To Celebrating Love: Tarun’s Romantic and Adventurous Sri Lanka Trip with Thrillophilia
“Why Sri Lanka? Take her to Himachal or Uttarakhand … the mountains are really beautiful and peaceful at this time!”
This is what our parents said to us before our honeymoon trip to Sri Lanka. Everyone in our family was in disbelief that we wanted to explore the dense jungles, see wild animals and try adventurous water sports, that too, on our honeymoon!
But how do I explain to them that this is exactly what my dear wife wanted!
Your Wish, My Command
Before our wedding I asked my better-half, “So, where do you want us to go for our honeymoon?”
To my surprise, she replied with glittery eyes, “I want to explore the woods and see the wildlife up close. And yes, can we go underwater? I really want to see how vibrant the underwater world is!”
Not going to lie, even I thought at first that she was joking. But her glittery eyes still kept looking at me for two minutes. Of course, I could not say no and had to give her everything she had asked for.
Next thing I know, I was on my laptop, searching day and night to find the best destination for our honeymoon. After a thorough research, I felt that the ideal destination in our budget would be Sri Lanka. It had everything from jungle safaris to exciting attractions, plenty of adventurous activities and of course, stunning natural beauty-to make it a little romantic.
Part 1: What all we explored in Sri Lanka
So our trip started from Kandy which is a gorgeous city in Sri Lanka, completely surrounded by mountains and lush greenery. There we visited a lot of beautiful places like the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Bahiravokanda Vihara Buddha Statue, Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Huluganga Waterfall.
We also explored Nuwara Eliya, also known as ‘The Little England’ and honestly, it was my favourite place of all. I cannot even imagine describing its beauty in words.
There was greenery everywhere, a pleasant smell of fresh flowers and grass in the air, modest architecture, neat and clean roads and the most beautiful attractions. This was exactly the kind of place I wanted to go to on a honeymoon.
In Nuwara Eliya, we did sightseeing, boating on Gregory Lake and nature walks- slow paced yet sweet things I wanted to enjoy with my wife. We did a tour of a number of places like Hanuman Temple, Ramboda Falls, Seetha Amman Temple and Victoria Park.
Now, if you ask me what her favourite destination was, it was definitely Yala. There we visited the famous Yala National Park and spotted so many animals like deer, peacock, sloth bears, crocodiles and even a leopard.
Our trip ended with the perfect adrenaline boost in Bentota, the ‘City of Golden Beaches’. Not only we explored a lot of places, we even tried water sports, but we’ll come to that later.
Part 2: What all fun activities we did in Sri Lanka
So starting with the first activity, we enjoyed a beautiful Kandyan Dance performance in Kandy. I believe it was the perfect start to our trip and felt as if the locals were welcoming us with open arms.
Our peaceful and scenic boat rides on Gregory Lake and Madhu River was also something that I would cherish forever.
I believe a simple boat ride with your partner can be the most romantic experience ever. On one of these boats, we even got to witness the beautiful sunset, making the surroundings and our moments even more magical.
And then…let’s talk about the actual adventurous and fun part of our trip: the jungle safari in Yala National Park. As I promised, my wife did get to see crocodiles, leopards, elephants, deers, and various kinds of birds. She was getting excited seeing every animal, on the other hand, I was praying to god that none of these animals see us as their next meal.
Just kidding!
But wait, the adventure and my prayers did not end there.
We headed towards the Bentota Beach to try snorkelling as her second demand was to see what the underwater world looks like. Honestly, it was not that scary. In fact, I even enjoyed seeing how vibrant marine life was. Through my snorkel mask, I could see her smiling and trying to catch every fish that crossed her path.
It was all fine till snorkelling. Next, she showed her interest in something called, ‘Sofa Surfing’. Now, that is a very speedy ride and there are high chances that you can fall in the deep water. I did say yes, but I was scared to death to try this.
As expected, she was jumping and giggling when I said yes. We sat on the inflatable sofa and I twisted the rope till my forearm for extra grip. As the ride started, I closed my eyes and apparently, I had a very weird expression on my face, as stated by my wife.
Judging my expressions, she asks, “You are not liking this, are you?”
It was the moment of truth, so I screamed, “I am not really a fan of water.”
She looked surprised but I was too scared to talk much. So, I continued with eyes shut and an even tighter grip on the rope.
Finally, the ‘extremely’-thrilling ride was over and we came on land. First we both looked at each other and laughed like two little kids. Then I asked her, “Are all your wishes fulfilled for this trip?”
She looked at me, smiled and replied, “Yes, a little too much!”
Right there, every terrifying yet terrific moment and every penny that I spent on this trip - was worth it!
Read More: Thrillophilia Sri Lanka Reviews