Sri Lanka Intro: Q&A with Sidney

If there is one thing you need to know about Sidney, one of our Travel Coordinators here at Gap 360, it’s that he’s got some wild travel stories. Overlanding from Norway to Georgia, road trips through the Aussie outbacks, a last-minute local wedding invitation in Turkey… Okay, that might be his craziest tale!

But there was one major travel experience he’d yet to have. Doing a Gap 360 group tour, of course! As Sri Lanka was next on his bucket list, he decided to see what all the fuss was about and join our 12-day Sri Lanka Intro trip. Here’s what he had to say.

Q: This was your first group tour! How did you find it, compared to other travelling you’ve done in the past?

A: It’s very different from what I’ve done before, where you’re arriving somewhere new and figuring it out from day one. How to book your transport, your accommodation… And the main thing is, what are you going to do every day? That’s something you have to figure out all by yourself, and it gets a little bit tiring after a while.

So, to do a group tour, I felt like royalty! I did no planning whatsoever. To have it all planned for you and not have to think about it was a very new and exciting experience for me. Everything flowed really well, and I thought it just worked.

I really quite enjoyed that more than I thought I would, I’ve got to say. On the days that I could do my own thing, I was a bit lost. I was like, “Oh my God, I’ve had it all painted for me, basically. What should I do today?”

Q: How were your group and your group leaders?

A: Everyone was really nice and got on, there was no tension at all. Everyone was kind of in their mid 20s to mid 30s, and I think it was about 11 people. I couldn’t have asked for a better group, really.

The leaders were great. You get a local guide as well as your main group leader, which I thought was a really good combination. You get the best of both worlds because you get the familiarity, but then you also get enriched in the culture and a better idea of every activity you’re doing on Sri Lanka Intro.

Q: What inspired you to visit Sri Lanka?

A: It looked good!

I’ve been to India before, and I loved it, but it is intense. So I thought from what I’ve heard, Sri Lanka was a bit more relaxed and chilled out. But then, Sri Lanka has its own uniqueness to it. You get to see the beaches, the mountains, the inside of the island, as well as the coast… So that’s kind of what drew me to Sri Lanka.

Very much island life. That was a term we used a lot, “Island time.” Don’t expect things to come particularly quickly because everyone’s working on island time. You know, not particularly slow, but not in a rush. Everyone’s chilled, everyone’s taking it easy. 

We should take a leaf out of their book.

We should, yeah. Get some hammocks in the office. I’d be pretty chuffed with that.

Q: Did you have any favourite moments on the trip?

Yeah, totally! I managed to stand up during the surfing. I was very proud of myself. Basically a pro. Multiple times, I managed to actually stand up on the board and give it a bit of the old arm magic stuff (author’s note: the classic surfer pose 🏄), which I didn’t think I’d do in 1 million years.

In fact, quite a lot of people in the group managed to do it as well. So I think we were all quite chuffed after that. We were all on a bit of an adrenaline high after the surfing!

Then the National Park was really cool. We got to see elephants. We saw some mongooses. We saw crocodiles or alligators, I’m not sure which. Loads of bird life. Loads of cool stuff. You have to get up early for it, but it was definitely worth it. Yeah, I really enjoyed the safari.

Q: Sri Lanka is well-known for the Nine Arch Bridge viewpoint and the Ella train journey. Did it live up to your expectations?

A: There was very good photography on that day! So for the Ella Train Journey, it doesn’t actually go across Nine Arch Bridge. But it goes across a lot of bridges that are very similar, and you get lots of spectacular views, if not better views than you would get from the Nine Arch Bridge. 

Our group leader was really great because he knew all the best spaces to get photographs. The train journey was 3 or 4 hours. You get loads of views, and any time you’re not, you can play cards. Really enjoyed it.

But you also visit the Nine Arch Bridge itself. You visit during a hike, and you get to go down, and your group will wait around until you get an opportunity to see a train because they kind of go past every sort of 20 minutes. So you do get the shot if that’s what you’re looking for, the pictures and the videos!

Q: What did you think of the tea plantations?

A: That was on the same day, actually! So you go to the tea plantations first, taking the bus to the hillside. The journey there is quite nice because you have more spectacular views. It’s quite chill at the tea plantation. You get to enjoy the kind of serene, relaxed atmosphere before taking you into the factory for a bit of a rundown of the history behind it, all of the machinery that they use.

At the end of it, you get to actually have some tea, which is a bonus. I am more of a coffee man myself, but I did enjoy the tea!

That was one of those moments I really loved doing a tour. “How am I going to get there? How am I going to get back? Which train should I catch?” All these little things you just don’t even have to think about. For this trip specifically, you have one bus for the entire trip. So you can just leave stuff on it and pick it up at the next place, which is great.

Q: How was the food?

A: That part of the world has the most incredible food. Lots of curries and sambal, but also western options. You could have a curry at 7 o’clock in the morning if you wanted to. I bet it would be delicious. I don’t know if my stomach’s built for that, but it was always very good.

We actually did a day where we watched this cooking demonstration. Some things we got to take part in, like the whole bashing of the rice thing with the big stick. I’m sure there is a correct term for that (author’s note: we think Sidney is referring to a giant-sized mortar and pestle). We got to eat it all in the end, which was amazing, this massive spread along a table. I went back for thirds, maybe fourths!

Q: Any passing advice for someone interested in Sri Lanka Intro, or maybe is thinking of visiting that part of the world?

A: Sri Lanka is definitely worth visiting. You can see so much, and you can just go to the beach. The beaches are everywhere, and they’re so beautiful. If you want the India experience and have time to do both, Sri Lanka is a fantastic place to start.

And for the tour itself… Sri Lanka was just, wow. It was really, really good! I was blown away by more or less everything. You get to experience so many different things.

The accommodation also blew me away. You’re just getting the good stuff. You get these really nice swimming pools, and you’re staying in twin or triple rooms. They all served food, which was all really good as well. So if you want some good accommodation and you want to see a lot of one country, Sri Lanka Intro is the one to go for!

Q: Thanks for chatting with me, Sidney! My last question is, where’s next on your bucket list?

A: I’m not too sure! But I’ve wanted to go to Jordan for a long time. I wanna do some hiking out there. That would be really cool. See Petra.

I still haven’t done Indonesia. I’ve done everywhere else in Southeast Asia, but not Indonesia. Sumatra looks really good. Got quite a bit of trekking there as well, which could be quite exciting.

If you’re going somewhere with such a radically different climate and plants and animals, I think it’s definitely worth doing some hiking where you can. Go out and see it all to the best of your ability. Or lay on a beach! Both great options. 

Maybe I should go to Indonesia. Sign me up!
 

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