Matthew & Katharine
England, November 2023
What did you like most about Sri Lanka?
That is a hard one to answer. We had such a good time in pretty much everything we did and the nature of this trip meant we saw a great variety of Sri Lanka. The people are so welcoming.
The variety of food and places to eat. Where we could (ie not half board) we tended to eat out at places that had good reviews on Google. We found some terrific places with delightful owners of restaurants and really good value. Hopefully we were helping local people in a small way.
Love all the fresh tropical fruit and King Coconut. Big fan of Lassi.
What did you like least about Sri Lanka?
Can’t really think of anything. Maybe the roadside places for Wood Carvings, Jewellery, etc that seemed to be designed to be tourist traps. Though there was never any pressure to purchase anything.
What is your opinion of your accommodation in Sri Lanka?
Generally absolutely fine and in some cases superb (eg 98 Acres [Resort & Spa, Ella])
Talalla [Retreat, Tallala] also very good and wonderful location. Such a quiet beach.
I personally would not recommend Hotel Suisse [Kandy]. It’s pretty run down. We would have been much happier staying either in a better rated hotel or one that wasn’t relying on its colonial past. [We are sorry that you didn’t have an enjoyable stay at Hotel Suisse and will feedback your comments to the management. The lack of visitors since the pandemic has affected investment in some hotels, which means essential refurbishment programmes have been put on the backburner.]
What is your opinion of your chauffeur guide in Sri Lanka?
Nihal was wonderful. He spoke excellent English and was always looking out for us and finding extra things for us to see. He took on board our comments early on that we didn’t need to stop somewhere for a big lunch that all other tourists go to. We wanted to be more adventurous. He treated us to Egg Hoppers from a road-side stall in Kandy for one late lunch snack.
He always made himself available. Organised things as we needed. Eg unfortunately we couldn’t go on the train to Ella because of a landslide so he organised a ride to Badulla and he met us there and brought us back.
He also organised a boat trip on the Madu Lake/River [Balapitiya] on our last morning. A great suggestion of his and super way to finish the holiday.
He is very knowledgeable as a guide and, a bonus, is an expert on birds. So, we are now very educated on the various types of birds we encountered.
I would certainly recommend Nihal as a chauffeur guide. Lovely person, and we are still exchanging pictures from our trip.
What is your opinion of your flights to and from Sri Lanka?
They were fine. [Qatar Airways – London Heathrow – Economy Class]
Any other comments?
The only real negative was the pre-organised cycle ride near Galle. It wasn’t as described on our itinerary. It was 1 hour 15 mins at a pretty slow pace. We didn’t stop for king coconut. We were given a bottle of water for the bike which was fine. They did offer bananas at one point. I know Nihal was unhappy at the end for us and tried to get hold of the owner of the company but couldn’t get through. [We can only apologise for the less than satisfactory experience on the cycle ride. We will follow up with Idle Bikes to find out the reason for the change of schedule and not honouring our booking for you.]
The morning safari was not so good either. Very busy. In hindsight I would have chosen to visit Bundala rather than a 2nd trip into Yala as was the original itinerary, but we had decided to go for the back-to-back safari in Yala. The afternoon trip the day before was excellent. We didn’t see any leopards, but did see a Sloth Bear close up which both our Jeep driver and Nihal were also very excited about, and we saw a big variety of other animals and birds. [I am afraid that Yala has become very busy throughout the season in recent years which does have an impact on your wildlife viewing experience, unfortunately. Bundala is definitely quieter and better for birdlife. We are pleased to hear that you saw a sloth bear, which is a rare sighting!]
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