intentionally amateur: 7 day Sri Lanka trip notes

During the entire trip we had the same car and driver(Dinendu) with us. It made the trip unbelievably comfortable. Special thanks to Dinendu. He has great contacts. Can get you hotels cheaper than booking.com and knows what time to reach at which place so that you never miss anything.

General Notes

Driver accommodation and food - I can't stress this enough. A very fantastic thing about travel in Sri Lanka is that almost every hotel gives free accommodation for the driver and almost every restaurant doesn't charge for what your driver eats. This is a very important factor which makes your and your driver's travel very economical and comfortable.

Currency: I withdrew cash directly from my ICICI/HDFC debit cards which effectively gave me the conversion rate of around 2.4. Conversion rate online was 1 INR = 2.5 LKR.

Day 1 - 6th April, Saturday - Reached Negombo

Started from Hyderabad at 8:40AM. Reached Colombo at 1:25PM. Via Chennai.
Headed to Villa Taprobane in Negombo. On the way bought Dialog SIM for data. We already had Airtel 40 mins pack on our prepaid SIMs.
Villa Taprobane has great hosts. The lady cooks the food herself and it's amazing. We had dinner and breakfast made by her. For lunch we went to King Coconut(a restaurant on the beach).
Negombo was very hot and that was expected. We chose to stay there as we wanted to take rest after flight journey. If you can manage your fatigue well, it's better to head straight to Sigiriya and from there to Kandy. Our laziness cost us the trip to Sigiriya.

Day 2 - 7th April, Sunday - Negombo to Kandy via Elephant Orphanage

Started for Galaxy City Hotel, Kandy.
On the way visited the Elephant Orphanage. Fed an elephant and saw them taking a bath - it's quite a procession as all the elephants cross the road to reach the pond and then they are given a royal bath. You need to be there at the right time to see them bathing.
Bought a small diary made of elephant poo paper.
Just next to the bath there was a restaurant serving buffet. Had lunch there. I guess it's named Hotel Pinnalanda.
Started for Kandy again. Reached the hotel, took some rest.
Had dinner at Cafe Aroma. Did some shopping at the nearby shops.

Day 3 - 8th April, Monday - Whirlwind tour of Kandy

Tooth temple
Kandy lake
View point
Botanical Garden
Lunch at Kandyan arts residency
Local market
Buddha statue
Rainforest - it's safe to go if you are a group of at least 4-5 people. I saw a wild boar inside which is a bit scary.
Dance show
Shopping in night.
Dinner at Senani Restaurant.
From my experience, Kandy is the best place to do shopping in Sri Lanka. Also known as its cultural capital. Here I saw a big number of women wearing a Sari(Saree).
Also Kandy is way more cooler(in temperature) than Negombo.

Day 4 - 9th April, Tuesday - Kandy to Nuwara Eliya

Did river rafting on the way, in Kithulgala
Lunch at the same place - The plantation hotel, Kithulgala
Ramboda Hanuman temple
Tea at Blue Field tea center - RamBoda
Reached our hotel - Manudi Glenfallsedge Rest
Dinner at The Grand Indian Restaurant, Nuwara Eliya
Nuwara Eliya was quite cold - here the hotel room had a heater as opposed to the AC in Negombo and Kandy.
Nuwara Eliya and Ella are 2 most beautiful and cool places in Sri Lanka.

Day 5 - 10th April, Wednesday - Nuwara Eliya to Ella

Took the famous train from Nuwara Eliya to Ella.
Had lunch at Cafe Chill in Ella.
Ella main market street is a very happening place. Good pubs and all. Foreigners buzzing around on rented 2 wheelers.
Took a bath in Ravana waterfalls.
Trekked to Little Adam's Peak.
Slept and dined in The Tea Tree Resort, Ella.

Day 6 - 11th April, Thursday - Ella to Mirissa