Sri Lanka has been one of my biggest travel dreams for a long time and therefore I was very pleased to find the flight tickets at a reasonable price (420 € per person). Although Sri Lanka is not a big island, there are so many beautiful places here, so I decided to stay here for a whole month (as long as usual visas allow). Our trip to Sri Lanka started in Prague at the airport. We were flying with UAI with 1 intersection at the airport in Kiev - Boryspil. As our transfer took more than 12 hours, we decided to stay for the night in the city near the airport. On the second day, we went back to the airport where we were waiting for a direct flight to Colombo.
Srí Lanka bola dlho jeden z mojích najväčších cestovateľských snov a preto ma veľmi potešilo keď som našla letenky za výbornú cenu ( 420€ za osobu). Aj keď Sri Lanka nie je veľký ostrov, je tu veľmi veľa prekrásnych miest, a tak som sa rozhodla tu zostať celý mesiac ( najviac ako bežné víza dovoľujú). Naša cesta na Srí Lanku začala v Prahe na letisku. Leteli sme s UAI s 1 medzipristátím na letisku v Kyjev - Boryspiľ. Keďže náš prestup trval viac ako 12 hodín, rozhodli sme sa ubytovať na noc v meste neďaleko letiska. Hňeď na druhý deň sme sa vybrali na letisko odkiaľ nás už čakal priamy let do Kolomba.
Negombo 1-2 days
Although the airport is named after the capital city, it is closer to the coastal town of Negombo, where we stayed for 2 nights. This is the first city we visited with Sri Lanka, and it surprised us with the difference from what we were accustomed to, but we adapt to it step by step. Negombo has a beautiful, long and wide beach on which there are not many tourists. Sri Lanka is a whole surrounded by ocean and therefore there is quite restless and there are bigger waves, rather ideal for surfing except some bays or cliffs.
Aj keď je letisko pomenované podľa hlavného mesta, bližšie sa nachádza k pobrežnému mestu Negombu, kde sme zostali 2 noci. Toto mesto ako prvé, ktoré sme sa Sri Lanke navštívili bolo a prekvapilo nás hneď svojou odlišnosťou od toho načo sme boli zvyknutý, no postupne sme si zvykali. Negombo má krásnu, dlhú a širokú pláž na ktorej nie je veľa turistov. Srí Lanka je celá obkolesená oceánu a preto je tu more dosť nepokojné a sú tu väčšie vlny, skôr ideálne na surfovanie s výnimkou nejakých zátok alebo útesov.
Pinnawala day 3
From Negombo, we went to Pinnawala early in the morning, which we could not miss. It's the place I've seen on Instagram every time when I look at Sri Lanka and made an impression on me. In Pinnawalla there is an elephant orphanage, and therefore the whole area is under constant protection. Since we knew that if we want to see elephants but do not want to pay the admission, there is still one possibility how to get there. The option for us was to stay for one night at hotel near a where elephants take bath. In addition to the amazing view we had in the morning, we had breakfast overlooking the swimming elephants.
Z Negomba sme sa vybrali skoro ráno do Pinnawali, ktorú sme nemohli vynechať. Je to miesto, ktoré som videla všade na Instagrame a urobilo na mňa dojem. V Pinnawale sa nachádza sloní sirotinec, a teda celá oblasť je pod stálou ochranou. Keďže sme vedeli, že ak chceme vidieť slony ale nechceme si platiť vstupné, existuje ešte jedná možnosť. Tou možnosťou pre nás bolo ubytovať sa na jednú noc hneď pri rieke v ktorej sa kúpu slony. Okrem úžasného výhľadu, ktorý sa nám ráno naskytol sme raňajkovali s výhľadom na kúpajúce sa slony.
Kandy days 4-5
In the afternoon, we picked from Pinnawala to the train station to Rambukkana, which is only a few miles away. The train journey to Kandy took us for an hour. When they arrived in front of the train station and were looking for a tuktuks, they offered us a ride for the really high prices, after just a few minutes we settle this amount to the half, which was more common in Kandy than elsewhere. Kandy is a huge city and we wanted to see as much as possible so we ordered a tuktuk to takes us around the city.
Poobede sme sa vybrali z Pinnawaly na vlakovú stanicu do Rambukkany, ktorá vzdialená je iba pár kilometrov. Cesta vlakom do Kandy nám trvala asi hodinku. Keď prišli pred vlakovú stanicu a hľadali tuktuk, ponúkali nám ich mnoho no za premrštené ceny až po pár minútach sa nám podarilo zjednať sumu o polovicu, čo sa nám v Kandy stávalo častejšie ako inde. Kandy je obrovské mesto a chceli sme toho stihnúť čo najviac tak sme si objednali cestu okolo mesta tuktukom.
Dambulla day 6
From Kandy we took a bus to Triccomalle in the morning alfter a long journey to the station. Even though we did not go there, it went through Dambulla, so we used to it. We arrived in Dambulla around 1 p.m. and we went to see the caves which was one thing to come here. The caves were unique and captivated us. After this visit(as the caves are located on the top of the hill) we were quite exhausted and so the rest of the day we just relax.
