Natalie Lamb and the travel post: Palma, Mallorca

I had a work trip to a water company based in Bath. It took me 4 train and over 5h to get there and I had to stand up most of the journey. To avoid taking the arduous trip via train back to Nottingham, I decided to book the cheapest possible flight from Bristol Airport and back into East Midlands Airport, where my partner could drive me home. This flight ended up being to Palma de Mallorca, the vibrant capital of Spain’s Balearic Islands. This blog post is a summary of this short trip.

Day 1 Monday 30 March 

My meeting finished in Bath at 3pm. I took the train from Bath Spa to Bristol Temple Meads and then the Airport Flyer bus from there to Bristol Airport. My work covered the cost of this trip in lieu of covering the cost of my train back to Nottingham. I then worked from the airport until my flight time.

On my 7:30-10:50pm (2h20) Ryanair Bristol BRS to Palma de Mallorca PMI flight, I read my book and was unfortunately crammed into the middle seat (boo!).

I had booked a hotel at Ca’n Pastilla for night 1. The reception at Hotel Java was 24h and it was walkable from the airport so I didn’t have to pay for expensive taxis late at night. 

To do the walk from the Palma de Mallorca PMI airport to Ca’n Pastilla leave the exit to the VIP car park. Do not go out of the forward exit to the taxis, bus, car rental etc because if you use this route you will have to cross an unsafe busy dual carriageway. Instead, enter the VIP car park (“Aparcament VIP”) and leave through the barriers (there is no need to go up the stairs behind you), take a right turn (do not take a left turn up the hill). You will walk along pavements a very long way. Eventually you will come to a bend in the road at 39°32'38.4"N 2°43'31.1"E (near “Groundforce Cargo” on Google Maps). Take a left turn and continue on down the very very long road until the very bottom. You may have to cross over several times to get to the pavement. The pavement eventually leaves the airport at 39°32'29.2"N 2°43'12.4"E (near “Taxi Driver Cafeteria” on Google Maps) to join a cycle path/pedestrianised path. Continue down this pathway to the pedestrian footpath across the dual carriageway “Passatge per a vianants cap a l'aeroport”. After the bridge, the rural footpath “Camí de Can Bogueta” will take you to the main road of Ca’n Pastilla. This walk took me 2.5km and just over 30 mins.

After my walk, I checked into my hotel and went straight to sleep.

Costs

• Flight £23.99
• Hotel £48.87

Day 2 Tuesday 31 March 

I worked from my hotel room and then my hotel lobby until work was done for the day. None of the hotels on my trip seemed to have kettles in the room so I grabbed a coffee from the lobby (£1.83). 

When work was over, I headed over to the beach to read my book in the last 30 minutes of daylight. Then I headed over into Palma on the bus to check in to my second hotel, Residència d'Estudiants Mayol (£54.72+£1.91 fees on arrival). 

I spent the evening in Palma, first heading to Forn del Santo Cristo, one of the oldest bakeries and cafes on the island, to try an Empanada de Pollo and a Robiol de Chocolate (£4.74). The empanada was more like a pork pie and was served cold, it wasn’t really my favourite. The robiol looked to me like a pastry but it was actually more like a biscuit folded in half with Nutella inside. 

I then wandered around the old town (Centro Histórico). The old town was similar to other old town’s in other cities. I was surprised though about the planning permission rules! There was a historic market square with beautiful buildings and one of the buildings was a Popeye’s chicken shop! It was similar elsewhere, with shops being more of a president to the preservation of history, at times. There were very beautiful churches though. The Royal Palace of La Almudaina and Catedral-Basílica de Santa María de Mallorca looked amazing lit up at night.

After my wandering had been exhausted, I headed to Ca'n Joan de s'Aigo, one of Europe’s oldest cafés, to try another classic in Palma, The Ensaimada de Mallorca, Mallorca’s signature spiral pastry. I found it to be a delicious pastry. It was very light and fluffy, served warm and covered in icing sugar. If you see the distinct hexagonal boxes around Palma, it will be ensaimadas inside. I got it with a hot chocolate, which was delicious, like liquid chocolate. I strongly recommend this café (£4.44)! 

