Sri Lanka

Srilanka: 

Getting around: public buses/trains SOOO cheap. Or taxis/taxi shares (Facebook group) if you want to treat yourself or get away from the sweatiness of the other journeys and get there quicker. DOWNLOAD PICK ME! It’s like uber but with tuk Tuks works really well in Kandy.

Hikkadua: 

Where to stay: we stayed in a posh hotel as it was my friends bday (hikka tranz cinnamon) but you can get away with using the pool there if you’re sneaky. 

What to do: not a lot to do here the beaches are quite nice but ones along the cost are way nicer. But defiantly go just because outside hikka tranz you can feed the turtles for free they’re so cute!!! You can also surf (think it’s quite good for beginners) and apparently it has a good night life (we were there on a weekend and the bar only had like 15 people in it but it was low season). Also in high season snorkelling is apparently very good but in low season it’s sooo Wavey. In high season apparently the snorkelling outside coral sands hotel has views of a nice coral reef.  

Unawatuna: 

Where to stay: camp kush!!! It’s little tipis in this field. It’s quite far from the beach so you’d need to get a tuku for like 200rps (£1.2) each way. But the owner of camp kush is so nice and does really good food! 

What to do: famous treeswing at dream house cabanas at dalawella beach make sure you go to the right one (outside dream beach cabanas guest house) it’s 500Rps for unlimited goes but also is a nice place to hang out for he day you can also spot turtles from the shore. Keep walking away from unawatuna beach and you get to wijaya beach which has an area of sea in front of a line of rocks so a lot calmer (snorkel here to see turtles...apparently?). Again in low season it’s sooo Wavey not sure about high season? But think it’s meant to be good for snorkelling (in front of the tree swing). Jungle beach is meant to be good aswell. There are turtle sanctuary’s but read reviews as all the ones I found were cruel!!! day trip to galle (see the lighthouse/fort) walk around there are loads of cute shops. (Don’t stay here it’s not worth it) and you can get a cheap bus from unawatuna if not you can normally get to galle for like 150/maybe more if the tuktuk is going there but getting back will cost you 500 (350 is local price which you could try get)

Where to eat: in galle- pasta factory!!!! It’s soo good home made pasta and sauces. Go to a cute cafe in galle they’re loads nearish pasta factory. Camp kush have good food and apparently Riddim have good burgers (don’t think they have a lot of choice tho). 

Mirissa:

???? Coconut dome thingy is meant to be a good sunset spot. Whale watching? Eating- Shady lane looked like they did good smoothie bowls for cheap 

Tangalle: 

Where to stay: ? Mangrove beach cabanas looking so nice if you have dollars. 

What to do: just chill on the beach, Mangrove beach cabanas is where the nice part of the beach is (Walk up the beach/get a tuktuk as far towards the east as you can the further up the more beautiful.) To swim medilla natural swimming area- free ferry. (Didn’t do this).

Where to eat: Mango shade have really good food. There is a cute cafe with really good coffee opposite ‘Ceylon Sea Hotel’ think it’s just caked coffee shop and down that road there are dozens of guest houses/places to stay. 

Yala:

Where to stay: champagne villa. So cheap and safari was really good cost us 5500 and included breakfast-the breakfast was pretty shit Tbh. Had amazing food at this home stay aswell (get the chicken curry). 

Udawalawe: 

Where to stay: eagle safari. Really cheap again. Tour was 4500 but we had to tip a stupid guide so ended up being 5000. Think you should probably arrange your own if you can as it’s cheaper? Think lots of people just turn up at the gates and try to arrange it...google it. 

Arugum bay: 

Where to stay: everyone seems to say long hostel is good. Quite liked singha Lounge hostel. Apparently you can get really cheap air bnb’s here tho so if there are a few of you look into this (think the villas aren’t actually put on air bnb they’re out on another site).

What to do: surf (it’s very very busy tho) people who liked surfing seemed to wake up at the crack of dawn and go to poutville it’s 1000 for the tuktuk ride there and back and them to wait for 2 hours. Go to peanut farm (quite pretty) Whiskey point beach is apparently really pretty and then something like lighthouse or something is a 45 min/an hour tuk tuk but is apparently beautiful. Arugum bay beach itself is really nice but apparently lots of peoples cuts get infected so be careful if you have something wrong (my eye got infected cause I had a sty 🙄). Yoga lots and lots of yoga I loved the one at singha. ‘Party’- Friday= whiskey point, Saturday= Mambos. These are the best nights then there is something going on on a Sunday but it’s no where near as busy but still fun. Think it’s more of a weekend party place. 

