Sri Lanka: 3 week travel diary

December 9, 2019
Eryn Krouse
Travel
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Last year, I visited the Southern Province of Sri Lanka and instantly fell in love with the laid-back surf towns and perfect little long-board waves. Little did I know that my brief experience didn’t even begin to scratch at the surface of Sri Lanka’s cultural depth, complex history, and natural beauty. This time around on a 3 week exploration, my love and appreciation for Sri Lanka multiplied by a thousand… at least.

photo by @lturiano

Week One:

From Colombo, I hired a private driver to take us on a 6 day tour all around Sri Lanka’s “cultural triangle” region, which is an area spanning across several cities and includes 6 out of 8 of Sri Lanka’s UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the ancient capital of Anuradhapura, the ruins of Polonnaruwa, the rock citadel of Sigiriya, and the sacred city of Kandy. It was about a 3-4 hour drive to get from Colombo to our first hotel in Sigirya, the Heritance Kandalama which is famous for incorporating nature into its design by renowned architect Geoffrey Bawa. This served as our home base for 2 nights as we explored the rich cultural history around the area.

The Sigiriya Rock fortress is an ancient palace and consists of a sky palace that sits atop a massive 200m-tall rock with a Lion Gate and beautiful gardens and moats on the lower levels. My mom and I did this climb in the rain, which was actually quite a beautiful experience once we accepted that we were going to be wet.

Ella is easily one of the most beautiful places in all of Sri Lanka. With its lush landscapes of tea plantations high up in the mountains and waterfalls (“Ella” means waterfall in Sinhala, so it’s appropriately named) around every corner, it truly is a nature-lover’s delight. One of my favorite things to do in Sri Lanka is to take the train from Ella station to literally anywhere, just to enjoy the endless tea plantations and the occasional bridge over a waterfall.

From Ella, Udawalwe National Park is not too far away and it’s an amazing experience for nature and animal lovers. There are elephants absolutely everywhere and it’s incredible getting to see them up close in their natural habitat.

Walking around Galle Fort makes you feel as if time had stopped sometime during the colonial era. It was first built in 1588 by the Portuguese, and then extensively fortified by the Dutch during the 17th century. The houses are in the traditional colonial style (which is my personal favorite), and I enjoyed wandering around the fort town window shopping and admiring the hundreds-of-years-old buildings.

Week Two

This was my second experience staying at a Dreamsea surf camp (the first time was at the Uluwatu location in Bali), and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Located in Ahangama, there are numerous surf spots within a 15 minute tuktuk drive, so I definitely didn’t hunger for waves during my stay. I love the communal vibe from the Dreamsea camps. The people who stay here are eager to socialize and are on their own personal wellness quest to eat healthy, practice yoga, and to surf, so I definitely fit right in.

One of my favorite things about Dreamsea surf camps are the nutritious (and colorful) vegan and vegetarian options they serve at their beach-front restaurant.

My absolute favorite about Sri Lanka? Those perfect little long boarding waves…

Week Three

From Dreamsea in Ahangama, we drove an hour south to the Underneath the Mango Tree resort which is known for its Ayurveda spa and detox packages. My mom and I both did a 7-day Ayurveda detox, which was INCREDIBLE and I loved every moment during my stay. Ayurveda is an ancient system of healing and medicine originating from the Indian subcontinent. The primary goal is to keep the 3 doshas in balanced, which means you are in good health. After a consultation from the Ayurvedic-licensed doctor, my dosha type was determined to be kapha-pitta dominant, so my treatments were focused on lowering my pitta and kapha levels in my body and increasing the vatta. This was achieved through a special detox diet program, drinking lots of pitta herbal tea, and enjoying a variety of body treatments including all types of massages, scrubs, Shirodhara, and steam and herbal baths… honestly it was the most pampered I’ve ever been.

Ahh, Hiriketiya… the perfect little bay that made me fall in love with Sri Lanka last November. Since then, many new hotels and cafes have popped up and the amount of people in the water has increased by the multitude. However, I found I was still able to enjoy the charm of the bay in the early mornings and could get a few waves to myself at the point before the crowds took over. I stayed at Jasper House again, which is a cute open-air boutique hotel located right on the point, making it an ideal location for access to the waves.