Sri Lanka Travel Guide | 7 day Itinerary

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Sri Lanka was nominated as the 2019 Top Country to visit by Lonely Planet and why not?! They are home to amazing wildlife safaris, numerous golden sand beaches, beautiful temples & ruins, delightful and spicy food, famous Ceylon tea and friendly locals. With so much to offer, Sri Lanka should definitely be in your bucket list!

CONTENT

  • Best time to visit
  • How to get around
  • Things to do
  • Restaurant & Bar Recommendations

BEST TIME TO VISIT SRI LANKA

South & Central Areas – where you can feast your eyes on incredible sights & spots, not to mention the numerous golden sand beaches, December to March is the best time to visit.

Arugam Bay and Trincomalee– if you are keen to surfing and hitting the waves, April/May to September is the best time to visit.

We stayed mostly on the South & Central parts of Sri Lanka to make the most of the golden sand beaches and famous sights & spots.

HOW TO GET AROUND SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka is a small country/island which makes it easy to explore by yourself, with your partner or a group. These are the popular ways to get around Sri Lanka:

By Bus , Car, Motorbike , Taxi/tuk-tuk & Train

The bus is the primary mode of transportation in Sri Lanka. It can get to any city, town or village and the ticket is extra cheap (Rs 10-50 / USD .50). However, buses are mostly crowded, non-airconditioned, windows open on a maximum speed! So, I wouldn’t recommend riding the bus unless if you want to get to your destination light headed.

Hiring a car with driver is something you can do if you want to get around Sri Lanka easily. It would be convenient as all the drivers would know the famous spots around the island. You can hire a car for few days or the whole duration of your trip.The price range varies per day or some drivers would give you a package price. I’d say try to bargain on prices until it is reasonable for you!

Renting a motorbike would be fun! You can get around Sri Lanka easily and at your own pace. If adventure and getting lost from time to time is no problem for you, then this should be your pick. When we visited Sri Lanka, we rented our own motorbike for 2 days with the help of our hotel hosts. Just make sure to download an offline Google Map of Sri Lanka and you are good to go!

Do you need a driver’s license to rent a motorbike in Sri Lanka? Yes you do!

Taking a taxi/tuk-tuk is one for the local experience. For short distance trips, you can easily take a taxi/tuk-tuk. The price is very cheap and it depends on how far is your destination.

The train, I am sure you have seen the famous blue train of Sri Lanka around Instagram or Pinterest. It is actually one of the chepeast ways to travel and the famous routes like Kandy-Ella , Colombo – Kandy, and Colombo – Galle is where you can see beautiful sceneries. However, trains in Sri Lanka can be a little slow and delayed sometimes, if you are time-constrained, I wouldn’t recommend for you to take this.

THINGS TO DO IN SRI LANKA

Day 1 – MIRISSA, SRI LANKA |SECRET BEACH & MIRISSA BEACH

We rented our own motorbike and head to Secret Beach, it is about 3 to 4 km away from our hotel.We started off our first day relaxing by the beach, sipping fruit shakes & pinacoladas and getting tanned. Secret Beach is quiet, it’s guarded by a line of big rocks(with a Sri Lankan flag on top of it) like a seawall holding back the waves. There is 1 big bar serving all the food & drinks to most of the guests and 1 very small bar on the side of the beach. Before it got dark, we went back to our hotel to rest for a bit and got ready for a night out at Mirissa Beach.

Mirissa beach at night is full of life! It is crowded with tourists, restaurants & bars and owners who would say just about anything to make you go into their establishment 😛 Nevertheless, we still enjoyed our night there 🙂

Tip/Advice: rent your own motorbike because it was not that easy getting there (maybe that’s why it’s called “secret beach” and another helpful tip is to watch out for sea urchins when you go into the water. My boyfriend step on some of them, a local guy who worked at the bar helped us out but there were still some left inside. We tried to remove it using tweezers but it didn’t work so we had to go to a clinic to get it out!

