Final summary

Trip Start Dec 16, 2011

Trip End Jan 01, 2012

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Flag of Sri Lanka Negombo, Sri Lanka
Sunday, January 1, 2012

It's been almost 5 months since I returned from Sri Lanka… and whilst browsing potential holiday destinations I realised I hadn’t even written my final summary post from the trip. So despite trying to block it all out and let the dust settle after my not so great experience… here’s the final verdict:

Sri Lanka is slowly developing and I guess that is part of the reason for the challenges we faced whilst travelling there. The recent ended of the 'war’ seems to have been followed by a boost in tourism and with that an increase in the prices of accommodation, transport and everything else; which from a tourist’s perspective, can simply be described as being ‘ripped off’.

Yes, sadly that is how I remember it

Card making at it's best :)

. The ticket prices for museums, parks, trips and tours, for a non Sri Lanka is often 8/10 times the price that the locals will pay.

Although I generally felt very safe everywhere the people often took advantage of the fact we were tourists and although you expect to experience that whilst travelling, it wasn’t just extreme amounts of touts… it was simply so frustrating trying to arrange anything, and realising it cost just as much as it would back home!

Away from the sites and off the beaten track the attitude was one more of curiosity. The afternoon I spent at the Children’s centre in Colombo was the highlight for me as the girls were so welcoming and enthusiastic about my visit there.

The quiet town of Ella in the mountains had a good backpacker vibe and there was a limited amount of things to do – but just at the right time of the trip.

I did really enjoy the time in Kandy and of course the visit to the elephant orphanage was awesome!

Maybe we were trying to cram too much into such a short amount of time, perhaps I should have planned more in advance

Watching the elephants

. It seems like one of those countries where you need to travel with a tour group to avoid getting ripped off. It’s doable without, but a private driver would be my recommendation.

So here is my top 5:

1)     Christmas card making in Colombo at Childrens Centre.

2)     Elephant orphanage… make sure you watch them from the market stall area before or after the bathing session!

3)     Yala national park safari but don’t stay within the park area.

4)     Sigiriya rock.

5)     Kandy… sweet memories J.

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