Where to eat: KARMA GARDEN- located behind Siripala’s place just off the beach. Amazing smoothie bowls! The seahorse in: good but spenny pizzas. Leaf & vine but very spenny and low service. Arugum bay is expensive anyway I’d just eat in cheap eats there are lots down the road. Mister fisherman does have really good fresh fish tho. Tandoori hut is meant to be good and is BYO.

Ella: 

Where to stay: silent night homestay (the family are sooo cute! And you can chill out on the roof (it’s a very low roof) but it’s not the nicest accom ever. There are also really cool hostels here look on hostel world. 

What to do: you have to do everything in the morning (most of the year) cause it starts to rain at like 3. Climb little Adams peak (really easy). Go to nine arch bridges (follow the ‘start of nine arch bridges track’ on maps me and ignore tuk tuk drivers). Lipton’s seat is nice but views in Nuwara Eliya are similar so maybe not worth the money. (If not don’t get a car/tuktuk it is a VERY long walk). Ella rock: walk along the train tracks from Ella station towards Kandy for 30/40 minutes you have to pass another station (it is unmissable you will know when you have passed it). The locals will try make you turn left before the station so that you get lost and have to pay for a guide. When you’ve past the station keep walking you should see the market 166 1/2 keep going nearly until you reach 166 1/4 the left turning is in between those two markers. Then go down the dirt path (looks like it’s kind of going back on yourself) and cross a bridge then at the fork go left (even tho the sign ‘to Ella rock’ says right) then follow maps me up and make sure you go left at some point up the steep bit- doesn’t look that much like a path (shown on maps me) instead of the tourist way which is flat but boring and takes ages. Ravana falls if you have time but isn’t incredible. Ellawalla waterfall is meant to be really beaut but is like 30km out of Ella on the way to wellawaya. Ella to Kandy train (can be broken up by stoping in Nuwara Eliya, stit on the right side if you are going Ella- Nuwara Eliya and Left it you are going Nuwara Eliya- ella 

Where to eat: Adams breeze is soooo good! Cafe chill is quite nice. Matey hut is meant to be good (good cooking lessons too). Ice cube or something do cocktails for 300 (Arrak ones) that actually taste really good. AK ristoro is good but small portions and spenny. Cafe guru is meant to be good but we didn’t end up going so. 

Maybe stop at Talawakele (Devon falls/st Claire’s). (Meant to be really beaut). 

Nuwara Eliya:

Where to stay: we stayed in ‘holiday house’ such a lovely family but the rooms were sooo damp. But nice location in Pedros tea estate. If I was rich I’d stay in hesitance tea factory or the grand hotel both looked beaut. 

What to do: go to lovers leap waterfall the walk up gives amazing views (ones like Lipton’s seat) and the waterfall is quite nice. GO TEA PICKING! You can dress up in Sairees/Sareems for boys and pick tea it’s only 45 minutes for like £4.5 or something but it’s so fun! The view from heritance tea factory is also amazing so you can make a day of it as it’s quite hard to get here (the hostel owner drove us here so it was cheap- 1900rps there and back between 4 of us, but think it can be up to 1500 one way but we didn’t ask so might not be). Have high tea/tea at the grand hotel it’s just so much like england it’s a nice home comfort ahah. Get the train to Kandy the train ride really is beautiful! Both sides are beaut I think the left hand side (Nuwara Eliya to Kandy) starts of more pretty but then swaps but it does that quite a lot. It’s just fun to hang out of a train. Worlds end (SOOO expensive) it’s cool I dunno someone said it’s the best thing they’ve seen I think it looks like a country walk in England (it is very beautiful but it’s like £15 entry on top of getting there so it’s very expensive- for Sri Lanka. Take a weekend to the Peak District at some point in your life instead if you don’t have the money). Also weather is very temperamental here so sometimes you can’t even see the view from worlds end (which is very nice) and it’s got a nice waterfall! But you have to go SUPER early cause of the ‘cloud forest’. Go to Diyarbakir

Where to eat: ? Cheap eats near the bus station. Or ask your homestay to make you dinner.

Kandy: 

Where to stay: Kandy city stay. Located on the wrong side of the train station but still is near enough to walk to all the main sites. And is a nice hostel! Think they will finish the roof terrace (very small) soon which would be really cool. 

