SRI LANKA FAMILY ADVENTURES

As Max is in his first year A Levels this seemed like a good time go away. Next year it all gets a bit more serious with A Level mocks so we are unlikely to be able to go away.

Sri Lanka has been on the list of places to go for a while so we took the plunge. We were lucky for two reasons

1. We booked the flights a few days before the issues in the Gulf started so got pretty good value tickets

2. A friend recommended a driver they had used so we could plan our trip independently without having to use UK based organisations. We're happy to recommended our guide / driver if you're interested in visiting Sri Lanka.

We have a lot mor images on our instagram pages; so feel free to find us @mylifetonic to see them.

Sigiriya - 3 Nights

Picked up by our trusted guide Gayan, we were whisked off to Sigiriya to start our tour.

What a start to the trip...

🐘 Kaudulla National Park - seeing over 200 elephants in the wild; amazing!
⛰️ Climbed Sigiriya and Rock Temples
🛕 Explored Dambulla Cave Temple
🏊‍♂️ Massages, Gym Sessions and Pool Time @hotel_sigiriya
🛺 Village Tour and Local Cooking

Some other important stuff...
* We’ve found some great coffee
* Morning Masala Tea is amazing
* Ate local vegetarian food @soulfoodsigiriya

Kandy - 1 Night

Pretty much a day of travelling with a few stops to break the journey up - a herb garden and a Hindu temple in Malate before getting to Kanday; Sri Lanka’s 3rd biggest city.

Staying @thetreeskandy gave us great views over the city and the lake, the chance for a dip before heading out for

1. Cultural Dance and Fire Show that was entertraining
2. Temple of Tooth Relic Buddhist Temple
3. Dinner @hideoutloungekandy - great food and atmosphere with talented live music
4. Night time walk along the lake front

A travelling day with highlights; as a family we may have had our fill on temples and ‘stops’ that want show us the unique crafts Sri Lanka has to offer.

In hindsight I think we could have had a longer day travelling and missed this stop over.

Nuwara Eliya - 1 Night

Leaving Kandy and heading up into the mountains for waterfalls and tea plantations/ factory.

🗼Ambuluwana Tower & TukTuk descent. Bit of an epic fail on a few accounts - firstly I didn’t make it to the top (not great with heights - but supervised Max from afar), secondly didn’t get any photo’s. Certainly worth the stop and views. The one handed descent whilst looking at the phone on greesy conditions by the tuktuk driver was memorable in itself!
🌁Roadside lunch with stunning views over the valley
💦Ramboda Waterfalls satiated our needs for dip. Not quite cold water but always good for a sploosh. Rain overhead meant we couldn’t go for a short hike up to more a remote location but it is what it is...
☕️Labookellie Tea Plantation (and factory) - a hour’s tour around the plantation and the chance for a few photos followed by a quick trip around the factory. Some tea and cake afterwards; it would have been rude not to. We managed not to buy anything from the shop.
🏩The buffet at the Grand Hotel was plentiful in such a colonial historical setting.
🛺 Getting lost in the tuk tuk brought a busy day to the end….

It’s quite clearly the rainy season (along with some thunder and lightening)…

...and some really cool accommodation at Azenya Nuwara Eliya flats.

Ella - 2 Nights

An action packed few days - as with every time you travel there’ll be some hits and some misses - but that’s OK; it’s all part of the experience.

🚂Arrival by Train to Ella over the 9 Arches Bridges - stunning views for 3 hours through jungle, farm land and across the mountains!

🏨 @araweretreat - simply stunning rooms, location, staff, views, breakfasts - if you like unique hotels it’s a must
🧘‍♀️Yoga! And lots of it. Private 121 sessions on the deck at our hotel room
👩‍🍳Sri Lanking Cooking evening - again at the hotel...can’t say enough good things about it (but it doesn’t have a pool in case that’s what you want)
🥾Hiking to Little Adam’s Peak - with intermittently good views and good to get moving
🧗‍♂️Zip lining at Flying Ravana - unfortunately probably one to avoid - it took longer to check in than the 60s single zipline and expensive to what you can do
💥@nildiyapokunaofficial - AMAZING - well guided and a great excursion ending 800m underground in a lake for swimming (after all - if you follow us - we love getting in the water!)
💦Waterfalls at Rawana leaving Ella
🍛Great vibe and food @cafe_chill_ella
👕Some shopping - taking me back to my travelling days- had to get some linen trousers and Max a Sri Lankan Rugby Shirt (no toe ring yet)

If you haven’t guessed it - we had a fantastic time here - there is back packery vibe here and if you wanted a night out here you can certainly find it.

