Sri Lanka booked

Morning everybody,

Sri Lanka was finally booked yesterday :) The guy gave a decent discount too which is good... you see technically its cheaper to book online so he honoured that price.

I thought I'd give you a run down of the agreed itinerary with picture detail... think I need to replace my digital camera now so I can get some proper stunning pictures of my own when I'm there.

I leave on the 4th of July from London Heathrow on a 5pm flight, it gets in the next day UK time so is quite a long flight. Sri Lanka are 5 and a half hours ahead of GMT so don't expect a July post until I've had a nice sleep. We fly into Colombo which is the capital of Sri Lanka. It has a history of quite a bit of tension and violence so even though it is safe it is not the nicest place to stay for too long... so respectfully we transfer immediately 12 km south of colombo to a coastal town called Mount Lavinia where we stay at the 5* Mount Lavinia hotel. The plan here is to relax, spend time by the beach and pool and enjoy some fantastic Sri Lankan food on the beach front.

(Below top: Location of Colombo Below bottom: Picture of Mount Lavinia Hotel

The next day we drive to Habarana where we will stay for two nights in the Chaaya Village Hotel. In the day we visit the well known Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage. The following day we visit two of Sri Lanka's most well known land marks  - Sigiriya & Polonnaruwa. The following day we travel too Sri Lanka's second capital and more beautiful city - Kandy.

Chaaya Village Hotel

Sigiriya

Pinnawela

When we transfer to Kandy we stay in the Chaaya Village hotel but this time in Kandy ;) On the way there we visit the famous Dambulla rock caves amongst other places and once in Kandy we visit another well known site - the Temple of Tooth. The evening is spent visiting a dancing and culture show and hopefully enjoying some excellent Kandayan food. For our second day in Kandy we visit the stunning Botanical Gardens and tour the city. The next day we transfer to the hill country - Nuwarra Eliya famed for its beauty.

Chaaya Village Kandy

Dambulla rock caves

Temple of the tooth and Kandy river

Botanical Gardens

On our way to Nuwarra Eliya we visit a tea plantation - Sri Lanka is famed for its tea, a lot of the tea we drink is made there! - the afternoon is spent exploring the stunning hill country. We stay in St Andrew's hotel. I have chosen to extend here so instead of spending 1 night we separate from the group and spend 4 nights. The plan for those days is to visit the town of Ella and the Ella gap. Explore the Horton Plains and World's End. Climb Adam's Peak... and generally enjoy being in the stunning surroundings. We may visit a few of the 20 plus waterfalls as well. If we are lucky we will hop on the steam train and take in the views.

Train to Nuwarra Eliya

St Andrew's Hotel

World's End - see the drop!

Ella Gap

Adam's Peak

The trip ends with 6 nights - yes 6 nights! In Bentota, which is a town on the south coast. We will be staying in the Bentota Beach hotel. The plan here is of course to sunbath and relax.... but naturally we will feel a need to do something more active, maybe visit the fishing town of Galle or take a boat trip along a river, possibly some water sports... we could even go for a trek in one of the nearby national parks. After those 6 nights we fly home. :(

Bentota Beach

Galle

The plan now is to get vaccinations and travel insurance and then get shopping for clothes etc. My biggest concerns now are my two biggest fears - flying and snakes... nice rough guide quote "a dubious fact about sri lanka is that it has the highest number of snake bite fatalities per capita of any country in the world". It also is home to the famous and deadly Russell's viper. But fear not... I will overcome these things! HOPEFULLY.

Argh!!!

EWWW!!

Anyway more updates to come as vaccines and whatnot all come together! Hope you enjoyed my typically overly detailed itinerary. 

XxxX

Update

Possibly on the verge of booking flights within the next week :D

Sri Lanka is on (unless something odd happens). Will probably look at doing a small tour in India visiting Jaipur, Agra Fort, Delhi, Taj Mahal, Fatephur Sikri... etc.

At the moment I'm a bit stuck on China! I really like this trip I'm looking at with Intrepid Travel but loads of the reviews are putting me off a bit, some are really positive but many are so negative. Also looking at Imaginative Travel who have a really good reputation and might have travellers more around my age.

X

An explanation

Hiya all! :)

Firstly I do apologise for the lack of originality in me setting up this blog, I have indeed stolen the idea off Fiona who is currently adventuring in Australia. I also wanted an account anyway so I can keep an eye on my beautiful Fiona whilst she's not here, so I may as well begin outlining what I'd like to do with my gap year too ready for when I eventually leave.

The plan at the moment is to work, I'm working as a branch manager at BHS on the Evans dept. I have saved a fair amount at the moment but hope to continue working and continue saving. I have also made trips to court, attended the Labour Party Conference and undertaken work experience in the legal sector.

Fiona and I are going to travel on Interrail around May, basing our travels in Eastern Europe. Hopefully Ania will join us for some of the trip. Countries we will visit include Poland, Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Italy.

In June I would like to go travelling to India, China and Sri Lanka... although my locations do keep changing. The plan is to mostly spend my time in Sri Lanka undertaking a volunteering project and exploring the country. I would like to travel around China too, with Intrepid Travel, from Beijing to Hong Kong. My mum will hopefully join me in Delhi, India to go on a tour from Delhi, to Agra where we would visit the Taj Mahal, then journeying to Jaipur and finally ending up back in Delhi where we would fly home. Fingers crossed I will not get the terrible and legendary Delhi Belly.

I will keep you posted on the plans etc.

Love to you all.

Becky XxX