Sri Lanka - our thoughts!

Beth
Highlight: Seeing Blue whales up close
Lowlight: Being ill at the end with that rash!

Best meal: Mali's seafood restaurant, Bentota. The prawn curry was to die for!
Funniest moment: Phil dancing for those schoolchildren!
Overall: Sri Lanka is a fascinating place and quite a culture of it's own. The scenery is amazing and there are things here you can't see anywhere else in the world. There are some frustrations we both found with the locals attitudes at times, there is definitely a large element of opportunists when seeing foreigners, as if dollar signs appear in their eyes. It happens everywhere from officials to tuktuk drivers. We were expecting to see it a bit but at times it was relentless and you had to be constantly on guard not to be ripped off all the time, for everything. It was tiresome. Don't get me wrong we've met some truly friendly and lovely locals who became friends and I dare not make sweeping statements. However having been there a month (and travelling locally, eg not a private car and driver) we have seen this side of bad tourism. It does somewhat distract at times and is certainly more like India in development than South East Asia for example. Which makes sense where it is on the map.
I did honestly enjoy our time there, but would have not enjoyed it so much alone and would maybe approach things differently next time. But I must say it was still a fantastic experience and a very special place to visit! Somewhere very memorable.

Bucket list ticks: 3!

Phil
Highlight: Hiking through tea plantations at Lipton's Seat, Haputale.
Lowlight: Being pick pocketed!

Best meal: Freshly caught barbecued barracuda, sat on the beach in Mirissa with the sand under my feet and waves lapping at the table.
Funniest moment: Holding onto a bar for my life while standing near the open doorway of a bus hurtling down the side of a mountain to loud bangra music.
Overall: Sri Lanka is an incredibly varied island and in even one or two weeks it would be possible to travel the whole country and experience the vibrant culture, see the big sights like Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa and to immerse yourself in the country. The variety and the people are what I'll remember about Sri Lanka, the good and unfortunately some of the bad too. Having a month there meant we took everything a lot slower but I still didn't get bored, and that says a lot about Sri Lanka.Read more