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Review 08 - Jessica Friend (UK)
In the future, should I ever return to Sri Lanka (and one day I will!) I will definitely be giving the MSL office a bell!
Review for Miracle Sri Lanka
I had been staying in the southern parts of Sri Lanka for 2 months and in my last two weeks I decided to see the rest of the country. Having already experience Ceylon’s rather slow public transport system, I decided in order to pack everything in I needed to hire a guide.
After much deliberation about where, when and how I should travel, I was finally persuaded by the services of Miracle Sri Lanka (MSL). MSL understood that as a wannabe backpacker, my budget was rather tight and they were able to work around this. As a further plus my mother was also a lot happier that I was touring with Ashad rather than as single-girl traveller!
Over the course of 5 days I hit the cultural triangle. Saturday I headed to Kandy in the central highlands, the last ancient royal city of Sri Lanka’s indigenous kings. Kandy’s crowning glory is the Temple of the Tooth which claims to hold Buddha’s mystical tooth relic (it was also the first of many Buddhist temples of the trip!).
As it turns out Sunday was my highlight. Sigiryia rock is giant volcanic magma plug, the volcano long eroded, rising up above a jungle plateau – in a similar vain to Ayres rock in Oz. After climbing 1000 stairs, swatting away yet more guide-touts with my lonely planet and observing Sigiryia’s infamous buxom-nymph frescos, one emerges at the top to find a giant monastic complex. I felt very Lara Croft! After Sigiryia, the Buddhist rock cave temple at Dambulla marked the second occasion for removing my shoes.
Monday & Tuesday I travelled to Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa: both ancient cities played the role of Sri Lanka’s capital at some point in history. Each city had the scattered remains of crumbling Buddhist temples and some of the largest Buddha statues nestled amongst the odd Hindu shrine for variation. I knew that my ‘Ancient Art & Myth in India’ module at University would come in handy! Wednesday after returning to Colombo for some light shopping (by my standards anyway!) Ashad was able to return me home to Unawatuna in time for a friends wedding.
I would be delighted to recommend both Ashad and the MSL team to all future travellers because I felt that despite my ‘budget’ status, I was really looked after. Firstly, they provided my with one vital piece of equipment – a digital camera, as mine decided to die shortly after my arrival in Sri Lanka and I would have been distraught without one!
Secondly, the standard of accommodation I enjoyed certainly did not conform to stereotypical ‘budget’ tours and the level of service by Ashad, MSL and the places I stayed was above and beyond the call of duty including the removal of the odd critter! In the future, should I even return to Sri Lanka (and one day I will!) I will definitely be giving the MSL office a bell! Similarly, if anyone would like anymore info about my trip etc then my email is available from the MSL office.
Highly recommended!
Miracle Sri Lanka Review – Jessica Friend
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