On my walk back to the hotel, I nipped to a grocery store for some supplies and a gift for my partner (£16.16). I got him sobrasada, which is a popular sausage spread in Palma. It can either be spread on toast like pâté or added to other foods, like you would with nduja. 

Costs

• Food and drink £27.17
• Hotel £56.63

Day 3 Wednesday 1 April 

I started the morning off by sitting on my balcony and reading in the sunshine. When it was time to check out, I headed to Carrer Indústria to take a quick look and some pretty windmills.

I then went to Santa Catalina Market for a mooch around the market. I had planned to get some tapas and wine here but actually I wasn’t very hungry and I was a little stimulated by the market. Instead, I walked through Sa Feixina Park and near the waterfront towards Museu de La Seu de Mallorca, eating at a random restaurant along the pathway, outside and bathed in sunshine (£17.92).

After my snack and drink, I had a look around Museu de La Seu de Mallorca, the market stalls around the area and the fountains.

I then headed back up to old town for one final look around, this time in the daylight. I stumbled across Panadería S'Estació, which was a cool bakery where you could see the bakes being made with a glass floor underfoot. 

From there, I grabbed a quick coffee so I could stop off at a toilet (£2.54), before then jumping on a bus back to Ca’n Pastilla (£1.05). I then checked into my third and final hotel, Hotel Balear (£31.17, including a Hotels.com discount I had, + £0.48 tax). After check in, I had a bath and then caught up on some work, while a storm was brewing outside.

Costs

• Food and drink £20.46
• Hotel £31.65
• Bus £1.05

Day 4 Thursday 2 April

This morning I was working on some blog posts in the sunshine on my balcony until it was time for my hotel breakfast. After, I continued on my laptop until the hotel check out time. After check out, I stored my luggage in my room and spent the day on the beach (Platja d'Or) reading my book in the sunshine. It was a well deserved and much needed break! The beach was beautiful and sandy. I didn’t feel the need to travel further afield for any other beaches- I had everything I wanted right there.

Throughout the day, I grabbed some snacks (£1.71 for a coffee, £1.82 for some strawberries and a beer, £3.06 for a pizza slice and £3.49 for a Too Good To Go mixed pastry bag) for some little picnics on the beach. 

When I was all read out, I headed to Palma Aquarium for a 3:30pm entry time, paying extra for a glass bottomed boat tour above the shark tank (£31.48). While the aquarium was good, it was very busy with many many noisy families so it wasn’t a very relaxing experience. The boat tour was great but only last 15 minutes. Overall, the aquarium was very similar to those within the UK and I wouldn’t recommend a visit to this aquarium if you were short on time or if you had to travel outside your way. 

I went to my hotel lobby for a short time to recharge my phone and then walked over to the airport, ready for my 11pm-1:05am (2h35) flight Palma de Mallorca PMI to East Midlands EMA Airport. While in the airport I grabbed a coffee from Costa so I could use their plug sockets for a bit but unfortunately they close at 10pm and all customers had to leave (£4.98). And so ended my little trip to Palma!

Costs

• Food and drink £15.06
• Palma Aquarium £31.48
• Flight £13.06

Total Costs

• Flights £37.05
• Other travel £1.05
• Hotels £137.15
• Food £62.69
• Activities £31.48
• Sum £269.42

Next Time

• I would visit La Lonja artisan market if I visited again on a weekend evening
• There are some really cool caves on Mallorca, which I would love to explore. Apparently some of the best ones are Drach Caves, Cuevas del Drach, but these were a 1h20 bus journey plus a 20 minute walk from Palma one way so it was a bit long for such a short trip
• I’d be interested in going up to Castillo de Bellver for views across the city. This is a 1300s circular castle set on a wooded hilltop.

Natalie Lamb and the travel post: The Historic City of Ayutthaya, Thailand

I have a separate post on my full Bangkok, Thailand adventure. This current blog post is specifically on the Historic City of Ayutthaya coach trip tour I booked during my time in Thailand.

