Sandun Jayasundara

We had a 23 day stay in Sri Lanka including 17 day tour with Experiential Travel under Kim Kim as a group of 4 with my son and partner.
This was an expensive comprehensive tour including 3 national parks, Sigiriya, Kandy Ella with a train trip between the last 2 destinations booked as a highlight.
We were all very much looking forward to seeing Sri Lanka and it is a wonderful country.
Unfortunately I really cannot recommend the travel company. Organisation and communication was very poor. Right from the beginning the usual guide called off sick and another chauffeur/guide was appointed. Several days later we found out that he had never worked for the company and really took the view that he was only doing a favour for his friend. He spoke very halting English and gave very little commentary for the whole trip. He did not know the itinerary and really did seem to want to provide the bare minimum that the program allowed for. His van was rather old and unreliable and at one stage we wasted time in Kandy waiting for it to be fixed.
Worst of all the travel company had not bothered to buy tickets for the Kandy to Ella train which is a major highlight of any trip to Sri Lanka. This was known by the travel company and the driver and they tried to gloss over the problem and just take is in the van. Only after a lot of stressful negotiation, the driver managed to get 3rd class tickets for a portion of the journey only. The wrong hotel was listed in the itinerary for Kandy and we wasted hours trying to sort this out.
Accommodation and food in the jungle camp In Willpatu was poor, and out of step with the rest of the tour. Better accommodation and food is available but we were never given any options.
We did get a small compensation in the form of a free lunch and accommodation was improved in subsequent camps but only after a lot of pleading and negotiation and very reluctantly.
Right throughout there was a lack of honesty and transparency.
Sri Lanka is a wonderful country and we really enjoyed 6 days on our own at the end in Colombo I would highly recommend visiting but not with Experiential Travel, and I will not be using Kim Kim again.

Our 15 day tour with our guide and driver Sanjaya was most enjoyable. We visited most of the main tourist sites. Sanjaya was both knowledgeable and informative about the history and culture of this beautiful country and was a confident and competent driver. We really enjoyed his company and attention to detail. He took a little extra care to show us some of the foods and fruits of the island and always knew a good place to eat.

The various types of accommodation were just as we had requested them. All of them were reasonable in price, clean and with the basic amenities that we needed. We didn't want anything flash and yet we wanted an opportunity to meet people. The accommodation arranged met those requirements. We stayed in hotels, homestay, a safari camp and self contained BnB types of accommodation. Of particular note were our homestay at Alex's Homestay in Kandy where we enjoyed home cooking and great conversations with our hosts. They were lovely people. In Jaffna, we stayed at D'Villa with Raj and his team and once again enjoyed his company and his home cooked Sri Lankan breakfasts. He loved a chat and was always on hand to provide information or assistance.

The Lion Rock at Sigiriya was most impressive though we needed some help from the guides to climb the 1 200 steps. We could only marvel at the ingenuity of the third century artisans and craftsmen who built the water gardens and sculpted the rock formations. Similarly, the rock temple at Anuradhapura , with its beautifully sculpted Buddha and ancient roof paintings, captivated us. indeed, all the temples in the various cities were of great interest to us, particularly with Sanjaya's guidance and information on their part in the culture of the country. We were disappointed not to be able to explore the highland tea country a little more because of the weather - foggy and rainy.

In summary, we believe we got great value for money and, despite arriving at a difficult time after the Easter bombings, we felt safe and comfortable wherever we went. We can certainly attest that the situation is well in hand and encourage people to come and experience this magnificent country and meet its friendly people.

Thanks to the folk at Kimkim for putting together a fantastic trip.

We had a amazing experience in Sri Lanka, our tour guide Rukan was so helpful and supportive to us on our trip. He was a very safe driver and organised our days very well.
Sigiriya rock’Lion rock’, was wonderful to see and to climb to top for breath taking view.
Kandy, we enjoyed, visiting the Temple of Tooth and our Cooking class at Thotupala Residence.
Train ride to Nuwara Eliya; was a experience, lots of scenery and lots of singing by the locals.
Udawalawe- Leopard trails, was a great highlight on our trip, accommodation could not fault, safari tours were amazing.
Accommodation at CEU Ceylon was great, looked after us very welcoming, enjoyed our stay.
Thambapanni Retreat our least favourite accommodation, transferred to Thambapanni waves pavilion, it was exceptional..... wish we stayed there the 1st night.
Overall we had a great time and hope to come back one day!

My wife Anthea and I had never been to Sri Lanka previously so we had no real understanding of the country or people and really no expectations for the trip other than what we had heard from others.

However we have come away from our trip absolutely stunned, amazed and thoroughly satisfied, it is the most beautiful country and warm and friendly people and we have bought away memories that will stay with us for our life time.

We can not fault the engagement and support we have had from our liaison Sandun, he was prompt, listened carefully to what we were after, was always helpful with the questions we had and overall built for us a truly amazing itinerary!

Arriving in a new country for the first time is always daunting and full of concern however we were incredibly lucky to be met by Mr Dammika Bandara who we learnt was to be our guide for the trip. He quickly became a long life friend (!!!!!).....and look after us through the chaos of the Easter Sunday bombings, through driving us always safely across many miles or country side and busy roads, through always taking time to point out things of interest and having us visit places we didnt know existed, through sharing meals of friendship and finally a warm goodbye and promise we would be back and the opportunity to meet his lovely son!