Day 2– MIRISSA, SRI LANKA | COCONUT TREE HILL,PARROT ROCK BRIDGE,PALM VIEW PEACOCK STREET ART

We visited some instagrammable spots like Coconut Tree Hill, Parrot Rock Bridge( where you can see the famous “Butt” view) and Palm View Peacock Street Art. It is less than 500m from where we stayed and the spots were not far from each other, so we decided to leave the motorbike and do some walking today! Which was fun for me by the way 🙂

We went to Coconut Tree Hill first and when we got there I knew right away why it was so famous. The view was beautiful, the coconut trees were placed accordingly, almost like a dance choreography formation. We took as much photos as we can and head down to the next spot.

Parrot Rock Bridge is about 900 m far from Coconut Tree Hill. We walked by the beach and from time to time we would stop by some small shops or restaurants. To reach the top of Parrot Rock Bridge, you have to do a little climbing so just be careful and not fall (put your cameras & phones to safety as well) On top, you could see a view of the ocean and beach and if you have a drone with you, you might as well fly it and see that it is really shaped like a butt!

Last famous spot we visited is the Palm View Peacock Street Art. We haven’t actually planned on going to this spot since we didn’t really know where it was located. We have seen many photos on social media, tried to look for it but it was nowhere to be found. Until when we were walking back to our hotel we saw a familiar wall and yep! it was the peacock mural!

After a day of going to these famous spots and soaking under Vitamin D. We thought it might be nice to see the sun set by the beach before the day ends. So we head back to our hotel and freshen up. We found a nice spot (a small bar before the Coconut Tree Hill) to view the sunset. Had an amazing time, although we didn’t see much of the sun setting because there was too much clouds! Later on, we head down to Mirissa Beach again and enjoyed the rest of the night.

Day 3– UNUWATUNA, SRI LANKA | JUNGLE BEACH,JAPANESE PEACE PAGODA

Early on our 3rd day, we moved to another town called Unuwatuna. We planned on spending the next 3 days here and explore the area.

We rented a tuktuk right after we got settled and head to Jungle Beach. We didn’t like it that much though, it was very crowded at that time and there were no good spot to stay in for a couple of hours. There was not much choices of food either so we just decided to stay for a little bit, walked around the beach, ate lunch and went.

We head next to see the Japanese Peace Pagoda and on the way, we saw a beautiful view of the sea and a half-sunken ship! It looks huge and has been there for a long time I guess. The pagoda was beautiful, there were different buddhas on each side. Just be mindful that you need to be respectful, take off your shoes & be discreet when taking photos.

After sightseeing, we went to Unuwatuna beach and spent the afternoon there.

Day 4– UNUWATUNA, SRI LANKA | GALLE DUTCH FORT

Our fourth day was my favorite! We rented a tuk-tuk from Unuwatuna to Galle (around 6km distance) to visit Galle Dutch Fort. Located at the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, is a world heritage site and is known for the largest remaining fortress in Asia. The fortress was built back in 1500’s by the Portuguese and fortified by the Dutch on 17th century.

Being inside Galle Dutch Fort is like being transported to a European country. Some of the buildings were old and some were transformed to shopping centers like the Old Dutch Hospital. We feasted our eyes on colonial buildings, luscious food, ice cream & Ceylon tea shops, all kinds and sizes of shopping centers & souvenir shops and the iconic Galle Lighthouse!

I am big on beautiful old buildings and ice cream & souvenir shops so I truly enjoyed our time there. But even if you are not, I am sure you wouldn’t wanna miss all of this too!

Day 5- UNUWATUNA, SRI LANKA | UNUWATUNA & DALAWELLA BEACH

This day we planned on going to Unuwatuna & Dalawella Beach.

Dalawella beach is home to the famous spots like The Ship Rock & Palm Tree Rope Swing. I am pretty sure you have seen them all over Instagram and has driven local tourism to the roof! But aside from the famous spots, there are many reasons why you should visit Dalawella & Unuwatuna Beach. They have a lot of trendy local shops, good gilt restaurants & bars and beautiful sunset.

Our fifth day was pretty laid back. We just walk or sat by the beach, swam from time to time, take pictures and watch sunset with fruit shakes on our hands. It was a nice and quiet day and I couldn’t ask for more.