The Trip and Itinerary 

This coach trip was booked on Klook and was named “Ayutthaya Temples One Day Tour from Bangkok”. It cost around £25pp. On this trip, I was picked up from Future Café (near Thailand Cultural MRF Station) at 7:45am and dropped off at Jodd Fairs night market at around 4pm. 

Online, it said the itinerary would be:

1. Bang Pa-In Palace (100 Baht extra)
2. Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon (20 Baht extra)
3. Lunch (at extra cost)
4. Wat Chaiwatthanaram (50 Baht extra)
5. Wat Mahathat (no extra cost)
6. Wat Phra Si Sanphet (no extra cost)
7. Wat Lokaya Sutharam (no extra cost)

Instead, the actual itinerary was:

1. Bang Pa-In Palace (100 Baht extra) - 2.4km walked in 1h
2. Wat Chaiwatthanaram (80 Baht extra) – 1km walked in 35 minutes
3. Wat Lokaya Sutharam (80 Baht extra) – 1km walked in 15 minutes
4. Wat Phra Si Sanphet (80 Baht extra) – 1.5km walked in 40 minutes
5. Lunch at Venice Ayothaya - this was not included in the itinerary on the website.
6. Wat Mahathat (80 Baht extra) – 1km 30 minutes
7. Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon (20 Baht extra) – 1.25km 30 minutes

Already, as you can see, we were told entry fees would cost 170 Baht (£3.94) but there was an actual extra cost on top of the trip cost of 440 Baht (£10.19), both per person. 

In the list above, you can also see that I have detailed the time taken at each stopping point, where we were allowed to walk around. As you can see, the time was very limited. This was a shame, as the trip finished ~2 hours earlier than advertised. It was also supposed to finish at 6pm but finished around 4pm. Personally I would have preferred to have spent those 2h exploring the historic sights because we were incredibly rushed at each site. 

The lunch was overpriced for Bangkok. It was ok food but nowhere near good. My Fanta was off and years out of date. There was a free toilet so that was OK. 

The Sites Visited

Bang Pa-In Palace 

Bang Pa-In Royal Palace, also known as the Summer Palace, is a palace complex formerly used by the Thai kings. It was founded in 1632, later abandoned and then restored in the mid-19th century. It features a unique blend of Thai, Chinese, and European architecture set among water gardens.

The palace grounds are home to a memorial to Queen Sunanda Kumariratana. The memorial marks the tragedy where the Queen and her young daughter drowned in 1880, as bystanders feared breaking a law that forbade commoners from touching royalty, even to save them. This event compelled King Chulalongkorn to abolish the law.

I did think it was interesting to see a palace but I though The Grand Palace in Bangkok was far more spectacular. I was more interested in ruins and more traditional Thai monuments. 

At Bang Pa-In Palace the tour guide told us it would not be possible for us to visit the site unless we paid extra for a golf cart. We opted out of the golf cart, which made others on the trip including the tour guide quite grumpy with us, as apparently we were supposed to share the golf carts with other couples. But we walked the entire site and it was less than 2.5km walking, all on flat ground so the advice they gave was totally false!

Wat Chaiwatthanaram 

Wat Chaiwatthanaram was built in 1630 to honour the King's mother and potentially commemorate a victory over Cambodia. After the fall of Ayutthaya to Burmese invaders in 1767, the temple was abandoned, looted, and damaged. The buddha heads were favoured targets for vandalism because they often contained valuable relics in the necks.

I thought this area was especially beautiful, with multiple large structures you could walk around and whole rows of small headless buddhas. 

Wat Lokaya Sutharam 

Wat Lokaya Sutharam is a ~40 meter reclining Buddha. The original temple was largely destroyed by Burmese forces in 1767 and the Buddha statue was restored in the 1950s and again in the 1980s. 

This was the giant gold reclining buddha and is free to visit. While the size of the buddha is impressive, I did not find it as amazing as the other stops on the tour because it was relatively newly made.

Wat Phra Si Sanphet 

Wat Phra Si Sanphet was the holiest temple on the site of the old Royal Palace in Thailand's ancient capital of Ayutthaya.

