Trip to Srilanka, (Nuwara Elliya/ Kandy)

During the school holidays, we decided to visit Sri Lanka, much to the surprise of one of my friends from the school group. " most parents in our school don't go to Sri Lanka"? I was like, whats wrong with Sri Lanka? ".   We don't visit Sri Lanka that often, the last time we went was two years ago and that was for my father's heart bypass surgery, so it wasn't really a vacation, the kids were stuck in an apartment and kept themselves entertained indoors.


So this time, I booked a tour with Aitken Spence Travels to tour the hillside towns of Nuwara Eliya and Kandy.  The tour operator was very helpful but it's pricey so I would advise parents with slightly older kids to take it so you can go on long hikes and all. Maybe next time I will just book one of the taxi services like Kangaroo Kabs to the hill towns, but over it was a nice trip.

Our journey started on a  bright hot sunny day, arrived in Colombo in the afternoon and were met by our guide, who took us on a loooooooooooong ride to Kandy, about a 3-4 hour trip, stopping at a guest house restaurant for lunch along the way.  If you suffer from motion sickness, ask to have the windows open to let in fresh air instead of using the air con.

We stayed in Royal Kandyan hotel, hotels was booked by Aitken Spence. I have to say, it was the biggest room we have stayed so far.  The food was nice a few food stalls nearby as well.  The next day we went to visit the elephant orphanage, where we took a ride and fed the elephants.  The spice gardens were interesting but they try very hard to sell you ayurvedic stuff, the tour is short but they try to lure you into the shop to buy their products.

kandy cultural show

During the evening we headed to a cultural centre, where they had traditional dances and acrobats and fire walking show. According to our guide, there are about 2 -3 places where they have this kind of show. We had a lovely dinner at the Empire Cafe' which is situated near the  Temple of the Tooth.

paddy fields dot around the landscape

The next day we visited a woodwork studio and then headed to Perdeniya gardens. Walked around the gardens for about 2 hours and went out and had lunch. Then headed to Nuwara elliya.

wood carving

Perdheniya gardens

Now the ride to Nuwara Elliya is about 2 hours, a very stomach-churning twisting and turning ride. We stopped at a tea plantation and learned about the process. There was so many tea plantations, you know you have arrived in Nuwara Elliya when you start spotting the tea plantations and huge vegetable gardens.  I love the sight of fresh vegetables!  And it is cold! especially in the morning and evening.  And it rains alot, so December is not a good time to visit Nuwara Elliya, maybe March to July is.

We stayed at  The Royal cocoon, a lovely hotel, with a huge garden. The boys loved exploring and running around it.  The breakfast was nice, they give you a choice of English breakfast or Sri Lankan.

hotel Royal Cocoon

In Nuwara elliya we went to Gregory lake, the kids and hubby took boat rides and also horse rides.

Had dinner in a very tiny restaurant called Salamiya Italian restaurant, run by a Sri Lankan Couple! delicious pizzas, calzones and pasta are served here. The place was very tiny but cozy.

pizza at Salamiya!

On the last day, it was pouring rain! so our guide refused to go anywhere! Once the rain stopped, around 9am, four of us decided to walk, boys in their raincoats, while our guide slept in , well I assume he did as he was nowhere in sight. He had promised to take us to a strawberry and vegetable farm that day. So all of us were very disappointed. So headed to town, which about  15-minute walk. It drizzled now and then but was a nice walk, the boys found it funny when mist came out from our mouths when we talked as it was quite chilly.

We checked out the hotel's kitchen garden the next day, the manager was a very friendly person, they had carrots, beets, kale and broccoli growing there.

Headed back to Colombo the next morning. It didn't go as planned when it came to Nuwara Elliya, but it was an ok trip. For  Lunch, we stopped in Kitulgala near the river.

In Colombo, we stayed in an apartment at Supun Archade Residency due to its easy access to main road , and food.   Stayed in Colombo for another 5-6 days and headed home. In Colombo it was mostly shopping, although we did go to Galle Face Green to fly kites.  Food worth talking about?,  lets see,  Mexican food at Lets Talk Taco, Local fare in a more elegant dining: Palmyrah in Renuka Hotel. Cheaper local eats, but still very very delicious, at  Hotel De Fayaz in front of the mosque in Wellawatte,  Kottu Roti at Mango tree in  Odel, Lamprais (Sri Lankan rice parcels) in Crescat food court.

Sri Lankan fare, hopper, string hoppers, seeni sambol, pol sambol, green bean curry ....

Over all it was a nice holiday. Hope you all had a good school holidays and its back to work or school!