Sunsets in Sri Lanka
- Catherine
- 6 days ago
- 11 min read
Turtle Bay
We flew from Kathmandu, Nepal to Columbo, Sri Lanka with a short layover in Delhi.
We felt welcome in Sri Lanka even before we landed. I was sitting next to a friendly Indian gentleman on the plane, who was travelling to Colombo on a business trip. We got chatting, sharing about our travels and family. It turned out that he had several family members living in Canada, and insisted on arranging for his company to drop us off at our hotel - even though it was almost an hours drive!
Colombo is a busy port town, but we didn’t explore much. Apparently, it has a big foodie scene. Before catching our train, we walked down the street to find a place to eat. I’ve never walked down such a small street packed with so many people before! Both sides of the sidewalk had market vendors selling their wares, leaving a tiny passageway for everyone to squeeze through. It was slow progress, and awkward to maneuver while carrying our bags (which were getting larger and more unwieldy after every country we visited!). We arrived at the restaurant just as they opened their doors to the lunch rush, and gained our first experience with a Sri Lankan classic called Kottu. Kottu is made from chopping up a roti in a hot pan, and stir frying with eggs, meat and veggies. It’s pretty tasty, although carb heavy!
After lunch, we made our way back to the train station. We weren’t sure what to expect from the Sri Lankan railway system - but it was excellent. Easy to navigate, and very comfortable. Our train was headed south, 180kms down the coast to Tangalle. It was beautiful to watch the sun setting over the ocean. Four hours later, we arrived at our stop as it was getting dark.
Another short tuk tuk ride brought us to our beachfront hotel, where we’d be staying for the next week. Me and Joel were still recovering from our various illnesses (courtesy of Nepal) and it was so lovely to totally relax and go nowhere for several days.
Our hotel was on a quiet beach called Kahandamodara. Every day we’d walk along the beach, watch the sunsets and see very few other people. We’d pass the occasional tourist, but mostly there were just a couple locals fishing or enjoying family time on the beach.
My idea of a perfect holiday is somewhere naturally beautiful, very quiet, and with great food. If that’s your idea of a good holiday too, then I’d definitely recommend this hotel https://www.turtlebay.lk/ and the area in general (but make sure you go during the right season!). There were several restaurants run by local families within walking distance, and the seafood was incredible - all freshly caught the same day.
A highlight was visiting a nearby bird sanctuary at dawn. A guide took us into the estuary with a small raft. We saw kingfishers, bee eaters and a pelican among others! (Birdwatching really crept up on us. Out of nowhere, we’re a couple years off thirty and getting a thrill from identifying birds).
We felt like we could have happily stayed here forever, but did want to explore more of Sri Lanka - and continued onwards about nine days later.
National Parks
We caught a taxi north towards the centre of the island. Along the way we stopped at Bundala National Park. Joel chose this park as it’s much less visited than nearby Yala Park.
From the Lonely Planet: “Bundala National Park is a fantastic maze of waterways, lagoons and dunes that glitter like gold in the dying evening sun. This wonderland provides a home to thousands of colourful birds ranging from diminutive little bee-eaters to grotesque open-billed stalks. It is a wetland sanctuary of such importance that it has been recognised under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Many big mammals are also present, with between 15 and 60 elephants depending on the season (December is the best month). The park shelters almost 200 species of birds within its 62-sq-km area, with many journeying from Siberia and the Rann of Kutch in India to winter here [...] It’s also a winter home to the greater flamingo, and up to 2000 have been recorded here at one time. Bundala also has civets, giant squirrels and lots of crocodiles. Between October and January, four of Sri Lanka’s five species of marine turtles (olive ridley, green, leatherback and loggerhead) lay their eggs on the coast. Bundala stretches nearly 20km along a coastal strip between Kirinda and Hambantota.” https://www.lonelyplanet.com/points-of-interest/bundala-national-park/1194743
Precious few things would have me happily jumping out of bed at the crack of dawn, but this would be one of them! We had a guide and a driver, and the guide was amazingly knowledgeable about the birds. We had such a great time - another Sri Lanka highlight for sure.
The next day we explored Udawalwe National Park, home to over 600 elephants. Although getting to observe wild elephants in their natural habitat was amazing, it was sad to see them being hounded by multiple jeeps. We tried to research beforehand and pick a responsible guide, but felt like our driver crowded the elephants. At one point, we got too close to a mama elephant and her baby - and the mamma growled at us. I had no idea elephants could growl - it’s terrifying. I’m glad she told us to back off, but wish she didn't have to! We also saw some magical spotted deer, lizards and wild buffalo.
