Sri Lanka (9-17 March 2020): travelling in the time of coronavirus

Just when we thought terrorism and natural disasters were the only threats preventing us from travelling abroad, here comes another, in the form of coronavirus. South Africa and Sri Lanka (as of 9th March) are not in the grips of the coronavirus scare, but as we come closer to departing for our trip to Sri Lanka, panic sets in. What if we come into contact with passengers who are infected. How safe can we be on the planes or airports without being infected.  Should we postpone our journey. What if either one of us are infected in Sri Lanka. What if we return to work, and then realise that we are infected. These are the questions that are at the back of our minds. Two days before we leave I am in a deep dilemma. To add to this, the day before we leave, one of the owners in our complex had a break-in, in broad daylight. Is this a bad omen for us? What if our house gets broken into while we are away? We managed to pack our bags, with all these thoughts hanging over our heads. The day finally arrived, We secured our home as best we could, and set on our journey.

We flew with Emirates. We went with Save Travel and the package was R21 500 pp.

King Shaka was bustling with Italian tourists (Italy had it worst with COVID-19). We were so afraid to get close to any of them. A cough or a sneeze set alarm bells. We could not avoid standing or even worse sitting next to an infected person on the plane. We were surprised to find our Emirates plane half empty. Even Dubai airport felt so deserted. We were bumped up to business class from Dubai to Sri Lanka. This really set the tone for the trip.

Bumped up to business

Food on business, treated like royalty

Breakfast at Amagi Aria

Hotel in Negombo

We were greeted at Bandaranaike International Airport by the most amazing driver, Hiran. It was about a 40 minutes drive to Negombo. We were in time to view the most magnificent sunset. We stayed at the Amagi Aria hotel for one night. This hotel is situated along the Negombo Lagoon. The rooms were not well lit, and we were happy to leave the next day. The dinner and breakfast was excellent. We set off on a 5 hour road trip to Dambulla. Our first stop was the local fish market, where we saw cut shark and tuna on display. Our road trip was a journey through captivating villages and towns, and stunning scenery.

We visited the Dambulla cave temples in the midday heat. Climbing up the stairs proved so torturous. I had to rest for about 5 minutes, and thought I will never make it to the top, but I eventually did. We were going to do the Sigiriya Rock the next day, and I am so glad we started this journey early in the morning. I remember  dreaming about climbing this rock, and whether I was going to make it or not. It wasn't as treacherous as I thought, as you could rest along the way. And there weren't many tourists because of COVID-19, so one could take ones time going up the narrow stairs without feeling pressured. But we did feel it in our calves in the next couple of days. We spent two nights in the stunningly beautiful Amaya Lake hotel, which consists of chalet type suites, and is surrounded by a lake, and beautiful greenery. We were forced to have dinner here, which was not so good. Breakfast was ok. In the evenings we took a walk through the lush tropical gardens and sat by the lake. The evening drinks at the hotel pub were very memorable, as it had a good atmosphere. The mornings were filled with the sound of bird life.

Dambulla cave temple

Amaya Lake

Stuning décor at Amaya Lake

Sigiriya Rock

Climbed up the 1200 steps

We also did a village tour, which included a tuk-tuk ride, a catamaran ride and a  bullock ride. We had a meal of coconut roti and coconut sambal cooked by a lady in the village. This was a simple meal yet so tasty. The next morning before we set off for a 3 hour ride to Kandy we visited the wholesale vegetable market. On the way to Kandy we stopped for a tour of a spice garden in Matale.

