Kimkim Trip Reviews for Sri Lanka

A large part of our trip was really great. We very much enjoyed the ancient sites and safaris. The Ecolodge and hiking in the rainforest were both incredible experiences. We did have a couple things we were quite frustrated with:

Our driver for the most part was good- he got us to where we needed to go safely. I left my wallet at a hotel in a previous city and he arranged to get it back for me which was incredibly helpful. However, he kept bringing us to these terrible tourist traps where he would get a commission if we bought something. Everything at these places was very overpriced. We wanted to get a carved elephant to bring home with us and he kept refusing to bring us to other places telling us he knew of a better place in Kandy. When we got to the shop we realized it was a scam (with terrible reviews online) and that everything was outrageously priced. He also brought us to places for lunch that would feed him for free for bringing us in. It would have be okay except a few of the places were dirty with bad food and 2-3 times more expensive than normal local places.

We also had an absolutely terrible night at one of the hotels. The hotel was outdated and very dirty. There were stains on our pillows and curtains, hairs in the bed that weren't ours and a dead lizard. We asked hotel to fix this and when we returned to our hotel room the same stained pillows were put back on our bed and the lizard was placed on our table. We have never been treated this way and thought our requests were not at all unreasonable but the staff seemed to be offended at our request? So they left a dead animal on our table. I have been in contact with Sandun about this for the last month and he kept saying he would follow up with the hotel (I was under the impression that we might get a refund or something) but I haven't heard anything which is further frustrating.

Our driver Thasim was exceptional - made an effort to accommodate our requests and suggested other activities we may have been interested in. Went over and above any expectations we could have possibly wished for.
So many great experiences during our trip!

We were particularly happy with our driver, Sandalal. Our 23-day tour from north to south covered a range of cultural, religious, archeological and natural sites and with Sandalal’s knowledge of his country we were able to visit even more than was outlined in the itinerary. Sri Lanka is a truly wonderful experience. Its people and their delicious food enhanced our three weeks even further.

Chaminda was our excellent Tour Guide with Atullah the Coach Driver & Sushi the Luggage/spare driver assistant. They were a top team that just got better & better every day of our intensive tour. Chaminda in particular led the way with a passion for everything about Sri Lanka. His knowledge was v wide & informative & could answer any query !! He couldn't do enough for us often going to a lot of trouble to make sure stays at hotels etc were the best they could be. All of us will recommend him to anyone we know who'll visit Sri Lanka in the future as we'll be confident they'll be so well looked after by Chaminda.
Brief precis of highlights; Galle Fort & history that set the scene for understanding recent Sri Lankan settlement history. Then because a couple of us had heard about Horseshoe Bay on the way to Yalla Nat Park, the Coach stopped there for a couple of hours. Stunning surf/beach setting.........just idyllic & one of us surfed & another swam out to enjoy a beaut swim. We all liked Ella v much + trek up Little Adams Peak. After that, a short walk to nine arches railway bridge was stunning where we watched train go over. V nice stay at Mountain Heaven too. Sigiriya Rock an outstanding visit. Spent a while there & at the summit. Afterwards a lunch put on by Villagers near a lake in their humble place was a real highlight. At least 8 ethnic dishes cooked over open fire & mostly prepared in front of us, that were delicious.........all of us declared best Sri Lankan meal by far !! Dambulla was good with the Cave Temples. While in Kandy went to an excellent Cultural show in a local hall prior to the Perahara Festival that night. Visit to the Tooth Relic Temple as well as watching all the elephants in the surrounds was great. Visit to Polonnaruwa was good even though v v hot !! Chaminda knew the history so well. We wanted to go to the Pilliwarra Elephant orphanage as a side trip & what a terrific occasion that was !! 3 of us drew tickets to bottle feed elephants, watched up to 40 elephants in river, then they all walked freely right past us in the access lane back to enclosures. Breathtaking !! Finally a drive around Colombo at finish excellent with a stay at Mandarina just beaut.....................best pool ever too on rooftop !!

Thanks to our guide Kappille (not sure about the spelling), we had a wonderful vacation in Sri Lanka. The drive was very relaxing and he showed us all the interesting places on the way. We enjoyed the hospitality at the various places and the food was very tasty. Enjoyed the tea estate, the climb to Sigiriya, the rock temple at Dambulla, the temple in Kandy and the interesting points along the way. Reminded us a lot about Kerala. Thank you for your help in putting the itinerary together.

My trip to Sri Lanka was a true pleasure. I wish to thank my guide, Mark, for his expert care. I felt at ease and well cared for throughout my 10 day stay.

I can't say which region was my favorite to be honest. I traveled in the North and through the cultural triangle. I loved all of it but ,Jaffna, perhaps, stole my heart. I think, because of how much the people have had to endure and have come so far in rebuilding life there.

