Sri Lanka

Our trip started by travelling with Sri Lankan airlines which is one of the friendliest airline’s I have ever experienced. The crew cannot do enough to make sure you are comfortable throughout the trip. As it was my husbands birthday we chose to travel Business Class, the seats are not flat bed they are more like sleeper seats but very comfortable. The food, choice of entertainment, service and ambience made the flight very enjoyable.

We spent the first 2 nights in Colombo and stayed at the Hilton Hotel which is centrally located for all the sights and shopping of the capital. The rooms are very spacious and the hotel offers a variety of restaurants to choose from.

From Colombo we moved on to start our tour, one of the hotels we stayed in near to Sigiriya was called ‘Elephant Corridor’ which is truly amazing. The hotel is set in grounds where animals including Elephants roam freely. Our room was a suite with a small plunge pool overlooking the jungle, wildlife was rife and at night it was weird listening to a chorus of animals that sent you to sleep.

A special present to my husband was a sunrise balloon ride over Sigiriya, it was quite daunting at first, but once you got used to it the trip was a truly memorable experience.

Whilst in Sri Lanka we visited many places including the Rock Fortress of Sigirya, Dambulla Rock Cave Temple, Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, Kandy and the tea plantations. After this we travelled down to the beach resort of Bentota to relax. We chose to stay at Taj Exotica which is a very nice hotel right on the beach, it has a lovely swimming pool and plenty of gardens to sunbathe and relax in.

In the beach resorts there are still plenty of things to do and see, getting around is cheap and taxi’s or tuk tuk’s are available all the time. Venture out of the hotels as there quite a few restaurants tucked away – its always wise to ask one of the locals where they would recommend as they seem to know the best places.

Sri Lanka has some wonderful beaches, some with local shacks where you can drink local beer or cocktails and watch the fantastic sunsets – which is the best part of the holiday for me!!