How we spent our holidays in Sri Lanka
Hello! My husband and I were 10 days in the Unawatuna area, at the Unawatuna Beach Resort (UBR). I would like to tell you about our mistakes and unqualified employees of the tour company, who knew nothing about this interesting corner of our planet. So, tip 1: if you want to see the numerous sights of the island, you should not book one hotel for the entire period of the trip. Since all d-ti are very far from the hotels. Book the first night after the flight - in Colombo, as you will be very tired. The next day, go to Kandy - see the botanical garden, tea plantations, stone factory. Stay overnight in kandy. On the trail. day drive to Dambulu cave temple of Buddha and Sigiriya - a rock with drawings of the 5th century. Stay overnight. Then you can go to the hotel and, on the way, stop by the elephant nursery, see turtles, etc. Tip 2: choose an area for a beach holiday depending on the season. Since you can be prevented by rains and huge waves, during which it is forbidden to swim. Tip 3: bargain. We unknowingly bought a silver ring with a green garnet from a factory in Galle, and then found out that it costs a maximum of $100. In general, any ring in silver is not worth more than $100. The main thing is to immediately tell them your budget, leave your number and tell them that they have time to think only until the evening, since you are flying away, and you will see, they will agree.
Our hotel is a 10 minute drive to Galle, a tuk tuk costs 500-600 rupees round trip. We went shopping in Galle to a huge bazaar, everything is cheap. They took bags and shoes. Stones are very expensive there. Stones were taken from a store near the hotel. We decided to save money and go to Kandy by train, the journey took 16 hours: 4 hours to Colombo, 4 hours Colombo - Kandy. Very exhausting, given that we were standing from Galle to Colombo, so all the seats were occupied by locals, although we took the earliest 6-hour train. We do not recommend. By car, this tour costs $200. Then we decided to spend some money, but go comfortably by minivan to the elephant orphanage and Dambula. It cost $250 + entrance ticket to the nursery 2500 rupees, entry to Dambula 1500 rupees. Of course, trains are better, but 14 hours on the road is hard. I can’t say that having climbed 880 steps, the cave temple made an unforgettable impression, the pictures are more colorful and interesting)
In total, 2 days for flights, 2 days for excursions, 2 days it rained, so a beach holiday was not enough.
As for the hotel, we liked everything: huge rooms, new plumbing, towels are changed every day, breakfast & dinner are excellent, the waves are small, there is a swimming pool, volleyball court, yoga, aqua aerobics, there is an inexpensive Tartaruga restaurant nearby.
It was a culture shock that all the workers & residents are terrible beggars, all you hear is: "mani, mani, mani. "
