Travel and Food blog

Budget of Sri Lanka Trip from Bangalore

Sri Lanka Trip Cost

A lot of readers have asked me how much I spent on my Sri Lanka Trip, so I thought of dedicating a blog post to this topic. My trip to SriLanka from Bangalore was a 4 day trip, the itinerary can be found on "Sri Lanka Itinerary". We did 6 cities in 4 days so it was quite a packed trip, here are the expenses.

Sri Lanka Trip from Bangalore - Details and Budgets

Flight Bookings

Tickets: Rs 12000 per person (24,000 for a couple)

Bangalore to Colombo : INR 12,000 round trip per person.

Book in advance, I always use skyscanner to check first the lowest prices in a month, select the whole month option and it will show you the entire month table. The link is www.skyscanner.com

Sri Lanka trip- Notice the elephants bathing

Visa

Visa Cost : Nil

Sri Lanka has Visa on Arrival, this means that you do not need an advance visa to go there, you can land at the airport and got to the visa desk and get it done. When I had travelled, I had paid around 2-3K to the travel agent for getting the visa done from India. However, I read on the internet that now upto 2020, the visa fees for Indian Tourists has been exempted to promote tourism, so essentially it is free :)

Internal Transports

Car Cost: Rs 25000

We had booked a car along with driver for the 4 days trip from Airport which included all the travel, sightseeing and going around to places. Fuel is a bit expensive in Sri Lanka and so the charges for car hire are high. There are no metros and travelling by train is very hectic, so car is the best option.

It was called as Leisure tours (we booked through travel triangle who in-turn had subcontracted to Leisure tours Sri Lanka, so better to book directly and negotiate well on the price)

Hotel Bookings

Day 1: Cinnamon Bey Bentota (Located on Beruwala Beach) : Rs 4500 per night.

Beautiful 5 Star property built with Turkish architecture

Day 2 and Day 3 : Thilanka Kandy : Rs 1000 (5000 per night)

This is a 5 star property is located in the city center, very close to the temple and lake, and on a hill so offers beautiful views.

Day 4 : Steuart by Citrus Hotel : Rs 5500

This was a 4 star property in the prime city area, walkable from the Galle beachfront.
When booking a hotel, check the prices at different websites such as booking.com, Hotels.com and Trivago for a comparison and then select the cheapest price

Total Hotel cost : INR 20000 (We selected all 5 star and 4 star properties as the rates were very reasonable. However you can select good 3 star properties and minimize the budget)

Caves and temples

Places to Visit

SriLanka primarily thrives on tourism, so yes there is a fees for every attraction or historical monument that you need to pay. Generally these places are free for Sri Lanka natives but tickets need to be purchased for foreign nationals. Always ask what is the fees for Indians or Saarc nationals, as there is a half price discount given to Saarc nations. Don't assume that if you will dress like Sri lankans then no one will know that we are foreigners due to our brown skin, you will eventually get caught because we do not speak their language.

Bentota Beach and Beruwala Beach : Free

Turtle Hatchery: 1000 LKR (Sri Lankan Rupees)

Pinnavala Elephant Orphanage: 700 LKR

Temple of the Tooth Relic: 1500 LKR

Kandy Lake : Free

Sigiriya Ravan Fort : 2300 LKR

Dambulla Caves : 1500 LKR

Total : 7000 LKR which is around 3500 Indian Rupees per person

Check reviews of places on Tripadvisor for more details on the timings, feedback and pictures of various attractions before planning the trip or even during your trip.

Food and Incidentals :

Food is cheap here, eat where local people eat. Breakfast was quite extensive in all our hotels, so we used to be full in the mornings, buy some fruits from local sellers on the road and eat it during noon, and then we used to have an early dinner. The best things that we enjoyed were eating Dosa, Poori Sabji and Noodles etc. in local restaurants.

Cost for 5 days was around 5000 for 5 days for 2 people.

Our picture from the trip

Total Cost for the trip for my family was around 81000 (This excludes the shopping that I did in colombo and also excludes the ticket fare for my child as I have calculated the cost of 2 Adults. Overally this trip costed me around 1 Lakh rupees). This is cheaper than many trips I have done within India to say Kerala or Goa. And the natural beauty at Sri Lanka was tremendous.

So do visit SL and reach out to me if you have any more questions about my trip.

P.S: All pictures on this blog are original and clicked by me or Naveen using our Phone and DSLR. So if you do want to use any images, please mention the source atleast.

