Welcome back to our Sri Lanka Travel Guide!
If you haven’t ready Week 1, Click HERE!
Just a heads up…
We ONLY stayed in private double rooms with an ensuite, so the accommodation prices are for those rooms
When we were in Sri Lanka it was £1 to 240 Sri Lankan Rupee
Week TWO consisted of Mirissa, Madiha & Udawalawa
- Day 9 – 10 Mirissa
- Day 11 – 12 Madiha
- Day 13 – 14 Udawalawa
DAY 9-10: Mirissa (2 nights)
Transportation:
Bus
– Welligama to Mirissa is about 10 minutes
Tutktuk
– From Welligama to Mirissa, it will cost around 250 Rupees.
Accommodation
Pros: Fast wifi (perfect for booking our next few nights of hotels), large room & across the road from the beach
Cons: A little pricier than our usual stay, however we really appreciated the luxury of a nicer hotel.
Price: 25 GPB/Night
Favourite Eateries:
Breakie:
Shady Lane ($) Quite possibly the BEST smoothie bowl I had in Sri Lanka
Lunch
Roti Big Belly ($) Awesome cheap lunch of Roti & Kottu!
Things to do:
Coconut Hill: It’s one of the most iconic photo spots in Sri Lanka & if you arrive anytime before 8am, it was be deserted! We watched sunrise surfers out on the water & enjoyed a beautiful morning perched on the hill.
Relax with Cocktails: We sat at a few beach bars along the sand & it was really relaxing!
Ben’s friends from home were in a town not too far from Mirissa, so on our full day there, we saw them! After a spot of lunch on the beach, we heading to Midigama with them for cocktails & dinner at a local Surf Camp. Due to this, we didn’t spend too much time in Mirissa. We had heard it was the ultimate Beach Party destination, however we weren’t fussed about the parties!
DAY 11 – 12 Madiha (2 nights)
Transportation:
From Mirissa, we took a Tuktuk & paid 500 Rupees. The bus route doesn’t go along this section of the beach & we didn’t fancy the 3km walk with our backpacks.
Accommodation:
(2 Nights)
Pros: Beautiful layout & great outdoor area for the guests to have breakfast or play backgammon at night.
Cons: We totally forgot to book a room with A/C & it was seriously warm at night! The bathroom doesn’t have a normal open & close window, so there several ants in the bathroom. Nothing too hectic though!
We would definitely stay here again and choose an A/C room!
Price: 25 GPB/Night
Favourite Eateries:
Breakie:
Sea Life: ($) Smoothie Bowl! Ben also had the Avo Toast & said it was delish!
We ate here both mornings!
Lunch:
The Mint ($) Great beach front restaurant for local curry & kottu. If you eat there, you are able to use the sun beds free of charge for the entire day.
Dinner:
The Doctors House ($$) Try their Cape Town Pizza – you will NOT be disappointed!! *4-6 is their happy hour!
Things to do:
Snorkelling at Polhena Beach: One of our main reasons for visiting Madiha was to see turtles. They are known to swim around Polhena Beach & we headed there as soon as we checked in. A quick walk from the hotel, we found ourselves diving into the water searching for turtles. Ben is the master of spotting sealife & he found THREE TURTLES!! I couldn’t believe I was swimming with such beautiful creatures. Theses turtles were all over a metre in size & I felt incredibly lucky to be swimming with them in their natural habitat.The
Doctors House: This hostel is known for its Saturday night parties & weekend markets. We went mid week, and it was still busy with families, backpackers & local expats. They have a brilliant outdoor space with loads of couches to relax on while watching the sunset & have a great playlist of Aussie/Kiwi artists.
DAY 13-14 Udawalawa
*The main hot spot for Safaris in Sri Lanka is Yalla & we had heard it was really busy inside the park. We did a little research & Udawalawa popped up as a great option!
Transportation:
Tuktuk & Bus: (3 Hours)
Tuktuk to Matara from the Sea Life Hotel
Bus from:
Matara to Embilipitiya
Embilipitiya to Udawalawa
Tuktuk to Le Green Hotel (400 Rupees)
Accommodation:
(2 Nights)
Pros: Everything is at your finger tips! The restaurant has an extensive menu, the pool is beautiful & they organize EVERYTHING for you!
Cons: Since the hotel is so close to the National Park, there isn’t an abundance of things to do within walking distance.
Price: 35 GPB/Night
Favourite Eateries:
We ate every meal at the hotel during our stay. With being quite far from other options & going on several safaris, it was really lovely to just stay put & eat at the hotel.
Things to do:
SAFARI: We did two safaris through Le Green. The first Safari was a 3 hour afternoons safari & the second started at 5:30am and ran for 5 hours. Upon arriving at the hotel, they had a Safari Truck ready for us just in case we wanted to go right away. The total cost of the Safari, including entrance tickets, private jeep, driver & guide was 53.00 GBP. They also included a lovely breakfast that we enjoyed on the top of a rock overlooking the elephants in the below canyon. It was seriously MAGICAL.
Elephant Transit Center: If you are in the area, make sure you spend an hour at this centre for orphaned Elephants. You aren’t allowed to go near the Elephants & have to follow strict rules to stay in a viewing area. The reason behind this is that all Elephants are going to be released into the neighbouring National Park & they need to be kept as wild as possible. Since this home has a lot of young orphaned babies, they are all fed through huge bottles which happens 3 times a day. I was freaking out to be honest, the baby ellies were just SO cute, leaping around just before feeding time.
Planning a trip to Sri Lanka? Part 3, our final week will be posted next week to help you organize a brilliant holiday!!
Big hugs,
Gem
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