Georgia & Tom
England, September 2023
We fell in love with Sri Lanka! The scenery, the genuinely lovely people, and it was fascinating learning about their history and culture. I've made some comments on each element of the trip below.
Taru Villas [Lake Lodge] and Colombo
Really liked this place, quite contemporary accommodation and nice to be located in a quieter part of the city. The breakfast there was absolutely delicious and I thought we should have stayed there for dinner the night before. We did go to a restaurant called Culture Colombo, which was a bit of a drive away but the food there was really good as well – no tourists there, just locals which was nice. [Many thanks for the tip about the locals' restaurant.]
Hanthana House and Kandy
This was one of our favourite hotels. The location was perfect and we were really happy to be outside of Kandy as it was a bit too busy for us. The views, the sounds of bird calls all added to the peaceful atmosphere. Pathi and his wife were a delight and the food was so delicious.
Melheim Resort and Haputale
We were blown away by the location of this place, it quite literally felt like paradise! The staff went above and beyond, particularly the manager. Only negative is that the food wasn't that great and it was quite geared towards Europeans. I chose Sri Lankan food which was OK but nothing compared to what we'd had elsewhere. Even the fruit for breakfast – seemed to be prepared and cut the night before, so in the morning it was dry. Haputale was our favourite area on the whole trip. We were so glad we stayed here over Ella. We booked a guided trek of Haputale Mountains through Melheim, which was absolutely incredible. Our guide was so passionate about the area he lived in and so much fun to be guided by. Really in-depth knowledge of the area, went into so much detail on the plants and trees and on multiple occasions climbed up guava trees to get us fresh fruit! We highly recommend you use this guide for a more off the beaten tour in Haputale – we saw 1 tourist in the whole 3 hours or so we were out with him.
Haputale Guide – We took our guides' contact details but we can’t find his business card – when we find this we will pass his details over to you! I think Nihal should have these as well. [Many thanks for promising to pass on the guide's details.]
Gal Oya Lodge [Gal Oya]
This was such a lovely part of the trip. Surrounded by nature and so peaceful. Our guide was called Perreira and we had him exclusively each day, with the added bonus of the lodge's dog called Arrack – she has taken a strong liking to Perreira so follows him everywhere! The food was so good as we really appreciated the special dinner that was arranged for Tom's birthday – thanks for that John! We didn't see a lot of wildlife and to be honest we were a bit disappointed that we didn't see many elephants, as that seems to be what it's known for. But we were also happy to be away from the crowded Yala. Highlight of this part was hiking up Monkey Rock [Monkey Mountain], a very strenuous hike which is pretty much a 30-35% gradient the whole way up, but the most stunning views at the top.
Jetwing Surf [Pottuvil] and Aragum [Arugam] Bay
Very mixed feelings about this place! The hotel itself is beautifully designed and we had a very spacious room that was so lovely to relax in. The location is really pretty, much more scenic than Aragum Bay. There were a few issues though. You can't swim on the beach there as it's not safe to do so, which we wish we'd known before we booked it – if you walk about 500m up the beach it's safe to swim. The food was quite average and very overpriced. The hotel is directly next to a mosque – during the day the usual call to prayer happened which of course is no bother at all and we've experienced this before in other countries – the issue was that from about 7pm-10pm every night there was a very loud sermon and it really effected the atmosphere of the place, and as a result the majority of the guests would go into Aragum bay each evening. One other issue that quite impacted our stay is Jetwing allow non-guests to pay to use the pool area. On 2 out of 4 of our days there a group of about 15 (we think south Americans) took over the pool area and were quite disrespectful – playing loud music, kicking a football around, leaving broken glass around the pool. It's not a large pool area, so it just meant we couldn't relax. We spoke to the manager about it and he appreciated that it was disruptive but told us that next time they had visitors to the pool, they would inform guests in advance rather than not doing it or limiting the amount of visitors… which isn't very helpful! [So sorry to hear of your disappointing and trying time at Jetwing Surf as well as the less than helpful manager. We will definitely feedback your comments to the Jetwing Hotels head office. Sharing the pool area is news to us and not the way to run a hotel for staying guests. Temples calling the faithful to prayer happens across the country but your experience of a loud sermon over three hours is extreme to say the least.]
Fort Bliss and Galle
2 days in Galle was perfect, we spent the first afternoon exploring the area and the 2nd day Nihal suggested this awesome boat cruise which we loved. Nihal also suggested a stop at a tsunami museum. The owner was a survivor and the museum was where his home used to be. It was an incredibly moving experience.
We found a great restaurant called Coconut Sambol, which was super authentic food in a no-frills restaurant and it was so good! We were a little disappointed with the hotel though. It was quite a step down from the other guesthouses we stayed at on the trip. The room was very small and the bathroom quite basic. The entrance was into the lounge area and the manager would be sitting on the sofa watching TV when we came back from a day out – nothing major, it just felt quite awkward! The breakfast was good and we really liked our chef. We would have liked to know about other hotels in the area to stay at. We understand this hotel could have been suggested as we were already at our max budget that we gave you, but we would have been happy to pay a bit more. [Very disappointed that Fort Bliss was not up to its usual standard for your visit as we have customers staying there regularly who feedback positively. We apologise if the manager's behaviour impacted on your stay and we will send your comments on to the owners, who we know well.]
Nihal/guiding
Nihal was brilliant, such a warming, welcoming person. When he guided us around Kandy and showed us the markets and temples he clearly was so passionate about where he is from. His wife Ira made Tom a shirt and me some trousers which so lovely of her. We also got to meet her too. The only criticism we had was some communications issues at points. For on Tom's birthday, Nihal suggested that we go and see a waterfall near Haputale on the way to the Jetwing. We got there and then he explained that a tuk tuk driver would drive us half way to the top and then we would hike the rest, to get some views of the falls from above. We were guided up and when we got to the top we learned that there were multiple natural pools that locals and tourists were swimming in. We didn't have any swimwear with us, although the guide convinced Tom to go in with his shorts on. I had light linen trousers and a white top on so I couldn't go in. If we'd been informed by Nihal we would have bought our swimwear along and made a proper morning of it as the location was beautiful. [Nihal is an exceptional guide, as you and many of our customers attest. However, we will encourage him to communicate better at times. We are sorry if this particular lack of information affected your enjoyment of the suggested extra excursion.]
Overall we had such an awesome holiday and thank you so much for arranging this for us and recommending some wonderful accommodation. I have attached a few photos of our time in Sri Lanka 
