Sri Lanka - Wonder of Asia

Sri Lanka is truly - Wonder of Asia. This was my first trip to Sri Lanka and i had just 7 days to explore this bful country. I went with my 2 sisters and was a little apprehensive as it was an all girls trip and we were going to a new country. But to my surprise, people were extremely nice and helpful. We stayed in home stays in most of the places and that was one of the best decisions we took, we got to live with localities, eat with them and listen to their interesting stories. So me being an event manager by profession, i have this habit of making a detailed checklist and itinerary (and trust me it doesnt take away fun of travelling ,as a lot of people think). So when we landed in Sri Lanka and started speaking to locals,drives, travel agencies - we realized that our itinerary was a little too ambitious and we had to cut down few places and we were feeling terrible about it. I am writing below my itinerary with experience in this wonderful country : So we landed in Colombo around afternoon and we decided to relax that day in Negombo itself and we had booked a bful Home Stay called Henderson Lake view residence. It was away from the main city therefore was a very quite place. We met the host family , had lunch and left to see Negombo beach which was around 5 kms from there. It was a nice beach and luckily the sky was extraordinarily stunning and we could capture that in out pictures. We took a speed boat ride, ate some snacks and went to the nearby market. When we came back, we met a lot of tourists from various countries who were staying in the same home stay and we decided to spend the evening listening to their travel stories . Below are few pictures of Henderson Home stay and Negombo beach

Day 2 & 3 - next day early morning, after a wholesome breakfast - We left for Kandy. On the way to Kandy, we visited Millennial Elephant Orphanage and Spice plantations. Elephant orphanage was a really nice experience as not only did we get to feed the elephants but also to bathe them and take bath with them. It was quite fun to sit on elephant's back while they spray water on you. (i am an animal lovers and generally i am against making money on animal's expense but these elephants are raised and fed by the money which comes from the ticket money, its an orphanage for elephants). Spice plantation was an interesting tour as well but not extraordinary, i have been to spice plantation in Munnar and this was not much different from that. Kandy is set on a plateau surrounded by mountains, which are home to tea plantations and biodiverse rainforest. The city's heart is scenic Kandy Lake popular for strolling and very close to the main market with all big food chains and apparel brands (in case you plan to shop). We were staying in Kandy riverside home stay which was a huge house and the host family stays on the ground floor and give out whole of first floor to only one set of tourists. This floor has a huge living room with lots of books, TV , Sri Lanka travel guide, 2 bedrooms with 3 beds in total, a pretty balcony facing river with a dining table, one small kitchen with Oven and utensils and a small gym with 2-3 gym equipment. Family was really sweet and helpful, breakfast was really nice and we truly felt at home there. Its a little far from the main city therefore is away from the hustle bustle. We visited Temple of the tooth and Botanical Garden in Kandy, botanical garden is a must go - its huge and you need atleast 4-5 hours to see it. So that was Kandy for us and from there we left for Nuwara Eliya.

Day 4 - Nuwara Eliya Nuwara Eliya is the coldest place in Sri Lanka and i suppose the highest as well. If i have to define Nuwara Eliya in one line, it will be - Stirring mountains carpeted with lush green tea gardens, roaring waterfalls mingling with the clouds and landscapes shimmering in sunlight and disappearing under the rising mist. We did a lot of research before hand and found the most beautiful home stay ever - Heidi's home. Again very hospitable & sweet family and also a very creative one. The rooms of this home stay was painted by the lady of the family and this must be the greenest house i have seen, bful plants and flowers. View from the home stay was unbelievable and i was happy to know the hard work and research does pay off :) We roamed around the market place and enjoyed walking in this bful place, saw one of the waterfalls and various tea estates as well. All in all its a magnificent place with scenic beauty all around.

