A miracle island, living on it is easy and simple.
Our family of three visited the beautiful country of Sri Lanka from November 30 to December 8.2015. There are many impressions at once and you won’t know where to start. The flight with a transfer in the UAE (Sharjah) did not bother me. All in time. Arrived at 3 am in Colombo. There is a claim against the airline "Airarabia". We didn't find our luggage at the airport. This happens on transit flights. But we had to deliver it to the hotel, and two days later we had to go to the airport ourselves for luggage. Good thing the hotel was close. Met the guide. His name was Chulaka. I chose the hotel based on the proximity to the airport. Our hotel "Camelot Beach Hotel" was located 40 minutes drive from the airport. , in the city of Negombo. It is north of Bandaranaike International Airport. The room was settled immediately, although according to international rules, check-in takes place at 14.00. The room was on the third floor. The view from the room is very picturesque. Although all rooms in this hotel have an ocean view, this is a big plus. On our tour.
the package included breakfast and dinner. On the first day in the morning we went down from the restaurant, showed a card with our room number, and we were kindly invited to sit down at the table. The big drawback is our lack of knowledge of English. Russian is not known there. Dishes for breakfast could be lunch, a lot of all sorts of dishes for every taste. In a separate room with air conditioning, there were sliced fruits, salads. Two types of free fresh juice - although in other places they usually charge money for freshly squeezed juice. Tea, coffee, milk. After that we run to the beach. The peculiarity of the beach is sandy, without sun loungers. The beach is located very close to the hotel, therefore, the sunbeds near the pool completely replace lying on the beach. From the sea you can immediately go to your sun lounger. On the beach there are annoying local merchants of all sorts of things, but we also bought something from them - souvenirs, pearls (hardly real, but beautiful) local pants for women.
The hotel staff bring a free mattress and towel, which cannot be taken out to the beach. The sun is so active that you sunbathe very quickly. You need to use a cream with a high degree of protection. We bought a good Aloe Vera cream for burns in a shop opposite. The waves in the ocean are big, but they did not prevent us from splashing in the gentle warm water. The entrance to the sea is gentle. But for some reason there are few bathers. Many people prefer a chlorinated pool. For lunch, we went several times to nearby cafes. Once we went by tuk-tuk to a local supermarket. They have delicious dairy products. We also bought local ice cream, it was for us instead of lunch. Dinner is even better than breakfast. A lot of fish - and in a spicy curry sauce and more familiar to us not spicy food. Their main food is rice. It is really very tasty. We also bought it at the supermarket home. This variety is called "Basmati". They even serve soup for dinner. Soup puree of different types.
Lots of baked goods. We didn't even get to try everything. I was very pleased with the congratulations from the staff of my husband on his birthday. They prepared a delicious cake for him with candles, which he blew out.
We visited several excursions. The first is to the ancient capital of Sri Lanka - Kandy. On the way there, we stopped at an elephant farm, where we rode an elephant, in a spice garden, where we were told and shown how various spicy trees grow. Then they even offered massages, of course they offered to buy products from them. We have made several purchases. Then there was the Royal Botanical Garden. This garden has a very impressive view. In it we saw monkeys living in natural conditions . . They did not show much interest in us. There is an alley of trees planted by famous people. Among them is an iron tree planted by Nicholas II, and a yellow Saraka by Yuri Gagarin.
Then we were taken to a tea plantation, they showed us how tea is harvested, there is a small tea factory nearby. It was also interesting. All the equipment is old - leftover from the British, who left the island in 1948. But now we know the process of making tea. There is a shop at the factory, where we were given tea to taste, and then to buy it. After that, we had lunch at a buffet restaurant for 1200 Sri Lankan rupees per person (the exchange rate of the rupee to the tenge is 0.49, to the dollar 140-145 rupees per dollar). By three o'clock it began to rain, a warm tropical rain. At this time, our path lay to the Harm of the tooth of the Buddha. They offered to take off their shoes. Those who had their shoulders and knees bare were given material to cover themselves. The tour was intense. We arrived at the hotel at 7pm. It was already very dark. There is no twilight in Ceylon. At six in the evening it gets dark immediately.
Features of traffic - randomness, without rules and traffic lights, but at the same time everyone is polite, give way to each other and do not swear. The roads are narrow, so the speed of movement is not high.
We took walks along the beach in different directions about the hotel. Found a lot of crabs of different sizes. They move funny and hide in their minks when a person approaches.
We visited a tour of the canal-river safari. On a motorboat, they traveled along the river channels, along the banks of which dense mangroves grow, and various tropical animals live there. We saw monitor lizards nearby.
Another excursion is to the extreme south of the island, to the Dutch port of Gale. On the way we stopped at a turtle farm. Very funny little turtles posed for us. My husband wanted to snorkel in the clear waters near the coral reef. This is the city of Hikkaduwa, there really are no waves and the sea is transparent.
In this sea, we saw large turtles of large sizes, they are begging. They swim close to a person and open their toothless mouth. They are fed seaweed.
I also went for a massage. There is a shop on the street, where the owner offered to take me to the Ayurvedic massage center. I was very pleased with the effect of the relaxing massage. And a flower bath. I took a simple massage, no special Ayurvedic treatments. I just didn't know what effect they could have. At the end they gave tea, but I did not appreciate it, it was spicy and spicy.
There are a lot of impressions. I would once again return to this "Wonder Island, where life is easy and simple. " Liked the hotel too. In parting, they threw a coin into the sea to return . .
Hotel restaurant
View from the balcony of our room (146).
Birthday cake for my husband.
View of the hotel.
On the coast of the Indian Ocean.
A monitor lizard on a tree. Walk along the river channels
On the beach.
On the beach.
Riding an elephant. On the way to Kandy.
Riding an elephant. On the way to Kandy.
