Explore The World

We had nearly 4 weeks in Sri Lanka over Christmas. We loved our trip. Sri Lanka is a wonderful mix of history, forts from the 16th century, archeological sites, beaches, wild life parks, hill country tea plantations and gastronomical delights.

Map of some of the places we visited in Sri Lanka

We travelled in style – all local buses, trains and tuktuks.

You meet the locals and have some fun

Just sit back and enjoy the views. We landed in Colombo and soon after took a train down to Galle

Galle is an old fortified town – built by the Portuguese

Lighthouse in Galle was actually built by the British

Local fishermen pulling in the nets

Not a great catch

But enough to then sell it fresh on the beach

Fresh fruit galore

We then hit the beach for a few days in South Talalla. Absolutely beautiful beach on the Southern Coast.

View from our balcony room – Talalla Bay Beach Hotel

If you want a great beach but no people hit the South beaches

It was so easy to chill on our balcony and watch the sun go down.

We hit the road again – The bus to catch was outside where we stayed and you just flag it down. Be prepared for a fast ride. We learnt the bus drivers get paid for how many trips they do so they don’t muck about.

Its the Sri Lankan mode of transport so standing room only

We headed to a small town called Tissamaharama which is just on the border of Yala National Park

Spotting elephants in the park

Tuktuk – great mode of transport

Waiting for the bus on Xmas day – no celebrations in Sri Lanka or day off!

Out in the country around Ella

Ella is a top little mountain town to hang out for a few days.

Helle tried her hand at cooking some local fare

Sri Lankan food is delicious – lovely, fresh ingredients

All finished and ready to eat – lots of dishes and flavour in Sri Lankan curries

In the hills you have to visit a tea plantation – vistas are spectacular

Packaging the tea ready for sale

We caught the train from Ella to Candy – it is an epic train ride

View from the train

Central Sri Lanka is very interesting – the large rock of Sigiriya and the ancient ruins around Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura. If you are into ruins from past civilizations take a visit – it may not quite be Angkor Wat but it is still fantastic to explore.

Sigiriya rock was very busy but great views across the interior

At the top of the rock – there was a past civilization that lived there

The landscape is impressive

We found the most fascinating and mainly deserted area to explore was in Anuradhapura.

We hired bikes, grabbed a map and off we went – very high tech.

It was just a great fun day out

Some activities in the museum as well

A very old Dagoda – they are impressive!

Rice Fields!

Happy tourist

We also biked around Polonnaruwa which was great as well. Its a relatively small area so very easy getting around on a bike.

Rankot Vihara Dagoda – dates back to 1180 AD so impressive

An entrance to the The Sacred Triangle

Its a lovely tree lined area to cycle from ruin to ruin.

You need to cover up to visit the temples

Our last port of call on our Sri Lankan trip was a train trip to visit the Far North – Jaffna. Very different to the rest of Sri Lanka and home to the former stronghold of the Tamil Tigers, the infamous guerilla group.

The area was almost void of tourists and there was not the hussle and bustle like Colombo.

There were a lot of run down and dilapidated buildings that once were clearly quite grand.

Locals in downtown Jaffna going about their daily lives

Fish on the menu for dinner

Many streets were quiet

Sites to visit were empty

The locals as always friendly and happy for a snap

We hired a motorbike, went over the causeway and hit the countryside

There were some stunning temples

Then a long trip back to Colombo in style

Like everywhere in the world kids just smile

We had a wonderful time in Sri Lanka. If you want to get off the beaten track and experience a different way of life then go to Sri Lanka. There is so much variety in such a relatively small place. Being an island it is easy to do a round trip in 3 – 4 weeks and see so many different things.