Day 6- UNUWATUNA, SRI LANKA | ANGEL BEACH CLUB

On our last day at Unuwatuna, we decided a day visit at Angel Beach Club. It is a premier luxury beach club alongside Unuwatuna Beach with 10 courtyard rooms and 1 angel suite.

The day visit fee is around $16-$20 for a single beach bed & consumable per person. You have complete access to both beach and pool. They have a big main bar & a pool bar and delectable non-local food plus a live DJ playing.

While at Angel Beach Club, we decided to do a side trip going to the famous rope swing. Hamza wanted to see and try it since we haven’t seen it yesterday and it was our last day. So we left our things in Angel and went walking down the beach.

It was already dark when we left Angel Beach and went back to the hotel. On our last night we decided to have a nice dinner at a restaurant our local friend recommended. We ended our stay at Unuwatuna sipping cocktails, all cozy by the beach.

Day 7- COLOMBO, SRI LANKA | GANGARAMAYA TEMPLE,RED MOSQUE,PETTAH MARKET

It was time to head to the capital city of Sri Lanka, we grabbed our bags and hired an Uber going to Colombo. The ride was about 2 hours, we only stop for toilet breaks,gas and of course ice cream! 🙂 It was smooth flowing, until we reached Colombo, then the traffic begun. Hamza is not a big fan of cities,traffic & pollution, he is more into beach life, nature and fresh air, while I am both. I love living in the city and seeing those twinkling lights at night and I have loved the beach ever since I was small.

After getting settled in our hotel, we freshened up and head to the nearest shopping mall to eat. The shopping mall is a new sight after being around beaches and local shops for a week. There’s a lot to see around the city, mostly temples so we decided to visit some of them today.

We went to Gangaramaya Temple. It was one of the oldest and well-known Buddhist Temple in Colombo. There was an entrance fee and before you enter you need to leave your shoes & you’d be given a sarong to cover your thighs & legs if you are wearing anything above the knee. It was full of tourists, as well as Buddhists. You can see different kinds and sizes of Buddhas, a life size replica of an elephant & a living tied cow. We spent about an hour or two inside and head to our next destination.

Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque or better known as the Red Mosque, located around Pettah Market. Red Mosque is a landmark long-standing mosque known for its striking red & white brick facade. It was just beautiful outside, we were not able to come inside though since prayer already started. We took our photos outside, which was quiet challenging by the way because there were always & a lot of people and cars passing by.

We just wander around Pettah Market after, did some shopping and I bought some souvenirs and yummy local munchies. Then we head down to a rooftop bar, and oh I loved city view that night. We both thought the bar was great however, there were not much on the food menu. So after a few drinks, we head out and ate dinner at a yummy restaurant we just found.

It was a tiring day and thinking that it was our last day as well makes me really sad. We wanted to spend more time in this beautiful island however, time has come and we needed to say goodbye, for now. It was one of the best week we had Sri Lanka, we are in awe! We will definitely visit you someday 🙂

RESTAURANT & BAR RECOMMENDATIONS

Here is our favorite restaurants & bars during our visit:

MIRISSA

  • Shady Lane (delicious breakfast food)
  • The Shack Beach Cafe(the best pizza & burger cafe)
  • No.1 Dewmini Roti Shop(must try out of this world roti experience)
  • Jungle Beach Bar(refreshing drinks)
  • The bar before Coconut Tree Hill(cheap and great drinks)

UNUWATUNA

  • SkinnyToms Deli (have the best breakfast food)
  • Angel Beach Club (yummy non-local food)
  • The Hideout Unuwatuna (mouth watering food)
by coconutdreamsx

How it is to work & live in an Island | Pros & Cons

Who haven’t dreamed of going in a 3 or 5 days vacation to a Beautiful Island? I think most of us right? 🙌Some of you might have Maldives, Bahamas,Seychelles, Palawan & Boracay in the Philippines,the Beaches in Australia, Florida, Hawaii or all the other incredible island destinations in the world in your Bucket list.

https://www.inc.com/anne-gherini/how-beach-benefits-your-brain-according-to-science.html

WHAT THE BEACH CAN DO TO YOU

Spending time at the beach makes us happy, relaxed and stress-free. You would never hear someone say ” I just got back from the beach and i feel horrible and stressed than ever”.It is definitely healthy and there are lots of benefits you can imagine.

