Day Trips from Bentota

Re: Day Trips from Bentota

Hi Martin - I got back from this trip yesterday.
It is really easy to get around - we hired the van and a driver from the hotel and went anywhere we wanted for just under ten pounds. Four of us headed to Hikkadua which is the surfing place towards Galle. If you like fab beaches and surf then this is for you.
Anything you want the locals will do for you - they are all amazing.
Any other questions and I'll be happy to help.

Re: Day Trips from Bentota

Thanks for the info, we're looking forward to the trip. Do you have the name/contact details for the hotel? I'd like to get something organised before we head out, that way I can concentrate on being lazy and enjoying myself :-)
M

Re: Day Trips from Bentota

I do have all the details and the managers name. I will let you know.

Re: Day Trips from Bentota

Hi,
Have you managed to find the find the Bentoita hotel name yet amongst all your luggage?
Thanks,
Martin

Re: Day Trips from Bentota

Hello Mr Brown.

As per my email I hope all is now ok.

Re: Day Trips from Bentota

Martin

My husband and I have also just returned from the Sri Lanka trip that Lorna and Sophie went on. It's a really great trip. We also had a really good crowd of fellow travellers on the trip. If you want more options for your stay in Bentota I can give you the name of a local guide with car and driver. My daughter and son-in-law used him when they were there on their honeymoon last September. He was so good they became good friends and have kept in touch with him. Since the tsunami he has no job until the tourists return to the beach at Bentota. They sent money out to him and have also sent him a portfolio including a letter of recommendation for him and lots of photos taken on their trips with him. We arranged to meet up with him in Bentota. We didn't have time for him to take us out and about so he invited us to his home instead to meet his family. We had a lovely time. His name is Thilak Hemantha, mobile tel no 00 94 07761 30304 and email thilak_hemantha@yahoo.com
he knows where the Nederlanka guest house is as he came to meet us there. He has lots of local knowlewdge and info. To give you an idea of how much time you will have there, we arrived on the Wed at 1pm ish. We had lunch and then the rest of the day was free plus the whole of the next day and we were picked up about 1pm on the Friday to go back to Negombo.
Hope this helps.
Sheila Sides

Re: Day Trips from Bentota

A word of warning to any of you on this trip when you are on the beach at Bentota. Although the locals are all really nice, friendly and just want to be with you and be helpful beware if you are approached by, in our case, a very nice local business/fisherman. He was very interesting to chat to and told us all sorts of local info including the impact of the tsunami but he wouldn't leave us to potter around on our own. He was very keen to steer us towards the lagoon and despite us trying to head elsewhere we ended up there where there just happened to be 2 local lads with their boat waiting to take us for a trip round the lagoon. We did feel uncomfortable and had to insist after a few minutes that they took us back to the shore where they promptly charged us 1800 rupees (about

Re: Day Trips from Bentota

Hello,

Please except my sincere apologies for this experience whilst travelling with The Imaginative Traveller.

I can sympathise with the situation that you might have been presented.

I have notified the operations team and they will follow the matter up. We here at imaginative traveller pride ourselves on our tours and tour leaders. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Hopefully in the future people won't have to endure this experience.

Re: Day Trips from Bentota

Ed

Thanks for your comments. Please be assured we think our Imag Trav trip was great and we had an excellent guide/tour leader.
This happened in our time on our own at the end of the trip. I think we had got so used to the local people talking to us and being genuinely friendly that on this occasion we didn't think anything of it until we found ourselves sitting on this little boat with him still chatting to us!!!! As you say though it is something that the tour leader could alert other clients to be aware of now you know about it.

Sheila

Re: Day Trips from Bentota

Further to the discussions above I have some info that will help future travellers.

Where to go from Bentota

1.Day excursion to Galle which will include the Galle Dutch Fortress, Turtle Hatchery (After they have been reestablished post tsunami) , Mask Museum, Moonstone Mines etc.with lunch at a Restaurant and any entrance fees
2.A boat Cruise up river to visit the "Mini Adam's Peak "with lunch - 5 - 6 hours
3.Day excursion to the City of Colombo for Sight Seeing and Shopping , with lunch in a restaurant and any entrance fees
4.Ayurveda Therapy at the Siddhalepa Ayurvedic Health Resort at Wadduwa

These optional excursions will cost approx. $25USD and require two people.

Re: Day Trips from Bentota

We went on a day trip down to Hikkaduwa which is on the way to Galle and takes about an hour to get there. It is a surf beach and so there are lots of little beachy type shops and lots of cafes and resturants. The beach down there is absolutely beautiful - I would recommend it highly.

Re: Day Trips from Bentota

Just as a follow up to this thread, we went to Colombo before the tour started and did a day trip down to Galle from Bentota.

The national museum in Colombo is well worth visiting and the Laksala and Barefoot shops in Colombo had a good range of souvenirs at decent prices/quality. Having said that, the traffic could be better. We stopped at the Mount Lavinia, which was a bit of luxury before the tour.

The trip down to Galle was good, and on the way down we went to the Madu Ganga and did a boat trip around the islands on the river (as well as masks, Hikkaduwa etc). You pass many tented and shed-type villages on the road down. Some drivers were offering to take you to the destroyed train for photos and to families in the tents/sheds in return for a suitable donation, we declined.

Also, we tried contacting Thilak Hemantha who was mentioned in this thread. He started off by quoting ~$70 for a day, which as over double the price of hiring a car in Colombo for the day. We pointed this out and eventually agreed a price of ~$35. However, he never showed up the following day and had his mobile phone turned off. So we just went to a neighbouring hotel, a driver quoted us $30 on the spot, without negotiating, and we had a good day out in Galle. Moral, you shouldn't pay more than ~$25-30 dollars for a car as previously mentioned by one of the Imaginative contributors to this thread.

Overall, enjoyed the trip and a good combination of history, jungles, birds (fethered), walking, cycling, canoeing, swimming, food, buddahs and elephants. Hotels were probably about 1/2 full, which was a shame, but I'm sure things will recover.
Martin