Personally, I found this site quite similar to Wat Chaiwatthanaram. There was a big bricked area that you could walk around, with multiple small towers. However, my partner especially liked this one because of the intact stupas.

Wat Mahathat 

Wat Mahathat was founded around 1374 and ruined during the 1767 Burmese invasion. Pretty much all the coach trips visit here for the iconic photo of the Buddha head inside a tree. The buddha heads were favoured targets for vandalism because they often contained valuable relics in the necks. In this instance, when a Buddha head was discarded, a bodhi tree grew around it, lifting it into the roots.

I thought I wasn’t going to especially enjoy this site. And true enough, there were many hoards of people wanting to get a selfie with the Buddha head (which I feel is a bit disrespectful). But actually the site itself beyond the Buddha head was equally as interesting as both Wat Chaiwatthanaram and Wat Phra Si Sanphet. Again there was the red brick steps where you could walk up and emerse yourself in the ruins. 

Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon 

Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon is a temple, founded in 1357, notable for having the tallest (72m) chedi in the city. The chedi was apparently built in in 1592 to commemorate King Naresuan’s victory over the Burmese in an elephant duel.

This was a bit of a different stop because you could actually climb up the chedi. While the views were OK, the most amazing part was being able to immerse yourself in the history by actually climbing up the stone steps to the top. There was also a large buddha, as well as many rows of small buddhas, both with and without heads and a massive reclining Buddha. 

Final Thoughts

A long time had been spent before the trip deciding which of the coach tours to join, based on which sites I wanted to visit. I would not recommend investing too much time into deciding which tour to use because the itinerary seemed more of a guesstimate and not set in stone e.g. ticket prices for entry were different then quoted and the stops were not as they said.

The trip was also very cringy, with the tour guide singing over the microphone and forcing us to do group pictures in various poses, instead of exploring the historical sites. This was a little bit frustrating because we already had so little time at the sites that I didn’t really want to spend it taking photos with a group of people I don’t know. There was also a lack of history being told about the sites, which would have been a much better addition to the tour rather than terrible solo karaoke by the tour guide.

On your coach trip, remember to bring a source of shade (like an umbrella), suncream, modest clothing (long pants, long sleeved shirt or scarf to cover shoulders), closed toe shoes, plenty of water, snacks and cash for the temple entry fees. 

Overall, while the tour was quite cringy, it was a hassle free way to see the sights of the historic city with next to no effort and very quickly. I would say the Historic City of Ayutthaya was definitely worth a day trip, even with time being as limited as to only have 4 days in the city. 

Natalie Lamb and the travel post: Bangkok, Thailand

I recently travelled to Sri Lanka for a wedding and planned the trip so as to get a stopover both on the way there (to Bergamo, Milan) and on the way back (to Bangkok). For full details on the trip, please check out the Sri Lanka Road Trip blog post. This current post is focused all on the amazing things I did on my 4 day visit to Bangkok, Thailand. 

Day 1 Tuesday 12 August: Sleep, Travel, Markets

The flight arrived at 4:15am! So I had booked a hotel at the airport (Don Mueang Station Hotel) to get a few hours of sleep before starting off the day and to help adjust to the different time zone. I bought a SIM card from a 7-Eleven (top tip, it’s very helpful if you bring a SIM card removal tool with you!) so that I could use my phone to call a taxi to my “real” hotel. Bolt and/or Grab are generally recommended in Bangkok instead of Uber but I found that all of them worked fine. My Uber took me to my hotel for 2 nights, Sala Arun Hotel. It was a splurge but we’re worth it! The views from out of the bedroom window of Wat Arun (the pointy temple) were stunning! Our booking also included a free drink at the rooftop bar, named the Eagle Nest. Even if you’re not staying at this accommodation, the rooftop bar is a great way to get the same amazing views at just a fraction of the price.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the markets. The first market I visited was Pak Khling Talet (Flower Market), for a taste of a genuine local market. While it was pretty cool to see people making the flower necklaces but this would be the first thing I would skip if you were short of time.