We thank Dammika's family for sharing him with us for our two week journey and we hope one day we will get to meet them in person :)

There were many highlight places for us but none more so than Wild Grass Resort, Sigriya Rock, Yala National Park and Galle and Thropoban Pavilion Resort. Dammika and I conquered the Little Adams Peak trek!!! and Anthea and I adored our special dinner night at Mahoora Luxury Safari Park. We were incredibly lucky to view both elephants and leopards in the park and we loved our afternoon at the Galle Fort a Sugar Bar and Bistro.

We are absolutely going back again and exploring the north of the island!

A wonderful holiday, made better by our local guide and driver, Dammika.
Very saddened to hear about the bombings.

We've just returned from a 9 day trip of Sri Lanka.

We had an amazing time. It was very straightforward to organise our trip online. We were connected with Sadun from Experiential Journeys and he provided great service. Updating and amending our itinerary so we could fine tune it was also easy.

When we arrived we were met by Dammika at the airport. He handled our trip seamlessly. He was a great driver, in the crazy Sri Lankan traffic. He was also very knowledgeable about all things Sri Lankan. He also arranged a surprise birthday cake and present!

Our highlights would be the train trip from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya, the amazing scenery and a visit to a tea plantation. Udawalawe would have to be a standout. We saw so much wildlife - peacocks, water buffalo, crocodiles, lizardss, birds and 6 elephants! The coast was stunning and relaxing. Then there was the people, day to day wildlife spotting and a turtle sanctuary too.

The hotels were all great, only one was a little out of the way. As it was towards the end of the tourist season we often had the run of hotels. Our favourites were Seasons Villa, glamping in Udawalawe, Joes Resort and the Galle Face Hotel.

Damayantha was a fantastic guide. After he picked us up from the airport and on our way to our first lodging he stopped and had us experience king coconut juice from the coconut. He also pointed out things of interest along the way. He is a superb driver and we were extremely comfortable with his driving during our long transitions between places we were staying. When he was called away with a death in his family and we had a new guide/driver, we appreciated his driving even more. Dama made our trip most enjoyable by his interaction with us, showing us points of interest, accommodating our minor schedule changes and making sure everything we needed was taken care of. All of the hotels were fine and a few were really fine like Cinnamon Kandy, JetWing and Centauriawild. The Thaproban Waves Hotel was gorgeous but my wife scheduled a massage through the hotel and was inappropriately touched by the masseuse and it was absolutely intentional. The hotel management seemed to believe the masseuse's story rather than what my wife had to say. Of particular interest was the glamping (glamorous camping) at Mahoora Premium. They are very ecologically conscious and make every effort to leave a small or no carbon footprint. On our jeep safari at Mahoora were were fortunate to see two leopards and two sloth bears. We were very lucky indeed to see both of these animals. Sigiriya was most memorable as was Udawalawe National Park. All in all a great trip.

The trip was fantastic!

My only suggestion is that there is more communication between the tour organizer and the driver before the trip takes place. Sanjaya made a few amendments along the way, one being changing our train journey which meant we did not have pre-booked seats and had to stand the entire way! It was quite uncomfortable and not as enjoyable as it could have been. The drivers are the ones on the ground and know how things work so their knowledge needs to be taken into account.

Kuchara is the name of our tour guide.
3/15/2019 is the date of our cruise. When Perez Group arrived at the cruise port Princess have a bus that took us outside the port to meet our guide. Kuchara was not there and we are so worried because there are so many guides who is asking if you needed a tour. I have to call Sandun to locate our guide. My goodness, he was sitting in the bus and we did not see our name because the sign is just lying on the dashboard not posted on dashboard window. And as a guide, Kuchara should be waiting & standing for us holding the sign like the Viator and ToursByLocals guides we saw at the port.

I would like to suggest, your guide should at least provide bottled water to the tourist. It was already hot and humid although its only 9:00 am. All our guides;: Singapore, India, Sri Lanka, and Dubai gave us bottled water and it makes a big difference. Our guides also have cameras and took us pictures and email them to us after our tours. We felt special and connected with our guides.

The most memorable part of our tour is the lunch. Kuchara took us to a Chinese Restaurant while we were in Sri Lanka because we don't eat spicy food. The food was great, location and service were excellent.

All the best!

We had a wonderful, nearly two week, experience traveling around Sri Lanka with the help of KimKim and Sandun. The star-ratings would have easily been fives except for the following:
1. While tour operators have to rely on the competency of the guides assigned to clients, the initial guide assigned to us was clearly unacceptable due to his lack of timeliness, his inadequate preparation and organization, and his lack of honesty. To the credit of Sandun, once we brought our concerns to his attention, he immediately changed our guide. Our new guide, Denver, was one of the best guides we have ever had -- anywhere -- and we have traveled throughout the world. As a result of the inadequacy of the first guide we were, disappointingly, unable to enjoy all of the sights in Anuradhapura.
2. A suggestion for future, similar tours. We enjoyed the train ride from Kandy to Hatton, but suggest that the ride be from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya. From Hatton we were driven to our extraordinary accommodations at Tea Trails. But, in order to see the sights in Nuwara Eliya we would have been required to drive 2-3 hours (each way) the next day from Tea Trails (our only full day at Tea Trails) to Nuwara Eliya. Had we taken the train from Kandy, through Hatton, to Nuwara Eliya we might have been able to see the sights in Nuwara Eliya following the train ride, and on our way to Tea Trails, and then spend the full next day at Tea Trails without missing sights in Nuwara Eliya.

Overall, the itinerary was well planned and the lodgings were excellent. And our guide, Denver, as explained earlier, was the best ever. He has a patient temperament; is well-organized; has excellent driving skills; is friendly, humorous, and full of wonderful stories. And Denver is fully knowledgeable and an able teacher. We thank Denver, and Sandun, for making this trip such a worthwhile and, overall, enjoyable experience.