Luxury holidays in Sri Lanka
Just returned from this amazing country! And I want to write a review, because we planned the whole trip thanks to the reviews. Thanks to the people who write them.
Flight: We ourselves are from Odessa, we chose a flight from Kyiv. We flew to Colombo with Flydubai. From Kyiv (Zhulyany airport). There is no food on board, but the service and the aircraft itself are top class. Everything is clean, tidy, the flight is awesome, smooth and soft. Satisfied.
We flew to Dubai for 5 hours. The transfer took 2 hours. At this time, we decided to eat at McDonald's (there is a different name) and take a walk around Duty Free)
We flew 4 hours to Colombo. Arrived in Colombo at 5 am Sri Lankan time. There, I met the guide, as well as everyone else who used this Travel Agency.
From Colombo transfer 5 hours to Kogalla, to the hotel. We brought every tourist to the hotel, right to the door. A little annoying because it took a very long time.
According to the reviews and the price, a hotel in Kogalle suited us. We didn't know then that it was THAT far away from local attractions.
Hotel: There were problems upon arrival at The Long Beach Resort Koggala 4*. The workers said there were no vacancies. They made a scandal and we were settled in a pre-paid tour by a deluxe company overlooking the sea. Our tour operator immediately warned us that the rooms overlooking the garden and pool are much worse.
The room they gave us was just gorgeous. On the second floor. Very clean and without flaws. Ocean view, cool balcony, air conditioning TV, kettle and tea in the room, with coffee. The bathroom is cool, clean, hot water all the time. The room was cleaned every day, we left 200 rupees every day. The workers laid out all sorts of figurines for us on the bed.
The hotel grounds are beautiful and well maintained. Turtles and chipmunks delighted. The beach is amazing, the ocean is clean. But it is impossible to swim, the waves are huge.
We went to swim in the neighboring beaches of Unawatuna and Mirissa.
The pool is chlorinated, too. It is better to go to Vilach where the pool is bigger and better.
Meals: We paid half board (breakfast and dinner at once). At the reception you will be given red bracelets which mean meals 2 times. We were told that food would be scarce and monotonous. But they were shocked when they went to the first dinner. Ocean view buffet restaurant. Very varied and rich. About 40 dishes and insanely delicious desserts. Breakfasts: fry in front of you, whatever you want: eggs, scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. Apart from the whole buffet. Dinner is a separate topic altogether : ) We have never eaten such amazing desserts. About 50 types of desserts, fruits are fresh and delicious. They give pineapples, papaya, passion fruit, sausep. watermelons, pomelo, etc. Salads with seafood, chicken and anise, various fish and meat. Very tasty and varied. Regretted. that they did not immediately pay for lunch, because
at the hotel the cost of 1 dinner is 5000 rupees for two. It is expensive. With olata right away, it turns out much cheaper.
We are very pleased with the hotel.
The only negative, if you want to travel, then this hotel is too far from the attractions. 7 hours to Kandy, 10 hours to Sigiriya. We drove, but the road was exhausting. And so, we went to Galle, to Matara, to the Yalu National Park. It is impossible to swim in the ocean in Kogalle and we had to go to neighboring beaches, where a phone, recently bought and expensive, was stolen from us. Maybe if you could swim on our beach. I wouldn't have to drive and it wouldn't have been stolen : ) But what can you do)
The staff is very friendly! For early check-out, free use of the hotel grounds and shower, towels before the transfer
We recommend The Long Beach Resort Koggala 4 * to everyone! He is magical!
Our trips:
My husband and I couldn't sit still at all.
On the first day, we had a beach day, which lasted until lunch and got bored very soon. Already at 14.00 we were in Halle, walking along the famous Dutch ford. On the same day, we managed to walk around the local market, buy fruits, drink coconuts for 50 rupees 1, - 2 for 100. And we found a local shop with fixed prices for tea. Then we bought it there as a souvenir for loved ones, at the end of our trip.
On the second day, we decided to see Lake Kogalla and ended up with a local doctor, where we were actually dragged by a tuk-tuker, who kindly offered to take us there when he saw us on the road near the hotel. 100 rupees is expensive and now we are already listening to stories about incredible healing properties of plants. In general, we listened for a long time, tried it on ourselves, and yet he untwisted us for three means. Having spent $50, we decided that the lake was no longer so interesting to us and decided to go to Mirissa beach. We went out on the track and got into a local bus, drove for 20 minutes.
And not in vain. WE came to this insanely beautiful beach and spent the whole day on it, moving smoothly along the entire beach. By sunset, we climbed to the island, and watched from above the gorgeous sunset. The beach is amazing, wild and there are a lot of living creatures. Watched all sorts of crabs, spiders, and other locals. By the way, not far from Mirissa (10 min) drive, there is a fishing town. That's where we found local shops with bread. But they still sell pies. Must try. I have never eaten such delicious pastries. It costs 300 rupees per 1 kg. And everything is civilized, as in our bread shops. This yummy, I will remember for a long time. We bought yellow with candied fruits and chocolate pastries (pies). Delicious!
