Welcome or Ayubowan in the Sri Lankan language aka Sinhala. This is how I was greeted when I landed at Colombo airport. After a really long flight, I was finally in Sri Lanka. So, let’s talk about; How it happened? What do I recommend? Where have I been? 

My first destination was Lahore, Pakistan to meet with my family for our trip to Sri Lanka. If you are somehow flying from Pakistan, it’s going to be a long journey. Since Pakistan and India are having some problems, India closes its air space to Pakistan pretty often. And we were just one of the lucky families that had to arrange their route because of this problem. Anyways you know shit happens. So, our route was from Lahore to Islamabad and from Islamabad to Qatar with 12 hours of layover in the airport, and from Qatar to Colombo. 

Let’s see;

First stop Qatar, there are a lot of flights through Qatar with really long layover times. What can you do in Qatar when you have 10+ hours of a layover; 

1)    If you had your flight with Qatar; they offer a free bus tour to the city. You can ask how and where to register to the first Qatar employee you see. They will show you the desk to register and lead the way. 

2)    If you had your flight with some other airline don’t worry it is really easy and cheap to get around in Qatar. 

3)    In both cases, if you don’t have an international sim card, you can get one from Ooredoo for 30 QR (9$) that will have 1000mb in it. 

4)    Uber to the city centre will cost you around 10-15$.

5)    Start with Souq Waqef which is a traditional open bazaar area pretty similar to the Grand Covered Bazaar in Istanbul.

6)    You can walk to the Cornish area to see the Islamic Museum and maybe take a boat tour which you shouldn’t pay more than 30 QR (9$) always bargain for the price. 

7)    After that, you can make your way to the Villaggio Mall, which is one of the biggest malls in Qatar. And Qatar is really famous for its shopping opportunities. 

8)    During the day it is really not the best decision to be walking outside, it gets really hot and it might be too much for walking under the sun.  

From Qatar to Colombo it’s a 4:45 hours flight. What I would recommend is that just sleep it’s going to be packed flight. 

When you travel as a family, it’s always good to book your transportation in advance. You don’t want to wait under the sun with kids and luggage trying to get a taxi or something. But if you are travelling alone or as a couple and you don’t mind the stress you can get a taxi/ private car from the airport at a cheaper price. Our first stop in Sri Lanka was Kandy. And you can get a taxi for 60-100$ to Kandy.

Kandy is a major city in Sri Lanka, having one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist world, and many tea factories. With its beautiful lake area covered with the hills, it is tropical heaven. What I recommend for Kandy;

1)    Stay somewhere close to the lake, don’t stay somewhere out of the city. It’s always great to be in the city when you are travelling. 

2)    Take a stroll around the lake, it’s truly amazing. You might see many different exotic animals around and in the lake. 

3)    Try the tropical local fruit that they are selling around the lake and everywhere on the street. 

4)    Be careful with the monkeys, they intend to steal shiny things and food.

5)    Pay a visit to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, it’s one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist world. You will see many flowers in the entrance for purchase do not smell them, according to the religion it loses its purity if someone smells it. 

6)    There are many drivers offering day trips.  You can find them in the city centre, actually, they will find you. It will cost you around 5000-7000 LKR (29-40$) The one we hired is Saman a Kandy local. (+94 76 803 8439).  I told him that I would recommend him to my friends visiting Kandy.

7)    If you want to experience the classic elephant journey.  You can take a ride to the Elephant Orphanage and see the elephants bathing and playing around the river. It will cost you adult 3000 (17$) kids 3-12 1500(9$). Please don’t take the elephant riding tours, it is pure torture to these big lovely animals. 

8)    Stop by the Royal Botanical Garden and see some of the species that you cannot see anywhere else. 

9)    On your way to Royal Botanical Garden stop by the “New Luck Uyana – Herbal Garden” You can take a free tour with the guide where he will explain the herbs and the process and their benefits. At the end of the tour, you can have a massage and drink complimentary tea of your choice. They also have a store where you can purchase the products, they introduce. 

10)    You will probably see the big Buddha statue on the top of the hills in Kandy. I think you can see it almost from everywhere. It is the Bahirawakanda Vihara Buddha Statue. It’s around 10-20-minute walk up the hill. Pretty calm and pleasant view from there. Don’t forget to remove your shoes at the entrance. Respect the religion! 

11)    For breakfast or snack or dinner I would highly recommend the Empire Café. It might be one of the most popular locations in town. And try the Ceylon toast amazing. 

From Kandy, our next destination was Kalutara, a place a little bit on the south of the capital Colombo. This was our location of vacation by vacation I mean spending a few days in the hotel just relaxing and enjoying the sun. I can only recommend Anantara since I stayed there. But it is a really nice resort on the edge of the small island, one side is the lake and the other is the ocean. What can go wrong here?

With all the miscalculations and small errors, Sri Lanka was lovely. I would highly recommend. The best period for Sri Lanka is March-April, afterwards, the rains start, and it also gets too hot.