Leaving Mirissa behind we were once again taking another step towards going home. With hindsight I would probably have stayed another day there had I thought it through or maybe not. Maybe I'd have tweaked the whole of our planned holiday.
In the end we spent the last two days in Negombo doing very little other than lazing by the pool, oh and a couple of hours local tour to see the sights of Negombo and to stock up on a few spices to take home.
I had considered a dolphin trip to Kalpityia but the reality was it wasn't that practical. A 3 hour plus drive to get there, it was a long day and the Dolphin might not show. It did happen once before!
No I'd keep that one up my sleeve for the future and would arrange to stay up that end of the island too, take in Wilpattu NP again, maybe visit the far north, the area where the civil war was fought not that long ago. Over on the east coast there was much unexplored island to see as well. Certainly enough to make the visit interesting.
Had this trip been a success? Well, not as much as I'd hoped. We'd chosen well with the accommodation, eaten well, had excellent weather so from that point it had been a great success. I guess the one aspect that I wasn't happy with was the fact we never actually settled anywhere for long enough, never unpacked our bags. Then there was the local wildlife viewing opportunities, again a bit of a disappointment. I'd done so much better in the past from that perspective.
Don't let me put you off Sri Lanka as a holiday destination though. It ticks so many boxes if you plan it correctly. It has a bit of everything, history, culture, game parks and sealife, water sports, hiking, interesting travel modes from the old Pullman style steam trains to Tuk Tuks. I am actually trying to point my grandson to take a chunk of his gap year back packing there, it's ideal and a better option than the Far East in my opinion.
We will go back I'm sure, all being well in the future. If you have never been I suggest you go sooner rather than later whilst tourist numbers are at their current low.
if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!
Cheers
Dave
In the end we spent the last two days in Negombo doing very little other than lazing by the pool, oh and a couple of hours local tour to see the sights of Negombo and to stock up on a few spices to take home.
I had considered a dolphin trip to Kalpityia but the reality was it wasn't that practical. A 3 hour plus drive to get there, it was a long day and the Dolphin might not show. It did happen once before!
No I'd keep that one up my sleeve for the future and would arrange to stay up that end of the island too, take in Wilpattu NP again, maybe visit the far north, the area where the civil war was fought not that long ago. Over on the east coast there was much unexplored island to see as well. Certainly enough to make the visit interesting.
Had this trip been a success? Well, not as much as I'd hoped. We'd chosen well with the accommodation, eaten well, had excellent weather so from that point it had been a great success. I guess the one aspect that I wasn't happy with was the fact we never actually settled anywhere for long enough, never unpacked our bags. Then there was the local wildlife viewing opportunities, again a bit of a disappointment. I'd done so much better in the past from that perspective.
Don't let me put you off Sri Lanka as a holiday destination though. It ticks so many boxes if you plan it correctly. It has a bit of everything, history, culture, game parks and sealife, water sports, hiking, interesting travel modes from the old Pullman style steam trains to Tuk Tuks. I am actually trying to point my grandson to take a chunk of his gap year back packing there, it's ideal and a better option than the Far East in my opinion.
We will go back I'm sure, all being well in the future. If you have never been I suggest you go sooner rather than later whilst tourist numbers are at their current low.
if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!
Cheers
Dave
Thanks Dave. I have thoroughly enjoyed your report once again.
ReplyDelete