Hill County
After getting our wildlife fix, we continued north into the hill country. The hills are where the majority of tea is grown, as it gets more rain. We enjoyed several hikes in the area, but our favourite experience was visiting AMBA tea estate. https://www.ambaestate.com/
I’d done some research before we left Canada, and found that this tea estate was one of the most innovative and ethical in Sri Lanka. Most people who pick tea leaves in Sri Lanka earn about four Canadian dollars a day, if they're lucky. AMBA tea estate pays fair wages, plus 10% of revenue is shared among all employees as a bonus, and has implemented an innovative apprenticeship program that supports advancement. They’ve focused on developing a niche in the market for their quality, organic and ethical teas. Their head tea taster took us through a tea tasting, and gave us a tour of the estate. We learned a lot about the fascinating history of tea and how it’s harvested and processed.
They have a lot of land, and so after the tour me and Joel went exploring and found a beautiful swimming hole. Perfection!
Although I wouldn’t recommend Ella itself (too many tourists and too pricey), it is definitely worth exploring the hill country and checking out a tea estate like AMBA from a more out of the way hotel.
From Ella we’d planned to catch the scenic train ride through the hill country to Kandy. Unfortunately, unseasonably heavy rains (due to the same cyclones we’d experienced in Vietnam) had caused terrible landslides - damaging roads, homes and railways. For this reason, only part of the train line was open.
It was a Christmas Eve to remember! From Ella, we travelled by train to the closure point. We were sitting at the very front behind the engine car, and were the only ones in the carriage for the majority of the trip. I think it’s usually quite busy, but the closures must have deterred most people. We had a great time watching the beautiful scenery go by, until the train conductor invited us to meet the drivers! We clambered along a tight passageway beside the hot engine, towards the front. Here, we met the two train drivers and had a lovely long chat. We got to take turns honking the horn which was a lot of fun!! They were so kind and friendly to us.
Upon arriving at the end of the working line, Joel had arranged for someone to pick us up and drive us to Kandy. It was dark, and we still had a ways to go along windy roads, partially covered with landslides. It was a bit nerve wracking - but we were blessed with a chatty driver, who was very careful. It took about five hours to get to Kandy, and in that time we made a new friend.
Rizney is a schoolteacher with a young family. Apparently, being a teacher in Sri Lanka isn't enough to pay the bills, so you’ve got to have a side hustle. We heard a lot from him about the impact of the landslides on his family and friends, and the significant loss of life. We’d been following the news about the disaster in Sri Lanka, but it’s very different reading about something, versus actually witnessing the aftermath.
We arrived safely, and spent Christmas and Boxing Day at a beautiful hotel in the hill country outside of Kandy that used to be a tea estate. It had a waterfall and swimming hole on the land which we enjoyed, as well as a picturesque hike in the area.
Central
After Christmas, we picked up a rental tuk tuk in Kandy. Our very own (three) wheels!
Joel quickly learned how to drive the tuk tuk, but the first day was terrifying. I did lots of internal screaming because I didn’t want to scream out loud and distract Joel! The worst part was stalling in a busy intersection, right in the path of an oncoming bus. Thankfully most drivers in Sri Lanka are excellent and very relaxed, and the traffic seamlessly parted around us (without honking or even looking mad) until we were able to get going again. Phew!
We didn't stay long in Kandy, just checking out the famed botanical garden before heading on.
Our first stop was Sigarya Rock. We stayed at a local family's brand new guesthouse. It was a lovely spot, quiet and clean - and the host family were excellent cooks, and fed us very generously.
Because this family lived in the middle of the countryside - the surrounding dirt roads had ENORMOUS potholes, puddles and random dead ends. It was impressive what the tuk tuk could handle with only three wheels, and we soon learned our way around.
It was really fun to have the freedom to explore the area with our tuk tuk. Sigarya Rock is a super interesting UNESCO world heritage site. We were told the rock formed from a hardened magma plug inside an ancient volcano. The surrounding softer rock eroded over time, leaving this pillar jutting dramatically upwards, isolated on the flat plane. Sometime in the 5th century, during the reign of King Kassapa (477-495 AD), he decided to build a fortress-palace on top of Sigarya Rock. (some archaeologists think it could be a monastery/religious site instead). It was then abandoned in the 14th century.
Around the base of the rock, there’s a pretty garden (one of the oldest landscaped gardens in the world) with lots of ingeniously engineered water features (using hydraulic power, underground tunnels and the force of gravity). The day that we went, it was absolutely bucketing with rain. Aside from the rain totally clearing the place of other people (yay!), we also got to see the 1,500 year old fountains working! Very very cool!