The beauty of the island is truly amazing. I was greeted so warmly by the people there and I met some forever true friends. Lovely. Thank you.

Sajith was great with organising our Sri Lanka trip, his attention to detail was very high. Although we didn't end up going on our trip we would highly recommend using Sajith for organising a trip.

La was a very attentive guide and good driver. He ensured that we understood the schedule on a day to day basis to enable a smooth routine.
Our schedule was interesting with a good variety of sightseeing and physical activity.

We had a fantastic time during our time in Sri Lanka. Nuwan was an excellent tour guide. We did a five day tour and enjoyed the sights of Sigirya and Kandy and surrounding areas. The Dambulla Caves, Lion Rock, Minneriya National Park Safari and Temple of the Tooth were highlights. We also enjoyed the trek over the Hanthana range above Kandy, Kandyan dancers, visits to a Herb Farm and Tea Factory. Nuwan was very obliging and added other places of interest that weren't in our itinerary. Would definitely recommend kimkim.

Our guide, Denver, was absolutely wonderful. Not only was he incredibly knowledgable, and always willing to answer our million and one questions about Sri Lanka, but also one of the kindest warmest hearted people I've ever had the privilege to meet. I can't recommend him highly enough. Sajith was brilliant in helping me to plan the trip, too - he was so fast in sorting things out and in communicating his suggestions, and kimkim in general took a huge amount of stress out of the process for us. We loved that kimkim works with ethical companies and makes suggestions on those grounds, particularly in regards to the best place we could go to see elephants.

The highlight was definitely the elephant safari at Udawalawe; other favourite things were the views of the mountains in Kandy, climbing Sigiriya and the views over the the lake at Giritale, from Deer Park Hotel. We found the people everywhere we stayed so kind, courteous and helpful, and the countryside astonishingly beautiful!

We do have a couple of pieces of feedback - I hope this helps!

1. The Kandalama Heritance was extraordinary! We only regretted that we didn't get to spend more time there as we arrived after a long day of sightseeing and then had to leave very early the next morning. I felt that if someone expresses a wish to stay at Kandalama, you could maybe build in either two nights there or at least plan the schedule so that guests can arrive in time to enjoy the hotel a little more.

2. The cooking class in Kandy was wonderful! We'd highly recommend that location again for anyone thinking of doing a class like that.

3. The trek planned for us in Kandy was really enjoyable overall and the guide was great. However, this was not something we discussed in correspondence at all - our guides told us that this hike was the 'easy' option, and that it was one that lots of guests are very happy to do, but for us, it was simply not an appropriate skill level to book us in for without letting us know in advance. Neither of us had the correct footwear or clothing, with the result that I felt very unsafe walking on slippery surfaces in high winds and at those heights. Denver told us that he'd assumed we'd be fine with the trek as we are a young couple and appeared healthy - but I feel strongly that you cannot make assumptions about people's health on the grounds of appearance as injuries and/or fears are not visible; and that you should simply discuss the option of adding a trek to an itinerary and make sure people have the option to make an informed decision if they would like to do it.

4. This point is somewhat similar to the above - there were a few other stops which had been planned for us which we would rather not have done. The tea factory visit was genuinely interesting and a wonderful way to get to know this important element of the Sri Lankan economy - but the spice garden, wood factory and gem factory visits were frustrating. We felt no pressure from Denver to buy something, and he always made that very clear, but we did feel a lot of pressure in each of those locations from the staff to buy things we didn't want. We simply didn't appreciate the lack of choice in whether we went to these places or not. I understand that guides possibly receive commissions to take guests to these factories, but I just wanted to let you know that this element of the trip was not ideal for us.

I hope that this is all taken as suggestions to what is already an incredible company providing an amazing service! We adored our trip and have many wonderful memories of a beautiful culture to carry with us :)

We had a fabulous 5 days in Sri Lanka. The set up of our itinerary by Sandun was expertly done and contact with Sandun was extremely easy. The accommodation choices were super. Each of the hotels chosen were great places to stay and the people there were extremely friendly and accommodating. Our driver/guide, Tony did a fantastic job. We cannot recommend him highly enough. The various places we were taken to along the way were all great places to visit. We thoroughly recommend using Kimkim for any visit to Sri Lanka.

The trip was great, very enjoyable, relaxing and beautiful. I had a wonderful time, the suriya resort was very welcoming, comfortable, and just a nice place to be. The staff were fantastic as were the facilities. My kimkim facilitator Sandun was informative, helpful and patient with me, and made the entire process very easy.

I highly recommend Kim Kim, and in particular Sajith. He created an itinerary that was perfect for us. We loved every moment of our Sri Lankan experience! Thank you for an amazing time!

