After the end of my semester back home in Singapore, I only had a week long vacation before the start of my internship.
I planned to visit my family in Kuala Lumpur, my 2nd home. I made a call to my aunt about my travel plans and she told me that the family is going to Sri Lanka for a week. I told myself Why Not? I had no idea what I got myself into but I booked the same flight as them for this unplanned vacation. Surprisingly, Singapore is 1 of the 3 countries which doesn’t require a visa to enter Sri Lanka.
I shall begin my story with a map.
From Colombo, we traveled by van on a highway with a single lane(Overtaking can only be done if there’s no incoming traffic on the other side)
Along the way, I realized that there were more cows on the road than traffic lights. Police were on the lookout with handheld speed cameras along the “highway”
6 hours later, we arrived at Trincomalee Beach.
Day 2
We headed south to Kandy, a bustling city with local delights and friendly citizens.
Most of the food here(whole of Sri Lanka) are filled with spices, they even add a portion of chilli flakes on the side of fried rice. The drinks are definitely way sweeter than back home. We eventually asked for tea or coffee without sugar and add our own sugar as their “less sweet” option was still too sweet.
Day 3
Here comes the exciting part of the trip. Visiting the mountains at Nuwara Eliya.
It was a very long and windy road up the slopes which made most of us dizzy. I am glad that I survived to enjoy the lush green scenery of the mountain side. Along the way, we visited a tea plantation. Sri Lanka is the top tea exporter in the world, and we were lucky enough to visit the best plantation in Sri Lanka
Click the picture to view the caption
We decided to spend an extra night on the mountain as the view is breathtaking with a temperature of 15 degrees.
Day 4
It was a cold morning as we set out to visit the farm.
Day 5
Its time to say goodbye to life on the highlands. I hope to come back someday in the near future. Not to worry, more fun adventures lie ahead.
We traveled further south to Tissamaharama. The main highlight of the trip was the Yala national park. We took a jeep to explore the wildlife safari.
That’s a baby bear on the tree. There is also a video of us chasing it.
There is also a leopard in the safari but it was hiding. I am fortunate to get real close with the wild animals, surviving on their own without the disturbance of humans.
Day 6
We spent the night at another beach, this time it was at the southern most part of Sri Lanka.
We managed to climb up the “mini-island” and take selfies
That final adventure marks the end of my journey here. It was an enlightening experience for me to explore various parts of this beautiful country where nature is well preserved. The humbling locals taught me the simplicity of life without technology. I am thankful to have tried certain things for the first time,
On a final note, I learnt that as tourists, we should have a local guide to help us get the local prices(very common here) and also learn to bargain for certain activities which are overpriced.
I hope you enjoyed this Long Post! Have a great day!
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