market.
5) There is a desire to return to Sri Lanka again in a while!!!
Our friends are planning to go to Sri Lanka in December. We are confident that their vacation will be as comfortable and exciting as ours.
In general, the Fortes Hotel met all our expectations. Without prejudice, we recommend it.
We were happy to share with friends the phone number, email address and a very important PHOTO of our guide.
There was a case when an unfamiliar local resident introduced himself to us at the gates of the hotel by the name of our guide... It's good that at that time we already knew what our Lyosha (Litty) looked like, otherwise we could have paid loot for excursions... in general to get involved.
We are glad that our vacation from the beach so unexpectedly grew into an educational excursion.
Without the real color that we saw, the idea of Sri Lanka would be incomplete.
On vacation, we forgot about all worldly problems and received a lot of positive emotions, and our guide Lesha was invited to visit the harsh Russian winters!!!
If you have any questions, write. I'll be glad to help. . .
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Having traveled from the Maldivian to the Maldives, we decided to see Sri Lanka. For the first time in the Maldivian, an unpleasant manager came across - Stepanova Irina - irritable, unfriendly. The ticket was sold as if reluctantly, and we regretted the time to come another time to another manager . . A couple of weeks before departure, fighting with the rebels intensified in Sri Lanka.
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Having traveled from the Maldivian to the Maldives, we decided to see Sri Lanka.
For the first time in the Maldivian, an unpleasant manager came across - Stepanova Irina - irritable, unfriendly. The ticket was sold as if reluctantly, and we regretted the time to come another time to another manager . .
A couple of weeks before departure, fighting with the rebels intensified in Sri Lanka. I called Irina to calm her down, like they are fighting in the north, but there are no inconveniences in the south. And I heard in response: "What did you think when you bought a ticket? ! You deliberately chose this trip, and don't say that you didn't know about military operations in Sri Lanka! "
Drive.
We chose the option of 3 days of excursions + 8 days of beach holidays.
It's worth going there once. Reserves, mountains-waterfalls, Sigiri - interesting and very beautiful!
The organization of trips and transfers from hotel to hotel in the Maldivian, as always, is organized at the highest level. With busy sightseeing days from dawn to dusk, it was not tiring. We paid $85 extra per person and traveled only in an air-conditioned car with a local Russian-speaking guide (Tolik, hello! ).
With horror I imagine traveling by bus - for example, in the mountains on a serpentine it really gets sick.
Having paid another 200 bucks each, we rode an elephant, went to the reserve, a fish restaurant and received a massage. Of course, it was not without delivery to souvenir shops. Massage is also, to put it mildly, "an amateur" - they have a peculiar concept of hygiene. But in general, they did not regret that they chose these excursions, at the end of the trip I would even travel around the island more. No vaccinations were given and no pills were taken.
First night spent at the Sinnamon Hotel - highly recommended! Colonial style at its finest. The second hotel was on the mountain, Amaya Hill - the rooms are simpler, but at dawn the view of the clouds sleeping in the valley redeems everything!
Now about Fortress.
This is an atypical hotel for Sri Lanka in terms of the level and quality of service. The design is respectful. Italian linen, excellent porcelain, i-pods and dvds in the rooms. And what coffee machines - we just fell in love.
We lived in a two-story room with a pool, which turned out to be the way, because. At the exit to the beach there was a sign: swimming in the ocean is prohibited. The waves there are such that it is dangerous even for good swimmers to swim away from the shore. When a week later we sort of got used to diving under them, I was hit by a wave on the top of my head so that my head ached.
The spa at the hotel is decent, in the evening you can go to the saunas and jacuzzi for free. The fitness room has all the necessary equipment, the latest modifications. Squirrels are worn on the territory of the hotel, which can be fed practically from hands.
The cuisine is good, except for spicy dishes that are simply inedible. But you can always take a tuk-tuk to the nearest shop-market-brothel for groceries and cheap drinks. Although there is outside the hotel, we were afraid. A bottle of champagne in our room cost $ 180, and in the city $ 18. True and the quality was appropriate . .
All beaches of the island are public. Obsessive locals are constantly on duty under the walls of the hotel, offering souvenirs and "cheaper" excursions. We need to be critical of these proposals! Our trips to the turtle farm and snorkeling to the "corals" were disappointing. There are no more corals in Sri Lanka. There are many debris, it is clear that before the tsunami there were beautiful reefs, but now everything is dead. Therefore, there are neither beautiful underwater landscapes, nor that many fish, as in the Maldives.