So here are my thoughts about the good and not soo good things about living and working in an island.

THE GOOD AND NOT SOO GOOD THINGS

The good thing about living and working in an island are:

  1. I always have the opportunity to swim in the famous turquiose water of Maldives everyday, if I want to. 🌊
  2. I can see the most breathtaking sunrise and sunsets by the ocean everyday 🌄🌅
  3. I can hear the sound of waves crashing to the shore like music to my ears and see some dolphins if I’m lucky 🐋
  4. I am learning about the Maldivian culture from my local colleagues. From a few words, to counting and alphabet.But not only the local culture but also cultures from the different nationalities living and working here.It is definitely fun learning about them!
  5. The salary is way much better compared to my salary before! And since you are living in an island, you won’t spend much on buying clothes and shoes and most specially food, like I do before. As a staff here, food and accomodation is provided and the temptation to go to malls and shop won’t really be a problem(except for online shopping if you are into it!)

The not so good things about living and working in an island are:

  1. Living in an island would also mean you would have to get used of the quiet and down times. When it is not busy, time can run really slow.
  2. You have too much time to spare and not much to do. Either you sleep or watch movies or netflix series in my case.
  3. You have to live with the fact that seeing the city, eating some food you are craving to eat(like pork meat for me)will have to wait until you get your vacation. Unless you ask to eat in one of the restaurant, which will be fine as well.
  4. And the heart quenching part is missing your loved ones, your family & friends back home.

HOW TO COPE WITH THE NOT SO GOOD THINGS

The things I do to cope with the not so good things here are:

  • I read a book. I made sure to bring a few books to read. I might finish reading in a few weeks but i don’t mind reading them again! But if you go on a vacation or decided to come and work here, that is something you might add to pack with you. Some of the books I brought with me are: The Alchemist-Paulo Coelho and After You by Jojo Moyes.
  • I hang out/talk with my colleagues whenever I can. I got used to hanging out with the same people/circle for the past few years so being here and having no one I know was a big change for me.But as the saying goes, “Change is the only constant thing in this world”, so I thought I’d have to be flexible and adaptive in order to have a happy resort life. By talking with different people, you also learn a little bit about their lives and that is something I consider as a good thing also.
  • Plan your vacation to a country which you’ve been wanting to visit. You would have all the time you need here!So, you can plan ahead the vacation you want and that includes saving and researching about good & affordable accomodations and places to see & visit. This would definitely inspire you and give that fire you needed when you feel down and uninspired. As for me, I am planning to visit Hongkong this October! (*Fingers-crossed*)
  • Video-call your loved ones! For me, this is the best-est, most effective solution to cope up with the loneliness here in the island. The thought of my loved ones is something that keeps me going everyday. An hour or even just 30-mins of video-call would definitely change my mood for the day! I am sure all the people working away from their country can relate.
  • Plan some outdoor activities like swimming, fishing or diving. Outdoor activities will definitely be fun. It feels like you are on vacation too! Fishing and Diving is something I am planning & looking forward to do as well. 😊

In conclusion, our lives would always contain some good and bad things. The thing is, the not so good things never last forever! Better days will come and you have to believe it. I hope you enjoyed reading this blog!

Here is a quote from my favorite author to inspire you.

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Don’t forget to leave your comments cos’ I would love to hear them ❤

by coconutdreamsx

My Journey | A month of living & working in Maldives

March 26,2019 – My flight from Colombo to Maldives

A few months back, I only dreamed of working in one of the resorts in the Maldives. The Hospitality World is a far cry from my previous line of work which was Banking & Finance, but what made me dreamed of working in Maldives was my aunt-in-law, who has been working there for more than 5 years. I envy how someone can live and work in a beautiful island and earn a good amount of money.

I started looking for administrative or accounting & finance related jobs in job-maldives.com, the most visited job site in Maldives. I submitted my CV to as many resorts I can find. However, it was not that easy and my lack of hospitality background may have been a factor as well. I only received auto replies and a few asking me to fill up a couple of forms, nothing succeeded but I never gave up anyway. I know God will definitely hear my prayers.

