When Jen left us after our visit to Angkor Wat, we had to decide what to do next. We had about 2 weeks unaccounted for before heading to Australia and New Zealand. We thought about continuing on to see other parts of Cambodia and toyed with the idea of heading to Malaysia for some scuba diving. However, we kept hearing great things about Sri Lanka and decided to get out of Southeast Asia to experience something different. We are so glad we ended up in this incredible country! Here’s what we did with our time:

Day 1: Colombo

We arrived in Sri Lanka at nearly midnight and spent the first night in Colombo to be close to the airport and train station. We didn’t get to see much of this bustling capital city, but did spend the night in a lovely guesthouse where the owner welcomed us warmly despite our late arrival and early departure. We’d heard that the people of Sri Lanka are some of the friendliest and we felt that to be true immediately.

Days 2-4: Weligama

Our first real stop in Sri Lanka was the beach! The country is known for having beautiful beaches surrounding the entire island. We picked Weligama, located in the south of the island, due to it’s pleasant weather this time of year and it’s proximity to  good scuba diving sites. We spent two of our three days here underwater!

We also loved exploring the small surfer-friendly Jungle Beach, a 5 minute walk from our Airbnb. We didn’t try our hand at surfing but did enjoy watching the others try to catch a wave, especially at sunset.

My biggest regret from Sri Lanka is that we missed out on the whale watching tours that are well-known in this part of the country. At first, we thought it might be boring to spend a morning following whales around only to catch them quickly surface. However, talking to other travelers made this experience sound awesome; not only can you see whales, but there are big schools of dolphins in the area, too! Most of the local companies promise a whale sighting or a partial refund, so you know you’ll get what you’re looking for. If we make it back to Sri Lanka, this is definitely on our list!

Days 5-6: Udawalawe National Park

Sri Lanka has a few national parks and a relatively large wild elephant population! Any trip to Sri Lanka should include a visit to either Udawalawe or it’s neighbor, Yala National Park. We chose Udawalawe because it’s a bit more off the beaten path and we had a blast on our safari here. We got up early and caught the sunrise in the park and spent a few hours in the cool morning checking out the colorful birds, crocodiles, giant lizards, buffalo, and, of course, wild elephants!

In the afternoon we visited the elephant orphanage in town which home to 35 baby elephants being rehabilitated to re-enter the park. We happened to catch the 12:00 feeding and it was one of the top cutest things we’ve ever seen. A parade of tiny baby elephants come trumpeting into the feeding area to get some milk from the handlers before wandering over to munch leaves or swim in the watering hole. The orphanage also has a really nice little museum where we learned a lot about elephants.

We stayed at Morningside Safari Resort, a small guesthouse in Udawalawe town. At $6 per night it was our cheapest accommodation of the entire trip! The place was basic and comfortable and they served family-style meals in the evenings which allowed us the opportunity to chat with fellow travelers. They also organized our safari and provided free transportation to the elephant orphanage which made our visit here incredibly easy. We definitely recommend this place!

Days 7-10: Ella

We spent 3 days in beautiful Ella, a picturesque hill-country town with a backpacker vibe. There are lots of restaurants and bars in town that cater to the traveling crowd and it was a great place to slow down for a few days.

Each day we were spoiled with a new, beautiful hike. On our first day, we wandered to “Little Adam’s Peak,” a moderately tough hike with sweeping views of Ella Gap and the nearby mountains.

The following day we tried out the 9 Arches Bridge hike, a lovely walk that meanders along the train tracks to a beautiful bridge where you can watch the local trains fly by.

We saved the toughest hike up Ella Rock for the last day. It was a really steep climb (my step-counter tells met we marched up 97 floors!!!) and we had to take many breaks along the way. The views from the top were spectacular and well worth the huffing and puffing it took to get there.

Days 11-13: Kandy

Our last stop in Sri Lanka was in Kandy, a town smack in the middle of the country. We took the train here from Ella, a ride that’s hailed as the most beautiful in the world. (Side note: we loved this ride and our other transportation experiences in Sri Lanka so much that we wrote an entire post about it here!)

Kandy was great but the real highlight of our time in this small city was staying at Temple View Homestay with a wonderful family. Umanga, a guy who is about our age, runs the place and lives there with his parents. They rent out one room in their home to tourists, so we were the only guests there. Upon our arrival, we were warmly welcomed and told that we’d be treated as part of the family during our stay and it felt true every step of the way.

On our first day, we wandered around town and at Umanga’s recommendation we saw a performance showcasing local Kandyan dance and musical traditions. We had dinner at the homestay and enjoyed chatting with Simon, Umanga’s dad, in the evening.

On our second day, Umanga took us to his “secret swimming hole.” It was a beautiful spot along the river that was totally secluded except for a few local kids who were also out for a swim. The water was perfect, the scenery was amazing, and we had a great time hanging out with Umanga and getting to see one of his favorite local hang-outs. He was SO EXCITED when he learned we had a GoPro with us and we had lots of fun taking silly underwater pictures and videos.

That afternoon, the family’s neighbor took us around in his tuk tuk to see a tea factory and a local herbal garden where they make different kinds of natural medicine. Hokey tourist stuff, but we were into it! We ended the day by checking out the local temple, home to Buddha’s tooth!

By our last day, something got the best of me and I was feeling pretty sick. Sri Lanka handed me a healthy serving of mosquito bites, so we went to the doctor just to be sure it was nothing bad and mosquito-related (it wasn’t)! Simon organized a ride for us and made sure we went to the best doctor in town. For a whopping $10 we were in and out in 20 minutes and left with 5 prescriptions in hand (all included in the price). I felt better about a day later and was so glad to have been in a place where we had a family looking out for us.

Our trip ended with a final train journey to Colombo where we caught a flight to our next stop: Bali.

Sri Lanka is an amazing country; the people are incredibly friendly, it’s beautiful, there’s a wide range of activities, and it’s small so it’s quick and easy to travel around. It’s been our second favorite stop so far (with Myanmar still being our number one)! We’d love to make it back here and check out more of the northern and eastern parts of the country, a slice we totally missed on our inaugural visit.