anyone been to Sri Lanka?

Re: anyone been to Sri Lanka?

Hi! I haven't been on the imaginative traveller tour so can't comment on that, but I was in Sri Lanka earlier this year and I highly recommend it. I absolutely loved it. Such a beautiful place with loads to see and do, and because it's quite a small island you can pack a lot into a short space of time. Highlights include Pinnawella Elephant Orphanage, Sigiriya Rock Fortress, Dambulla Caves, Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, Polonnaruwa and the tea plantations in Nuwara Eliya. ENJOY!!

Re: anyone been to Sri Lanka?

Hiya. I just got back from the Sri Lanka Discovery trip. It was absolutely brilliant - we saw so much, and a really good mix of touristy things and the more 'real life' sri lanka. I definately recommend it. The only slight off-putting part is that it is surprisingly hard work, as it's long days and a fair amount of exercise. (the brochure makes it sound quite a bit easier than it actually is - the hike and cycling is pretty knackering) But it's definately worth it. We had a local guy called Daniel as our guide and he was amazing - seemed to know absolutely anything you could have asked about, and more! If you have any specific questions I'd be more than happy to tell you more - either through this or you can email me. As a little sum-up though I'll just say it was amazing, and I definatley recommend it! - Bea x

Re: anyone been to Sri Lanka?

oh, one last thing... people from our group have set up a website thing where we're sharing our photos, so you can have a look at that if you like. at the moment there's only 5or6 pictures cos we only got back on sunday, but there should gradually be more over the next few days and weeks. the address is [url=http://groups.msn.com/SriLankaDiscovery]http://groups.msn.com/SriLankaDiscovery[/url]
- click on pictures on the left hand side to see our photos. hope it's useful. (or entertaining at least!) - bea x

Re: anyone been to Sri Lanka?

Thanks Bea!
couldn't work out how to reply by private post....
P

Re: anyone been to Sri Lanka?

Hi Pauline,

I have just returned from the Sri Lanka tour. Amazing, Spectacular and thoroughly enjoyable.

If you like Asia, you can't lose with this one. The guide, 'Ami' (Amitha) was excellent. His local knowledge was superb and his sense of humour was great.

Having said that, some of the things that made my tour so special were items that were not included in the itinerary of my tour. As it stood the itinerary was very good but it did not include 'Adam's Peak' because we went out of season. A few of us decided to break away for a day and take it in.

It was spectactular. We started climbing about 1.30am and got to the top, 4600 steps and 1000 metres later, at about 5.15am.

The sunrise over the mountains was beautiful as it shed light over the canopy of clouds. We then saw the famous shadow. I'll be honest, the climb and descent were not for the faint hearted or unfit but well worth the reward at the top. Amongst other things, a great sense of achievement.

Our tour guide said this to us of 'Adam's Peak':
'If you don't climb it your a fool, if you climb it twice your a bigger fool!' [too true!]

The sights on the tour were technicolour, in shades of saffron, deepest blue and lush green.

Sorry if I've waffled on a bit but I did kind of fall in the love with the place. Partly as it was my first adventure of this kind but mostly for the people, the places and peak!

If you travel in season I suspect that 'Adam's Peak' would be on the list of sights to see. If not, the schedule would probably give you the flexibility to break off but you would have to write up a disclaimer and sort out travel arrangements to get there. We had to drive for about 4.5hours from our location at that time.

The Peak isn't the be all and end all of Sri Lanka. As I said the itinerary was full and I do not think that we could have fit anything else in amongst the many temples, fortresses, elephants (wild and tame), tea plantations, the trout streams, the bike rides etc etc etc.

Still, don't take my word for it. See it for yourself. It comes highly recommended from me. (especially if you get Ami as your guide!)

All the best,

Paul