I would never suggest to go with Tour operators, as I plan all my trips myself and it is more fun to travel that way. You could refer to more links on my blog for details, if confused drop me a message on my fb page.

Chulha Chauki Da Dhaba, Marathalli.. my review

Chalha Chauki Da Dhaba is located on the Outer Ring Road in Marthahalli and this name always felt like proper Punjabi Dhaba so we decided to try it out on a Sunday!!
Went there with my family and in-laws and had a good time.

Food : 4/5

Well, you ask a North Indian to rate a proper Punjabi cuisine, the rating is always going to be favorable. The menu is ala-carte and includes Desi starters, Main course, Roti, Rice and Lassi's, buttermilk and Jaljeera along with Indian desserts.

Starters : We ordered Harabara Kabab in veg and Chicken Tikka for non-veg. Both the dishes were served hot and fresh. The Harabara Kabab was green tikki made with spinach and veggies. The Chicken tikka was very juicy but overloaded with too many spices, so natural taste was missing.

Drinks : We tried Lassi and Buttermilk. Lassi is too heavy and need to eat with spoon, I ordered one Lassi which made me feeling quite full even before I started the meals. The Buttermilk was quite light and refreshing taste.

Main Course: We ordered Veg Kolhapuri and Butter Chicken Curry. We tried Tandoori Roti, Missi Roti and Phulka. All of this was quite tasty except I felt that everything here was very spicy for my tastebuds.

The quantity of food could be better especially the Tandoori starters.

Ambiance : 3/5

The place is huge and the decor is quite Dhaba style. There are colorful banners, fans and khats kept to match the feeling of a Punjabi restaurant. Ideally I would have rated them a 4/5 on decor but I reduced one point because the sitting is not at all comfortable. There are no seats with back-rest and sitting on a Khat is very very uncomfortable, after few minutes, you start feeling strain in the back.
The serving is in steel plates, so don't think they have really invested that much in fancy cutlery.

The other bit is air-circulation, there is a central conditioning, but I was sweating a lot. Perhaps after eating spicy food and sitting in the uncomfortable mudda, makes you want more air.

It was a Sunday and the restaurant was totally full - we did not have any reservation, but they managed to accommodate us, which is good.

Service : 3.5/5

The service is pretty fast, the waiters are just around to take your orders, no matter the rush hour. The waiters know the specifics of the dishes and will advise you on what to order. The food comes pretty fast too, however it feels like a factory where waiters are delivering it super-fast as the other customers wait in line to be seated.

Price:

Quite reasonable for a nice family meal, but not very economical I think.
For our Order which included 2 Lassi, 2 buttermilk, 2 starters, 2 main course and some rotis/naan - we paid around Rs 1600/-

Location:

Quite accessible on the main road and also has parking available nearby. This is located on the 02nd floor in a building above to NEXA showroom on Marathalli Outer Ring road.
Address: Opposite EMC-2, 2nd Floor, Above Nexa Showroom, Outer Ring Road, Mahadevapura, Marathahalli, Bangalore

Overall I enjoyed the dinner, perhaps could visit again some day.

P.S : The views are my original and pictures are also original.

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, by Sneh Asnani

In Blogger award, Travel

A chance to get to know me better!!

One lovely morning, I noticed that I was nominated for the Sunshine Blogger award by Amanda!! I want to say her a big Thankyou and see this as an opportunity to connect with other bloggers and get to know them better while also sharing my stories !!

What is Sunshine Blogger Award ??
The Sunshine Blogger Award is an award for (new) bloggers given by other bloggers. You can get nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award if you are able to inspire positivity, creativity, and joy in the blogging community.

What should you do if you’re being nominated for the award?
Once you’re nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award, you have to follow some easy rules:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog from your post.
2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you. Then, nominate 11 new bloggers and come up with a list of 11 questions for them to answer on their own blog!
3. Display the rules and the Sunshine Blogger Award Logo on your website

The questions I got from Amanda :

When did you go on your first trip and where did you go?
I remember travelling with my parents as a young child.. my Dad was a huge travel enthusiast and thats where I caught the bug of travelling. My parents tell me that they took me on my first trip to MountAbu in Rajasthan when I was just 3 and I used to absolutely enjoy.. As a child, I loved to walk and explore new places and they never had to carry me even though I was quite small.. From then on.. there were several trips that we took together as a family to various parts of India, from North (Shimla, Manali, Chandigarh, Manikaran, Badrinath temple, Haridwar) to the South India (Trivendrum, Bangalore, Ooty, Chennai) and in the West (Gujrat, Rajasthan and so much more).