Then we started climbing the stairs to explore the ruins on top of the rock. I’m usually fine with heights, but it was a windy day and the narrow metal stairs (precariously bolted onto the side of the cliff) were slick with rain. (Also if there is a cliff nearby, Joel likes to stand at the very edge and it gives me heart palpitations). It was fascinating, but I was happier once we were back at the bottom.
The next stop was another UNESCO world heritage site: Polonnaruwa. Polonnaruwa was the royal capital in the 11th and 12th centuries and is very well preserved. It is also massive, and we were hard pressed to see everything within one day.
The next part of the trip was not planned, we just went for it. This was fun, albeit slightly chaotic. We drove about six hours north-west towards a coastal town called Kalpitiya because Joel had heard it was worth checking out. It was swampy, swarming with mosquitos and very windy. A great spot for kite surfing and dolphin watching, but not much else it seemed. Kite surfing looked really fun, but we were told it would take a full week of lessons to start enjoying it (time we didn’t have at this point). Another tourist told us about a pod of hundreds of dolphins they’d seen that morning, so we went out in a boat the next day, but unfortunately weren’t as lucky. We decided not to linger, and prepared to head out.
However, the tuk tuk had other plans and refused to start. Our rental company was VERY difficult to deal with, and we ended up being stuck for several frustrating days.
During this time, the tuk tuk would occasionally start if we pushed it. Every time we tried push starting, local people would come help us. Although it was not an ideal situation, we will forever enjoy many wonderful memories of pushing the tuk tuk down random Sri Lankan roads with a gaggle of laughing children and lots of freely given mechanical advice from onlooking aunties and uncles.
After a couple days, we gave up on the rental company ever fixing it. We push started it and drove to Trincomalle on the opposite coast. Trincomalle is meant to be a beautiful spot for beaches, snorkelling, diving and surfing. But we’d not properly done our research on the best times to visit. Even though Sri Lanka is such a small island, it has a weather split. So while the south of the island was perfectly dry and sunny, in the north/east it was raining and the ocean was rough and stormy. Oops!!
It wasn’t a total loss however, we booked into a nice hotel for my birthday, got the tuk tuk fixed and enjoyed some truly incredible food.
At this point, we’d had enough rainy adventures and headed south toward the sun. This was such a fun drive along the coast. At one point we drove through a national park and saw five elephants by the side of the road! I was having a great time taking pictures and videos, and kept asking Joel to slow down when we saw another elephant up ahead. But it seemed that Joel would instead speed up to pass them faster…. When we stopped for fuel at the next town, Joel informed me that the road is called “the elephant highway” and the elephants have learned to intimidate vehicles for food handouts. They’d also been known to tip tuk tuks over to search for food. I was glad Joel waited to share this piece of information until after we’d made it across!
We ended up back in our favourite area (near where we started on Kahandamodara beach), relaxed for a day or so, and then continued on to Weligama - a better surf spot. It was a lot of fun learning to surf, me and Joel are both hooked! We wanted to keep surfing, but were getting short on time.
Another couple hours drive up the coast brought us to Galle, a city built by the Portuguese in the 16th century and then fortified by the Dutch in the 17th century. Although the old fort is packed with tourists, it is very picturesque and we really enjoyed exploring the old streets and eating at fancy restaurants.
With only two more days in the country, we stopped in Hikkaduwa on our way back to the airport. This was hailed by our guidebook as a nice place with good snorkelling. Unfortunately it was heaving with tourists, there was no quiet patch of beach to be found and the snorkelling conditions were poor. Just goes to show you can’t always trust the guidebooks! Nevertheless, we savoured our final mesmerizing Sri Lanka sunsets and last fish curries.
Overall, Sri Lanka is one of my favourite countries I’ve ever visited. It’s a wonderful mix of wildlife, natural beauty, white sand beaches, interesting historical sites and most importantly, super welcoming local people and incredible food!!
Conclusion
From Sri Lanka, we flew to Austria and England to visit family and friends, before finally heading home to Canada in mid-February.
As I’m writing this - it’s now May 5th and me and Joel are housed and employed once more (whoop whoop!). We unpacked the last box about two weeks ago, and it feels so wonderful to be sleeping in our own bed again and waking up to our own coffee machine. No more living out of backpacks and inconsistent coffee hits! But it’s amazing how quickly you can get used to things - when you’re travelling, you miss your routine and reliable creature comforts (ahem, good coffee). When you’re home for a while, your feet start itching…..or is that just me? So to keep us occupied, we’re getting a puppy! We are ready to put our backpacks away and be responsible adults….for now.
Thanks for reading and following along with our travels!! <3
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