For a first-time solo traveller, perhaps Sri Lanka is not the obvious choice. I knew very little about the jewel shaped island before my arrival. I didn’t know it was formerly known as Ceylon and wasn’t even vaguely familiar with the Sri Lankan Civil War that ended less than 10 years ago. However, I had such an amazing time and would highly recommend a visit! There is so much to do, the people are incredibly friendly, and it’s so easy and cheap to get around!
In Sydney I said goodbye to my mum, sister, dad and boyfriend, and after crying my way through most of my first flight to KL, I had a couple of friendly encounters with strangers that definitely cheered me up. I met a guy from Louisiana who spoke at the Parkes Elvis Festival this year (WTF, small world or what?!), and then a woman from Canada, also traveling to Colombo, who said we should meet up at some point (we did, and it was great!).
On arrival at Colombo’s Bandarinaike Airport, I found success with my third ATM, and headed outside to be collected by Sanjeewa from my guesthouse in Negombo, about half an hour north of Colombo. I stayed here for two days, to find my Sri Lankan feet. I basically hung out on the beach, read my book drinking Coca Cola. Some students from a nearby English school came and tried out their English on me, taking selfies and asking simple questions about my life, it was really quite sweet when they left me a postcard thanking me for my “precious time”.
Jaffna
I travelled to the top of the island, to Jaffna, only open to tourists as of 2012 due to the war. Apart from being incredibly hot and humid, Jaffna was also devoid of tourists. The locals were cautious when they saw me, but a quick smile, wave and “Hello” from me was all it took for them to give me huge toothy grins, even from across the street.
Jaffna is predominately a Tamil area, and there is definitely a more obvious Indian feel than the rest of Sri Lanka. On my first day I dined at Mangos, a vegetarian Indian restaurant, where I had the best mango lassi of my life, and Thali for the first time. Thali is served in a round silver dish, with rice in the middle and small dishes of 6 different curries. You use your hands to mix each into the rice on a banana leaf. I felt a bit silly, like I had no idea what I was doing, but it was delicious! From Jaffna I took the bus to Point Pedro, the most northern point of Sri Lanka, and just wandered about taking photos. There were loads of fishing boats along the coast, but what what struck me most (and in Jaffna) was the amount of houses still have destroyed, walls collapsed and piles of rubble in every direction since the war.
A tuktuk driver saved me from the sun and was beyond excited upon hearing I was Australian. We almost ran over a herd of goats, several children and an old man as I wondered what was going, why were we swerving so much…turns out the driver had just video called his brother in Perth, and we were to chat…..if it wasn’t so funny it would have been far more awkward…
The other beautiful thing about the North was the Hindu temples, much different to the Buddhist temples. They were colourful towers of sculptured deities; complete works of art.
Trincomalee
Staying by Nilaveli Beach, I went on a whale watching trip, and after 45 minutes travelling out to sea, with no land or other boats in sight, we finally saw a Blue Whale. In fact, we saw about five, one straight after the other, and sooo close. It was incredible; such an amazing experience to be so close to the largest living animal in the world.
My friend Stefan (who I met in Jaffna and caught the bus to Trincomalee with) and I had lunch at the Dutch Bank Cafe, where I had possibly my favourite meal of the trip so far, paratha with curry.
Sigiriya
I wasn’t originally going to visit Sigiriya, as it is one of the “must-see” Sri Lankan sites and I just thought it would be overrated and touristy, however I met quite a few people who loved it. Upon several recommendations, I booked a night at River Side Home Stay and I could not have been more pleased. The host family were so friendly and genuine, and drove myself and another solo guest to Pidurangala in the afternoon to climb the rock for a sunset viewing on Sigiriya. The climb was intense (mainly due to the speed of our host) but short. After a scramble through some boulders near the top, we suddenly had a 360* view for kilometres… It was stunning, and one of the best things I’ve ever done. The rock was warm from the days sun and we sat on it, some people taking photos, some picnicking couples, others meditating.. It was a very peaceful time. I can’t recommend it enough!
Returning to the homestay, the family cooked myself and the other guest a beautiful meal with various curries and amazing papadams, and to my delight was served with a Lion beer.
The next morning the family lent me a bicycle and I rode to Sigiriya Rock, or the Lion Rock, and climbed this on my own. I was quite nervous at times, thinking about the steps attached and hanging over the rock, or the tiny, caged spiral staircase to see the ancient rock paintings…but reaching the top was amazing. The ruins of the ancient fortress were stunning at such a height, and reflections from the pool were amazing.
