Want to just see the good stuff? Here’s a guide to What I Ate in Sri Lanka.
Arrival in Columbo:
May is chock full of public holidays here in Thailand this year and I had Friday May 20th off for Buddha Purnima – Buddha’s birthday, enlightenment day, and death day. Conveniently, one of my oldest friends was visiting his native country of Sri Lanka, so Thursday night I headed to the airport for a flight to Colombo. When landing in a new country my M.O. is to hit the ATM to get some local currency and then find a SIM card for connectivity, but my friend convinced me not to worry about it and we headed for his car. We drove to his childhood home in the suburbs of Colombo and promptly went to sleep in order to get an early start in the morning.
Day 1, Friday:
We woke up, got ready, and went downstairs where a traditional Sri Lankan breakfast of roti (coconut cakes), sambol (chili paste), and fresh fruit was waiting for us. I learned that the plan was to drive 5 1/2 hours from Colombo to Trincomalee. This would be a great way to see a lot of the country. It would also be my friend’s first time to visit since it is located in the Northeast region of the country which was too dangerous during the civil war.
Day 2, Saturday:
After a little less than 24 hours in Trincomalee we decided to head back towards the center of the country to check out the Dambulla Cave Temple
After Dambulla, we backtracked a little to Sigiriya. We were interested in climbing Lion Rock, but there were so many people due to the holiday weekend that what is normally about an hour climb was taking up to 3 hours. Instead, we had a nice dinner at the Royal Retreat hotel and then I used the Agoda app (shameless plug) to find a nearby place to crash. This was necessary because I could pay via credit card to Agoda as we were running low on cash due to to the fact that apparently most Sri Lankan ATMs are not hooked up to the international network. I scored a good deal at Habanara Village by Cinnamon so we decided to be fancy. On the way, we passed a stretch of Vesak lanterns along the roadside.
I thought the lanterns were nothing short of magical, but my friend insisted that this was nothing compared to what we’d see the next night in Colombo. Once at Habanara Village, we were treated to a fresh towel and welcome beverage and we settled in to our little lodge before exploring the grounds. We found a tree house (!!!) and we settled in there with some Lion beers, deviled peanuts, and deep conversation.
Day 3, Sunday:
We started the day by enjoying the rather delightful breakfast buffet at Habanara Village. To my delight it had traditional string hoppers, egg hoppers, curries, and mee-kiri (curds & treacle). We knew we needed to get back to Colombo before the streets were shut down in the late afternoon in celebration of Vesak, so we immediately got on the road back to Colombo.
Back in Colombo, we had another fantastic homemade meal at my friend’s house.
We let that feast digest and we recuperated from our long road trip for a while before heading to downtown Colombo where my friend’s sister gave us a lovely tour of the city.
Finally, the sun started to set which meant that it was time to enjoy the lights of the Vesak Festival. An experience so purely magical that it gets it’s own dedicated post. I can totally see why my friend planned his visit home around this holiday and am so grateful to have gotten to share this incredible experience with him and his lovely sister!
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