When did you start travel blogging and what is your niche?
I started writing about my travels in 2014 as I see this as an opportunity to share my experiences and itineries with my readers. I really feel good when someone writes me a note saying they followed my trip itinerary and enjoyed their travel, and the tips were useful for them to plan their travels.

What is your favourite destination so far and why?
My Favorite destination so far has been Paris!! It has everything.. History, Art, Modern lifestyle, and lovely French food.. I went to Paris long back and totally enjoyed being there

Have you ever visited a place you wouldn’t recommend to others?
No, all the places I have travelled have been worth it. Moreover, for me it is never about the place, it is about the company of my family and friends and the time we spend together.

Do you prefer to travel solo or with someone/in a group?
I love to travel with my family.. Solo travel is not for me :)

What is your dream destination?
Iceland

Have you ever tried travelling by train? If yes, did you enjoy it?
Yes absolutely.. train journeys are the Best, you enjoy the scenary and travelling at pace..

Where are you from and what are the must-sees in your city/country?
I am from Bangalore India. India is a land of many cultures, languages and so much to experience. Its something that you need to experience rather than cover historical places.

What was the latest place you visited?
My last holiday was in England and Scotland.. I covered London, Scotland, Lake District, Manchester and Stonehenge

Show us a photo from that trip!

At the edge of the world!! Scotland!!

Have you ever made a mistake during a trip that you’d like to warn others about?
Yes, sometimes we end up booking cheap hotels by looking at photographs on the site. I have realized this mistake several times when I land up in the hotel and it is horrible - the photos dont match the real place. So please read reviews before booking and always fishy about a price that is too good to digest.

My Nominees for the Sunshine Blogger Awards :
So far I have nominated the following Bloggers but will keep adding to the list as I get more!!

Gora Discovers

Raising my Autistic Farmer

India Frame

My Questions to the new nominees:

1. What is your earliest memory of travelling ?

2. Are you a typical All-Inclusive Luxury traveler or a Budget Traveler?

3. What was the reason to start blogging about your adventures?

4. What is your best holiday till now?

5. Top 3 Destinations in your bucket list?

6. Your favorite Travel picture - Post it

7. How did Travel change you life?

8.You are a Mountain person or a Beach person?

7Comments

, by Sneh Asnani

In England, Europe

Manchester in a Day

People who live in Manchester say that it is the greatest city in the world!! Indeed in many ways it is true. It is not as huge or as popular as London but it is mighty in its own right. The only motivation for us to include Manchester in the itinerary was my husband's fan following towards Manchester United. We decided that we must watch a Premier league match of ManUtd in Old Trafford and so dedicated a day to this beautiful city.

So we had half a day to go around the city and then headed to the Old Trafford for the football match.
We reached Manchester in the morning - we were coming from London.

How to Reach:
There are regular trains from London Euston to Manchester Picadilly station. I booked my ticket from trainline.
London Euston --> Manchester Picadilly : 2 hours - Normal ticket price is 148 GBP but booking in advance can get cheap rates - I booked my tickets for 33GBP each from Trainline.

We took the 08.20 AM train and reached Manchester Picadilly at 10.30 AM.

Public Transport:
We purchased a day-ticket which allows unlimited Tram connectivity within Manchester. There are different options, but since it was a week-end we purchased a Off-peak Day saver ticket which was for 4.8 GBP per ticket.
The Metro tram connectivity is very good and goes to most parts of the city. Tickets are available from the ticketing machines on the station and these machines accept cards or cash.
It is very easy to travel in a tram, google maps will also help you to find out which tram line to catch for which station. I am attaching a map here for reference.

Metro Map taken from the Manchester transport site

Where we stayed:
When I was researching for hotels, it was very difficult to find a reasonable rate. Most of the hotels were fully booked (probably because there was a premier league match in the city that day) and those which were available were super-expensive.
Finally we narrowed to a hotel called "The Victoria Hotel by Compass Hospitality"- this was a victorian styled old hotel which had a lot of positive reviews on the Internet and the price was around 85GBP per night including breakfast.
The hotel had a lovely garden and an overall rustic feel but honestly as Indian travellers we like modern hotels better. There was no lift, no phone in the room, no room service and an archaic bathroom. The nearest tram station was Hollinwood Avenue which was around 2 kms walking from the hotel - so I will not recommend it.

Sightseeing in the city: Since we just had half a day and wanted to make the most of it, this is what we covered :

1. Castlefield :
These are the ruins of an old Roman era and forts. For this you need to get down on the Deansgate-Castlefield station. The destination is about 500mts from here and there are directions on the road.
It was nice and refreshing, there were ducks and birds and my kid enjoyed playing with them. Other than that, I am not a big fan of historical ruins, so I did not find much to see here. According to me it can be skipped.

