Hilary & Steph
England, June 2017
What did you like most about Sri Lanka?
The gentle, smiling, friendly, warm, welcoming, non-pushy people – everywhere.
Rice and multiple choice curry for lunch.
Seeing so many birds – I’m very keen on bird-spotting on holiday and our marvellous chauffeur guide is an excellent birder.
The heat of the day and the wonderful warmth of the night.
The fragrance of frangipani.
Cold ginger beer.
The stunning scenery on the train ride from Kandy to Ella.
Fried cashews – a delicious nibble.
Variety - culture, history, archaeology, landscapes, wildlife, food.
People - friendly, gentle and relatively little hassle to buy in markets and by street Vendors.
Also: Tuk Tuk Safari, train from Kandy to Ella, being on Galle Fort ramparts for Eid, learning to enjoy World Cup cricket and eating avocado ice cream!
What did you like least about Sri Lanka?
I very much didn’t like the brush with death in the Ajith jeep on the way to Yala National Park due to the reckless young driver.
I didn’t like all the jeeps racing around Yala and particularly those with screaming groups of youngsters, Sri Lankan and foreign alike – but we were warned Yala would be like that, and it is.
Nothing really, though I dislike being asked how old I am!!
What is your opinion of your accommodation in Sri Lanka?
Overall – an excellent range and variety of hotels for us, after our discussions with you about our preferences. I’d like to make some specific personal comments about some hotels, for your information. Nb: these are not complaints.
Galle Face [Hotel, Colombo]: fabulous! I stayed here 37 years ago on my honeymoon and it was wonderful to go back. Of course it has changed, and is super slick in customer service, but the staff are just enormously charming and lovely, as well as being slick and efficient. We had a room with the sound of the crashing waves which was just what I had dreamed of.
Jetwing Jaffna: excellent. Good room and balcony view. The chef let us down when we ordered mild Jaffna crab as we were told we could, and the crab which arrived was so hot I had a fiery blast in my mouth and Steph couldn’t touch it – they gave us a free dessert!! Not much character yet in this new hotel, and perhaps it’s mainly a business hotel though most guests at breakfast were not business men. Good location just round the corner from the main street, bus stand, and right next door to Cargills store. We heard from a couple of people that the Heritage Villa and Hotel have gone sharply downhill since Jetwing opened.
The Sanctuary [at Tissawewa], Anuradhapura: lovely position, peaceful, quiet, away from the general hubbub of the town. BUT, my least favourite hotel. The first room they showed us to had no windows and smelt musty. I asked for another, and as there were no other guests staying, we were shown upstairs and room 8 downstairs. We chose upstairs but later were told it was not possible because of painting going on. An Australian couple we met in Kandy stayed there the night after we left, and did have an upstairs room. Room 8 had a window but frosted so there was no view of the garden, and we couldn’t open it or the door because of the monkeys. There was a/c but no ceiling fan; it smelt musty and damp, like a cave, and apart from being thoroughly unpleasant, I was concerned that I would come down with some respiratory problem as those conditions can affect me badly. (I didn’t suffer any health problems so all was OK). I talked to the manager about the room on the last day as I had seen other rooms with bars and shutters, and plain glass windows – evidently set up to see the view, have fresh air, and keep out the monkeys. He explained that they were lower standard, with a tub – but I wish we had been offered one. The upstairs rooms also have frosted windows and the monkey problem but at least they are lighter. I strongly suggest you specify that Tikalanka guests are not to be put in rooms 1 and 6 (no windows); rooms 8 and 9 are not very nice. Housekeeping is slapdash – it should be basic good practice for every hotel to have a basic daily routine for cleaning room and bathroom, but this hotel didn’t. I had to ask them to clean the bathroom mirror – they only cleaned one! On that day they didn’t bother to make our beds. The food was excellent; the staff were very attentive. They laid a special table for our last dinner, with flowers and candle, on the terrace, which was lovely of them. The manager has been there a month and a half and is sending the waiters to have English lessons every day – what a good idea.
Heritance Kandalama, Dambulla: comfortable room; again the problem of not being able to leave the balcony door open because of monkeys, but the balcony was lovely with a fan and a green curtain of foliage. Quirky hotel. Instant response to a couple of minor things which needed rectifying in our room. Food outrageously expensive! Unbelievably noisy Chinese tourist groups. Loved the fact I couldn’t see the hotel from some miles away as it blends so well into the landscape.
The Secret Kandy, Kandy. Lovely little hotel, with super room, attentive staff (though I do think waiters in tourist hotels should be offered English lessons when their English is so poor). The food was delicious if a little slow in appearing. The chef was very proud of his ability to please us with his good food – his English was pretty good!. Sadly he couldn’t provide hoppers for breakfast as I hadn’t ordered in advance, but I pointed out that I didn’t know about ordering in advance; my view is that if the waiter had been able to speak more than a few words of English, he could have informed me of that. But the peace and luxury of the place was completely and utterly ruined by the horrendously loud muezzin from the nearby mosque. Unacceptable noise pollution. At just the hour we were relaxing having a drink before dinner, the muezzin/s were on full loudspeaker throttle for nearly an hour. I was woken up at 4.30am on both nights there by the howling muezzin. Dreadful. (Compare with no disturbance at all from the nearby mosque in Galle Fort, a predominantly Muslim area. Maybe in Kandy they are deliberately very loud because Kandy is such an important Buddhist centre.)
