Отдых в Шри-Ланке Holidays in Sri Lanka

We were here in the second half of November. The hotel is located 10 km from Negombo, there is no infrastructure around (only 1 nearby restaurant and 2-3 souvenir shops). The whole group of Russians from our flight was immediately settled in a bungalow, and we too. Although the voucher indicated that we paid for the stay in the Deluxe Room. We didn’t like the bungalow at all - it’s dark, cramped, ants (a lot) and some other insects crawl on the furniture. We needed an extra bed for a child, but there is nowhere to put it in the bungalow. I had to immediately go to the reception to sort things out. After that, after 20 minutes, we were moved to the main building, where those same deluxes are located. Those who did not go to swear at the reception remained to live in bungalows. Deluxe - a spacious room, two very wide beds pushed together, and they brought us extra. a bed for a child - so we got a five-bed, probably a bed, very spacious. Balcony, two tables, 3 chairs, TV, DVD player, wardrobe, air conditioning, fan. There is no refrigerator, mini-bar or safe. Safe at the reception for a fee. Bathroom - a large room, normal plumbing, soap, shampoo, shower caps. True, we had to call a local plumber to clean the faucet above the sink for us, because the water flowed without pressure, it was clearly clogged. Everything was done quickly, the faucet was cleaned and we were finally left to rest A day before our departure home, after a long tropical downpour, a leak formed on the ceiling in our room. I woke up at night from the fact that water was pouring on top of me. I had to move the beds. Since we were supposed to fly away the next day, we did not make a fuss; I somehow imagined how the sincere staff would begin to groan and gasp, and then move us with all our belongings to another room, or begin to repair the roof and ceiling and carry dirt and mess and stomp around in our room all day - and we decided not to be indignant and calmly survive until departure. Fortunately, by morning the rain had stopped and the ceiling was no longer leaking. On the same night, there was a hurricane wind that knocked the TV antenna off the roof and ripped off the tiles in places. . In general, the weather in the last 3 days of our stay was very unstable, there were many showers, strong winds, but still very warm and humid. It's good that in recent days we went on an excursion and just went to buy souvenirs ourselves - otherwise there would be absolutely nothing to do in such non-beach weather. As for food - very good, a lot of different dishes, everything is fresh, we have never been poisoned by anything. Separately, a table with local spicy dishes (they are in clay pots). All other dishes are not spicy, for European taste. Fruits in large quantities in the morning and evening (we had half board) - bananas, pineapples, papaya, passion fruit. Pineapples were added to almost all dishes, for example, chicken stew and meat with gravy, white cabbage salad. In general, now we won’t want pineapples for a long time The hotel staff is very friendly, caring, smiling. They speak English to some extent, they try very hard to speak Russian, remember the words, repeat after us. They greet each other, ask how things are going, how we are resting. Universal adoration for children: they kiss, pamper, give home-made toys from palm leaves. Animation team - 2 girls and 5 boys of student age, local. They try their best to entertain vacationers: aqua aerobics, volleyball, golf, in the evening a theatrical performance with dressing up, songs, dances. Of course, all this is at the level of student amateur performance, but you can watch it. Every evening, two cleaners come to the room with a basket filled with mosquito repellents and flowers. This fun is called Evening Service. They hand out plates for fumigators, spray them with air freshener or mosquito spray, give everyone a flower, smile, ask how you are doing, if mosquitoes get us. You can see in the eyes that they want money Sometimes you can give them 2-3 rupees - this is enough to keep your room always clean and bed linen and towels changed regularly. Drinking water (3-4 bottles), tea, coffee, sugar, cream in bags are brought to the room daily - it's all free. There are cups, glasses, an electric kettle. The pool at the hotel is huge, there are places with great depth, the paddling pool is also very large. Sunbeds around the pool. Sometimes, when we came to sunbathe late, we did not have enough sun umbrellas, and there are always plenty of sunbeds. Beach towels - free of charge. The advantage of the hotel is that there are breakwaters that cut off large waves and form an artificial bay. On the left side of the beach, closer to one of the breakwaters, the surf is not strong, you can swim. On the right