Next up was The Old Siam Plaza for a food court inside of a local shopping centre. It was a great and cheap place to try local street foods in a clean chilled out environment. I was especially excited to try durian (the smelly fruit!) and mango sticky rice.

Finally I visited the Chinatown Bangkok night market (the market you see on TV, a must see, a bustling crowd of smells and tastes and noise and people). Chinatown is known for street food, speakeasies and a gigantic Buddha. The neighbourhood is formed around Yaowarat Road, a strip that runs just west of Chao Phraya River to Hua Lamphong train station. 

Day 2 Wednesday 13 August: The Grand Palace and a Show

Today it was time for some history! I headed to The Grand Palace and spent many hours checking out the beautiful buildings and temples. Remember to bring water and shade (like an umbrella) because it gets hot hot! As a woman, shoulders, chest and knees must be fully covered but there are extra rules than even this. You cannot wear sleeveless tops, short skirts/shorts, nothing tight fitting (leggings count as being tight fitting!) and no scarfs or sarongs are allowed to do the covering- it must be actual items of clothing. I was disallowed entry for wearing a shawl to cover my shoulders, as an example.

In turned out that the ticket to The Grand Palace included a free show! Outside the exit from the palace, there are free buses which take you to the Sala Chalermkrung Royal Theatre. The show was a 25 minute long traditional Khon masked dance show. I strongly recommend joining! Personally I was worried it was a scam and I was about to get kidnapped but it was definitely worth the risk!

Day 3 Thursday 14 August: Giant Gold Buddha, Shopping Centre and Boat Trip 

I checked out of the posh hotel and into a more affordable one (The Quarter Hua Lamphong), via a taxi. I then headed to a different taxi to an amazing viewpoint of Wat Paknam, a giant gold Buddha. This viewing point can be found at 13°43'19.8"N 100°28'17.4"E and is currently marked on Google Maps as “Photo spot for the Big Buddha at Paknam Temple (Phra Buddha Dhammakaya Thep Mongkol)”. This is the best photo spot for this buddha- most of the images of it online (e.g. looming over a motorway) are fake images generated by AI and don’t actually exist!

Next up, I travelled to ICONSIAM, a giant shopping centre. I am not normally one to visit a shopping centre on a holiday but I recommend this one! The food court is so ginormous and diverse that it has its own floating market! After eating some local food, as well as some crocodile, it was time to explore the mall further. From the rooftop there were decent views over the city, for free, although I think better views can be had from rooftop bars.

To travel back to the hotel from ICONSIAM, I took a local boat and bought tickets from the pier (boat as a public transport method is as common as a bus). It was very cheap, and the views were great, although I was a bit nervous about jumping on and off!

The day ended back at the hotel, which included a free token on check in for a foot massage. Though not quite the full Thai massage, it was just the ticket for some tired feet!

Day 4 Friday 15 August: The Historic City of Ayutthaya, Night Market

This day was the Historic City of Ayutthaya coach trip tour. On this trip, I was picked up from Future Café (near Thailand Cultural MRF Station) at 7:45am and dropped off at Jodd Fairs night market at around 4pm. It was booked on Klook and was named “Ayutthaya Temples One Day Tour from Bangkok” and cost around £25pp. While the tour was quite cringy, it was a hassle free way to see the sights of the historic city with next to no effort. The group tour booked included:

1. Bang Pa-In Palace - you could get out and walk around 2.4km 1h
2. Wat Chaiwatthanaram – 1km 35 minutes
3. Wat Lokaya Sutharam – 1km 15 minutes
4. Wat Phra Si Sanphet – 1.5km 40 minutes
5. Lunch at Venice Ayothaya - this was not included in the itinerary on the website.
6. Wat Mahathat – 1km 30 minutes
7. Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon – 1.25km 30 minutes

After the group tour, we had been dropped off at Jodd Fairs night market so we mooched around the market and ate here. I did find that this market was purposely designed for tourists so was not as good as other markets I had visited during my time in Bangkok. There was a lot of mass produced junk and the foot was very expensive.  