Zion View, Ella: wonderful outlook; courteous staff; good breakfast – they provided hoppers which I love. Because Steph has difficulty negotiating steps, we were offered and accepted the upstairs higher grade room at no extra cost. Much appreciated. Bathroom quite simple but that’s not a problem for me.
Gal Oya Lodge: wonderful setting and very luxurious bungalows – we were given one each at no extra charge as they don’t have twin beds. Food good (expensive); service good; manager attentive (young Canadian biologist); safari good and birdwatching walk too. Slight glitch in communication between lodge and Kapila which could have ended badly if we hadn’t insisted on going to find him to go on the safari. I have a slight concern about the large panes of glass in the bungalow windows and doors – one was cracked badly in mine, and it didn’t look like safety glass. I was told that cracking is appearing in several bungalows as the wood shrinks/expands.
Thaulle Resort, Tissamaharama: our room was not ready when we arrived in the early afternoon – as there were only 12 guests, this was not good. They said we were upgraded, and our room was fine, with balcony overlooking the garden and lake which was lovely. The bathroom was extraordinary – large and well-appointed but with no extractor fan and became very hot and humid with use! We had a lovely supper on the lawn. Hoppers for breakfast!
Fort Bliss, Galle: you might remember that I originally asked for an upstairs room, but we agreed to the twin room on the ground floor on learning that it was the only twin room. On the morning we left I asked to see the other rooms for interest and found that one of the upstairs rooms is in fact a triple room – with double bed and plenty of room for an extra bed. I was disappointed that we didn’t know about this; if we had done, we would have asked for it, as the downstairs room is quite pokey and small with no view, whereas those upstairs all have access to the balcony and have windows with a sea view. The breakfast was excellent and it is so well situated for walking everywhere in the Fort.
Havelock Place Bungalow, Colombo: we were puzzled at being booked into a hotel on the south side of the city when we had to get to the airport to the north on the following morning. It’s certainly and atmospheric place, and we had some nice food sitting in the garden; they do not have a liquor licence but the manager’s wife (from Leicester, been there 5 years) pointed us in the direction of the shop at the petrol station 50 yds away where we bought a nice bottle of wine. Our room oozed evidence of lack of maintenance and attention to quite small things; I pointed this out to the manager’s wife: one wardrobe door handle was missing; the clothes hangers were broken; the bedside lampshade was torn and tatty; the bathroom tap was wonky, not firmly fixed into the basin; the bath edge was grotty in the extreme along the bottom of the shower screen; the bath surround was generally grotty. It was the only hotel where we didn’t experience the genuine ubiquitous Sri Lankan smile and recognition from all staff - it was in fact the manager who passed us a couple of times in the garden without making eye contact or saying hello or even smiling – it was odd on our last night after such a marvellous 3 weeks of genuine Sri Lankan warmth, to find this cool fish (he is Sri Lankan but lived in the UK before coming here 5 years ago – maybe that dampened his interpersonal skills).
Overall - excellent!
Sanctuary at Tissawewa: room (g/f) did not have an opening window and housekeeping was rather sloppy - the new manager needs to address this. As the only guests, the under-employed waiters were too over-attentive for my liking.
Heritance Kandalama: wonderful setting and extraordinary architecture, though the re-inforced concrete does seem to be suffering - presumably from the climate. The main dining option (a buffet) is always too much for me, however restaurant staff were happy to provide a more manageable - and cheaper - single-course curry & rice option.
[The] Secret Kandy: a delightful little hotel. Hilary hated hearing the muezzin, which didn’t bother me too much apart from the appalling loudspeaker system!
Zion View: fantastic location and very helpful staff. After a hairy ‘dismount’ from the train from Kandy (a 4-5 foot drop to the platform!) I was wobbling too much to face the slope/steps down to our allocated room so we were given the upstairs ‘bungalow’ and room service. Very thoughtful and much appreciated.
Gal Oya Lodge: not fully booked so we were offered, and accepted, separate bungalows - excellent! Very impressed with the wildlife research being done there and the enthusiasm of the staff and rangers.
Fort Bliss: a great place with the bonus of Eid sweets and other goodies on arrival. Had we known that one of the upstairs doubles had room for an extra single bed we’d probably have chosen that option as the g/f twin was rather compact!
Havelock Place Bungalow: a real oasis in Colombo but somewhat ‘tired’. The bathrooms could do with updating and we’d have appreciated a ceiling fan (we both dislike air-con.).
What is your opinion of your chauffeur guide in Sri Lanka?
Saman in Colombo was really just a taxi driver – very charming and guided us competently through the airport ATMs, and arrived early on our last day to ensure we weren’t delayed by traffic. A good driver.