Village food

Taking a catamaran down the lake

Clean veg market in Dambulla

Kandy was hot and felt claustrophobic. Our hotel,  Randholee Resort & Spa was situated on a hill. Our room was big, and we had a good view, but the bathroom did not look very clean. At around 2.am we were awoken by loud music and chatter. Someone also rung our bell at 3.am. We complained to the desk and were told that a group of youngsters had arrived from Colombo. The next morning at breakfast, we saw who the culprits were, and they were also making a racket at breakfast. We got a call from reception at around 12pm, just before we could leave for a city tour, and were told that we could be upgraded without any cost to us. This was music to our ears. Our new suite was almost the size of our house, and was super luxurious.  But alas, we only spent a night here. The TV was not working though, but the hotel staff gladly let hubby use the other suite to watch the news. They were such an obliging bunch. The dinner here that we had for two nights were the tastiest foods we had eaten in Sri Lanka. For lunch we had a tasty dosa at Balaji Dosai on recommendation from our driver. We also visited the Temple of the Tooth, which was a bit of a let down. We had front seats to a spectacular Kandyan dance performance.

Luxurious suite at Randholee Resort & Spa

Dosa at Balaji Dosai

The next morning we set off for a 5 hour journey to Nuwara Eliya. We visited the Hanuman temple in Ramboda. The scenery from Kandy to Ella was nothing short of spectacular, as we passed through stunning tea plantations. Nuwara Eliya is a small town with a British feel to it, and with nothing much to do. We were glad we did not stay here, as when we were planning our trip to Sri Lanka, we were contemplating whether we should stay here or in Ella. We're glad we chose the latter.

We were surprised to find that Ella was a predominantly backpacker town and full of European backpackers. There were so many home-stays and lodges in that one busy main street. We were booked in to stay at the Oak Ray Ella Gap hotel. Our room overlooked a dump, and there was damp on the room walls. We were not too happy and couldn't imagine staying in this room for three nights. It also did not have a safe and mini-bar fridge. We complained to reception and fortunately they found a better room for us, and put in a safe and mini-bar fridge. The one advantage of this hotel was that it was centrally located, and close to shops and restaurants.  

We were lucky to have our rooms changed in the two instances, and this can only be attributed to the fact that people were limiting their travel as a result of COVID-19. We visited the Ravana Water falls the next day. And the following day we visited the Nine Arches Bridge. We were supposed to visit Lipton's Seat in Haputale, which was an hour's drive from Ella, but this was closed to tourists (this was such a huge disappointment as I was looking forward to this). The next day we climbed up Little Adam's Peak. We were followed by a friendly dog up to the top, But it got chased away by another dog. The views from here were stunning. 

Delicious kottu roti

Nine Arches Bridge

Ella was becoming deserted as the days went by. Sri Lanka was on a lockdown from 16th March. Restaurants and tourist hotspots were closing. After climbing the peak, we decided to go to a restaurant to have a drink. That evening we were supposed to have dinner at a recommended eatery, the Matey Hut, and were so looking forward to this. At around 4pm we decided to go back to the hotel for a toilet break. Luckily we did, as on the way we were met by our driver who followed us to the hotel. Our driver informed us that the Colombo airport was threatening to close, and we needed to be in Colombo in case this happened. We had to pack quickly. We decided to pack as if we were going to the airport.  Thank goodness we did, as on the way to Colombo, our travel agent called us to say that she was booking us on a flight back home at 3.30am. We drove through the winding roads in the pouring rain, and reached the airport around 11pm (a total of 6 hours driving). We stopped on the way to have supper. We bought some tea at this restaurant, as we had not purchased anything for home. We were supposed to have spent one more night in Ella, and two nights in Colombo and were supposed to do our shopping in Colombo.

We showed our new flight ticket that we had on my phone to the security. Colombo airport was packed. There were no signs, and no one telling us where to go. Passengers were on standby and were seated or sleeping on the floor. We had to wait for an hour and a half before we had our turn at the airlines desk. This flight to Dubai was full, and we were hoping to have an empty seat next to us, but to no avail. Dubai airport was so deserted, and almost seemed so ghost-like. On our flight back home to Durban, there were plenty of empty seats (which is unlikely to happen on an Emirates flight).

Empty seats on Emirates

This was such an eventful trip. We spent 8 days in Sri Lanka, but we had done and seen so much of the country in this short space of time, than we had ever done on any other trip. Sri Lanka is beautiful. We hope to go back some day to complete our journey.