Steve, David, Adam & Julian
England, February 2019
We had a really fabulous trip around Sri Lanka. We all enjoyed it very much. It was our first trip and we would happily go again. Including a trip to Jaffna was so interesting – seeing the contrast with the Buddhist south should be recommended. We had the PM staying in our hotel with his ministers and extensive military protection which was fascinating to observe.
Our dedicated driver Ravi was superb. Very friendly, polite and efficient nothing was too much bother for him – e.g. securing the train tickets for the scenic train journey (one of the highlights of the trip) to Ella. He was good at suggesting things – but did not push anything we were not inclined to do. And of course he took much pride in the cleanliness of the van. We would highly recommend him.
The accommodation was very good – save that of The Planter's Bungalow at Ella. The Standard Room – the bathroom was very basic and you had to keep all the blinds down of the two rooms – otherwise you were overlooked by passers-by or those siting outside. Though the staff were fine with us – we picked up on an awkward atmosphere and felt there were issues between the staff and the management. And why a 10pm curfew? The Deluxe Room was fine. Overall we felt there was something not right about the place and we were happy to move on. We would not recommend this accommodation.
Our guide at Sigiriya Rock fortress – clearly knew the history but spent much of the time on his phone or talking to other guides and then at the end wanted his tip (away from Ravi) and wanted more or any English currency we had – we just said no and walked on.
The overall planning and structure of the trip worked really well – so many different experiences. The only issue was when Pathi tried to change the last few days of our itinerary without consulting us. I tried talking to him but he was not listening so we just said no.
We felt that everybody we encountered were generally interested in making our stay – experience work well e.g. the guide and driver at Yala National Park not to mention how fab our stay was at Taru Villas [Yodakandiya, Yala].
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