Sri Lanka in 14 Days: Ancient Cities, Tea Country and Yala by Private Driver
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In June 2023, my wife and I spent 14 days going around Sri Lanka, and it was our first big trip together.
We planned a 2-week loop of the island, then booked a car and an English-speaking driver-guide to take us round it, with the train seats reserved in advance.
So how did the plan hold up on the ground? Mostly, it held. Nearly every stop on the plan is a pin on my visited map.
Why Sri Lanka?
Sri Lanka is about the size of Ireland, a short flight from Singapore, and it packs ancient cities, tea hills, rainforest, beaches and national parks into a loop you can drive in 2 weeks. Do note that June is the southwest monsoon. On the coast that means 26 to 30 degrees in the day, the hill country sits at a cool 14 to 22, and short afternoon showers are common.
The ancient cities: what is worth the heat?
We landed in Negombo, near the airport, and drove north to Anuradhapura, the island’s first great capital. The Sri Maha Bodhi is a fig tree grown from a cutting of the tree the Buddha sat under, and it has been tended there for over 2,000 years. Nearby Mihintale is the hill where Buddhism is said to have arrived in Sri Lanka.
From there we went to Minneriya for an elephant safari. In the dry months, herds gather around the old reservoir there to feed on the grass, and it is one of the largest gatherings of Asian elephants anywhere.
Then Polonnaruwa, the later medieval capital, and the Dambulla cave temples, where the rock is painted and lined with Buddha statues.
Sigiriya or Pidurangala?
Both, if you can. Sigiriya is the famous one, a 5th-century palace built on top of a rock that rises about 200 metres out of the plain. Pidurangala is the rock next door, and it is the one you climb for the view of Sigiriya itself. We went to both.
Kandy and the tea country
On the way to Kandy we stopped at a spice garden, then spent a night in Kandy, by the lake. Kandy’s big sight is the Temple of the Tooth, which holds what is believed to be a tooth of the Buddha. We also walked the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya.
From Kandy, the road climbs into tea country. We had lunch at Chill Ramboda on the way up, with a waterfall view, and then Nuwara Eliya, the old British hill station that people still call “Little England”. We visited the tea plantations, sat in a tea lounge in the middle of the estates, and had English high tea at The Grand Hotel.
We also walked Horton Plains, a high plateau that ends at a cliff called World’s End, with Baker’s Falls along the trail.
Ella: what is there to do?
In Ella we walked to the Nine Arches Bridge, a stone railway bridge in the middle of the jungle, climbed Little Adam’s Peak, looked across at Ella Rock, and went down the Flying Ravana zipline. We ate at Higher Ground, a treehouse cafe.
Yala: leopard country
Yala National Park is known for having one of the highest densities of leopards in the world, and we stayed at a lodge right on the park’s edge.
The south coast and Colombo
The last few days were on the south coast. We stayed at Mirissa, climbed Coconut Tree Hill, the palm-topped headland that is on every Sri Lanka Instagram feed, and spent time on Unawatuna Beach. We stopped at a sea turtle hatchery and walked the walls of Galle Fort, the old Dutch fort town.
We ended in Colombo, at the Gangaramaya Temple, the Lotus Tower and Galle Face Green, the seafront where the street food comes out in the evening.
How did the trading fit in?
The same way it always does, in about 15 minutes a day. Sri Lanka is 2.5 hours behind Singapore, which barely moves the routine.
That routine is what lets a 2-week trip run without the markets running the trip. I wrote up how it works, the watchlist, the alerts and the time zones, in how I trade while travelling.
What would I tell a friend?
If you are planning Sri Lanka, here are three things. Hire a car and a driver-guide for the loop, because the distances are short on the map and slow on the road. Do Pidurangala for the view and Sigiriya for the history. And give Ella at least 2 nights.
Have you been to Sri Lanka? Which would you pick first, the ancient cities, the tea country or the coast? Let me know in the comments.
All my other trips are on the travel log, country by country, and more photos from this one are on Instagram, @iamrecneps.
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