And mosquitoes! Having recklessly opened the balcony on the first evening, we toiled for several days afterwards, although the raptor was constantly turned on in the room and we even rubbed ourselves with mosquito. In the Maldives, this problem simply does not exist.
The entertainment program consisted of 1 short funny concert of local dancers.
So in this hotel it is good to engage in a "home" hobby such as drawing, or stupidly lie in the sun with a book. For those who like to swim with a mask, there are the Maldives, which are commensurate with Fortress in terms of money. And you won’t be able to admire the white sand and emerald water here - the sand is red, fine, constantly raised by waves.
The ideal option is a combined tour-excursions in Sri Lanka + a beach holiday in the Maldives. I think the flight to the Maldives will take no more time than the road from the center of the country to Fortress.
For the first time in the Maldivian, an unpleasant manager came across - Stepanova Irina - irritable, unfriendly. The ticket was sold as if reluctantly, and we regretted the time to come another time to another manager . .
A couple of weeks before departure, fighting with the rebels intensified in Sri Lanka. I called Irina to calm her down, like they are fighting in the north, but there are no inconveniences in the south. And I heard in response: "What did you think when you bought a ticket? ! You deliberately chose this trip, and don't say that you didn't know about military operations in Sri Lanka! "
Drive.
We chose the option of 3 days of excursions + 8 days of beach holidays.
It's worth going there once. Reserves, mountains-waterfalls, Sigiri - interesting and very beautiful!
The organization of trips and transfers from hotel to hotel in the Maldivian, as always, is organized at the highest level. With busy sightseeing days from dawn to dusk, it was not tiring. We paid $85 extra per person and traveled only in an air-conditioned car with a local Russian-speaking guide (Tolik, hello! ).
With horror I imagine traveling by bus - for example, in the mountains on a serpentine it really gets sick.
Having paid another 200 bucks each, we rode an elephant, went to the reserve, a fish restaurant and received a massage. Of course, it was not without delivery to souvenir shops. Massage is also, to put it mildly, "an amateur" - they have a peculiar concept of hygiene. But in general, they did not regret that they chose these excursions, at the end of the trip I would even travel around the island more. No vaccinations were given and no pills were taken.
First night spent at the Sinnamon Hotel - highly recommended! Colonial style at its finest. The second hotel was on the mountain, Amaya Hill - the rooms are simpler, but at dawn the view of the clouds sleeping in the valley redeems everything!
Now about Fortress.
This is an atypical hotel for Sri Lanka in terms of the level and quality of service. The design is respectful. Italian linen, excellent porcelain, i-pods and dvds in the rooms. And what coffee machines - we just fell in love.
We lived in a two-story room with a pool, which turned out to be the way, because. At the exit to the beach there was a sign: swimming in the ocean is prohibited. The waves there are such that it is dangerous even for good swimmers to swim away from the shore. When a week later we sort of got used to diving under them, I was hit by a wave on the top of my head so that my head ached.
The spa at the hotel is decent, in the evening you can go to the saunas and jacuzzi for free. The fitness room has all the necessary equipment, the latest modifications. Squirrels are worn on the territory of the hotel, which can be fed practically from hands.
The cuisine is good, except for spicy dishes that are simply inedible. But you can always take a tuk-tuk to the nearest shop-market-brothel for groceries and cheap drinks. Although there is outside the hotel, we were afraid. A bottle of champagne in our room cost $ 180, and in the city $ 18. True and the quality was appropriate . .
All beaches of the island are public. Obsessive locals are constantly on duty under the walls of the hotel, offering souvenirs and "cheaper" excursions. We need to be critical of these proposals! Our trips to the turtle farm and snorkeling to the "corals" were disappointing. There are no more corals in Sri Lanka. There are many debris, it is clear that before the tsunami there were beautiful reefs, but now everything is dead. Therefore, there are neither beautiful underwater landscapes, nor that many fish, as in the Maldives.
And mosquitoes! Having recklessly opened the balcony on the first evening, we toiled for several days afterwards, although the raptor was constantly turned on in the room and we even rubbed ourselves with mosquito. In the Maldives, this problem simply does not exist.
The entertainment program consisted of 1 short funny concert of local dancers.
So in this hotel it is good to engage in a "home" hobby such as drawing, or stupidly lie in the sun with a book. For those who like to swim with a mask, there are the Maldives, which are commensurate with Fortress in terms of money. And you won’t be able to admire the white sand and emerald water here - the sand is red, fine, constantly raised by waves.
The ideal option is a combined tour-excursions in Sri Lanka + a beach holiday in the Maldives. I think the flight to the Maldives will take no more time than the road from the center of the country to Fortress.
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