Sri Lanka 2023-Back in Lucky's Country

[RB]

When we visited Sri Lanka in Feb 2012 we consulted the area experts on Trip Advisor to get recommendations for a guide and driver. There was strong support for Lucky Bolonghe and we made our booking. The 2012 trip Sri Lanka-The Pearl Of the Indian Ocean | Australian Frequent Flyer was a fantastic experience and we have stayed in constant contact with Lucky since that trip.
This time we are travelling in a different season and the north is now open after the war.

Basically we would be travelling in a clockwise direction. An easy way to travel with us hiring Lucky and he was responsible for the vehicle and driving. The route reflected the fact we had visited Sri Lanka before so we minimised overlap. The various hotels were booked after consulting with Lucky. Tangalle was wind down time at the beach before getting back to Negombo and preparing to fly out.
I am posting this after returning home earlier this week. We were away for approximately a month. The below photos are a few random shots from what is a great country to visit

 

[RB]

SQ 256 BNE-SIN J Seats 12A & 15A
Booked as part of a return KrisFlyer award. We caught an Uber from Geebung and only had a 5 minute wait and no driver cancelling on us- we hadn’t flown International from Brisbane for many years and appreciated the quick progress through the airport. We were caught a little unprepared and got shuffled to the automated check-in/bag drop process rather than a personal check-in process. It was a bit of a failure with one of the bags refusing to budge & someone had to override the process anyway. The rest was smooth sailing & we were soon in the SQ lounge-rather small we thought, but not overcrowded while we were there. Pretty good variety of food on offer & we gave the booze a miss-Johnnie Walker black kept staring at me & Mrs RB resisted the New Zealand Mumm.
The lounge made a boarding call & the priority boarding worked fine. The business cabin was full. Pushback was delayed as the bags of a no show were offloaded.
The flight path was new for us with some spectacular scenery particularly from the Gulf to Darwin. Crew were excellent, the food was a step up from their recent offerings and the wifi worked well.
Certainly couldn’t complain about baggage handling with both bags in the first half dozen just as we approached the carousel. As part of our overall planning we stayed near Bugis St Station so this was a very simple transfe. Tapped on and off with our 28 degree & ANZ cards with no hassles. No real facilities for bags on the MRT but super easy with a small backpack each & a 13kg 2 wheel soft sided bag each. Standing room only but it was only 20 minutes or so. The station was a flat 5 minute walk to the hotel.

View from Brisbane Lounge





Pretty well on time






2 different barramundi dished via Book the Cook

 

[RB]

Bintan Island


Google tells me this was Bandar Penawar


An excellent chicken dish before we landed


I enjoyed some generous serves of the single malt

 

[RB]

Village Hotel Bugis
A one night stay booked via Amex Travel using the travel credit from a platinum card - proved to be a very good value booking. Check-in is up off street level but very friendly and quick & granted us a late check-out of 3pm. The deluxe king rooms have been refurbished & we were very happy in Room 1220 - it was quiet, a huge comfortable bed, all facilities worked & we had a decent view. Location in the Kampong Glam district with an easy walk to Arab St & Haji Lane seemed ideal as we were having our first night in Singapore for many years.











Views from room

 

[Major]

I love that area with all the lanes, also the lanes off Serangoon Rd

 

[RB]

I love that area with all the lanes, also the lanes off Serangoon Rd

Yes we thought Bugis area was a pretty good choice for us & walking & the MRT make things pretty easy these days

 

[craven morehead]

