14 Days: A Taste of India + Sri Lanka
India had been on my list for years, so I made the time and effort to stop by during my time here in Asia. This was a solo trip.
Today’s Blog Post is brought to you by Sunsama
I travel and work a lot. I organize my days using this “centralized” Sunsama tool because it has easy integrations with Google Calendar, Trello, Asana, Github, Jira, Notion, etc. The list goes on.
Some other productivity tools are good for businesses. But this is for personal use. If you are looking for a new tool to manage your productivity better, click here to begin.
What I Did
I gave myself 14 total days where the itinerary was centered around visiting India for the first time and seeing the Taj Mahal. I considered stopping by Nepal (hiking) and Pakistan (it would have been with a Pakistani-American friend), but I chose Sri Lanka as a second stop.
9 Days in India: Delhi 2 nights, Jaipur 2 nights, Agra 1 night, overnight train to Varanasi, Varanasi 1 night, Bangalore for 1 night
5 Days in Sri Lanka: Kandy 1 night, Kandy-Ella train and straight to Arugam Bay for 3 nights, overnight flight back to Taipei
I mentioned in one of our podcast episodes Staying Put vs. Hopping Around that my current preference is to have an established home base when I’m traveling. For 2024, I have chosen my home base as Taipei.
Summary of the Trip
9 days in India and 5 days in Sri Lanka were simply not enough time. I acknowledge it.
Aside from the Taj Mahal, my favorite thing I did was the Kandy to Ella train ride in Sri Lanka because I was blown away by the nature while taking the train across the country.
Opinions about the Trip
India
India is not unsafe. Even as a female there shouldn’t be safety issues with a private tour (that I did).
I thought the places I went to in India were quite dirty and crowded. But when I went to Bangalore, it was quite different. I was expecting it to be similar but it is the silicon valley for India.
Varanasi was a highlight. I took an overnight train from Agra to Varanasi and arrived early morning. I attended the ceremonies at dusk to honor the holy river. This was the “cultural” experience that I was looking for on this trip.
Sri Lanka
My hot take is that Sri Lanka would be a great honeymoon destination. There is a great balance between beaches and mountains and the cost isn’t expensive.
The surfing in Arugam Bay was another highlight of the entire trip. I decided to stay for three of the five nights I was in Sri Lanka so that I could surf. I went to Elephant Rock and surfed for 3-4 hours straight everyday. The waves were not only fantastic, they had multiple breaks so each area within the surfing spot wouldn’t be too crowded.
What I Would Visit Next Time
For India: Visit the north north (like Kashmir), Goa, and the South like Pondicherry.
For Sri Lanka, I would Udawalawe and Yala National Park, and the south to surf more in Weligama
I will be returning to India at the end of January 2025 to attend my friend’s wedding, and I’m already looking forward to India Part 2.