Andy & Gill
England, March 2018
What did you like most about Sri Lanka?
Wildlife - especially Elephants, Whales, Dolphins & Birds
Scenery - especially Sigirya Rock, Kandy Botanical Gardens, Tea Plantations, Horton Plains, Train Journey & Ella
History & Culture – especially Polonnaruwa, Temple of the Tooth [Kandy] & Galle
People – all tourist staff e,g, at hotels etc. very polite & helpful but also many public happy to speak with strangers e.g. to practice their English & see if we liked Sri Lanka.
What did you like least about Sri Lanka?
Spending the hottest part of the day on the Yala Campsite was unbearable.
Wish we’d only spent 1 night in the Yala Tents (like vast majority of people seem to do) & 3 nights at Coco Bay Unawatuna.
The itinerary for day 8 was light, so were able to do the Udawalawe Elephant Orphanage at 12.30 and then an afternoon safari in Udawalawe NP.
Then day 9 was morning safari in Udawalawe NP & rest of day at leisure.
Day 10 was travel to Yala tent, do Yala NP afternoon safari & then nice outdoor meal.
Day 11 was morning safari in Yala NP & we could have travelled to Unawatuna but we unfortunately had a hot 5 hour sauna (before Satheesh kindly agreed to take us to visit the Katharagama Temples in cooler late afternoon).
What is your opinion of your accommodation in Sri Lanka?
Deer Park [Hotel, Polonnaruwa]: Nice Location, Lovely Room with A/C. Nice Pool. OK Buffet Evening Meals. Helpful Staff (got our room ready within an hour after we arrived at ~9am).
Hanthana House [Kandy]: Lovely Location, Nice Room with A/C. No Pool. Gorgeous Meals. Helpful Staff (Mr Pathii got us some wine & beer and did me a map for a walk).
[Jetwing] St Andrews [Nuwara Eliya]: Reasonable Location. Reasonable Room with A/C. No Pool. OK Set Evening Meal. OK Staff.
Zion View [Ella]: Spectacular Location. Nice Room (no A/C but not req’d). No Pool but hammock & swing chair. Gorgeous Meals. Helpful Staff (help with map for walks etc).
Grand Udawalawe [Safari Resort, Uda Walawe]: Reasonable Location. Great Room with A/C (upgraded to suite). Nice Pool. OK Buffet Evening Meals. OK Staff.
Yala Tent [Big Game Camp]: Interesting Location. Basic Room with Fan no A/C (Very hot during day, OK at night). No Pool. OK evening meal in nice outdoor location. Friendly & helpful Staff.
Coco Bay [Unawatuna]: Lovely Location. Great Room with A/C (upgraded to suite with private dip pool & beach). Reasonable Pool. Gorgeous Meals. Very Friendly & Helpful Staff.
[Taru Villas] Rock Villa {Bentota]: Lovely Location. Lovely Room with A/C. Lovely Pool. Gorgeous Meals. Very Friendly & Helpful Staff.
What is your opinion of your chauffeur guide in Sri Lanka?
1st week Niroshan: Always smartly dressed & polite. Good Chauffeur. Good English. Comprehensive Guide – especially at Polonnaruwa, Sigirya, Dambulla, Temple of Tooth & on Safari’s etc. especially on Birds.
2nd Week Satheesh: Always smartly dressed & very polite. Good Chauffeur. Reasonable English. Reasonable Guide on Safari’s. Disappointed we didn’t have a guided tour of Old Dutch Fort at Galle (we were just left to walk around it on our own).
What is your opinion of your flights to and from Sri Lanka?
Jet Airways Heathrow Mumbai: OK. Bit cramped & not very comfy seats. Functional, slow & minimal food & drink service.
Mumbai International Transit: In 2 hours, only just made connecting flights due to several queues for bureaucratic boarding card stamping security checks (& they were taking duty free off people, thankfully we hadn’t bought any).
Jet Airways Mumbai Colombo: Good. Comfy seats. Friendly, quick & plentiful food & drink service. [Arranged own flights]
Any other comments?
Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and were pleased with the arrangements & accommodation etc. and that everything went to plan.
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