There’s so much more to do (walking and waterfalls) that we’d certainly come back here. Lots of fun!

Safari and Surprises

A memorable 24 hours in Yala....

⛺️Camping at Luxury Tribe Yala
🌅Sunset walk with Max (Shannon had a class to do)
🐊Yala Safari seeing crocodiles, a few elephants, deer, mongoose - unfortunately no bears
🐆No Leapard either - but that may have been as we actually frightened it away (no it was not Max’s first driving lesson gone wrong)
🚗A bit of a roll of the car down the side of the road - we are all OK and the guides were excellent in checking we were OK. The other drivers impressively ‘righted’ the car to get us out of the ditch

Certainly memorable and yet another unforgettable memory for us as a family.

Some friends have said that ‘this kind of stuff only happens to you’ - but actually that’s part of the joy of travelling.

The unexpected...so far our travels have all worked out well and it’s these memories that make travelling worthwhile.

Talalla Retreat - 5 Nights

Having travelled around for the first part of the holiday this was the relaxing part (in sorts)....having 5 nights in one place and we loved it.

We chose @talallaretreatsrilanka as it’s a bit quieter and had lots of yoga classes etc on site. So great to spend time on our own practice rather than teaching. If you weren’t as inclined to do the classes, maybe the resort would be a bit quiet so would recommended Dickwella (more going on and walkable distance to Hiriketiya)

Hirketiya is certainly more set up for backpackers and has a more of a party style vibe (not too disimilar to Ella) - though I can imagine it may be pretty busy in peak season.

🧘‍♂️Yoga - Flow and Yin in the morning and evening
😌Massages - plenty of them!
🧘Pilates - Great try get the family doing some Reformer
🏄Surfing - Lessons made us feel like we’d ‘got it’ - but it was a lot harder without the helpful instructor ‘launches’
🏏Beach cricket and rugby with the locals
🥗Eating out at - @smoke_and_bitters in Dickwalla
🏋️‍♂️Weights sessions at Jungle Gym
😎Relaxing by the beach at Hiriketiya at La Playa (minimum spend to be on the beach)

Beach walks and coffees.

We had a wonderful time in the area - great to be based in one place and to settle into the area.

Galle- 1 Night

Our final night in Galle - known for it’s scenic cricket pitch over shadowed by the Fort...certainly worth an overnight stop in this walled peninsular.

En route from Talalla was probably our best two stop offs
🌅Coconut Hill view - a gentle walk for some scenic views
🐢 Sea Turtle Conversation in Koggala where they not only rescue injured turtle but also help hatch babies into the sea. It really was uplifting.
🎣 Stilted Fisherman are often the image you get for Sri Lanka. We saw them doing it once and they wanted to charge us to take photos. Such a same that it’s become ‘staged authenticity’ - something I studied all the way back at Uni!

Galle was a lovely place to stop...
🏨Bartizan Hotel was a bit of a treat with it’s colonial style and architecture with sea views over the Indian Ocean (and a great location)
👕As a city it’s a great place to roam around exploring the side streets and multiple boutique shops (all for the tourists)
🥾Walking around the fort walls led us to the Lighthouse, Clock Tower and the views over the cricket pitch

As a last stop Galle was a relaxing way to spend our last night and to savour everything that Sri Lanka has offered us

What an amazing trip with a bit of everything - wildlife, adventure, beach time, yoga, activities, history and culture as well as some lovely family time. Not sure what we’ll have to do next so that Max will want to come away with us again....open to suggestions!

I’m sure we’ll be back soon.