side, the waves are higher, but still moderate. The sea is not transparent, there is a lot of sand, but it is very warm. On weekends, the local population comes to the hotel. Over the weekend, we saw one local wedding and one British wedding (or Germans, who knows). They brought a local priest to register the marriage, a crowd of singers and musicians in national costumes and an elephant in a painted horse blanket. It was picturesque On Friday evening, the locals lit a fire on the beach and threw firecrackers there (apparently, some kind of Sri Lankan wedding custom, such as our bride price). All night the invited musicians drummed and sang songs, so we were lucky that the windows of our room did not overlook the pool or the beach and we slept peacefully. A disco is held at the hotel several times a week, and if you do not plan to participate in it, then do not stay in rooms overlooking the pool - you will not be able to sleep. Vacationers-Sri Lankans behave decently, do not make noise (even children), do not stick to Europeans, there are no noticeable drunks among them. Of the living creatures on the territory of the hotel, chipmunks already mentioned in many reviews, medium-sized lizards and small, yellow-billed birds similar to starlings and crows roam. We lived on the 3rd floor, so the crows did not bother us, but they steal food from the tables on the verandas from the inhabitants of the first floor and drink everything that is left unattended from the glasses. Now about excursions: the more people gather for each excursion, the cheaper it will cost you, because the total cost of the bus and guide services is paid. There is no fixed price per person. The travel agency will offer you a ride in Kandy (one-day excursion, 3 hours drive one way), Kandy-Sigiriya excursion is also organized (two-day, overnight), a new excursion in Galle (one-day) and if you took any of the excursions, then you will be offered Free tour of Colombo We went to Kandy and, accordingly, to Colombo. What can I say... These events are held solely to involve naive tourists in the maelstrom of frantic shopping. The only cultural value that was offered to us for inspection as part of this excursion was the Temple of the Tooth Relic, to which we were brought up by 6 pm (and the tour began at 6.30 am). Other points of visit: spice garden, tea factory, jewelry center, fabric store. Yes, there is also an elephant nursery - there you will be shown how 30-40 elephants with elephant calves trample on a vast plain at the same time - and that’s all I only had strong impressions from the botanical garden in Kandy: a huge territory, unusual trees and plants, a greenhouse with orchids. An excursion to Colombo is only shopping, which will continue until late in the evening. Souvenirs, teas, clothes, booze, spices, leather bags with elephants, beads and essential oils will be much cheaper to buy in Negombo. Take a taxi or tuk-tuk for 500 rupees and go to the center of Negombo - there is a huge, incredibly dirty and lively shopping district (there are many shops and a clothing market reminiscent of our Cherkizon). Bargaining should be tough, for example, the price of a souvenir T-shirt with elephants should not exceed 2-3 dollars (200-300 rupees). A treasure trove of reasonably priced teas, essential oils and spices are the local supermarkets Tushara and Good Food (Tushara is even cheaper, a 20-minute tuk-tuk ride from the hotel). On the beach, the locals will offer you to go fishing on a motorboat, an empty undertaking - during our stay, no one managed to catch the promised barracudas, and indeed at least see some fish. You can also negotiate with the locals about a motorboat ride along the Grand Canal (it flows right outside the hotel gates - green opaque water with plastic bags floating on it, palm leaves, etc. . ) The local beer Lion is nothing like that, you can drink it, its aftertaste resembles fermented unpasteurized Zhiguli  The local rum is tasteless and your head aches from it the next day. We did not try the local coconut vodka, but they say nothing, you can drink it. Separate sincere "thank you" to Aeroflot airlines for delaying the return flight to Moscow for 2 hours, for landing at Sheremetyevo-2 (instead of the promised Sheremetyevo-S), for marinating passengers on the plane for 40 minutes with the air conditioner turned off after landing and a complete stop aircraft, for food poisoning with all the ensuing consequences from all places, which I received after eating their "pancake-omelette" and "chicken fish", for the complete lack of information for those meeting at Sheremetyevo-S that our flight would land at other terminal. And I want to say a real thank you to the travel company "Maldiviana", our guide Natalya - a very responsive, caring, friendly and obligatory person.