Bentota, Sri Lanka

After a good nights sleep, I awoke to sore calves and finally understood why everyone dreads leg day. We hadn't planned where we were going for our next stop, but we decided that we wanted to head back to the beach and didn't want to be too far from the airport for our departure. Jake did a bit of research online and we chose Bentota, a coastal town about 65 kms from Colombo. We found an amazing place to stay on Airbnb but after looking on booking.com we found the exact same place much cheaper. We booked up for 5 nights and made our way over to Bentota. Once we drove up we realised we had done pretty well - the place was lovely, right on the lake with our own pool. We chilled for the rest of the day and went to check out the beach for sunset.
There's quite a bit to do in Bentota - as there is a lake there is a lot of water sports available and also water safaris. We chose to go to Lunuganga gardens, designed by British architect Geoffrey Bawa. The gardens were beautiful but we got stuck with an older couple who were looking for the underlying meaning behind the alignment of the trees - so it dragged a bit for us. We then made our way over to the Sea Turtle place. Our tuk tuk driver was the one taking us on the tour around the place and managed to make the owners son give us lots of baby turtles to let free into the deep blue sea. They were so cute flapping around making their way to their next adventure.
On the way back to our place, our tuk tuk driver recommended a restaurant, Diya Sisila . We went in to have a look at the menu and saw that they offer dinner on a catamaran on the river for a mere £7.50. We booked it up for the following night and arranged to come just before sunset. The next day we spent the day chilling at the beach and heading back about 3pm to go and get ready for our fancy meal. Our tuk tuk driver from the day before, picked us up and we headed over the restaurant. Just as we did, we heard thunder and noticed a cloud looming over. We got to the place and managed to go out on the catamaran for sunset drinks. We headed back towards the restaurant to pick up our starters and the heavens opened. It wasn't too bad as we had a cover and the wind wasn't blowing in any rain. It eventually stopped and we got to go out on the river again for our main course. We both agreed that it was one of our favourite things we had done in Sri Lanka. 
We've had such a great time in Sri Lanka and have seen and done some amazing things. Now we're off back to Colombo to make our way to our next stop - Thailand.
Pav & Jake xxx
P.S. Check out our little video below of our adventure so far. WARNING: Watching this video may make you want to book flights to Sri Lanka instantly. Keep your credit card out of reach.

Sigiriya & Dambulla, Sri Lanka

The buses in Sri Lanka are literally crazy, but as we had tried every other mode of transport we thought we best give them a go too. We were making our way about 80 kms north to Dambulla & Sigiriya. The journey there was pretty smooth and took about 2 and a half hours. We got to Sigiriya, also known as Lions Rock, at peak midday heat - not exactly the best time to climb 1200 steps. Although I was dying, once we got to the top I realised it wasn't such a bad hike. The view was good but as the top of the rock is pretty flat, it looks like you could be anywhere. The view from little Adams peak in Ella was way more worth it. After we rested, it suddenly got super windy and we saw a cloud on its way overhead so we quickly made our way back down with a few monkeys as company. Luckily it was only spitting slightly and we carried on for the next visit of the day, Dambulla Cave Temple. This one was only 364 steps up, so felt pretty easy in comparison. It wasn't as impressive as we thought it would be, and we were glad we didn't make a separate day tour just to visit the temple, but it's worth a view if you're around. There were loads of monkeys about and Jake discarded our bananas while they were around - luckily they cleared them up for him within a heartbeat.

We got the bus back to Kandy right outside the temple and just as we did, the cloud that was looming earlier made its appearance again. The heavens opened and my god did it rain. The journey back was a little more erratic than the way there and involved lots of speeding, over taking and horn beeping. Once we got near to Kandy everything seemed to slow down and the traffic was pretty bad. It took about 4 hours to get back in total, by which point I was dying of hunger. When we finally got off the bus, we went to the first restaurant we saw, which was also one I had read about on a blog - the Kandy Muslim Hotel. The food was amazing and so so cheap, it cost us about £3.50 for 2 dinners, sides and drinks. We got a tuk tuk back to our place and crashed out as soon as our head hit the pillows. We had zero plans for the next day apart from knowing we were moving on. We figured we would be spontaneous and sort it out in the morning.

Pav & Jake

xxx

Pinnawala & Royal Botanical Gardens, Sri Lanka

We were up early to make our way over to go and see the elephants. We jumped in our guesthouse owners super old car as he drove us 40 kms to Pinnawala. We initially wanted to go to the elephant orphanage there, but he took us to the millennium elephant foundation instead. Most of the elephants were in chains and a few of the keepers weren't very kind to the animals. I wish we had just stuck with our initial plan, but we couldn't do much once we were there. We got to bathe one of the older elephants in the river - he didn't have any chains as they said he'd been there most of his life and his keeper was really kind.

On the way back to Kandy we stopped off at a spice garden. You don't pay for the tour but they expect you to buy something at the end. It was fine but I wouldn't recommend it as it just seemed like a money making scheme.

We then carried on our journey and went to the Royal Botanical Gardens back in Kandy. Jake thought he was going to die at this point, as he hadn't been fed or watered for a good few hours. We had some lunch and then explored around the gardens. They were really lovely, but you could tell it hadn't rained for 3 months as everything was looking slightly wilted. When we had got our taxi into Kandy the night before, our driver had pointed out the hundreds of bats flying around over the river. We went to check them out before sunset, and there was literally so many hanging around in the trees. A couple of them starting flying and their wingspan was massive. We had a bit of dinner and then heading back as we had an even earlier start the following morning.

