{"id":923,"date":"2021-10-11T05:18:53","date_gmt":"2021-10-11T05:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.creaadesign.com\/somdutta_dy\/somdutta_blog\/?p=923"},"modified":"2021-10-11T05:18:55","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T05:18:55","slug":"sri-lanka-in-7-days-under-inr-20000-solo-trip-from-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/somduttasarkar.com\/blog\/sri-lanka-in-7-days-under-inr-20000-solo-trip-from-india\/","title":{"rendered":"SRI LANKA IN 7 DAYS UNDER INR 20,000. SOLO TRIP FROM INDIA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Tear drop shaped island country, one of the nearest neighbors of India \u2013 Sri Lanka holds the same historical relation with India in context of Ramayana. Covering Sri Lanka in 7 days under INR 20,000, that too Solo trip from India needed a bit of planning. Although in size it is smaller than a state of India, Sri Lanka has diverse flora and fauna, food and culture. The innumerable National Parks, beaches and hills make its an ideal holiday destination for people across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caution \u2013 Long post ahead <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started from Mumbai on a Friday and reached Sri Lanka on Saturday. It is not much of a distance but my layover was for around 4 to 6 hours at Chennai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 1:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Colombo \u2013 Negombo<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Since I reached in the morning, I had booked a homestay at House of Le Meridien<\/a> at Negombo through Booking.com<\/a>. The distance was very close to the airport, hardly 30 mins. Traveling to short distances is really cheap using the cab services like Uber and PickMe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Colombo city can be visited in a day and you may spend sometime by the ocean near all the big hotel chains. Especially in the evening the Ocean line looks beautiful!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lots of sea food available anywhere that you travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire country is surrounded by water on all sides hence, there are some good places for beach lovers. To name a few- Mirissa <\/a>beach on the south, Trincomali <\/a>on the east, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since I have seen lots of beaches, this time planned to explore something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 2:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Sigiriya-Habarana<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Traveling is cheap by local transport across the country, but it is quite time consuming. I took a bus from Negombo to Dambulla (there are AC and non AC buses, both with reasonable cost Ask the locals\/ at the bus station about the AC buses if you want to travel in that). And from Dambulla to Habarana another bus (here only non AC buses).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accommodation : Jungle Paradise<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would especially like to mention about the accommodation here. All nature lovers would love this place! It is simply amazing! There is a tree house, mud house, camping. All in the lap of nature. Everything there is eco-friendly\u2026in literal sense! The electricity is generated through the owner, Rukmal\u2019s personal solar panel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The food, stay everything will give you an authentic experience about how we should treat and respect Mother Nature. He is an amazing person who would help you in deciding your further journey and also might accompany for an adventure trip!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A special memory <\/em>\u2013 Since I didnot have any company for Minneriya National Park<\/a> where I wanted to see the \u2018gathering<\/a>\u2018 of Elephant herd, it was too costly for me to have the Safari alone and most importantly I wanted to see Elephants in a natural way. Hence decided to go on a real raw adventure\u2026at night, in the jungle!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rukmal has his tuk tuk(auto vehicle)<\/em>. Around 9:30 pm we decided to go in the middle of the jungle (this accommodation is just beside another small National Park) to see Elephants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next moment, we found ourselves in the pitch dark path of the Jungle with just a torch to spot Elephants <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within 5 minutes, the 1st small Elephant family was spotted \u2013 2 big and one small kid. As soon as we were looking at them for around 30 seconds, the largest Elephant among them started to move towards us! Next micro second, we vanished from there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within next 2 minutes, we spotted another single Elephant who was waiting like a gentleman just on the footpath to cross the road. We waited in front of it just hardly 5 metres away until it smoothly crossed the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next within another 5 mins, we spotted two Elephants together. We paused, they paused. We moved, they moved. It was as if we were playing \u2018copy-me\u2019 game  Next second, one of them started to advance towards us and again we ran from there within a micro second!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final Elephant we spotted was a bit scared of us it seemed. It moved away instead of coming towards us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We could get this experience just within a few metres at night without any guide or restriction. We just saw them and came back! It was a great feeling and experience! Not disturbing or using Elephants as in Safari and getting the real experience of simply watching them in their natural behavior is something I was looking for, and see\u2026got it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Day 3:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ritigala-Pink Quartz- Sigiriya- Pidurangala<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

There are some places in Sri Lanka which are extremely famous tourist spots and you will find those everywhere on the internet and most of the people visit only those. Due to this the entry of foreigners to these specific tourist spots are extremely expensive!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are certain places where only a handful of travelers go and explore. I did that. These have equal importance and significance in history and are some of the most beautiful and adventurous places you can go for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ritigala<\/strong> \u2013 It is believed that it is one of the places where parts of the Himalayan mountain fell while Hanuman<\/em> was carrying it to cure Laxman<\/em>, as per Ramayana. It is the ruins of an ancient monastery with beautiful ambiance and environment. It has around 70 rock caves that were believed to had been inhabited since first century B.C.!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the many caves in Ritigala<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A portion of the ruins of the Buddhist Monastery<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pink Quartz<\/strong> \u2013 This hill range is entirely made of pink quartz! The view from the top is mindblowing! You have got to visit this place once you are near Habarana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pink Quartz<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sigiriya<\/strong> \u2013 The famous Lion Rock of Sri Lanka. Famous for its giant structure and the ruins of ancient rock fortress at the top of it. It was formed from the magma of an extinct volcano. The entry fee here is approx INR 5000<\/strong>! Yes, it\u2019s pretty expensive!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Lion Rock \u2013 Sigiriya<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pidurangala<\/strong> \u2013 Climbing to Sigiriya and Pidurangala are different experiences and cannot be compared. But when I was climbing Pidurangala, the Nature was at its best! Just near the top, the incoming black clouds of the monsoon engulfing the entire green stretch in front was a mesmerizing beauty! Waited near the giant sleeping Buddha structure for around 45 mins for the heavy rain to stop so that I can climb the top of Pidurangala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Giant Buddha @ Pidurangala<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sigiriya \u2013 Pidurangala<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trust me, you HAVE to climb to the top, the view is speechless! And not to forget, the \u2018climbing\u2019 part is more than a trek, you literally need to climb like a monkey! It\u2019s way to adventurous. Wear a good grip shoe so as not to slip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A view from the top of Pidurangala \u2013 The engulfing monsoon clouds pacing towards us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 4:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Kandy<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Next day the journey from Habarana to Kandy took around 3 hours in bus. In Kandy stayed at a place near the Kandy Lake. Reached around 11 am, freshened up and went to see Temple of The Tooth. The entry for Indians or in general foreigners is INR 1000. Yes it\u2019s comparatively expensive again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a Buddhist temple with houses the relic of the tooth of Buddha. It\u2019s nice inside. But personally I felt it is not worth INR 1000<\/strong> to visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that had lunch at . In the evening roamed around the market. There are lots of beautiful flower shops. You may buy local stuffs but see to it which are local and which are imported as lots of things are imported from Chennai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 5:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ella<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Now when it comes to traveling to Ella from Kandy, 99.9% people would tell you to take the train from Kandy Station. It is known as the most picturesque train ride. And yes it is! The train ride took around 6 hours! Yes, traveling takes a lot of time in Sri Lanka as compared to the given distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A view from the Train window during the journey<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few tips for the train ride:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n