Feeding the ducks at Castlefield

2. Museum of Science and Industry:
This is exactly opposite to Castlefield and is walkable from there. This is a very popular attraction but due to paucity of time, we skipped it.

Piccadilly Gardens

3. Piccadilly Gardens:
I absolutely fell in love with this place. Catch the tram and come to Piccadilly Gardens stop, its beautiful fountains and pleasant atmosphere. There is a flea market where there are food stalls selling nice yummy stuff. We ate Kabab roll here and it was amazing. This place is the heart of the city so there are supermarkets, shopping areas and everything you need.

National Football Museum

4. National Football Museum:
Manchester is home to 2 Europe's top football teams - ManCity and ManUtd - so Indeed the football museum is worth paying a visit. This is a huge 4 story building featuring various sports memorabilia, historical trophies, short movie shots and the history of football. This will take a good 1-2 hours if you want to do it well. The entry is free but they do ask for donations which are optional.
It is a 10 mins walk from the Piccadilly gardens or you can take a tram to nearest station Victoria.

5. Manchester Cathedral:
Absolutely stunning. This is right next to the Football museum, entry is free but they ask for voluntary donations. The gardens outside the Cathedral are also worth watching with different autumn colors and beautiful decor. Built in the 1500s, this has not lost its charm in the modern age
and has very peaceful vibrations.

6. Old Trafford Football ground:
If you are a football fan this is a place which you love to visit. The nearest tram stop is Old Trafford or Trafford bar. Both of them are around 1 kms walking from the stadium. This is also the best way to travel there because on days of the Football match, the roads are damn crowded and parking is impossible. Also the police will block some roads due to which Bus accessibility is also limited.

It was luckily a Match day when we visited there. I think that trip deserves a special blog because I want to write all about the craziness and madness called football in this city. Throngs of people will be travelling by tram (better to leave early else its super-crowded) they will sing the ManUtd anthem and keep moving. The atmosphere is magical and I think you can only truely feel the vibe when present there.

All in all, it is indeed a beautiful city and I would love to live there if I get a chance.
Here was a my Full Trip schedule -
London --> Manchester --> Lake District --> Edinburgh --> Scottish Highlands --> Isle of Skye --> London --> Stonehenge --> Back to India

P.S : All pictures in this blog are original and clicked from my OnePlus6 Phone

Some more blogs from this trip that I have written :

Lake District in 1 Day on Foot
Edinburgh at Midnight
Scotland Legends
Another Place Monument in Liverpool
Chester in 1 day on Foot
Trip to Stonehenge - Mystery stones

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, by Sneh Asnani

In England, Europe

Trip to Stonehenge.. the Mystery stones and feeling the magic

Stonehenge... one of the most mystical places in England. It is also called as the eighth wonder of the world. Although there are mixed reviews on the internet, but I will certainly recommend anyone visiting London to definitely put this in the itinerary. This is one of the worlds most iconic archaeological sites and one of its greatest mysteries.

There are countless theories on who built this mega structure and what purpose did it serve 5000 years back. Our ancestors did not leave any record about this. The Sandstones weigh 25 tonne each which come from Ireland and the BlueStones come from Whales. Around this monument there are vast plain green lands - so no one knows how the ancient humans brought such heavy stones from far away lands.

Our guide told us lot of folk stories associated with this place. One of them was that this place had a specific electromagnetic radiation due to which this was a healing place, people who were terminally sick came here for treatment. The other story was the around Stonehenge, scientists have discovered lot of skeletons buried under the earth, so the folk story goes that people who were about to die were sent here for spending their final moments of life.

There is another story which says that this place has astrological significance. The shadow of the sun on the heel stone is the longest on the solstice days (longest day and night of the year).

My Feeling :

The one reason why Stonehenge inspired me was the vibration of that place. It is breathtaking and very pleasant to be in presence of these majestic stones. It really seems as if this place has some magical energy in it which is very empowering.

When you reach here, you will need to show your ticket at the tourist office from where you will take a 15 minutes bus ride to the site. We were given an audio guide with each ticket so that we could hear the story of Stonehenge. There is a small fence surrounding the stones, so we cannot go really up-close to touch them. However, I heard that there is another tour at off-hours which allows you to go up close and touch the magnificent stone structures.