My wife and I had a quick 6 day trip in Sri Lanka, with Rukan, our guide. This was a great experience and we visited all the main tourist spots we wanted to, plus more, that Rukan fitted in along the way. Our accommodation along the way was superb and everything went as planned. We even got to watch 2 leopards during our safari at Yalla Park, which was a highlight.

We had a marvellous time. Our driver Kalika was exceptionally capable at managing everything, driving us safely even in busy and awkward traffic situations. The activities planned by Sandun were perfect giving us all the interests we requested. We saw amazing trees, rocks, fungi and wildlife and have some marvellous photos along with great memories.

For me the stand-out activity was Sinharaja National Park with the park guide being extremely knowledgeable on plant species and growth habits of flora. A close second was the visit to Horton Plains, the Botanic Garden in Kandy and the tea plantations and factory visit.

We also enjoyed the sunrise at Galle with a lighthouse, crows and monks making it special.

We had a fantastic holiday in Sri Lanka. It is such a diverse country that it is hard to identify a single highlight, but the safari at Wilpattu, the luxury of Tea Trails at Hatton, and Galle were certainly memorable. Sigiriya, Kandy, and Trincomalee were also very enjoyable and interesting.

Our driver, Rukan, was very good. Nothing was too much trouble and he got us where we needed to be safely and in good order. He was knowledgeable about everywhere we went and if he ever didn’t know where he was going we didn’t notice.

The accommodation we booked was always close to what we expected and in some cases much better. Jungle Beach at Trincomalee was very comfortable and restful, Heritance Kandalama was fascinating architecturally, and Tea Trails at Hatton was wonderfully indulgent. We also enjoyed Fort Printers in Galle; it was centrally located and very comfortable.

The trip was well organised and according to our specific requests. Our guide was a good and careful driver and responded well however we experienced some communication problems due to his limited English. Sandun (who took over from Ida) was great - very responsive and also flexible when we asked for an addition to our itinerary to see Geoffrey Bawa's Heritage Kandala hotel near Sigirya.

Our driver Mahesh was great. The van was beeping the entire time, some programming problem. We were in the van a lot and this was very annoying. The hotels were just okay, not 4 or 5 star like we asked. Some of the bathrooms were sub-par. The Colombo hotel was way out for the main city, which was very disappointing! We asked to go to a spa for a massage and they place was not good.

Everything was very seamless and smooth sailing. Our driver,Denver was extremely helpful and couldn't do enough for us. Having a private driver allows so much more flexibility to tailor to our specific interests. It was great to learn about the history and visit this beautiful country. An incredibly well organized trip. Many thanks

I will start off by reviewing Ida. The entire experience of communicating our needs and having the trip set up was painless and very good. I would recommend Ida wholeheartedly to anyone wishing to go to Sri Lanka.

The trip itself though well planned had some hiccups in execution. The driver will take you to tourist traps for shopping. As long as one is aware, it is easy (though annoying) to avoid grossly overpaying for things. The driver will also take you to restaurants that cater to tourists. These are impossible to avoid despite repeated requests to the driver to avoid them. The issue here is that we almost never got to experience Sri Lankan cuisine, only local parodies of "pasta", "pizza" etc. The hotels where we stayed were not much better with "American" or "Continental" being the option in most places. This is not a reflection on the Driver or on Ida but on a lack of understanding on the part of the hotels of a certain kind of traveller.

The pacing of activity was off as well on two days. The second day was crammed with activity. The entrance fee to the Temple of the tooth had to be paid up by us despite being included in the price of the tour. I was told that the driver did not have enough money and the tour agency would be refunding the money to me directly. The tea factory tour was on day two in Kandy as opposed to later at Nuwara Eliya. The explanation given was that the tea factory was shut on Sunday at Nuwara Eliya and hence the activity had to be shifted to Kandy. This could have been avoided as it was apparent that the day at Nuwara Eliya would fall on a Sunday.

Additionally, the morning of the day which we were supposed to visit Galle fort was rained out. The driver informed us that the entire day would be washed out and we could do Galle fort the next morning. We accepted this as something beyond our control. But later in the day when the weather cleared up, the driver was unavailable to take us to the fort. This meant we had to do this activity the next morning eating into the time we had to tour Colombo. We only got to see the fort at Galle for half an hour before the heavens opened up again leaving us to rue the half a day of sunshine we missed the previous day. Additionally,we only got to see Colombo from the car on our way to lunch and after that to the airport.

Overall, I would rate it as a good experience but would caution any would be traveler to be constantly wary of his own interests to avoid issues which is not a state of mind one wants to be in while on vacation.

As mentioned previously, the service received from Ida was exemplary.