SQ 256 BNE-SIN J Seats 12A & 15A
Booked as part of a return KrisFlyer award. We caught an Uber from Geebung and only had a 5 minute wait and no driver cancelling on us- we hadn’t flown International from Brisbane for many years and appreciated the quick progress through the airport. We were caught a little unprepared and got shuffled to the automated check-in/bag drop process rather than a personal check-in process. It was a bit of a failure with one of the bags refusing to budge & someone had to override the process anyway. The rest was smooth sailing & we were soon in the SQ lounge-rather small we thought, but not overcrowded while we were there. Pretty good variety of food on offer & we gave the booze a miss-Johnnie Walker black kept staring at me & Mrs RB resisted the New Zealand Mumm.
The lounge made a boarding call & the priority boarding worked fine. The business cabin was full. Pushback was delayed as the bags of a no show were offloaded.
The flight path was new for us with some spectacular scenery particularly from the Gulf to Darwin. Crew were excellent, the food was a step up from their recent offerings and the wifi worked well.
Certainly couldn’t complain about baggage handling with both bags in the first half dozen just as we approached the carousel. As part of our overall planning we stayed near Bugis St Station so this was a very simple transfe. Tapped on and off with our 28 degree & ANZ cards with no hassles. No real facilities for bags on the MRT but super easy with a small backpack each & a 13kg 2 wheel soft sided bag each. Standing room only but it was only 20 minutes or so. The station was a flat 5 minute walk to the hotel.

View from Brisbane Lounge
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Pretty well on time
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2 different barramundi dished via Book the Cook
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The Barra dishes look pretty good

 

[RB]

The Barra dishes look pretty good

Top photo was Mrs RB's "Grilled barramundi with dill veloute and parsley mashed potatoes" and mine was a pretty simple description " barramundi and fried rice" ! I liked that the sauce/marinade didn't overpower the taste of the fish.

 

[RB]

That night we enjoyed a kebab & beers and had a great walk around the busy streets.

 

[RB]

Next day was also a bit of walking - taking in some street markets, malls and Fort Canning Hill where there are plenty of remnants of the military past and the cannons still in place illustrate how much Singapore has changed. There were big crowds enjoying picnics in the grounds on a Sunday.

 

[RB]

More of our Singapore wanderings
The Rain Tree introduced from Sth America from 1876 and this particular tree is heritage listed



This cannon looks misplaced these days

 

[drron]

Back in the day Bugis street was where the world's best pickpockets hung out. I would put folded up tour brochures in my back pocket about the size of a wallet. Walking down Bugis street I didn't feel a thing but there were gone. A few months later I did it on Las ramblas Barcelona. Rank amateurs. I felt 3 attempts and turne around and off they went. At the end of the walk still had my brochures. Done it in a few other areas and Bugis street kept it's top ranking. not the same now.

 

[RB]

Back in the day Bugis street was where the world's best pickpockets hung out. I would put folded up tour brochures in my back pocket about the size of a wallet. Walking down Bugis street I didn't feel a thing but there were gone. A few months later I did it on Las ramblas Barcelona. Rank amateurs. I felt 3 attempts and turne around and off they went. At the end of the walk still had my brochures. Done it in a few other areas and Bugis street kept it's top ranking. not the same now.

Certainly felt very safe there during this trip and Mrs RB noticed that chewing gum is still banned in Singapore. A few people were very insistent on walking straight across in front of you and I think Singapore is even worse that Australia for people being glued to their mobile screens

 

[RB]

SQ468 SIN-CMB J 12A & 15A
After our much appreciated late check-out we retraced our steps back to Changi. The bookings were a return LifeMiles redemption that helped reduce our holding.
It is an easy walk to T2 from the MRT station, where were were able to check-in early with no problems. Only a couple of others in line & we were through formalities very quickly. The SilverKris lounge provided us a great spot to wait for our late night flight. We thought the food choice was excellent and the staff were constantly refurbishing the offerings and doing cleaning runs. The bathroom facilities were spotless but small in number, I also only noticed 1 shower in the men’s area. Great atmosphere in the dining area with some large/long tables encouraging people to mix in that area. The general “lounge” area had plenty of seating but the peace & quiet was often broken by loud phone conversations (they seem to be experts at avoiding eye contact with the people they annoy)! A boarding announcement was made & by the time we got through gate security it was a walk straight onto the plane via a business lane. Pre departure bubbles were offered & we pushed back on time. Another great crew, Mrs RB enjoyed the lobster via Book the Cook while I had a nicely cooked lamb rack. The cabin seemed full despite heaps of seats options available a couple of weeks earlier when I checked. A different bubbles on this flight, Chanpagne Henriot.
Arrived pretty well on time. We had done an online visa & online arrival card. The checking at immigration was pretty quick. Lucky was there to meet us despite the near midnight time. Traffic in the carpark was pretty hectic but orderly.

