Complete travel guide 2 weeks in Sri Lanka - Teardrop of India

The trip through Sri Lanka came with a lot of challenges and stepping out of our comfort zone. By far, I think it was our most challenging vacation, from the many accommodations we had, the diversity of the landscapes, the closeness of the island culture to what we think of as India, and the explosion of flavours their food has. Sri Lanka has it all and we loved it!

In this article I will briefly present our itinerary, with details about the accommodations we had and the restaurants we tried, and each area explored and experience will be elaborated in a dedicated article.

Essential information about Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is often called "teardrop of India" due to its shape, which resembles a tear teardrop that peels away from the south of India.This poetic name also reflects the natural beauty of the island, known for its spectacular beaches, tea plantations and rich biodiversity.

It has a rich history of over 2,500 years and a diverse culture influenced by Buddhism, Hinduism, European colonialism and maritime trade. The island was colonized by Europeans for 450 years, first by the Portuguese in 1505, then the Dutch in 1658, and finally the British from 1796 until 1948, when it gained independence. In 1972 it officially changed its name from Ceylon to Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka..

A very interesting thing is that people greet with a gesture called „Ayubowan”, similar withNamastein India, accompanied by a slight bow of the head. In Buddhist temples, you should enter barefoot and avoid turning your back to statues of Buddha's birthday. when you leave.

When should you visit Sri Lanka?

It's harder to pin down a specific month as the best, as it depends very much on which part of the island you want to visit. The country has two monsoon seasons that affect different parts of the island at different times of the year. In a nutshell:

Dry season in the south and west (most popular) → December - April
Dry season in the north and east → May - September

We stayed 16 days in Sri Lanka, focusing on a tour of the center and south of the country. We stayed from February 21 to March 10 and our itinerary consisted of Kandy, Nuwara Elyia, Ella, Yala National Park, Tangalle, Unawatuna and Colombo.

March is considered the best month to visit the island as it's in the middle of the dry season, but take into account the surprise rains that can occur. For example, we had 3 days of heavy, rainy-season-like downpours that flooded the national parks and threw our plans a bit out of whack.

How do you get to Sri Lanka?

As I mentioned in the other travel guides about Bali and South Korea, the most convenient for us is flying with Qatar Airways. It's convenient and we don't hassle with checked luggage or other check ins. In addition, it's very easy to bear: we flew 4 and a half hours to Doha and from there another 5 hours to Colombo.

Take a look also on other companies like Turkish Airlines or FlyDubai, maybe you will find better prices.

3. The entry process

You need a visa valid for 30 days, travel insurance and a passport valid for at least 6 months. For the visa, you can apply here on site a few days in advance. Afterwards, you receive an email with a link in which you have to fill in your contact and passport details, and at least the address of an accommodation in order to be registered in their database. At the airport we spent exactly 3 minutes just long enough for them to look us up in the system and stamp our passport, it's that simple! Of course, always check the latest news on local website.

SIM card

For mobile data, you can either get a SIM card from anywhere in the better known cities and airport or you can get e-SIM from Airalo because it's much easier and hassle-free. We use Airalo every time we depart from outside Europe and we find it has good prices. For 2 weeks we paid 20 dollars for 15 Gb. At our accommodations we had and didn't have Wifi...so we preferred to get extra internet to plan our upcoming days and for sightseeing trips.

Medicine kit

As for vaccines, we didn't have any, but that was our choice and we took it! What is advisable is to consult a doctor and then make an informed decision. Some of the recommended vaccines for Sri Lanka are:

Hepatitis A - recommended for safety, as the virus can be transmitted through contaminated food or water.
Hepatitis B - recommended if you are at risk of exposure through medical contact or tattoos/ piercings.
Typhoid fever - especially recommended if you'll be eating street food or traveling in rural areas.

Also, being an exotic island, there is a very high risk of Dengue Fever, so buy lots of mosquito sprays. Especially if it's raining, there are extremely many mosquitoes and the risk is much higher. I noticed that they have a much more effective herbal and essential oil spray, so you can buy from there too.

What meds we had that are good to have in your luggage: Smecta, Enterol, Metoclopramide, Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen, Aerius, Betadine, medicated rubbing alcohol, antibacterial wipes, Omeprazole, Gaviscon, moisturizing salts, Coldrex, Fervex, and an antibiotic just in case.

Sri Lankan food - rainbow on your plate!

We don't usually get to eat 3 meals a day when traveling because the desire to discover as much as possible is too great. Well, here, it was a different story! The food conquered us from the first minute we spent here and we ate everything and a lot and whenever we had the chance)

It's spicy, yes, extremely spicy at times, but it's also an explosion of flavors! It combines some flavors and you don't just taste the spiciness, but something very exotic. And if you love indian food, finds out that in Sri Lanka it is 10 times better! (now I'm curious what it's like in India, I think I'll cry with happiness)

Here are some dishes we tried that put Sri Lanka in the top 3 cuisines for us: curries of any kind (chicken, potato, sweet potato, mushroom, pod curry), dhal or lentil curry, rice in every possible flavor, coconut sambal (the specific extremely spicy sauce), papadums (crispy lentil chips), roti (a kind of lipie) and kottu roti (street food with lipie, eggs and vegetables), egg hoppers (pancake with egg-egg in the middle) and any fish you find in the south cooked on the grill.