Day 5 & 6 - After breakfast and a short walk , we were headed to Bentota which is south western coastal belt of Sri Lanka. This was the only place where we stayed in hotel in Sri Lanka, we stayed in this hotel called Ypsylon resort which was a beach side hotel and we had a view of bful ocean right out of our window. Services of the hotel were quite sad but location made up for everything else. We literally had all our meals on the beach side. So our first day at Beruwala (where our hotel was located) was all about relaxing beach side, enjoying sun and taking dips in the ocean. On Day 2 we left for Hikkaduwa beach, which is one of the best beaches in Sri Lanka and is famous for snorkeling and diving. This beach did live upto its expectations. We did snorkeling and saw various fishes and a huge turtle as well, clarity of the water wasn't at its best due to rains but i would recommend this to everyone. In fact if possible, go for diving instead of snorkeling as you get to see a whole new world when you dive deep. Another highlight of Bentota is the ride on Madu River, its around an hour and a half ride where you cross various mangroves and small islands. You can go for fish spa in one of the small islands and also see how they make cinnamon and buy it as well. It's a good activity, not must do but good to do. Besides these, we went to turtle hatchery an saw 2 days old turtles and around 20 different varieties of tortoise and turtles. We ended our Bentota trip with few water sports at Backwater which were quite enjoyable.

Day 7 - We had a late night flight to catch on day 7 and had a whole day to ourself but no place to stay so we had a lazy breakfast and left almost at afternoon from Bentota . Had our late lunch in Colombo and planned to check out markets and malls to buy souvenirs for friends and families. After checking out 3-4 malls , we finally got the perfect place - House of Fashion. Its a huge mall with not just souvenirs but everything possible and that too at much lesser rates than India so we spent some 3 hours there, had dinner and headed to the airport. One thing i know after this trip is that i am definitely going back to Sri Lanka for more, still to see Archaeological marvel of Sigiriya, Architecture of Pollu Nuwara, Dutch-colonial buildings of Galle and many more !

GET BUSY TRAVELING IN 2016:

GET BUSY TRAVELING IN 2016:

On the first of January, I sat down to plan my trips for 2016 and also to figure out how I can travel more than last year, this year. The two main issues I had to figure out were- a) how I will take so many holidays from office and b) how I will manage all these trips in a limited budget.

So, I badgered my brain for a while to find the solution to both my problems and I hope this will also help you travel more in 2016 :

There are a lot of long weekends in 2016 so combine your holidays with festivals or weekends and make the most out of them. I have put down a list of all the long weekends and possible destinations you could travel to:

REPUBLIC DAY

26^th January is a Tuesday. Take an off on Monday and enjoy a nice 4 day vacation. If you like winters and would like to see some snow you can pick up your car and head north to places like Manali, Tosh and Dharamshala or you can choose an entirely different terrain and experience watching the sunset on the sand dunes of Jaisalmer.

Recommended Places -  Manali, Tosh, Dharamshala, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer

LONG WEEKEND IN MARCH

Holi is on Wednesday, 23^rd March and 25^th March is Good Friday. Take just 3 days off from work and enjoy a long 9 day vacation! This will spare you the guilt of asking for too many leaves and still enjoy a much awaited break.

The next question is where to go? Now that completely depends upon your budget. I prefer to use this kind of vacation for an international (but pocket friendly) destination. One thing to keep in mind while picking an international location is to pick countries where the currency value is less than or same as INR. On that basis that I would recommend following places which you can cover within Rs 50000:

Maldives – Though the common perception about Maldives is that it’s an exotic location with all the luxury offered by the resorts that makes for a perfect dream vacation. However you can also visit the country on budget as a lot of guest houses have surfaced in most of the habitable islands at a reasonable price. If you book right now, tickets for March won’t cost you more than Rs. 20000 and if you don’t mind staying in budget resorts you can easily do this trip within 50k – 55k per person (7days) and that too including snorkeling and scuba diving.

Though the value of the currency is not lesser than INR, you can still do it in this budget if you plan well.

Currency - 1 Maldivian Rufiyaa = 4.35 INR

Sri Lanka – It is truly a wonder of Asia & offers various things from historic and cultural places to adventure sports to mesmerizing beaches to casinos to wildlife. So you can choose places depending on your interests.

If you book right now, a flight ticket will cost you between 18k and 20k and a 7 day trip can be done in 35-40k. One suggestion for people planning a trip to Sri Lanka is to not waste money on fancy hotels. Sri Lanka offers beautiful homestays and you can save a lot of money. Also ask for the SAARC country discount at all attraction points.

