The standard trip tourists make in Sri Lanka starts in Colombo, goes to Kandy & Ella and finishes in Negombo. Some of them add Dambulla to make an Elephant Safari and to visit the Lions rock. In my case I chose to follow the oposite route so would not have any problem with booking the famous train ride between Kandy and Ella. On my two week itinerary Sri Lanka, I started my trip in Negombo, due to the proximity with the airport, headed to Colombo by train.
I left my luggage in Colombo station, explored the city and took a train in the late afternoon to Galle. After I took a local bus to Mirissa, enjoyed the beach for a few days than headed to Ella in a long bus journey. From Ella I catched the famous train ride to Kandy. From Kandy I headed back to Negombo to wait for my flight out. If I had more time I would have added Anuradhapura, an ancient Buddhist city full of temples and Dambulla, due to Baloon flight.
Negombo: 2 days
I arrived in Colombo Airport at night. The airport is much closer from Negombo city than Colombo itself. I negociated a tuk tuk for less than 5 USD and headed to my hostel. Negombo is a beach town with a very interesting fish market. The market is located in the center of the city, beaches that you can swim are located more on the north and the most famous one is Browns Beach.
Colombo: 1 day
Everyone I spoke with said for me not to stay in Colombo. Since there were important sights I explored in one day and took a train further to Galle. Colombo train station has a storage room where you can keep your luggage while exploring the city.
The most famous site is the Gangaramaya Temple, a mix of modern architecture and cultural essence. Located on the Beira Lake, it was completed in the late 19th century. The ticket for this temple in the lake allows you to visit another one just nearby on land.
Completed in 1909 the Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque, one of the oldest mosques in in the city is a popular tourist site and quite interesting architechture.
Other sites that I also visited included the local market and Sambodhi Chaithya, a Buddhist shrine with ecletic design, located in Colombo Harbour.
Galle: 1 day
I did not explored the famous dutch fort but instead focused in sights nearby Galle such as Jungle beach and Japanese peace pagoda. The Japanese peace pagoda in Rumassala Hill was built with the help of Japanese monks. A Peace Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa and a monument to inspire peace. The clean, rounded design of the Unawatuna pagoda exemplifies this and offers a 360-degree view of the jungle and bay.
Walking distance to the pagoda in the Jungle beach, a small paradisiac beach with few tourists.
Mirissa: 3 days
I wanted to spend time in the beach so I headed to Mirissa since is a famous backpackers destination. I stayed in the hostel of a friend that I highly recommend Happy Shack Hostel.
Nearby the hostel I had great local food in Spice Roti Hut and I met the fastest Hopper maker in the country.
I booked a dive in Mirissa and they brought me to Matara Beach, a town just beside.
Ella: 2 days
After soaking for a few days in Mirissa beach I headed with my friend Jordan to the city of Ella, in the mountains. It was a very long journey in a crowded local bus.
Ella is famous for the Nine Arch Bridge, also called the Bridge in the Sky. It is one of the best examples of colonial-era railway construction in the country
Over there we met a fun Australian girl, Alexandra, that explored the city with us. Ella is famous for the Little Adams Peak hike but we skipped due to rain.
Kandy: 3 days
From Ella we took the famous scenic train ride to Kandy via the tea plantations.
The highlight of Kandy was the Buddha on the top of the hill, Bahirawakanda Vihara Buddha Statue. The main attraction of the city is the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha. Is very important to know that to enter this temple you must have long trousers and not a single hole on them. They were very strict with the rules and blocked my entrance since I had a jeans with a hole…
From Kandy our plan was to take the train back to Colombo but we were not fortunate with the day since it was the end of Holidays. Even with tickets to the second class we were not able to embark in the train.
We ended up staying one more night in Kandy and booked a night in Kandy Backpackers hostel. We chose this place because we were stressed from the day and they had a swimming pool. Even being located a bit away from the city center, it ended up that the hostel was great value for money. Beside the pool, the booking package included local food and a workshop on how to cook it.
Negombo: 2 days
Our trip ended where we started. Instead of staying near Negombo city we booked a place nearby Brown’s Beach.
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