The post Travel cost in Sri Lanka appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.
]]>LKR | ||
Transport | ~11000 | |
Car rent with driver. 6/7 seat van USD40/day including 125km/day allowance, extra kms at the rate of USD 0.27 per km. This cost also is inclusive of fuel, driver meals, driver’s accommodation, all taxes and insurance. |
USD80/person
|
|
Accommodation* | ~6000 | |
Sigyriya x 1 night |
1200
|
|
Dambula x 1 night |
800
|
|
Nuwara Eliya x 1 night | 1320 | |
Tissamaharama x 1 night | 1700 | |
Mirissa x 1 night | 900 | |
Food |
~4000
|
|
Sightseeing |
~16500
|
|
Sigiriya (Lion’s rock) | USD30 | |
Polonnaruwa | USD25 | |
Dambulla Cave temple | 1300 | |
The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic | 1000 | |
Nuwara Eliya botanic garden | 200 | |
Safari at Yala National Park | ~USD40 | |
Mulkirigala Rock historical temple | 200 | |
Turtles hatchery | 300 | |
Train trip in observation car |
750
|
|
Total |
~37500
|
* the prices are per person, you need to double it to get room price.
At the time of writing this post the USD1 was worth LKR133, so my visit to Sri Lanka cost approximately USD280.
Just want to add some remarks to above number.
I was traveling in the group of 5 people, so we split total cost of car rental of USD400 (including tips).
You can’t save much on sightseeing, though you can pay even more for safari to Yala NP if only couple people are booking it.
The quality and the price of accommodation depends on location. By looking to above table you could see I paid almost the same price in Dambulla and Mirrisa beach, but you can’t compare these two places. Here is what we got in Dambulla:
Unfortunately I don’t have picture of the hotel in Mirrisa beach because my camera was stolen in India couple days latter, but I can assure what guest house in Mirrisa was like paradise comparing with this one in Dambulla. Cost additionally only USD1 per person and was 400 meters (1/4 mile) away from perfect beach:
I didn’t book any hotels/guest houses in advance because of intensive plan I had I didn’t know where I end up that night. But you can check Agoda accommodation booking site if you know your schedule and want to book hotels in advance as usually they have good deals with 50-60% discount for same places.
I paid (USD) | Agoda price (USD) | |
Sigyriya/Dambula | 14-20 | 25-30 |
Nuwara Eliya | 22 | 35 |
Tissamaharama | 29 | 30 |
Mirissa | 15 | 23-30 |
The prices are for double room and online you can get better rooms for similar price especially in Sigyriya/Dambula area. Of course prices are tend to change.
Food price depends on what do you eat and where do you eat. Breakfast (Sri Lankan or American/English) and lunch will cost about 250-400 rupees, dinner can start at 300 rupees and can go to 1000-1200 rupees if you order fresh sea food plate at the beach cafe. So everything depends on you.
The post Travel cost in Sri Lanka appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.
]]>The post Sri Lanka in five days. Full itinerary appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.
]]>
View Sri Lanka in a larger map
Arrival to Colombo international airport and transfer to Dambulla or Sigriya for the night.
Sigiriya (Lion’s rock) 7:00 – 19:00 (7am – 7pm). $US30. A large stone and ancient rock fortress or ruins of the fortress dated back to 5th century.
Polonnaruwa $US25. 1000 years old ruins of the second most ancient of Sri Lanka’s kingdoms.
Dambulla Cave temple 7:00- 19:00 (7am – 7pm). LKR1300. It is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka
Stop at one of numerous spice gardens between Dambulla and Kandy to see many different types of spices and check handcraft shops on the same road. FREE
Just before Kandy check Mariamman Kovil largest hindu temple in Sri Lanka
The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy. 6:00-17:00 (6am – 5pm). Cost LKR1000. It houses a tooth of the Buddha.
Royal Botanic Gardens 7:30-16:30 (7am – 4.30pm) The largest botanic garden in Sri Lanka.
Tea factories on the road to Nuwara Eliya. FREE
Nuwara Eliya is small summer resort used by British to escape heat in other parts of country.
Take a train from Nanuoya to Ella. LKR750 Railway pass Horton Plains NP with pictures waterfalls, mountains, tea plantations and view to World’s end,
Take a road B35 to Tissamaharama which passes Yalla National Park. You’ll have good chances to see elephants on the way.
Stop at Kataragama. It is the most important religious pilgrimage site in Sri Lanka
Yala National Park. Safary cost ~$US40. The park is famous for largest concentration of leopards
Mulkirigala Rock historical temple. LKR200. It has little of Dambulla and Sigiriya.
Take a rest at Mirissa beach which is still not overdeveloped with holiday resorts.
Galle is the best example of a fortified city built by Europeans in southeast Asia
Stop at one of turtle hatcheries North of Galle
Take a scenic cruise along Madu Ganga river.
Departure at night.
You can see a lot in 5 days, but…I would suggest to take at least 10 days and make it in much slower pace and definitely you should rent a car with driver, but don’t drive yourself if you don’t have driving experience in Asia. I can recommend our driver Gamunu, who helped a lot with finding accommodation and was working long hours to make sure we will see as much as possible in such short time.