The day ended by going back to the hotel to collect my bags, using the hotel pool and showers, before heading over to BKK airport for the 4:40am flight home. While I had planned to take the Airport Rail link there (ARL on Google Maps), which is operational until midnight, it was easier and less hassle to simply take an Uber. 

Some ideas for the next Bangkok adventure

• Visit a floating market
• Damnoen Saduek Floating Market - touristy but a floating market and open every day. If you want to boat around it, wait until you get into the market (i.e. don't pay for a boat to take you there) because you will be paying a lot and paying twice. Often combined with The Maeklong Railway Market (Talat Rom Hoop), which is equally as touristy.
• Even more markets! E.g. Khlong Toei Market (apparently a proper local market), Bang Kachao Asiataique Night Market or Patpanf Night Market
• Cycle around Bang Krachao- wooden paths through a jungle, £2, 15km
• Khao San Road for a party and backpacker scene

Natalie Lamb and the travel post: Colombo, Sri Lanka

I was really fortunate to recently attend the most beautiful wedding in Sri Lanka. While the bride and groom live in Ireland (where the bride is from), the groom is from Sri Lanka. They had both an Irish and a Sri Lankan wedding to make sure both sets of family were included in their union. The groom kindly organised for our wedding party group to travel around Sri Lanka with a hired driver, seeing the sights of this amazing country. I have a separate blog post on this Sri Lankan road trip. For now, here's my top 5 places to go in Colombo, the largest city by population so the capital, of Sri Lanka, as well as my top 5 recommendations of food and drink to try.

5 Things to do

1. Go in a tuktuk!
Going in a tuktuk was on my bucket list so it was a must do for me and was easiest and cheapest in Colombo. Unlike in Thailand where tuktuks are just a massive tourist trap, in Sri Lanka they are a genuine method of travel, although not one for the faint hearted! You could even select them from Uber- you got to decide whether you wanted a car, a tuktuk or to go on the back of a motorbike. I really recommend it as a form of cheap travel in Colombo.

 
2. See the kites
I know it’s on many lists of what to do in Colombo but I thought seeing everyone flying their kites as the sunset was really wholesome. I went to Galle Face Green, where you could see the kites, spot the Lotus Tower and smell the street food in the air. A great photo opportunity.

3. Beautiful rooftop views

Definitely worth a cocktail on a rooftop bar for the amazing views across the city. I chose Cinnamon Red Colombo for a rooftop cocktail. If you're not keen on heights but still want a view, I recommend Radisson Hotel Colombo for beautiful views of the sea straight from your bed (100% honeymoon worthy!) or Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo for amazing views of the Lotus Tower from the swimming pool. 

4. See Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque

A beautiful and historic red and white striped place of worship, which is free to visit. Be wary of people outside trying to scam you by saying it is closed, however.

5. Visit a market

I was keen to see an authentic market and boy did I get my wish. I visit Pettah Market, which is a covered market selling meat/fish, fruit and vegetables. It didn’t look as though tourists visit there often and I didn’t really feel comfortable having my phone out. Make sure you wear closed toe shoes because it’s smelly!

5 Things to eat and drink

1. Some tea! 

Sri Lanka is one of the largest tea producers and exporters around the world, specifically Ceylon tea. Being British, naturally tea drinking was on my list for a Sri Lanka visit. Personally, I decided to visit T-Lounge by Dilmah on Chatham Street. 

2. Hoppers 

Hoppers are fermented rice-coconut milk pancakes with crispy edges and are often served with pol sambol, a tasty sometimes spicy coconut dish. They are a traditional breakfast food. Most of the hotels I visited while in the country had these on the breakfast menu, often prepared fresh in front of your eyes.

3. Kottu Roti. 

This is Sri Lanka's most famous street food, made by chopping flatbread (roti) with vegetables, eggs, meat, and spices.

4. King Coconut

Not one for me but one that comes highly recommended from the coconut lovers in my life, King Coconut. This coconut is orange coloured, native to Sri Lanka and has a light, naturally sweet water. You can often find places which will shop them down from the plant directly, as well as chopping them up for you when you are finished drinking the water. Always recommended by Sri Lankans to cure a hangover!

