The tropical heat hits you as soon as you arrive in Sri Lanka, complete with a myriad of new sights and sounds, unfamiliar flora and fauna, tuk-tuks and hawkers selling their wares.
Known for its beautiful beaches, amazing cuisine and friendly people, the exotic island has recently reinvented itself as a honeymoon destination and traveller’s mecca, discarding its British Colonial past with a flourish, and I was keen to experience it’s new incarnation.
My arrival in the capital city of Columbo, An old British colonial outpost (Ceylon as it was called then), showed signs of British rule, not least in its proliferation of architecture, English speakers and road signs at odds with the heat that hits you, and a tantalising mix of new sights and sounds: unfamiliar flora and fauna, tuk-tuks and pushy hawkers selling their wares.
Columbo gets a bad rep owing to its chaotic nature, but as my first taste of Asia, I was in awe. However, it was a single night stop before I headed inland, not before an excellent and absurdly cheap Dosa.
Shortly after leaving the capital behind, the rattling train began ascending into Sri Lanka’s mountainous interior and the views out of the open door were astounding; rice paddies giving way to cliff-hugging jungle. Our first destination was the ancient capital of Kandy, last to succumb to colonial rule when European expansion appeared on the shores.
Steeped in history, and in places just plain steep, a freindly taxi driver-cum-guide took us on his personalised highlights of the town: we got familiar with the tea making processes (Sri Lanka tea plantations being some of the most highly prized), hit up the Botanical garden, ascended Buddha hill (and the Buddha on Buddha hill) for some mighty fine views and were then whisked off to a traditional Sri Lankan dancing show with an array of colourful costumes and bells. No visit is complete without a visit to the Temple of the Tooth (said to hold a tooth belonging to the original spiritual leader) so we paid our respects along with throngs of Buddhist locals and travellers alike.
Next up was the infamous train ride from Kandy to Ella; unfortunately the much-hailed views from as high as 2000m were obscured by cloud for much of the journey. Ella was much more backpacker-centric and thus less authentically Sri Lankan, but it did offer some excellent bang-for-your-buck views up a short 40-min hike to its namesake hill.
Leaving behind the cool mountains, I joined a ‘Downtown Hostel’ organised taxi trip with a twist: it included a stopover with a star-studded safari cast in Yala National Park. The three hour excursion provided glimpses of elephant, leopard, sloth Bear, crocodile, mongoose, water buffalo and all manner of other fauna, be they mammalian, avian or reptilian.
Living relatively harmoniously alongside a population of 28 million, it makes you realise how nature-depleted the UK is. From there, I was dropped right at the door to my next hostel on the South Coast, easy as.
There I capitalised on my initial draw to the island: surf. During the UK winter, the southern Sri Lanka coast is supplied by consistent swells coming off the Indian Ocean and is a great place to learn the sport.
‘The Surfer’ in Weligama is an ideal place to do it https://thesurferweligama.com, with two surfs a day in the sea (see main pic) right in front of the comfortable and social hostel. Spending a week there, I was driven to a variety of beach and reef breaks and was able to surf (without the British essential of a wetsuit) alongside recently made friends, locals and the odd turtle that swam through the line-up. With mellow swells and bath-like water temperatures, it really was an excellent learner spot, but I also felt well catered for as an intermediate.
While in the vicinity, I took the opportunity to hit up nearby settlements: the beautiful Hiriketiya with its palm-dotted horseshoe bay dotted with longboards – exactly how I pictured coastal Sri Lanka. The old walled town of Galle whose narrow streets were protected by marauding attackers in the 17th centuries, and more recently by the Boxing Day Tsunami which inflicted much damage on the surrounding region.
A responsible whale-watching tour off Marissa, where we encountered two awe-inspiring encounters with Bryde’s Whales, but no Blue Whales who have been scared out of the area since 2020 by irresponsible whale watching and snorkelling boats. More irresponsible tourism at Hikkaduwa, where unregulated post-Tsunami development has produced an ugly coastal strip centred around illegal feeding of sea turtles. And Kosgoda, where turtle tourism is done properly through a sanctuary that collects their eggs and then releases them for much-improved survival rates.
Getting around required hopping onto the crazily cheap but also crazily driven public buses. They say Sri Lankan’s have a laid back way of life, but it seems this doesn’t extend to the roads: on multiple occasions the bus driver was barreling around like he was in a video game, rather than driving a standing-room only vehicle full of people.
After completion of the south and west sweep, it was back to Columbo for my flight to more of SE Asia and a reflection on my time on ‘The Pearl of the Indian Ocean’.
Despite the wet weather, it was a great place to visit in terms of food, living costs and climate and I felt I did it justice over the three weeks I spent there, so I would highly recommend a visit.
Ali Henderson
Alister Henderson flew with Etihad Airways
