A Backpacker's Guide To Sri Lanka

by JUGAL BHATT (India)

Making a local connection Sri Lanka

Shares

Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon is an island country lying in the southeast coast of the Indian subcontinent. The country has 9 provinces and blessed with natural beauty. Sri Lanka also has three main ethnic groups and population of the island is over 20 million. Local people are referred as Sinhalese and they are kind hearted. Sri Lanka is famous for its food, tea, handicrafts, peaceful beaches and rich cultural heritage along with good looking rocks. I got a chance to visit Sri Lanka in August 2008 and it is the time when country comes alive. As my uncle won a contest and one minor was allowed with him, so he took me along with him for a breathtaking 4 days excursion to Sri Lanka. We packed our luggage and departed for Colombo from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji international airport on early morning. It was approximately 2h30m flight. After reaching Colombo we completed formalities at airport and headed towards hotel. After relaxing for a while and taking lunch we decided to explore Colombo. First a fall we exchanged currency from a local bank then after we visited Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple as among tourist it is a popular place. In evening we had tea when we visited Mount Lavina Beach. As Colombo is very safe by international standards we decided to try local cousin at restaurant and ate dished named Kuttu and Kukul Mass Curry for which Colombo is known worldwide. On the following day in morning my uncle took me to Paradise Road for shopping and to see World Trade Centre. We took a ride from our hotel to those places in an auto rickshaw which is pronounced as Tuk Tuk in Sinhala, local language of Sri Lanka. In noon I was hungry so I ate Wood Apple which is local south Asian fruit and a spicy dish of Jackfruit known as Polos. On same day we took late lunch and ate Kiribath which is a tasty combination of rice and coconut milk along with an Eggplant pickle known as Wambatu Moju. Afterwards we bought local handicrafts to foster local community. In evening we took a visit to Independence Square and saw sunset at Beira Lake. We had supper at our hotel and it was best day of my life. The trip was going good beyond expectations as on third day we decided to explore ecotourism to see cultural heritage of Kandy and took a bus from Colombo to Kandy. While travelling we meet local people and luckily reached there on time and first saw Temple Of Tooth Relic for a spiritual enlightment and Bahirawakanda Temple. To witness the wildlife we spent rest of our time in Horton Plains National Park Ohiya and it was worth visiting. In night we also saw traditional Kandyan Dance and stayed at local hotel overnight. The last day of trip was amazing as we got a chance to visit one of the best tourism places in Kandy that is Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. We spent our half day there and in afternoon saw Hulu River Waterfall which is 30km away from Kandy. As our flight was on next day early morning we left for Colombo and packed our bags to return India. I missed some of places of Sri Lanka but visited famous sites of Sri Lanka and ate its delicious food. By this experience I felt we connected to unsung people and saw best places of Sri Lanka along with trying tasty food. In summary, I enjoyed dishes of Colombo, visited its famous places experienced natural beauty of Kandy and saw cultural heritage sites of it too. While our trip we connected to local community and this experience I will remember for lifetime.