Walking to Changi lounge


We were on early




Not Piper on this leg

Marinated smoked salmon with capers


Lamb Rack


Lobster


For those who didn't Book the Cook

 

[RB]

Negombo
We stayed overnight with Lucky’s daughter in a new homestay. Very comfortable bedroom with air conditioning that radiated off a common lounge area & a big kitchen spot. Also a good garden area to sit outside in the morning. Lucky & his wife also run a cafe/restaurant where we enjoyed an excellent breakfast - eggs, toast jam, fresh juice & coffee.



Cross the road & walk to the beach


Best fresh drink for the entire trip


Always a lot of toast supplied with breakfast.






Shared internal area




Workmanship in Sri Lanka was way in front of our 2022 stays in India




Our transport around the island- older but very comfortable & easy to see out of in traffic

 

[RB]

Negombo to Anuradhapura
Our main destination was the Wilpattu National park for an afternoon safari. Very little traffic on our way north & nothing like the driving behaviour of the Indians! No donkey/horse/camel transport, keep in lanes speed limit of 70km/hr. Plenty of police checks (especially on unbroken lines on corners) and the cars, relatively small trucks , motorbikes & pushbikes co-existed. An excellent bitumen surface all the way despite us using some secondary roads for better scenery. We stopped at Chilaw & purchased a carton of bottled water- still needed for our stomachs. Lunch was a simple rice dish from a roadside stall.

I always enjoy looking at local supermarkets when we travel. Here there was bulk chickpeas, dahl, rice, sugars etc. 28 degree card used with no problems. The water was around 30c Aust per bottle









Our dollar was buying around 220 rupees to start & dropped to around 208 while we were there


Kids cricket bats for sale

 

[RB]

Wilpattu National Park
Wilpattu National Park Safari Travel Guide: The Wild Side Of Sri Lanka (2023) - Just Go Exploring
Off on the pursuit of a sighting of a leopard. Just the 3 of us and our driver/spotter. Vehicle was a Toyota with well padded Toyota seats in the back. We were ready at the gates for the 2pm start and only saw a couple of other vehicles ready to start. Later on we saw some all day safari participants and a few other groups that had obviously started later than us. A pretty comfortable all weather dirt track took us through the park where there was no phone reception - so the spotters were not in constant contact. First sightings were the spotted deer and a great variety of birds that Lucky was able to identify for us. We happened upon a few parked jeeps which is always a good sign - and there she was - a female leopard lying in the shade probably 50 metres from the road. We ended with a great parking spot to watch her for around half an hour before she casually wandered off into scrub. No further leopard sightings but there was a designated spot to get out and have a walk (nice area over a lagoon) where the monkeys made the most of play time in the jeeps. Some more bird sightings, a huge crocodile that eventually gave a swimming display & then another highlight with a sloth bear on a wander. A great afternoon. Cost approx 22,000 for park entry & 16,000 for jeep so around $180 Aussie for exclusive use of the jeep & Lucky rode along with us (much cheaper rate for local visitors)








An interesting commentary piece Sri Lanka’s divine pests: Peafowl problem calls for human action (Commentary)


These 2 had somehow found their way into the park- reported them on our way out


The excellent stopping point with toilet facilities also available


Found this an interesting adaptation


Female jungle fowl -certainly doesn't receive the attention of the male as shown in post 1 of this report

 

[RB]

Wilpattu Safari continued


We had a lot of leopard photos that looked like this (resting in the shade probably 30 odd metres from the jeep


Then Mrs RB got the jackpot

 

[RB]

Last of Wilpattu





Sloth sighted



Check the size of the foot




Apparently the back seats have been rescued from Toyota wrecks-very comfortable for the 3hr drive. Here the driver is also the spotter and did an excellent job

 

[drron]

Their small mullet looked like our bream not mullet.
And congrats to Mrs RB for a fantastic photo. Very jealous.