Let's start our journey at the smiling country - Sri Lanka! Our first stop was Negombo where we visited the local fish market and had a satisfying lunch. Followed by an hour drive (using the first express way built in Sri Lanka), we arrived at the capital of the country - the busy Colombo. Whether Colombo is a must-visit or not, it depends on your schedule. If you are tight on time, you can totally skip it and head straight to Cultural Triangle region after landing.
Accommodation
Cinnamon Red Colombo Hotel
All booking of accommodation had been done through Booking.com. Believe it or not, this allows you to save more money as booking directly through the hotel websites is much more expensive. Cinnamon Red was probably the best hotel we had in Sri Lanka.
Stay per night = 53USD/night/person (2 rooms to fit 3 people each)
(+) Spacious clean room with beautiful interior design, awesome buffet breakfast that comes in a wide range of food options, strong wifi, good city view
(-) Driver's accommodation not provided
Attractions
Negombo Fish Market
Our first stop after landing in Sri Lanka. We were there to buy some fresh seafood at reasonable price for our lunch. We saw mainly locals here and it was a fun experience choosing our ingredients (though I admit that I had no expertise in this). The only tip I could give is to bargain hard with your driver's help as the local sellers speak minimal English.
Food
Silver Sands Restuarant
Ministry of Crabs
Address: Old Dutch Hospital Complex, 04 Hospital St, Colombo 00100, Sri Lanka.
Opening hours: Lunch - 11.30 am to 3.30 pm; dinner - 5 pm to 11 pm
Extremely overrated. The most expensive meal we paid for throughout the trip, yet the food was a great disappointment. Would recommend to buy live crabs from Negombo Fish Market and head to some family restaurants for cooking instead. Nonetheless, if you still feel like visiting the restaurant and assessing the quality yourself, remember to make a reservation through Facebook as it is somehow extremely popular among tourists.
Anyway we ordered the baked crabs, butter crabs (to notify the restaurant at least 6 hours in advance for preparation) and the signature garlic chilli crabs. The verdicts were described after photos of each dish. Sorry that the photos were not well-taken due to dim lighting.
Accommodation
Cinnamon Red Colombo Hotel
All booking of accommodation had been done through Booking.com. Believe it or not, this allows you to save more money as booking directly through the hotel websites is much more expensive. Cinnamon Red was probably the best hotel we had in Sri Lanka.
Stay per night = 53USD/night/person (2 rooms to fit 3 people each)
(+) Spacious clean room with beautiful interior design, awesome buffet breakfast that comes in a wide range of food options, strong wifi, good city view
(-) Driver's accommodation not provided
Love the modern design of the room.
Yummy breakfast in combination with good view on the city. Perfect!
Negombo Fish Market
Our first stop after landing in Sri Lanka. We were there to buy some fresh seafood at reasonable price for our lunch. We saw mainly locals here and it was a fun experience choosing our ingredients (though I admit that I had no expertise in this). The only tip I could give is to bargain hard with your driver's help as the local sellers speak minimal English.
Drying salted fish in process.
The Independence Square
Opening hours: 24-hour
Entrance fee: Free
A historical landmark in Sri Lanka.
Viharamahadevi Park
It is a public park located opposite to the National Museum. We stayed for a while but didn't explore thoroughly due to time constraint. The Buddha statue was beautiful.
Street performance. You can take photos (with tips of course!) with the snake if you are brave enough.
Little bro was very excited to see this! Old-school way to buy snacks.
Seema Malaka and Gangaramaya Temple
Entrance ticket: 300 LKR/pax (cover both temples)
Opening hours: 5.30am to 10pm daily
Gangaramaya Temple is probably the most iconic temple in the city and also houses a museum displaying huge collections of Buddha statues and Buddhist-related artifacts. On the other hand, Seema Malaka is a gorgeous temple built on a lake. You can probably spend an hour exploring both temples. The two temples are not located next to each other, but within short walking distance of about 5 mins.
Gangaramaya Temple.
Seema Malaka Temple. Wonder what distracted my parents? Haha.
Seema Malaka Temple.
Silver Sands Restuarant
Address: 229, Lewis Pl, Negombo, Sri Lanka.
Highly recommend to dine at this restaurant. As mentioned earlier, we purchased the fresh seafood (prawns and fish) from Negombo Fish Market and left them with the restaurant chef to come up with a few dishes. The food was delicious but what mesmerised us even more was the beautiful beach in front of the restaurant! A well-hidden gem where you won't see crazy tourist crowds but only a few local couples spending time to enjoy the beautiful scenery together. :)
European colonial style buildings.
Featuring some good photos taken on the beach. It is uncommon to see a blooming flower field on the beach, such a good view! It was a gloomy day and thus the colours of these photos didn't turn out to be as vibrant as it should be.
Address: Old Dutch Hospital Complex, 04 Hospital St, Colombo 00100, Sri Lanka.
Opening hours: Lunch - 11.30 am to 3.30 pm; dinner - 5 pm to 11 pm
Extremely overrated. The most expensive meal we paid for throughout the trip, yet the food was a great disappointment. Would recommend to buy live crabs from Negombo Fish Market and head to some family restaurants for cooking instead. Nonetheless, if you still feel like visiting the restaurant and assessing the quality yourself, remember to make a reservation through Facebook as it is somehow extremely popular among tourists.
Anyway we ordered the baked crabs, butter crabs (to notify the restaurant at least 6 hours in advance for preparation) and the signature garlic chilli crabs. The verdicts were described after photos of each dish. Sorry that the photos were not well-taken due to dim lighting.
Butter baked crab. We ordered Crabzilla (2-kg) and it's good for sharing. To be honest, this was the best among all the dishes we ordered. We could tell that the crab was fresh and went well with the fragrant (but sinful) butter sauce.
Baked crab. We were recommended to have one per person and we did. My only comment was too salty. Couldn't really taste the sweetness and freshness of crab meats.
Garlic chili crabs. I was really looking forward for this but.... Very oily... Sigh...
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