Recommended restaurants

Below is a list of restaurants we've tried in all the places we've been. It is recommended to first look on Google Maps to see reviews or pictures to make sure the restaurant is clean. Personally, I found that everywhere people cooked extremely clean, even though the place may not have been spotless, everywhere the reviews are very good and we went a lot for the local food which is much cheaper and tastier.

In south, at the beach, especially in Unawatuna and Mirissaprices are a bit high (22-25 euro for a meal with two main courses and two drinks, compared to Nuwara Eliya where we paid 12 euros for the same thing) and the food is extremely western, very hard to find something local.

Bonus, if you want yet another place where the food will be extremely tasty, maybe the tastiest, attend a Sri Lankan food cooking class in Ella. It seems to me that in this place, it really pays to know a little bit about the cuisine because it is TOP! I booked the activity through GetYourGuide and lasted 4 hours, during which time we toured the extremely rich garden, were introduced to the spices and cooked lots of curries and other goodies. More details in this article.

Our 2 weeks itinerary

Of note is that we travelled light this time to make it easier for us. Each one of us had a backpack CabinZero 36L, which we sent in the hold, and another small 10L, in which we had the important stuff. We have been using CabinZero backpacks exclusively for 3 years now and I really recommend them. We've tested them for 3 years on every possible trip, from city breaks, to 10 days through Iceland, to 10 days hiking through Norway and 2 weeks through South Korea, and I can say they've been just the right fit. If you too want a backpack and don't know which one, you can take advantage of my 15% discount code IOANAFERDOSCHI on their website and you can check for yourself their quality.

As I said at the beginning, it was one of our most demanding vacations due to the multitude of places visited. We had 8 accommodations, divided in Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Ella, Yala National Park, Tangalle beach, Unawatuna and Colombo. To see everything we visited and all our activities during the two weeks, please click here.

How did we move between accommodations?

We landed in Negombo and from there we took a taxi to Colombo Fort Station from where we took the train to Kandy. From Kandy to Nuwara Eliya we took also the train and to Ella as well, the two journeys being considered among the most scenic in the world, and rightly so! To the south and to Colombo, we went by taxi picked up from the lodgings where we were still negotiating prices.

To book train tickets in advance, especially on the Kandy-Ella route, go to the official website. There are 3 classes in the train: class 1 is more for tourists, with air conditioning and no possibility to open the windows; class 2 is with fan, you can open the windows, with seats you can book and with locals; class 3 is mainly used by locals, without cooling source and you can open the windows. The doors of the trains always stay open, so you can take photos and videos in peace. The train doesn't go fast at all, in fact we had 1 hour delays each time, so don't plan anything important according to the train or you won't arrive on time. We stayed in 2nd class twice and 1st class once and I think we made the right choice. Also, don't plan your trip on the weekend: it's extremely crowded and there is no limit on people either. We tried that and it wasn't pretty standing for 2 hours with luggage on our feet in 30 degrees with 100 other people around.

For wandering around, we booked via the PickMe app and we always choose the tuktukA couple times it happened that the tuktuk didn't take us through the app, but through negotiation and we ended up paying double because they didn't want to leave it at the price. And at the beach we rented a scooter because we already have the experience of our 3 weeks in Bali that you can read about here. and because we were looking forward to not depending on anyone. Plus, the island feels different from the scooter! But I wouldn't recommend it unless you're in fully control and already experienced. Normally we would have needed the international license, but we noticed that the police don't stop tourists much and if you ride within the speed limit and with a helmet and be careful, you should be ok.

You can also rent a tuktuk for the duration of the trip, but it's complicated and noisy while driving it. We didn't find it worth it. You can also rent a car, but the traffic is more hassle. Keep in mind that you drive on the left side of the road and there are no traffic rules, everyone goes their own way, there's honking to make your presence felt, dogs sleep on the road, and buses are the law, they are extremely dangerous. Driving around Sri Lanka is an adventure too, but that's their world.

The accommodations we have booked

We stayed in homestays, as well in some fancier hotels and in one all inclusive resort more rustic. Homestay accommodation is one room out of 4 in the host's house for rent. It seemed to me that Sri Lanka is the place where I can still find accommodation at fair prices and allow us to try all kinds of accommodation.

In Kandy we stayed 2 nights at White Lodge, a super simple homestay with extremely friendly hosts. We had a double room with balcony where we could see the monkeys in the neighborhood and breakfast included. It's about a 20 minute walk from the city center, but at least it's super quiet and that's exactly what we needed. Usually, in Asia, we take accommodation further away from the center: one reason would be the price, then that we're sure to find something nice further away, the quietness around the accommodation and the fact that we're among locals.

