Moira, Joyce & Bilal
England, January/February 2025
What did you like most about Sri Lanka?
The people we met were really nice and very accommodating.
The weather and differing landscapes.
The history.
The food.
What did you like least about Sri Lanka?
Can’t think of anything.
What is your opinion of your accommodation in Sri Lanka?
I really liked the homestays. It felt as if we were friends rather than just tourists. [Hanthana House, Kandy; Clove Tree Cottage, Ella]
I enjoyed experiencing the different types of accommodation and food.
I wasn’t so happy with the hotel in Bentota. [Heritance Ahungalla, Ahungalla] There was nowhere you could walk to, eg shops and cafes. It felt quite isolated. We used their café for meals but the service was incredibly slow.
What is your opinion of your chauffeur guide in Sri Lanka?
Anura is an excellent guide and driver. It wasn’t long into the trip when we felt he was a friend. He was very flexible if we wanted to do something or miss out on something on the itinerary. He arranged a few surprises for Joyce as it was her birthday.
I felt he was doing his best to give us a great trip. He bought us lots of bananas too!!
What is your opinion of your flights to and from Sri Lanka?
They were good. [Qatar Airways - Economy Class - London Heathrow]
Any other comments?
Thank you for organizing our visit to the blind school. It was quite humbling to see how much effort was put into educating the children with very old fashioned facilities.
The food was wonderful.
I liked that most mornings we had a later start which suited us very well!
The first full day (Day 3) was too much for me. We didn’t have enough time to recover from the long flight. I was exhausted and not acclimatized to the heat. Too many temples were included and the safari went on too long. Eventually I asked Anura to finish and return to the hotel.
The Matale Heritage Centre has been closed for some time. I was looking forward to seeing it. It needs to be removed from future itineraries. [We apologise for including the former Ena de Silva centre in your itinerary. We were informed that Matale Heritage Centre had been reopened recently but obviously that information was incorrect. It will not be included in any future itineraries, obviously.]
I was really disappointed the rail journey didn’t happen. We heard from other travellers it was a very good experience. [We are also disappointed that we were not able to purchase train tickets for you, which is a rare occurrence. However, train tickets are only available from 30 days prior to departure, and during the high peak season, the trains are very popular with all of the visitors to the island. Unfortunately, we were unable to acquire train tickets for the limited time you were in the Hill Country.]
My negative comments are minor and did not impact on the enjoyment of my holiday.
Unfortunately there are so many more countries in the world to visit so it’s unlikely I’ll return to Sri Lanka.
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