Z Kandy sme sa ráno po dlhej ceste na stanicu kvôli zápcham nasadli na autobus do Triccomalle. Aj keď sme nešli až tam prechádzal cez Dambullu a tak sme to využili. Do Dambully sme prišli okolo jednej a hňeď ako sme sa ubytovali sme išli pozrieť jaskyne, kvôli ktorým sme sa sem rozhodli prísť. Jaskyne boli jedinečné a uchvátili nás. Po tomto výstupe (keďže jaskyne sa nachádzajú na vrchu kopca) sme boli dostatočne vyčerpaní a tak sme zvyšok dňa už len oddychovali.
Sygiria day 7
We stayed in Dambulla for 3 days because it is a great starting point for the coming days. The next morning we picked up at the bus station from where we went to Sygiria. Sigiriya is enchanting but overcrowded with tourists. That's why we decided to go to the Pidurangala rock just opposite the Sigiriya. It is less familiar and therefore not so visited, but there is a beautiful view and peace.
V Dambulle sme sa ubytovali na 3 noci, pretože je skvelý východiskový bod na nasledujúce dni. Na druhý deň skoro ráno sme sa vybrali na autobusovú stanicu z ktorej sme išli do Sigirye. Sigirya je očarujúca ale je preplnená turistami. Preto sme sa rozhodli ísť na skalu Pidurangala hneď oproti Sigiryi. Je menej známejšia a preto nie je taká navštevovaná no aj tak je odtiaľ nádherný výhľad a dýcha pokojom.
Pollonaruwa day 8
Again we moved from Dambulla by bus to Pollonaruwa in the morning. Pollonaruwa attracted us because it is on the UNESCO list. Although at first glance it did not seem to be a big city, it was true. The monuments are vastly distributed throughout the city and therefore we were very grateful that we were renting bikes right after arrival. After a full day tour, we were completely exhausted and returned to Dambulla.
Opäť sme sa ráno presúvali z Dambully autobusom do Pollonaruwy. Pollonaruwa nás zaujala, keďže je v zozname UNESCO. Aj keď sa nám na prvý pohľad nezdalo, že je to veľké mesto, opak bol pravdou. Pamiatky sú rozsiahle rozdelené po celom meste a preto sme boli veľmi vďačný, že sme si hneď po príchode požičali bicykle. Po celodennej prehliadke sme sa úplne vyčerpaný vrátili späť do Dambully.
Kandy 9 day
Early in the morning, we returned from Dambulla back to Kandy, where we stayed one more night. On our previous visit to Kandy, we have not been able to see everything so we have made for it now. Our first steps have led to the great Buddha statue that boasts the whole city. The rest of the day we just walked around the city and breaths its atmosphere.
Skoro ráno sme sa z Dambully vrátili naspäť do Kandy, kde sme ostali ešte jednú noc. Pri predchádzajúcej návšteve v Kandy sme nestihli pozrieť všetko tak teraz sme si to vynahradili. Naše prvé kroky viedli k veľkej soche Buddhu, ktorá sa pýši nad celým mestom. Zvyšok dňa sme sa len prechádzali po meste a nasávali jeho atmosféru.
Ella 10- 12 days
From the accommodation we took a tuk-tuk to the station in Kandy where we wanted to buy train tickets to Ella. Even though we arrived more than an hour before leaving the train, the aisle for tickets was very long. The train had finally been delayed, so the whole trip to Ella took us over eight hours. On that day, we were so exhausted that we were only chosen for the evening and then back to the room to relax.
We got up early in the morning and chose to take a little hike of Little Adam's peek. The view from there was really unbeatable, the whole route was around the tea-tree fields. Our next goal was to see the Nine Arch Bridge and so we went right there. We had plans to see the waterfalls near Elly, but they started to rain very fast and it did not stop, so we missed them and we went to the center of this picturesque town.
Our Sri Lankan trip was over here and the other days we enjoyed the beautiful beaches of this island. I will tell you more about this part of this journey.
Ubytovania sme si vzali tuktuk na stanicu v Kandy, kde sme si chceli kúpiť lístky na vlak do Elly. Aj keď sme tam prišli viac ako hodinu pred odchodom vlaku rada na lístky bola veľmi dlhá. Vlak mal nakoniec meškanie a tak nám celá cesta do Elly trvala viac ako 8 hodín. V ten deň sme už boli natoľko vyčerpaný, že sme sa vybrali už len na večeru a potom naspäť na izbu oddýchnuť si.
Ráno sme vstávali skoro a vybrali sa na menšiu túru na Little Adam´s peek. Výhľad odtiaľ bol naozaj neprekonateľný, celá trasa viedla okolo čajovníkovým polí. Náš ďalší cieľ bolo vidieť Nine Arch Bridge a tak sme sa hneď vybrali tam. Mali sme na pláne vidieť ešte vodopády neďaleko Elly ale začalo nám veľmi pršať a neprestávalo tak sme ich vynechali a radšej sa prešli po centre tohto malebného mestečka.
Naša cesta po vnútrozemí Srí Lanky sa tu skončila a ďalšie dni sme si vychutnávali prekrásne pláže tohto ostrova. O tom vám poviem viac v ďalšej časti tejto cesty.