The next day, we decided to visit the national park in Yalla. We decided to go there ourselves, with a transfer in Matara. On a regular local bus. We went out on the road, stopped the bus with the inscription Matara and sat down. We drove there for about 1.5 hours.
I liked that we were able to see a drop of the life of wild animals.
We went back at 18.30 and got to the bus stop by 7 pm. Unfortunately the last bus left at 18.30. Too bad we didn't know. A local tuk-tuker offered to take us to Kogallu for $35. There was no way out and we agreed. Our journey back took 4 hours. We arrived at the hotel, on the way we bought goodies in the store. We ate and passed out at 12 at night (for dinner, we were naturally late).
The next day, before lunch, we spent at the hotel, in the afternoon we went to the nearby Unawatuna beach. It is beautiful there and there is Jungle Beach (at the end of the beach), where you can swim coolly, there are bays. Go to the local temple and enjoy the amazing view. On the same day, we found our guide at the hotel and agreed on a two-day tour of Kandy-Nuwara Eliya. The cost is $100 per person, overnight. Entrance tickets are paid separately.
At night at 3 am, we left, at 7 am we were in Colombo.
We got to the Elephant Nursery at 8 am.
I want to note that the tour was in a comfortable European bus, with air conditioning. But it was so hard for me, so uncomfortable. We are used to riding local high speed buses with open windows and music. The road was hard on this bus, for me, my husband was comfortable both there and there. Perhaps the travel agents should think about the fact that these buses are not designed for local narrow roads. They are not agile at all : )
In the nursery, we rode elephants, we liked it very much.
Our next place is Spice Garden. After our lake and the local Doctor, we were already aware of what was waiting for us. So it was, local doctors sold us all sorts of means. Creams for 25.50 and 100 dollars and many others. We bought 1 cream for $ 25, which we later regretted. Because on the last day, when we went shopping for souvenirs and tea in Galle, we came across a stall in which these creams were sold for 500 rupees.
And even their vaunted sandalwood oil, in the same package. Conclusion 6 "It's all a scam. Don't listen, don't buy. " My creams are at home and there is nothing special about them.
Next we went to lunch. The guide offered lunch for $ 10 per person, at the hotel (Buffet). We looked at the hotel he brought us to and we were not impressed with the lunch and the hotel itself. While the whole group was getting ready for dinner, we went to another place. We walked 10 steps and ended up at a hotel with a Buddhist theme. The hotel worker took us to the 5th floor to a restaurant, where we had a wonderful dinner for 1000 rupees per person. There was also a buffet, only more varied and in a restaurant with a gorgeous view. Here, the guides are all on kickbacks, that dinner was far from worth the money, it was more like a public catering. Therefore, you can always go 2 steps and find a place with a different lunch that is tastier and more enjoyable.
Then we went to Kandy to the botanical garden. I really liked it there.
Later in the evening we got to local dances and to the service at the Temple of the Tooth Relic. This must be seen with your own eyes.
By 9pm we were at the hotel in Kandy, on Mt. The hotel is chic, dinner class. Satisfied.
Next. day, excursion to tea plantations and waterfalls.
Our guide got drunk in the evening and he was no longer up to us. We were shocked)))) He started taking us to all the places where it was possible to buy something. Masks, fabrics, stones, etc. In general, a complete scam. And it took about 4 hours.
We left for the plantations by 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Ejalido 4 hours on terrible serpentines. Sickness pchti all but men. Of course the views are fascinating, but the road is a nightmare. Just like a spinning top : ) We got to the McWoods tea factory. While all the tourists from our group went to buy something again, my husband and I walked around the tea plantations. Awesome. We drank local tea inside the building and went to the English city at the top. It was quite cold there. And we were there for about an hour.
We never saw the falls. As our guide told us 6 "It's not the season now" We are shocked. We paid $200 and there was no tour. It would be better to go yourself. We really regretted that we didn’t go ourselves, because we didn’t see a lot and the tour was tiring. By the way, we went on this tour from Maxim and from "Exotic" The tour is frankly "Ga*no". There is only one conclusion - It is better to drive yourself : )
It's good that there were many beautiful places and that we separated from our group and took pictures)))
On the rest of the days, we went to nearby beaches, basking in the warm ocean and stunning sunsets.
Sri Lanka is a stunning, vibrant country. This is truly heaven on earth! People are very friendly, helpful, kind. We bought sweets in Ukraine (lollipops) with different tastes in advance and treated local residents. Mostly on buses. They were very happy and smiled at us. !
We will definitely come here again, because we have not seen so much : ) By the way, this is the first flight and the first trip abroad for both me and my husband. We were not afraid of the road at 10 o'clock))) Although the road back lasted 30 hours. But she was easily transferred and Sri Lanka is worth it! It really is paradise!
We hope our review will help someone plan their trip!