What to do: go see a cultural show (5 every evening. The one at the lake house was soo good!) it was £5 for an hour but was great. Walk around Kandy lake? Not a must. Go to the botanical gardens (they are really nice). Climb at to see the Buddha (in the day and the night). It’s a giant Buddha I can’t remember what it’s called. Go to temple of the tooth? (If miss it if you don’t really like museums, you can’t even see the tooth and all I liked was the pretty ceiling for the first 2 seconds but that’s not very cultural of me:l) 

Where to eat: actually so good for Food! Cafe divine really cheap and so yum! Buono- coffee shop good for breakfast and nice coffe! (Also has WiFi). Lisence to grill!!!! Food is amazing defiantly go for dinner it’s a really cool setting the staff are so fun and they get you drinks from there mates shop downstairs (it’s abit over priced but you can buy like a litre of booze so works out way cheaper than if you actually bought it from a restaurant but still more expensive than buying it from an actual shop). 

Sigiriya: 

Where to stay: Fresco lion villa hostel (food really good) 

What to do: Kadulla National Park (owner of the hostel said this was actually better than minnerya TRUST HIM, really knowledgeable and we saw at least 200 elephants!), Pidurangala rock (only 500Rps- £2.5 compared to $30 or soemthing for lions rock) plus you actually get the view of lions rock from this one which is really pretty and also only a 30ish minute hike compared to 4 hours! Really massive golden Buddha in Dambulla which looked cool, cave temple (I wouldn’t bother it’s like £7.5 and terribly average), go pay 500 rps to swim at Sigiriya hotel pool (you can see the rock from the pool) it looks so nice (I didn’t do it but my friends did and they said it was really nice).

Trincomalee:

Where to stay: reshani breeze (it was like £7.5 each when we booked but might have gone up now cause it was newly built) but was such a nice break from hostels basically like a mini villa (that isn’t decorated very well). Really cute little family who live near by. Stay in uppuveli. (Near fernandos bar you will thank me later). If you can afford it stay at dykes place (if you don’t want to go out that much as it’s ages away from fernandos)

Where to eat: RICE AND CURRY (basically ate there every night 750 rps for veggie special buffet and you can stuff your face 😍 £3.7), Anne’s in for lunch (super cheap cheerful and yummy kotu and rice+ curry but run out of shit if you go to late), Ceylon seafood cafe (takes about 2 hours slightly more pricey but really good fish) and really cute location/set up, cafe 18 is cute (the brownies are a myth took us about a year of asking twice a day to get one between 4), coconut beach lodge (on the beach but quite expensive). 

What to do: Nilaveli Beach (40 bus or 500 tuk tuk but make sure you get off at the right place cause chill at the end of the beach closer to uppuveli as it’s nicer and less busy, that’s why beach cabanas is a good place to hang out), Dutch bay BEST BEACH (sooooo beautiful) dykes place is a nice place to spend the day and has lovely people, beware of the nippy puppy but he dosent have rabies, tried and tested Emily’s still alive) Dutch bay is kinda near trincomale- 300 rps Tuk tuk from uppuveli go to fort Fredrick too- appaz you can see whales from it and Kandasamy kovil (Hindu temple) didn’t do those two cause were lazy but wish we did!, marble bay again really beaut go through the hotel entrance you can go round the side of the building so you wouldn’t even have to buy anything but we got a drink, pigeon island (prepare yourself for a super overcrowded island that is tiny but has decent snorkelling apparently you can see black tip sharks loads, ask where the best spot to see them is I didn’t see them:( but saw a turtle!) defiantly worth a trip but really expensive (don’t pay more than 3500 for everything- that’s just for a morning tho).

Anuradhapura: 

Stay: Emarald holiday homes nice and cheap guest house kinda thing

What to do: temple shit VERY EXPENSIVE. Entry is $25 but gets you to all main sites bar one which was like £1.2 more (ones we went to anyway) paid 2000rps for one tuk tuk (£9.5) for 5 hours DO NOT GET A TUK TUK TOUR appaz they rip you off just hire the tuk tuk to take you round the main sites it’s basically a tour anyway. We arranged the tuk tuks through our guest house cause apparently they’re more expensive there. 

Eat: mango mango actually such good curry (Indian) very good value for money, very touristy but defo go NOM NOM

Colombo: 

Didn’t go but stayed about 30 mins out in ‘crystal villas’ lushhhh