Southern Sri Lanka

In October 2019 Sri Lanka was the first stop on a multi-county holiday. We spent 5 days in Weligama (3.5 hours drive south of Colombo) before flying to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with lots to explore so I can't wait to visit again! October is still during the rainy season but we luckily weren't caught out in any terrible downpours. We travelled with my cousin's children (age 4 and 6) so this plan is child friendly too!

We stayed at the Weligama Bay Resort which has direct access to the beach. As we went during off-peak season the hotel felt like it was empty for the first few days. Mid-week there were more people around but it was still a very peaceful place to stay. There is a limited menu if you were to eat a lot of meals at the hotel restaurant. Due to this we chose to visit the Marriott hotel next-door towards the end of our stay and the food choice was great! You can either order from the menu or make use of the extensive dinner buffet (7pm onwards).

The plan below highlights what we did on our 4 full days.

Day 1

As there were 9 of us in total, my cousin arranged a minivan to take us around. This was done through one of the tuk tuk drivers outside the hotel. We made a day trip to Galle to see the Fort. On route we made two stops:

• Koggala Sea Turtle Conservation Project: 500 rupee entry cost (~£2). I love sea turtles so was excited to visit this project. I have mixed feelings about the work they do. They have injured sea turtles in relatively small tanks, they give you the information about each type of turtle and the treatment plan they have in place. A lot are waiting for prosthetic fins to be sent from other countries which I can only assume is a long process. A lot of the injuries come from plastics in the ocean. They also rescue the eggs from the beach to prevent them being destroyed. They let people come for the releasing if its the right timing. It is great work they are doing, but the living conditions for the turtles aren't the best. The link on the name is to the trip advisor reviews so see what you think!

• Stilt Fisherman: I can't remember exactly where this was but our driver stopped here on route to Galle. We had been wanting to see the traditional stilt fishermen in action so this was perfect. When we stopped you could tell this was designed more for tourists but it was a great experience. They helped each of us up onto the fisherman poles for photos, even handed us a rod with a fish on. Before leaving you give them a small amount of money for their help (my cousin sorted this but I'm sure its not more than a few pounds)

In Galle we were dropped off by the Old Dutch Hospital (shops not an actual hospital!). We walked down the coast to the Lighthouse and then onwards to Flag Rock Bastion. We then took a route inland walking past the Sri Sudharmalaya Buddhist Temple to the Fort Clock Tower. My cousin had the Lonely Planet Sri Lanka book so our walking route was inspired by this - their route is 3 hours long, due to the heat we cut some of it out!

After our walk, we stopped for lunch at the Sugar Bistro back in the Old Dutch Hospital shopping area. We then headed back to the hotel (great time for kids to nap during the drive) to relax.

Day 2

We went to the elephant safari at Udawalawe National Park. I originally wanted to do the afternoon one so that I could sleep! After talking to our driver we decided to do the early morning safari as the weather is cooler and I am so glad we did! We had to leave by 4am as its about 2.5 hours drive. This is best arranged through a driver as they know the typical packages tourists want so have connections to jeep drivers etc. Our hotel only offered a package price to get you to and from the park, with jeep and entry costs to be paid directly there. Our drop off point to get the jeep had a small restaurant which we stopped at after the safari before heading back to the hotel.

The safari was an amazing experience, made better by the cool breeze from being there early in the morning. As well as the many elephants we also saw monkeys, peacocks, mongoose, water buffalo and chameleons. The safari drivers have such an eye for spotting the smallest thing out of the corner of their eye and stopping to show you.

After having a snack we made the long drive back to the hotel to relax for a few hours before heading out via tuk tuk to the Mirissa beach area which was a short distance away. We wanted to visit Coconut Tree Hill for sunset which was beautiful. I would advise taking a tuk tuk here as its only a short climb up the mud hill from where they drop you (however, this would be difficult after rain). You can access the hill from the beach below but the climb up looks quite dangerous especially if you are wearing flip flops! We then went to Palm Villa Mirissa which has a pretty peacock painted on the side of the building before heading back.

It was this night we visited the Marriott Hotel for dinner. At the time, the buffet was ~£12.50 to access all areas or £7.50 for one zone (e.g Western, Sri Lankan, Indian, Asian etc).

Day 3

We took a bike tour through the rice paddies with Idle Bikes. We went with the shortest option of 'The Paddy Trail' which is a 12km ride through the fields. They have bike seats for younger children and smaller bikes, fitted my cousin's 6 year old but were too big for her 4 year old. There is a stop just over halfway for fresh coconut water. They say to allow 1.5 hours but our tour took 2.5 hours! The cost was 3600 rupees (£15) each, 1800 (£7.50) for children. If you have anyone in your group that can't ride a bike, they can follow behind in the Idle Bikes tuk tuk (1800 rupees each).

After this we headed back to the hotel and had a relaxing afternoon by the pool. In the evening we celebrated my cousins birthday.

Day 4

We headed to Colombo to be closer to the airport for our early morning flight the next day. The drive was another 3.5 hours to our hotel, Fairway Colombo. This was a great hotel to see the city due to central location but we were there on a Friday night and there was very loud music playing until the early hours of the morning. There is a great foodcourt type area attached to the hotel, good choice to suit different tastes.

We hired some tuk tuks for a few hours to see the main sights. They took us to a place for lunch, some markets and the lighthouse. However, as we were tourists they kept stopping at jewellery shops along the way as they must have a commission deal. We only had an afternoon in Colombo so this was a good way to get a feel for the city.

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The next morning we headed back to the airport for our 7am flight to Kuala Lumpur.