There is also a small shop at the tourist center which sells souvenirs. I purchased bottles of Stonehenge wine from here - there were different flavors such as Ginger wine and Plum wine which I had never tasted before and these costed me around 10 GBP each. Totally love it.

How to reach:

I did a lot of research if I can go here on my own using public transport. There are ways to reach here but it is not very time-friendly.
The closest train station is Salisbury. There are trains which run regularly from London Waterloo station to Salisbury station which is 09 miles from Stonehenge. From here you need to take a Stonehenge Tour bus. There is no public transport and this is a private tour bus. I found some information here for reaching Stonehenge independently.

I however, compared the cost of going on my own v/s the cost of booking a guided tour to Stonehenge and they were almost the same. So I decided to take a tour from London to Stonehenge from internet. My tour operator was Premium tours and I booked it from London toolkit site as there were some discounts available.

Cost of Ticket from London Waterloo to Salisbury : 25 GBP (on some saver tickets)
Bus ticket from Salisbury to Stonehenge : 15 GBP
Entry ticket for Stonehenge: 17.50 GBP
Tour price from London to Stonehenge on internet which includes the ticket: Around 50 GBP

Hence I preferred to go by tour operator - All of them start from Victoria Bus Coach Station and are very particular about time. So please be few minutes early else you might miss the bus.

I had actually taken the tour which included Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge - so it was a bit rushed in one day. Also we couldn't cover Bath due to traffic congestion and lost precious time sitting in the bus.

All in all, I really really enjoyed Stonehenge and I would definitely recommend everyone to visit here at-least once in a lifetime. I will write more about my London trip in future blogs.
P.S : All images in this blog are original and clicked by me using my Nikon DSLR :)

Some good links to read more about Stonehenge :
Stonehenge on National Geographic
English Heritage site - Stonehenge
Stonehenge on Wiki

Here was a my Full Trip schedule -
London --> Manchester --> Lake District --> Edinburgh --> Scottish Highlands --> Isle of Skye --> London --> Stonehenge --> Back to India

Some more blogs from this trip that I have written :

Lake District in 1 Day on Foot

Edinburgh at Midnight

Scotland Legends

Another Place Monument in Liverpool

Chester in 1 day on Foot

16Comments

, by Sneh Asnani

In England, Europe

Another Place, Crosby Beach near Liverpool

Do you see this man staring far into the sea, into nothingness, his expressions pale as he fearlessly faces the sea all day. This is nothing but a sculpture by Antony Gormley, made out of cast iron, and there are hundreds of these installed on the beach every 500 meters.

Crosby Beach is located near Liverpool and one weekend I decided to go there to experience and fathom this bizzare public art that adorns this beach. When I reached there, my first reaction was that it looks haunted. No, it was not deserted, there were lots of people walking with their dogs, enjoying the wind and exercising.

This beach is a huge stretch of land, you could see wind turbines and industries on the other side. I even spotted some ships far away. There are warning signs that this beach is Hazardous and advises visitors to not go beyond 50 meters from the promenade.

I noticed there were 100s of sculptures of a nude man installed from left to right far into the sea, looking exactly alike spread acorss the 3 Kms lovely coastline. These are partially submerged and visible as the tide comes and goes. Every figure is 650Kgs and it is said that it made made from the cast of Artists own body.
This striking public art-work is known as "Another Place" by the British artist Antony Gormley.

Initially the plan was that these will keep moving to different places (they have been earlier installed in Germany, Norway and Belgium, but it looks these men have found their true home and are permanently installed now at Crosby beach near Liverpool.

How to Reach : This place is a 20 mins ride on the Merseyside train from Liverpool. There are regular trains, but the frequency is less on weekends. There is an off-peak ticket that you can buy from Liverpool Lime street stations for 5 GBPs and this will allow you to catch any train, any time on the Wirral line.
Liverpool Central --> Blundellsands & Crosby

From this station just take a 10 mins walk, and you will see the beach. Use google maps for navigation.
This is a really quiet place, so I did not find any people walking on the streets or driving. The roads were totally empty, so better to go in the Noon hours as it might be scary late in the evening.

The beach is very very windy, probably thats why they have windmills there. So it can get cold, and thankfully I had a hood in my jacket to protect from the wind.

Where else can you go: Liverpool is a lovely city, if you have time, explore it more. Or you can go to other places on the same train (with same ticket) such as Sefton Park or New Brighton beach etc. I will write more on this later.

In the words of the Artist :"The idea was to test time and tide, stillness and movement, and somehow engage with the daily life of the beach. This was no exercise in romantic escapism."