The amount of work that goes into planning a trip to an unknown place can be exhaustive if you don't keep the objective in mind. Honestly, I enjoyed the organizing part of it. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, it sure is mine!
From the places we checked online, my cousin and I found that certain places are overrated or simply commercial. For obvious reasons, we did not want to visit such places unless they were extraordinary, which they rarely were.
We made schedules. Not one, not two, but many; refining and fine-tuning at each new piece of information or new reviews that we read. We printed out copies of the map of Sri Lanka. It provided an invaluable guide to us. It felt more like a Geography project for school, a very intense school geography project. There have been many additions, deletions and there still are. We doubt that we'll be able to rest till we see how actually awesome that places we planned tun out.
I feel anxious about the trip. New places, new food, unknown situations. If it were a trip with my friends or people of our age group, I wouldn't mind so much. Since its a family trip with parents and elders involved, I want to ensure the trip does not have a problem. But there will be problems. Lots of them. If we can handle them without upsetting the holiday mood, it's enough.
The places. Hm. There are so many things to see and do in Sri Lanka. It is lined with beaches along the coast, more than we can count. The trick was to filter out what we didn't want to see or do.
The one main thing we understood to keep in mind is the season and weather. Apparently, Sri Lanka faces two kinds of monsoons:
Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/sri-lanka/weather#ixzz3vyW7eeCG
From the places we checked online, my cousin and I found that certain places are overrated or simply commercial. For obvious reasons, we did not want to visit such places unless they were extraordinary, which they rarely were.
We made schedules. Not one, not two, but many; refining and fine-tuning at each new piece of information or new reviews that we read. We printed out copies of the map of Sri Lanka. It provided an invaluable guide to us. It felt more like a Geography project for school, a very intense school geography project. There have been many additions, deletions and there still are. We doubt that we'll be able to rest till we see how actually awesome that places we planned tun out.
I feel anxious about the trip. New places, new food, unknown situations. If it were a trip with my friends or people of our age group, I wouldn't mind so much. Since its a family trip with parents and elders involved, I want to ensure the trip does not have a problem. But there will be problems. Lots of them. If we can handle them without upsetting the holiday mood, it's enough.
The places. Hm. There are so many things to see and do in Sri Lanka. It is lined with beaches along the coast, more than we can count. The trick was to filter out what we didn't want to see or do.
The one main thing we understood to keep in mind is the season and weather. Apparently, Sri Lanka faces two kinds of monsoons:
Low Season (May–Aug)
The Yala monsoon season (May to August) brings rain to the south and west coasts plus the Hill Country. The weather in the North and East is best. Prices nationwide are at their nadir.
Shoulder (Apr & Sep–Nov)
April and September offer the best odds for good weather countrywide. New Year’s celebrations in mid-April cause transport to fill beyond capacity. A good time to wander without a set schedule of bookings.
High Season (Dec–Mar)
The Hill Country plus west- and south-coast beaches are busiest – and driest. With beds in demand, prices peak. The Maha monsoon season (October to January) keeps the East, North and Ancient Cities wet.
Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/sri-lanka/weather#ixzz3vyW7eeCG
Our trip was scheduled in January, which meant that the East coast would be wet.
Popular site seeing in East Coast include: Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Yala National Park.
We forwent these places for the sunnier West Coast: Colombo, Bentota, Galle, Matara, Negombo, Puttalam, Wilpattu National Park.
Places of interest in the Central Province: Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Sigiriya, Anuradhapura
The Northern tip has Jaffna and Mannar: we didn't bother with the North since we had a limited time of 5 days and much to cover just in the West and Central Province.
The places we considered in the beginning (aka, the popularized places of Sri Lanka):
Colombo
Bentota
Hikkaduwa beach
Galle
Mirissa beach
Adam's peak
Kandy
Nuwara Eliya
Sigiriya
Yala National Park (despite the rains, the blogs said we could get a fair sighting)
Wilpattu National Park
A helluva lot of research later, our choices sharpened. The winners were:
Mirissa beach (whale watching, scuba diving and other adventure sports)
Koggala beach (apparently pristine, sort of secluded bay that comes inland)
Pohlena beach (for snorkelling and scuba in case we didn't find good ones at Mirissa)
World's End Peak, Nuwara Eliya (for reviews of its breathtaking view on top)
One of the many waterfalls around Nuwara Eliya
Dambulla (Golden Cave temple)
Pidurangala Rock (Cheaper than Sigiriya, but a harder climb)
Mihintale
Kalu Diya Pokuna
Wilpattu Safari
We had to keep in mind the 3 elders of our group who wouldn't want heavy trekking and definitely not climbing. We had to keep in mind to keep the schedule light with lots of sleeve for rest and inevitable delays. We also had to take into account distances and time taken to travel. We had initially planned to take public transport, but relented when we found that they were very slow and unpredictable. A sure way to waste precious time abroad.
Schedules, details of places to visit and other info in the next post.
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