Pav & Jake

xxx

Ella to Kandy, Sri Lanka

We'd splashed out and booked ourselves first class seats on the train from Ella to Kandy. It cost us about £3 each and we had comfy seats, actual air con (not just open windows) and even a tv showing an array of American films. I've literally never seen backpackers so excited - everyone was buzzing around, moving seats and taking photos from every angle. Until we hit a couple of stops on and a Sri Lankan family of about 10 adults and 7 kids came on and had what seemed like their yearly reunion. They were pretty loud and all the other backpackers (except us) moved into the next carriage over to escape the noise.

The journey from Ella to Kandy is a famous one, due to the amazing views over the mountains. We were on the train for 7 hours, but it went relatively quick and we got to Kandy just as the sun was setting.

Once we got to Kandy station, a tuk tuk driver asked where we were going and quoted 800 rupees (about £4) for the journey. We agreed and as we were walking out and pointed out 3 random English boys and told them to come with us in a taxi, as it would be cheaper. He then quoted 1000 rupees for all of us, so we all quickly agreed and jumped in his mini bus. He dropped the lads off first and then tried to find our place. As we got there I gave him 1000 rupees and all of a sudden, he claimed he quoted 1500. I questioned him and then he just said okay and off he was on his non-scamming way.

We were shattered at this point after travelling all day, but the owner of the guesthouse we were staying at was totally up for having a chat about our trip. We'd only planned to stay in Kandy one night, but we told him what we had wanted to see and do from then onwards - he explained it would be best just to take day trips. We organised for him to take us in his car to Pinnawala & the Royal Botanical Gardens for £20. It worked out pretty well, so we got some sleep ready for the early morning start.

Pav & Jake

xxx

Ella, Sri Lanka

An extra night in Ella meant we got to squeeze in a few more of the sites I'd been pinning on Pinterest before heading out here. Sri Lanka was previously known as Ceylon until 1972 when they got there independence from the British. Ceylon tea is often boasted as the best tea in the world - So we headed over to Uva Halpewatte Tea Factory to check out how it was made. It was actually so interesting to see how much goes into turning little leaves into a much loved cup of chai. It's a long old process and we found out they send the best stuff over to us and keep the not so good for themselves - mainly because exports pay more for it. On the way back from the factory our tuk tuk driver stopped off to show us the tea gardens. They seem to go on for miles and miles, and props to the workers as it was pretty damn hot out there.

We then went over to our next Pinterest worthy view - Nine Arches Bridge. We got pretty close and then our tuk tuk driver just pulled over and pointed down a hill. It was a pretty steep long hill - no one told me I had to work in midday heat for the view. We got there and again the view was totally worth the trek. We were feeling brave and sat on the edge of the bridge for the famous shot. We headed back up the steep hill, just in time for the super slow train to pass through.

Pav & Jake 

xxx

Udawalawe & Little Adam's Peak, Sri Lanka

We organised our taxi with our hotel in Dikwella to take us to our next destination which was Udawalawe. Jake is obsessed with animals and after researching a bit online we saw we could go on safari in Sri Lanka. We initially wanted to go to a place called Yala National Park, famous for its large population of leopards. But once we had a look at transport, Udawalawe sounded like a more sensible option.

We booked our tour via trip advisor and our tour guide and private jeep came to collect us from our guest house at around 5.30am. We had a great morning and saw loads of animals including water buffalo, a massive snake, monkeys and we were lucky to catch the elephants having a mud bath. We got back to our guest house around 10am and were treated to a massive breakfast which was just what we needed after the early start.

Then off we were again to our next stop, Ella. Up in the mountains, 1041 metres above sea level - with a slightly cooler climate (only slightly). We initially only planned on staying one night at our guest house - but after noting that the train to our next destination, left in the morning only, we double our stay to make the most of it. The owner at our guesthouse was super helpful and suggested loads of things for us to do aswell as pointing us in the right direction. After the early start for the safari we decided to chill for a bit, before trekking up Little Adam's Peak for sunset. The walk wasn't too long it probably took about 45 minutes to get to the top. But the view was just amazing and totally worth feeling out of breath for.

Pav & Jake 

xxx

Dikwella & Horseshoe Bay, Sri Lanka

Our next stop after Mirissa, was the beautiful beach town of Dikwella. We checked out our amazing ocean view room and headed down to the beach to meet the cows (yes, the cows haha). The girl from the hotel told us they walk past most days and that they were on their way home that afternoon. They often stop for a little dip in the ocean to cool down after a hard days work - who can blame them. The sand was so silky soft and as the beach was almost empty it felt like it was just for us.

The next morning we headed over to horseshoe bay - well known for its great surf. We foolishly decided to walk, not knowing where it was and also bearing ridiculously hot weather. We finally got there and the horseshoe shape of the bay with palm trees lining the coast was just beautiful. Jake rented out a board and we got a bit of lunch before heading back to our hotel.

My best friend Charl and her boyfriend Dan were off on a mini break in the Maldives - But they were due to join us in Dikwella that evening. The next few days were spent chilling at horseshoe bay and making the most of the last few days we had together.

The day to say goodbye came around pretty quick and it also happened to be Jakes birthday. I started the morning by showing him the video I had made before we left, of all his friends and family wishing him a very happy day of birth. We then headed down for our last Sri Lankan feast with Charl & Dan. I organised a beach breakfast as a surprise for Jake - We had a palm leaf blanket with fruit, cake, pancakes and juice to enjoy while looking out to the Indian ocean.

We bid our sad farewells to Charl & Dan and wished them a safe trip back to England. Then we made our way to our next stop - Safari at Udawalawe.

Pav & Jake

xxx