In Nuwara Eliya, we stayed at a homestay again, AGP Homefor 3 nights. This time we had no view, no balcony and the accommodation was about 30 minutes walk from the city center. We also liked it here as we were more among the locals and had super many tea plantations around. Breakfast was included, and the host was extremely sociable, waiting for us with Ceylon tea and biscuits, curious and really helpful. He recommended restaurants and places worth visiting and helped us get to Horton Plains. Keep in mind that it is colder here being at 1884m altitude. We had no heating in our accommodation, but our host left us 3 very warm blankets. We got maximum 18 degrees and minimum 6 degrees.

In Ella , I hunted this accommodation, Nine Arch Lodge, for the amazing view from the top of the bed. Still a homestay it was, with breakfast included, it just didn't live up to the standards of the first. Maybe because it was in the jungle, the musty smell lingered, or because it had rained a lot, the humidity was harder to bear. But for the view of the Nine Arch Bridge, it didn't bother us at all for 2 nights. Think how cool it is that you get to see the first train cross the bridge without getting out of bed! Just like the picture below you can see the bridge from the balcony!

From Ella we left early due to torrential downpours that were never ending. We preferred to be as close as possible to the national parks, so we arrived at the Tranquil Wild where we only stayed one night. We were not planning to stay here but found it by chance while in Ella. We also had the shared pool, breakfast included and a super room, extremely luxurious for the price. The backyard is full of peacocks, and behind the fence there are lots of water buffalo and families of monkeys. With them we organized our safari the next day from Yala National Parkin blocks 5 and 6. The hotel is also extremely close to Udawalawe National Park and for sure they are having safaris there too.

The next day, after the safari, we went to the so-called all inclusive resort, Yakaduru-Yala, which we loved. It's right in the national park, so more at the entrance, and is a complex of a few extremely rustic cottages with outdoor toilets, a communal pool, a seating area and restaurant. For our one night here, we chose a cottage with private pool, right next to the jungle. We liked that there were some rock formations in the resort courtyard, which we climbed at sunrise from where you could see and hear the national park beautifully. We had the 3 meals included but it was not buffet but standard dishes, traditional dancing in the evening and lots of lizards, squirrels and rabbits.

Note: the cliff that appears right next to the cottage was not the main cliff where all the tourists climbed, but it was something more private, somehow only our cottage's to admire the view from the top.

We spent the next days at the beach. For the first 3 nights we stayed at Starlight Cabanas which was also a kind of homestay, but instead of double rooms in your own house, there were 4 little cottages in the yard of the hosts. Super small, cozy little cottages with a hammock fixed at the entrance, very cozy being surrounded by palm trees, super nice. Bonus you could hear the waves like we were by the ocean and the Tangalle beach is a 2 minute walk from the cottage and is the most beautiful beach we have seen.

Then we moved in Unawatuna, for another 3 nights, at Birds Paradise CabanasHere again we had a very spacious, private cottage with an outdoor toilet. I super loved the courtyard, it was extremely large, full of frangipani and very playful cats. It was also like a zoo here, because it was full of squirrels, monkeys, lizards and huge varans. We didn't like the resort, extremely commercial and expensive, it had nothing to do with the Sri Lanka we had seen so far and we preferred to go by scooter in Mirissa. No wow here either, but at least it was more our style. But much more expensive everything here than any other area we've seen.

The last of our trip we spent it in Colombo, at a super hotel with an infinity pool by the ocean, Granbell Hotel. Everything here was amazing; the ultra spacious and clean room, the premium service, the more expensive and fancy food and the view over the capital were well worth the money. It was the ideal way to end the adventure!

Conclusion

Sri Lanka was the nicest surprise of all the destinations we've been to so far. It wasn't necessarily on the short list, but we wanted to see it while it's still authentic and mass tourism hasn't quite reached everywhere. I must admit it surprised me too because I didn't really want to know much about the culture before and I loved it. I didn't expect to find so many wild animals and so diverse. The mornings when all nature was awake were my favourites.

The landscapes were some of the most exotic we have seen so far, the people extremely welcoming and we always felt safe. We made it to many villages where it was just us and we weren't scared for a second. I say put Sri Lanka on your bucket list now while it is still extremely accessible and enjoy what you will experience. But leave with expectations of Asia: you'll find garbage dumped everywhere, whole piles burnt, lots of dogs in the worst condition and people not doing extremely well, but it's their world. But you'll find lots and lots and lots of BEAUTY here.

I highly recommend the tour we did, I felt like we got to see a bit of the essence of the country and got to super places. I also 100% recommend the accommodations, otherwise I wouldn't have listed them if I didn't like them. I hope this travel guide was helpful in planning your adventure here, and don't forget to check out my other Sri Lanka articles here. Don't forget to follow me for more itineraries of the destinations seen.