Bala of Yarl Tours in Jaffna was excellent – full of energy and fun, and extremely knowledgeable, taking us to all sorts of off-itinerary places when he found that we were up for everything, recommending where we could go by bus on our free afternoon, very interestingly informative about the on-itinerary places. We learned a lot about the plight of people in and around Jaffna and on the islands during the civil war – because we asked a lot – he didn’t broach the subject without being asked which was exactly the right thing to do. A lovely man, and of course knew everyone and everyone knew him, which always helps visitors.
Kapila is a gem – a real Sri Lankan gem. His English is excellent and good enough to enjoy and share a joke. He has a good sense of humour. Sometimes we struggled to understand his accent, particularly when we were all tired at the end of a day, but he immediately sensed if we hadn’t grasped what he said, did a “comprehension check” and rephrased whatever he was saying until we understood. We weren’t too good at remembering the names of all the Sri Lankan kings and leaders over the last 2 millennia so he had a lot of repeating to do there; ditto about the Buddha and the various relics, beliefs, ceremonies. Kapila is enormously knowledgeable and did his information spiel at every point seamlessly, explaining as many intricacies as we asked to hear about, and weaving the enormous and complex tapestry of Sri Lanka history and culture into something we could feel part of. He is calm, patient, enormously attentive, anticipating our needs on a daily basis once we had got to know each other – such as water, beer, wine purchases, washroom stops. Outside the official itinerary, wherever we wanted to go, wherever he took us was terrific – from choosing the best rambutan stall in Dambulla, to a rice and curry lunch seemingly in the middle of nowhere near Habarana when we were very hungry, to a spice garden for me to search for a particular herbal oil I wanted, to the best buffalo curd stall in Galle market! He always seemed to want to do more than we could possibly want or need him to do, in a very quiet, smiling, professional way – meticulous informal dress, wildlife guide dress when he accompanied us on safaris – and boy did we need him to spot absolutely everything when we had a young driver who was not up to his standard. He is a sweet and lovely man as well as being a superb driver guide. I should add that he was a very safe driver, obeying all the rules effortlessly, unlike many others! He drove at less than the fastest speed usually, which gave us a real sense of being on a leisurely journey, not on some rushed timetable from A to B to C.
All guides excellent -punctual, friendly, knowledgeable and careful drivers.
Saman: didn’t really have a chance to get to know him, but an interesting discussion about the wisdom of building the new airport and port!
Bala (Yarl Tours, Jaffna): really good to have a local/Tamil guide whilst we were in Jaffna and we learned a lot about the civil war and its aftermath. Inevitably Bala had some interesting and sometimes harrowing personal stories to relate. We particularly appreciated being given the chance to sample toddy at 9am when we were picked up from the hotel for the short ride to Jaffna Railway Station! (Bala abstained, of course!)
Kapila: quite simply - brilliant! Excellent all-round knowledge of Sri Lanka, a great sense of humour, unfailing good humour and really good English. He quickly realised that certain supplies were vital to our enjoyment of the trip and always knew where to find wine shops! He helped me on many occasions when my lousy sense of balance made going up and down steps and slopes difficult. He had an almost uncanny knack of anticipating our needs and unobtrusively smoothed the path in many ways.
What is your opinion of your flights to and from Sri Lanka?
Flight out was fine with very good food; flight back the food wasn’t so good. Both flights were marred by a screaming infant for hours and hours and hours without respite. After 5 hours of screaming on the return flight I asked the attendants if they could possibly offer help to the parents – one hostess did go and talk to them but they declined help. However, the father did then get up and walk his daughter up and down, and surprise surprise she stopped screaming for as long as he could be bothered to do it. I don’t know what airlines can do but I would love it if they reverted to the practice of some years ago of seating all passengers with infants and children in the same area. Why is it not part of the hostess’s job to go and offer help to parents of screaming children given that the screams affect every other passenger to a greater or lesser extent. [SriLankan Airlines - Economy Class]
Fine - apart from screaming kids, but that can happen with any airline! Punctual, food much better than average and wine from a proper bottle always tastes nicer.
Any other comments?
The Tuk-tuk Safari with Mahinda was brilliant – what fun! The only place I didn’t like was the tea place – very creepy people. You could perhaps note that on their website they say it is a food safari, and take you to sundry places to eat or drink a variety of local goodies.
Itinerary: I told you that the itinerary was brilliant and we wouldn’t have changed it. But you might like to note for future clients that in fact we did change it - Kapila suggested the change, which made utter sense, and we agreed. We went to Aukana on Day 10, as it is en route from Anuradhapura to the hotel; we would have had a long drive back retracing our drive to do it on Day 12 as per your schedule. On Day 12 we went to Dambulla Caves.
Simply, a great trip and an excellently planned itinerary! Many thanks for taking our initial requests on board and tweaking things as requested during the planning process.
A really nice touch to have a call from Pathi just after we arrived in Colombo, but a pity that we didn’t get to meet him in person.
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