Ella
Ella is a little hippy town in the mountains, and the scenery is gorgeous. I made friends with some other travellers in Nuwara Eliya, where we walked Hortons Plains together, and from then journeyed south via train to Ella. The train ride is supposed to be one of the most beautiful in the world, and costs just over a dollar. We took the afternoon train, and the weather had started to completely fog up. We didn’t get the scenery I was hoping for, but the trees looked quite eerie through the fog, so I didn’t mind. A group of about eight travelers from the hostel all climbed Little Adam’s Peak the next morning, to some of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen in my life. I perched on a flat rock jutting out the side of the mountain, with a front row seat of magnificent Ella rock, the peak hiding behind fog and a little road the buses wound their way through. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one wishing to stay there all day, however a forecast of rain led us down before lunch. I really enjoyed the vibe of Ella, even with all the overplayed reggae-mixed Adele songs.. It was also really nice having friends to do things with for a few days, and to split the cost of tuktuks! It was quite sad to say goodbye to my new friends, but I was set on visiting Udawalawe National Park.
Udawalawe
I was feeling a bit fragile when I finally arrived to my hotel in Udawalawe; my first bus trip was two and a half hours standing, incredibly crowded. When I had to get off I tried to get through about seven people to the stairs and eventually fell down them on to the ground in the pouring rain, with blood pouring down my leg from a grazed knee. The ticket collector was urging me to hurry, and threw my bag to me as I hobbled across the road to shelter. Some kind strangers took my bag under the shade, put some yellow ointment on my leg and in half an hour, hailed the next bus for me…
The hotel staff advised that they couldn’t arrange a safari tour for me as it was low season and there weren’t many tourists around. I was, in fact, their only guest that night. I decided to take matters into my own hands.. Against hotel staff recommendation, I went to a restaurant popular on TripAdvisor, and bluntly asked two young Dutch guys if they were going on safari the next morning, and if I could join them. Not only did they say yes, they asked if I’d like to sit with them to eat 🙂
I took a tuktuk to their hotel at 5am, and we were collected by a guide in a jeep at 5:30.
I would highly recommend a safari in Udawalawe National Park. We saw tons of peacocks – on the ground and in tree tops, buffalo neck deep in swamps, bubbles in a swamp that apparently indicated crocodiles… incredible birds including a toucan (!!!) and loads of elephants. There is nothing like seeing them in the wild, and there were no where near as many jeeps crowding around the elephants as I heard there is in neighbouring Yala National Park.
At one point, we saw a three week old baby, fiercely surrounded by five or six adults, trumpeting loudly, and about 5m away from our jeep. There was one other jeep, (wisely, I thought) keeping it’s distance about 50m away. After a firm formation directly behind us for a few minutes, they retreated to the cover of the bushes. The boys in the back were shaking from the experience. It was unreal.
Mirissa
Straight after the safari I caught another two buses to Mirissa, which was a total dream for me.. yeah, pretty touristy, but it’s low season. All I’ve really wanted is to swim, lay on the beach and watch the sunset with a cocktail.. which I’ve done. I also had a full body (and they mean full body…) Ayurvedic massage and herbal steam bath, nearly an hour and a half for just $25 (AU) at Secret Root Spa. I took a day trip to Galle to see the Dutch Fort, and while it was completely different to the rest of Sri Lanka I’d seen, it was also aimed at tourists, and prices were high. The weather turned bad pretty quickly so I returned to Marissa, eating sour, unripe mango on the bus. The rest of my time here I spent lazing, drinking beer and eating curry. Not bad at all in my opinion…
Colombo
I had a brief two night stay in Colombo, however this has been right across Singhalese and Tamil New Year, so not only is it a dry holiday (no birthday drink for me), most things are closed. I visited the incredible, hypnotic, red and white bricked Jami Ul-Afar Mosque, and headed to a Cinnamon Hotel to dip my toe in their infinity pool, and have a milkshake and cake. Apart from that, it’s been very quiet, but my hostel, Junkyard Hostel, has great vibes so I haven’t minded! I could have easily skipped Colombo, and I wouldn’t have missed the pushy tuktuk drivers here. One shook my hand, fine, then proceeded to kiss it, and when I tried to get out of the tuktuk he tried to hug and kiss me too. Not the nicest note to leave on, especially after most everywhere else has been so kind to me. However I put that out of my mind, as tomorrow marks the start of my Indian adventure. I’m keen!
HOT TIP
Water isn’t safe to drink in Sri Lanka, so you rely on bottled water. There is rubbish everywhere, especially plastic water bottles – see my photo from Galle Fort. If I could do it again – I’d buy a purifying water bottle, and probably end up saving some money, too.
Book through booking.com using this link and we’ll both get $$ if you spend over $50.
CARMEN TOM 