Holiday in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka felt like an unfinished business after I had cancelled my trip a couple of years ago due to the economic crisis. I finally made it in 2025 and had an amazing time.

This was my lucky thirteenth trip with Intrepid, who remain my small group travel company of choice. My companions hailed mostly from the UK, Australia and Cyprus, and were a wonderful, easy-going, fun bunch – and a few were champion shoppers and bargainers. I learned a lot about Sri Lanka from our group leader, who kept the tour running like clockwork. Our driver and his helper had a lovely ritual of giving out a flower before we boarded the minibus every morning. Good team and good people really do make a trip.

Weather: As expected, it was humid everywhere except for the hill country where the air was cooler. We got drenched with rain during a jungle walk, but otherwise it was a good mix of overcast and sunny. I never needed a couple of warm items I brought along just in case.

Food: my usual diet back home feels hopelessly bland after two weeks of zingy spicy food and dizzying variety of all sorts of cooked vegetables. I’m not a vegetarian, but if I was Sri Lanka would be heaven. The highlight has to be a buffet lunch stopover where we had over thirty dishes to choose from not counting the deserts, including jackfruit curry, sweet and sour eggplant, plantain and baby mangoes. I also enjoyed the native king coconut, which didn’t taste all that different from a regular coconut but was refreshing and delicious.

I usually manage to travel through the Asian countries unscathed, but this time I did have one terrible night of running to the bathroom sink at regular intervals. My stomach didn’t feel quite right for a few days after, but a bit of fasting was probably good to balance out all the generous portions with second helpings.

Stupas, ruins and temples

The early part of the trip was heavy on the religious sites and ancient ruins, including Mihintale, the birthplace of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, a bike ride around the preserved relics of Anuradhapura, and the royal ancient city of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa. I was prepared for the dress code of covering your shoulders and knees when in sacred places, but the barefoot rule didn’t just apply to inside the buildings – you had to take your shoes off for the entire grounds as well.

Last time I got on a bike in Cambodia, I had an unnerving experience of feeling completely unbalanced and out of control, so I was relieved to find out that whatever had affected my sense of balance back then was temporary.

Sigiriya Rock

A towering rock formation with the remains of an ancient fortress set on its flat top, Sigiriya is one of Sri Lanka’s most famous attractions and my personal favourite experience. We left our hotel at 5am to arrive at the base of the rock in pitch black darkness, with only mobile phones to light the path. The climb wasn’t as long as I had expected, but a challenge for sure, with steep stairs that left me gasping for breath. Our efforts were rewarded with a moody sunrise, stunning scenery… and lots of puppies belonging to the local workers. The descent was just as dramatic, as now we could see more clearly just how high up we really were.

Dambulla Cave Temple

I’ve seen photos of these cave temples before, but they can’t possibly capture the awe and scale of this stunning complex, with paintings and Buddha statues covering every inch of the five separate sanctuaries inside a massive rock. This was one of the most impressive sights I’ve seen anywhere in the world.

Animal encounters

There was an abundance of local fauna on this trip, including crocodiles, snakes, lizards, peacocks and various other birds. One of the strangest sights during our many hours on the road was a giant sign on a motorway to Colombo, advising the drivers to look out for peacocks. We also spied a rare leopard, which on closer inspection sadly turned out to be a spotted deer.

We went on a jeep safari, which was fun even if the national park was hideously overcrowded with vehicles and the whole thing didn’t seem terribly well organised. However the best elephant sighting I got was by the side of the road, with elephants simply milling around the electric fence.

We also saw plenty of monkeys, including one cheeky visitor on the balcony of our hotel room. Some hotels display warnings about keeping the windows and balcony doors closed, if you don’t want monkeys messing up your room and stealing things.

Kandy & Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic

After a few quieter places, Kandy felt a bit more bustling. We saw a very entertaining cultural show including dancers and fire-eaters, and visited a tea factory to learn about one of Sri Lanka’s most famous exports. Though I do love tea, I actually didn’t get to drink all that much tea in Sri Lanka. I’m a coffee addict in the morning, and the heat tends to drive you towards cold drinks during the day.

The most famous landmark of Kandy is the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, housing the tooth relic of the Buddha. It’s an ornate and exceptionally busy place, full of tourists and worshipers, and you sorta get quickly carried by the crowd past the main shrine.

The hill country & tea plantations

I didn’t really know what to expect from Sri Lankan landscape, but somehow I didn’t expect it to be so green, lush and beautiful. The hill country was even more so, with mountains and waterfalls thrown on top, and our hike through the tea plantations was simply unforgettable. An interesting quirk was wearing special above-knee socks against the leeches; those little creepers are unbelievably quick to climb up your shoes if you stay in one spot for too long. The socks did their job, but during the later jungle walk I did get bitten by a leech, who left a mark on my ankle and blood stain on my sock as a thank you.

Mirissa & Galle

A nice change of pace in Mirissa, a small coastal town full of holiday-makers. I spent most of our free day on the beach, lazing under a tree and swimming in unbelievably warm water that you’d never get in Melbourne. On the way to Galle, we stopped for the famous stilt fishermen, who these days mostly fish for tourists; they’ll pose for you for a fee, and you can also pay to have a go at sitting on the stilt. I had no interest in the latter, but I decided to go full tourist and get me some photos of the fishermen.

I only knew a couple of things about Galle, that it has a fort and that it was hosting a cricket match between Australia and Sri Lanka. The fort turned out to be a small walled city, built by the Portuguese, Dutch and British, with streets of shops, boutiques, restaurants and old colonial buildings. We said goodbye to three people in our group, who left the tour one day early in order to watch the cricket.

Singapore

I tacked on a short stay in Singapore, which until then has remained a transit point on my way elsewhere. In a way it felt like a completely different holiday after two weeks in Sri Lanka. A day and a half still wasn’t anywhere near enough, but I did finally get to explore Singapore’s famous Gardens by the Bay. Though a costly visit if you want to do all the indoor attractions, they’re truly worth it and it was nice to escape the heat and humidity for a while. I went back to the gardens in the evening for the light show at the Supergrove, which attracts huge crowds and is quite spectacular. It was set to a medley of popular opera pieces, culminating with Nessun Dorma (of course).

I also spent time in the Marina Bay, within the walking distance of my hotel, and checked out Kampong Glam, Singapore’s Muslim Quarter. It’s a fun compact neighbourhood with distinctive architecture, Turkish and Lebanese restaurants, shops and colourful street art. I left with a list of things I didn’t have time to do, so I’m sure it won’t be my last short stay in Singapore.