Until one day, I was in the middle of a Christmas party, I received a call from my aunt-in-law working in Maldives. She told me a front office manager in one of the resort was looking for a Filipino who would like to work as a Telephone Operator. My aunt referred me and gave my email. I was so happy, it was a like a surprise Christmas gift from Santa. After almost a month of filling up forms, doing skype interviews and sending my credentials. I finally received what I was waiting for, the Job Contract. And so my journey begins.

HOW TO APPLY IN MALDIVES FOR EXPATS:

The first best option for expats would be to apply online just like what I did. You can check out this online job sites:

https://www.job-maldives.com https://jobsicle.mv , https://www.catererglobal.com, https://career-maldives.com/

Second best option would be going to the resort’s website and sending an application and CV there. I am sure all the resorts will always check their website.

If you have a family member or a friend who works in Maldives, the third best option is to ask them if there are any vacancies and give them your CV. Because referrals really work!

VISA APPLICATION:

The Visa Application as what my Aunt told me only takes about month but during my application, I encountered a lot of challenge. My visa was rejected 3 times before it was approved. As per my employer, it was because of my credentials, some were not original copies, so I had to send back one. One thing my employer mentioned as well is that,the government in Maldives was new that time and with the new government they got a bit more strict on Visa Application for expats.


Tip: The best thing to do is to complete all your requirements, and check everything before sending it. Always submit the colored and original copies if possible.

PACKING YOUR LUGGAGE
Since you would be living and staying here for at least 2 years,make sure to pack enough clothes, some accessories, shoes & sandals, books to read from time to time, some of your local delicacies ( you will definitely miss them) and most importantly do not forget your passport and your visa permit. That is the most important thing!


Tip: Most of the days you will just wear your normal clothes, be sure to bring some culottes and knee length shorts because that is one thing I regretted not bringing enough with me. Maldives is an Islam country and they have certain traditions we need to respect.


HOW TO LIVE WITH DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES

More than 50% of our Resorts Employees are locals. Maldivians are friendly, nice and would always be ready to give you a helping hand as a newbie. While you are here you have to learn, adapt and respect their culture. One thing I am having fun learning is their local language called Dhivehi.

Here are few words I learned so far:
Koba- Where
Koba Kine- How are you?
Kike- What
Ranggalu- Im good/Im fine
Loabi- an endearment which means love
Inggada- Let’s go
In a resort, there would be different nationalities from all over the world. The key to having a good resort life is to just be friendly and respectful to everyone. And you would not only gain respect but also make some friends along the way!

LEARN AND WORK BY HEART


I am definitely learning a lot of things here! Not only work related but other things like people’s culture, food & different languages. If you want to be great in your work and have a good relationship with your colleagues, you should work by heart and don’t forget to enjoy! The best thing about the Maldives for me is that, everyday I get to see the beautiful turquoise ocean, breathtaking sunsets, some dolphins if I’m lucky and it makes me realize how lucky I am.


After a month, there were days I wanted to go home and see my family & friends. It was hard and you have to do it by yourself. But there is no easy way in fulfilling your dreams. You have to work hard and be passionate of what you want!

I hope this blog was useful and I hope u enjoyed reading it 🙂

by coconutdreamsx

Who is Dian?

Hi there! First of all, thank you so much for visiting my blog 🙂

So let me introduce myself, my name is Dian, as you can see with my blog name. I have a management accounting degree and I live and work in Maldives for more than a year now! I started this blog initially to write about my journey to work in Maldives and later on I decided to turn my blog into a travel blog, 

Why travel blog?

Back in the day, I only dreamed of travelling the world because I thought I wouldn’t be able to fulfill it. But with God’s grace, he gave me an opportunity to work in Maldives and then from there, I was able to make this dream a reality.

Now more than ever, I fell deeply inlove with travelling, experiencing a new culture, seeing beautiful sights and just living the life I wanted. Travelling is my number one dose of happiness together with seafood, books, art,music,movies and ice cream!

by coconutdreamsx