Sri Lankan Roadtrip
Sri Lankan food is my favorite food on the planet- I like it hot! So naturally, visiting Sri Lanka has always been at the top of my list. Our trip to Sri Lanka was more or less a last-minute idea for us as we booked it in September for New Year’s. If you ever travel over the holidays then you know it’s typically impossible to secure your first pick for accommodations or find decently priced flights this late in the game but with a little bit of effort, we made a fantastic (albeit quick) 11-day itinerary work!
As is commonly done, at the airport, we negotiated our driver for the entire stay. We kicked off our tour of the island country starting in Balapitiya Beach along the south coast then drove to the northern central province for some adventure in Sigiyira and closed out the trip in Ceylon tea country basing ourselves in Madulkele just outside of Kandy before returning back to Colombo.
Sri Lankan’s civil war ended in 2009 (It started in 1983). So, tourism is still growing but we were impressed with the hustle and many times we felt like we were in a more laid-back version of neighboring India. Like in India, negotiation is everything and there were moments that screamed British Imperialism as many places seemed to cater towards British archetypes (Food choices at hotels, afternoon tea, and offerings such as driver and nanny accommodations which we’d never seen before). We loved Sri Lanka and would absolutely go back- we missed some mountains we’d love to climb next time!
Balapitiya Beach
Flying through Ukraine, we landed in Colombo and headed to the beach for some initial R&R and spent a day in the (Hot A.F.) Galle Fort City.
Stay: Teardrop Hotels' Kumu Beach
A very new boutique hotel in Sri Lanka has one bedroom suites with massive bathrooms and standard sized rooms right on the beach. Fantastic Sri Lankan food like steamed fish with sambal, squid salad, samosas, and Sri Lankan hoppers.
Do: Cooking Class
As I came for the food, I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to cook with the chef at the hotel! So much fun!
Visit: Galle Fort
We visited the Fort City of Galle, but frankly, it was so hot after walking around for a while we decided we’d be better off getting air conditioned massages at the Ceylon Spa followed by afternoon tea at the Aman Amangalla hotel.
Sigiyira, Sri Lanka
Lots of adventuring in Sigiyira including hiking, a climb to the top of Lion Rock, and safari-ing to view the Sri Lankan elephants.
Stay: Wild Grass Nature Retreat
We loved our stay at Wild Grass Nature Retreat! We had a 2 story bungalow set on the lake of the massive property.
Do: traditional cooking in a village
It should be of no surprise as I was there for the food! We cooked with the locals in the traditional way. I ate all the things.
Do: Hike to the top of Lion Rock
We kicked of 2019 at the top of Lion Rock!
Do: Safari to see the Sri Lankan elephants
Keep them wild in Minneriya National Park
Do: Sunset hike to dinner on a mountain top
Visit: Temples of Sigiriya
Madulkele, Sri Lanka
We stayed on a tea plantation in a permanent tent that looked out towards the Knuckle Mountain Range. We hiked through the plantation, enjoyed tea tastings, climbed to waterfalls, and ate like kings.
Stay: Madulkele Tea and Eco Lodge
Couldn’t have asked for a better stay. The eco lodge consists of tented accommodations with private dipping pools. We hiked, tasted Ceylon tea, and ate well.
The tea plantations offer housing, schooling until 16, and medicine to the plantation workers and their families in exchange for work. Truly seeing the global economy at work.
Do: Ceylon Tea Tasting
We visited the tea factory and had a tea tasting to learn about the different types of tea.
Do: Plantation Hiking
We hiked through the tea plantation, met the children who live there, and chased some waterfalls.