Currency - 1 INR = 2 Sri Lankan Rupee

Thailand – You can take a flight to Bangkok and explore Pattaya and Phuket. If you can stretch your budget a little do visit beautiful islands  like Ko tao, Ko Pha Nagn, Koh Samui and Krabi or explore a city like Chaing mai . Try taking public transportation instead of a flight and if you are in a big group, hire a car. Flight cost for March is around Rs. 20000.

Currency – 1 INR = 1.8 Thai Baht

Vietnam – If you plan in advance you can get flight tickets within Rs. 25000 and stay and food is not very expensive. This is an unexplored place which is a must visit.Astoundingly exotic and absolutely compelling, Vietnam is a country of spectacular natural beauty with a distinctive heritage, where travel quickly becomes addictive.

Currency – 1 INR = 336 Vietnamese Dong

Bhutan – For Bhutan, the most difficult part is to book flight tickets as only a couple of airlines fly to Bhutan. There is a chance that you might have to take a package as it’s difficult to get cheap flights to Bhutan. If you don’t want to take a package, another way of going to Bhutan is by road via Sikkim.

Overall Trip Cost - 40-50 k

Dubai – I am more of a nature lover so I choose destinations accordingly but if you want to see a lot of man-made wonders you can go to Dubai and enjoy the various shopping festivals and relish looking at The Burj khalifa and many other sky scrapers. Also, as the tourist season ends in April, you can get really good deals on hotels and flights.

If you book right now, a return flight will cost Rs. 18000 from Delhi.

There are many other places like Kuala Lampur, Hong Kong etc. and if you have a higher budget then you can explore places like Indonesia, South Korea, Hungary, Belarus, Costa Rica etc. Currency in all these places is same or lower than ours.

You can totally explore beautiful places within India as well. The only reason I feel we should take at least one international vacation is because it’s a totally different experience to witness other cultures.

MAHAVIR JAYANTI - 19TH APRIL, TUESDAY

Sacrifice work on Monday and tick off one more location from your bucket list.

Places Recommended – Mukteshwar, Nainital, Puskhar

INDEPENDENCE - DAY 15TH AUGUST, MONDAY

Take a break from your busy life and go for a quick getaway. You can go to Gwalior, Sariska, Mussourie or Dhanaulti.

Such road trips don’t cost more than 5-7 k and if you go in bigger group it will be even cheaper.

GANESH CHATURTHI – 5TH SEPTEMBER, MONDAY

Explore one more location out of options given above during this long weekend

Places Recommended – Agra & Bharatpur (best time to visit the bird sanctuary), Shimla/Mashobra

DUSSHERA – 11TH OCT, TUESDAY

Take an off on Monday and enjoy one more hassle free 4 day weekend away from the hustle bustle of city and work life.

Places Recommended – Haridwar/Rishikesh, Landsdowne, Jaipur

DIWALI & BHAI DOOJ WEEKEND – 28^TH OCT TO 2^ND NOV

I know most of us like to spend time with family and friends during the festive season. But another good idea is to travel with family at this time as everyone is free during Diwali. Use this time to bond with your family in the middle of the Jaisalmer desert or the Parvati valley.

CHRISTMAS BREAK
A lot of people working for MNC's get a week off for Christmas, do make good use of these holidays and explore a new country, a new state or a city.
Make these holidays an unforgettable one !

See how I made it all work out!! Just by taking 6 holidays in the whole year you can visit 7 different places (pat on my back)

Besides these, you will of course take your annual leave and go for one long 10-15 day vacation to South India, Northeast, Goa, Leh/Ladakh or if your budget allows, you can cover another international destination.

Last but not the least, the key to travel more is to not leave any opportunity that can be used to travel. So make the most of your vacations and start keeping a fund to save money to travel. Buy Experiences , Not things.

"Our experiences are a bigger part of ourselves than our material goods," says Gilovich. "You can really like your material stuff. You can even think that part of your identity is connected to those things, but nonetheless they remain separate from you. In contrast, your experiences really are part of you. We are the sum total of our experiences."