Of course you can use public transport, but then you’ll need even more time.
Check here details of each day:
Day 1. Sigiriya(Rock) – a large stone and ancient rock fortress, Polonnaruwa, wild elephants
Day 2. Dambulla Cave Temple,spice gardens,The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, tea plantations
Day 3. The train trip from Nanuoya to Ella, Rawana Ella waterfalls, Kataragama
Day 4. Spotting leopard in Yala National Park, Mulkirigala Rock historical temple, Mirissa beach
Day 5. Galle fort, baby turtles at turtle hatcheries, Madu Ganga river scenic cruise
The post Sri Lanka in five days. Full itinerary appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.
]]>The post Sri Lanka in five days. Day 3 appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.
]]>Nuwara Eliya is small summer resort used by British to escape heat in other parts of country. Weather is very refreshing thought it can be a little be chilly at night so no surprise to see locals walking with jackets or sweaters on.
I didn’t spend much time in Nuwara Eliya except visiting small botanic garden. There are no so much to see there, but I need to kill some time till my train arrives.
Today’s plan changed after talking with our driver last night. There are two ways to go South from Nuwara Eliya. You can go by car, but there is better way. You can take the train from Nanuoya to Ella.
Nanuoya railway station is located 10km (6 miles) from Nuwara Eliya. It seems there is no way to book 1st class ticket in observation car in advance, but our driver suggested to buy cheapest available tickets and latter upgrade it. Total cost was 750LKR. It is not the cheapest train trip, but it is really worth it and is the one of the best train trips I ever done.
Railway pass Horton Plains National Park with pictures mountains, waterfalls, tea plantations and view to World’s end, the key attraction of the park. The train goes somewhere on that hill in front of World’s End.
It takes about 3 hours to get from Nanuoya to Ella and then continue trip by car. Couple kilometers from Ella there is one of widest waterfalls in Sri Lanka – Rawana Ella.
It was still long way to go to the tonight’s destination Tissamaharama (or Tissa for short) which is gateway to Yala national park, but we decided to go even longer way.
The shortest and fastest way would be by taking A2 highway (see the map). But alternative road B35 is much better. Why? B35 public road passes crosses western part of Yala national park and it is good place to see elephants and I saw more elephants today then on my safari to the Yala NP I took next day.
Kataragama is another stop on this road. It is the most important religious piligrimage site in Sri Lanka and it is a holy place for Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus. It is quite village during day and is better to visit it at night when food offerings ceremonies start.
The same as on second day it was already dark on arrival to Tissa, but we need to go to bed earlier anyway as it was booked safari to Yala NP for next morning. Early morning.. Get up at 4:00.
The post Sri Lanka in five days. Day 3 appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.
]]>The post Sri Lanka in five days. Day 2 appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.
]]>By initial plan I supposed to visit Dambulla cave temple on the first day of my trip to Sri Lanka and spend night in Kandy, but because of slow traffic I need to adjust the plan.
I get up as early as possible for short climb to Dambulla Cave temple. It is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka and it should be on everybody’s “to do” list if the one is interested in such places.
It is really short climb but it is better to go there in the early morning or late afternoon as the path is exposed to the sun and during day it can be quite hot. .
Temple is open 7:00- 19:00 (7am – 7pm). Cost 1300LKR
From Dambulla I was heading to Kandy. On the way to Kandy there are numerous spice gardens to see many different types of spices Sri Lanka is famous for.
You can see how vanilla, black pepper, coco beans, cardamom, cinnamon and other spices are grown and of course you can buy processed spices or cosmetic product if you want. There is no hard selling, so you can just take a look and drive away.
On the same road there are some handcraft shops. Somebody will show you how souvenirs and furniture are crafted, how natural colors to paint goods is made . It is also free and it is only up to you do you want to buy souvenirs or may be order some furniture.
Just before Kandy in Matale there is largest hindu temple in Sri Lanka – Mariamman Kovil. Because of some hindu celebration it was closed for visitor when I was passing by.
The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is the main attraction in the Kandy. It houses most important Buddhist relic in Sri Lanka – a tooth of the Buddha. You won’t be able to see tooth itself as it is kept in a gold casket, but you can see illustrations how the tooth arrived to Sri Lanka.
Temple is open 6:00-17:00 (6am – 5pm). Cost 1000LKR
I was short of time, so I just to a look to Kandy panorama and went further to Nuwara Eliya.
But if you have time it is good idea to stay in Kandy and at night watch performance of famed Kandyan dancers and in the morning go to Royal Botanic Gardens (working hours 7:30-16:30) – the largest and very beautiful botanic garden in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately I didn’t have time for it either.
From Kandy road to Nuwara Eliya winds up to the mountains the most of tea plantations are located. There are couple tea factories on the road – Blue Field Tea Gardens and Labookellie Tea Factory – you want to visit at least one to see how tea is processed, to tasted it and may be buy some.
There are some waterfalls on this road, but in dry season they can be short of water and you won’t see anything spectacular.
It was long day and I arrived to Nuwara Eliya only after sunset.
The post Sri Lanka in five days. Day 2 appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.
]]>