Sri Lanka - late July & early August

grahamor

Hi, We are thinking of having out honeymoon in Sri Lanka at the end of July for about 10 days. I've read that the weather in the east would be good at this time of year while the west less so.

We are looking for something more than just lounging on a beach all day such as culture, adventure and great food. A good atmosphere and a bit of nightlife would be nice too. I've heard the east is quieter than the west.

Any info greatly appreciated

keithclancy

Depends on how adventurous you are feeling

We rented a self drive jeep and ended up travelling around 1100 kilometers over 10 days last year

http://www.lankaholidays.com/rent-a-car-van/car-hire_details-13197.html

We took the Mitsubishi Military Jeep .. driving there is fine, most of the roads are very good (much better than many roads in Ireland)



The guy who owns the rental place can plan out an itinerary for you, was very good and its not like renting here, any damage isn't really counted, we knocked and indicator off the jeep and it cost around 4 euros i think.

You just need that International Driving License you can get from the AA (Its just a translation of your driving license) and you need to get it stamped in the AA In Ceylon as well, the rental guy will do this for a fee, not really sure how necessary it was but we did it anyway.

You can also drive through the national parks and see some amazing wildlife, for the safari parks you need a guide who will sit in the back of your jeep, but its much better and cheaper than going with the safari jeeps that are there.

One thing I would say is get Travel Insurance, its worth it, I stepped into a hole on a street and ended up taking a big chunk out of the front of my leg.

Its was on the last day so wasn't that big of a deal ! But its a lesson to carry a torch with you when walking as many streets have no lighting

On the Temples, to be honest I think doing it again I would only bother seeing 1 or 2 temples and it would be enough, if you do go then wear jeans/trousers or bring a shawl to cover below the knee, they'll make you rent one before you go in, bring bag too so you can stick your flip flops in it otherwise someone might take the wrong ones/rob them (they charge for minding your shows as well)

The benefit with driving yourself is that after speaking to people they were sick of being hassled with people selling crap, we only had this experience once mainly because we didn't stop/park where the tourists went and went/stopped wherever we liked

I also heard when you have a driver it can get a bit awkward as he will want to bring you to certain places he has arrangements.

ardmacha

keithclancy wrote: »

We took the Mitsubishi Military Jeep .. driving there is fine, most of the roads are very good (much better than many roads in Ireland)

I also heard when you have a driver it can get a bit awkward as he will want to bring you to certain places he has arrangements.

Oh yeah. Make clear that a significant tip at the end of the trip is in prospect if you decide where to go and not him,

killbillvol2

I travelled on public transport - some lovely train journeys for buttons. The overcrowded, speeding buses were one of the highlights of the trip for me but I wouldn't think they'd be part of a honeymoon itinerary!

The people are very friendly and there's not a lot of hassle from touts or beggars compared to a lot of places I've been.

The food is a mixed bag - very limited choice in some rural places and some top class restaurants in Colombo in particular.

I was there in July and stayed mainly to the east/north because of the weather but the weather in the west was OK that year so it's not 100% predictable.

There's a lot to see and do but I didn't find it particularly exciting at night.