Sri Lanka
While I booked the main part of the holiday I left my friend to book some of the ancillary parts. I wanted her to experience what I do on a daily basis. The results were a little mixed shall we say ...
First off, we arrived at Birmingham airport and my friend hadn't actually booked any car parking. So I had to hop on to my wifi and sort out. As we were checking in for our flight I asked whether my friend had booked the hotel in Doha for our layover on the way. Err no was the answer!
So we board the gorgeous Qatar Dreamliner (lots of space in Economy it felt like premium and the food was the best I have tasted in economy in a long time) not knowing whether we have a hotel at the other end. We turn up to the hotel and it's fully booked and so instead I jump on wifi again and book an airport lounge for the 8 hour stopover. Luckily I book a lounge with showers and a nice rest area. We convince ourselves that it was better than a hotel anyway!
The rest of the holiday gets even more eventful that involved thunder/lightening, disappearing taxi drivers and a slightly too intimate massage please read on……… When we flew into Si Lanka it was right through a massive electrical thunderstorm which almost literally made my hair stand on end! We landed “fully charged” and found our driver who proceeded to disappear for 40 minutes to collect the car. At one point we thought he must have been struck by lightning! After a couple of hours we arrived at Hotel Eden Resort and Spa.
On arrival, they were very welcoming and friendly. We were on all-inclusive and the food was brilliant, lots of variety and all very fresh. The next morning, we ventured down to the pool area where there was lots of space and a gardener that never stopped running around to get your sunbed into exactly the right spot. We chose an area both near the beach and in the shade. There was a lovely breeze which, in 38 degrees, you need! With a 5.5 hour time difference, there wasn’t really any jet lag, which was a blessing.
The next day a butler suggested that we visit a local temple which had a really friendly elephant in residence. The temple was the 2nd highest in Sri Lanka. Of course, despite the height and the heat, I forgot my water!
We jumped into a Tuk Tuk and apparently “Cashpoint and temple with Elephant” translates to “shops, shops and more shops”. So when we had finished our tour of all the shops, we entered a forest and low and behold there was this massive elephant with the biggest tusks you have ever seen. We weren’t allowed to get too close to this magnificent creature, which was apparently a gift from Thailand to Sri Lanka. However, he did love his nose being stroked.
It was so hot we wanted to go somewhere cooler and we needed water. After making a donation to the temple, we headed back to the hotel. When we arrived back the driver said a price, we didn’t have a clue. It worked out about £10.00 which was great value, even if the hotel said we got ripped off! Luckily to wind down I had an intensive treatment at the hotel spa which worked wonders on my aches and pains.
The rest of the holiday was fantastic. We loved the local bar on the beach outside the hotel which had some amazing sunsets. On the quieter nights we got talking to the barman “Shaggy”. We politely declined the beach parties that he invited us to!
I will definitely go back to Sri Lanka with my husband. There is so much more to see including cultural tours and train journeys. If you would like a less incident packed holiday, then just get in touch and I will be delighted to help!