5. Arrack

On the topic of hangovers, Arrack is the most popular spirit in Sri Lanka. It is distilled from the fermented sap of coconut flowers. If the taste is too strong for you, you can find many different arrack cocktails.

Natalie Lamb and the travel post: Sri Lanka road trip

I was really fortunate to recently attend the most beautiful wedding in Sri Lanka. While the bride and groom live in Ireland (where the bride is from), the groom is from Sri Lanka. They had both an Irish and a Sri Lankan wedding to make sure both sets of family were included in their union. The groom kindly organised for our wedding party group to travel around Sri Lanka with a hired driver, seeing the sights of this amazing country. These are some of the amazing things we did and saw that I recommend you adding to your own Sri Lankan road trip. Full details on the trip can be found at the end of the post. 

Area 1 in Sri Lanka: Colombo

Go in a tuktuk!

Maybe not as “once in a lifetime” as some of the things on this list but it was on my bucket list so it definitely deserves a shout out. Unlike in Thailand where tuktuks are just a massive tourist trap, in Sri Lanka, and especially in Colombo, they are a genuine method of travel, although not one for the faint hearted! You could even select them from Uber- you got to decide whether you wanted a car, a tuktuk or to go on the back of a motorbike. I really recommend it as a form of cheap travel in Colombo. I do also have a separate travel blog just focused on Colombo. 

Area 2 in Sri Lanka: Kandy 

Kandy Esala Perahera Festival

Kandy Esala Perahera is a magnificent 10 day festival held in July or August to honour the Sacred Tooth Relic of Buddha. It is a massive parade of spectacular traditional dancers, musicians, and lavishly adorned elephants. Our friend had kindly pre-booked us a seat so all we had to do was rock up, sit back and enjoy the show! 

Area 3 in Sri Lanka: Matale 

Dambulla Cave Temples

Dambulla caves really surprised me with their beauty. After a 350 step scenic climb (with a few monkeys dotted around), you remove your shoes (socks are OK but remember to bring a tip in cash!) and cover your knees/shoulders to enter the ancient cave system. Inside, you will find over 150 Buddha statues and over 2,100 m² of cave paintings. 

Sigiriya Fortress

Sigiriya (otherwise known as Lion Rock, because the rock looks like the body and face of a lion) is a 5th century UNESCO listed fortress. If you are feeling brave, you can climb up the 200m above the surrounding jungle plains for amazing views. There is also a very sophisticated water system, for any water nerds like myself! 

Area 4 in Sri Lanka: Polonnaruwa 

Polonnaruwa Ruins 

Polonnaruwa Ancient City is a beautiful collection of ruins, including giant reclining buddhas, tombs, temples, statues and stupas. The ruins often had wandering monkeys dotted around, really making me think of the Jungle Book. I strongly recommend a fan and an umbrella to keep yourself cool and shaded.

Minneriya National Park Safari

On a jeep safari of Minneriya National Park we saw so many amazing animals and more elephants than I had seen in my entire life (well until I had visited Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage that is!). On the way back from the safari we also saw some elephants in the wild, just walking down the main road! 

Area 5 in Sri Lanka: Trincomalee 

Lagoon Boat Tour

While we did not see so much wildlife on our lagoon boat tour, we did see plenty of fish who jumped out of the water. I’ve never seen this before. A great place to go fishing I reckon! Although very difficult to capture on camera!

Scuba Diving

My partner and I separated from the group, who went snorkelling near Pigeon Island to go scuba diving for the day. We ended up going with Coco Diving Trincomalee for $60 USD for 2 dives pp. The dive was decent but we did have to pash in cash because their card machine was broken.

Area 6 in Sri Lanka: Kegalla 

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage was a truly magical experience. Now I truly had seen more elephants than in my entire life. This was definitely on the bucket list! Not only did I get to see the elephants but I got to hand wash them too (I got a bit of a wash at the same time!). 

Road Trip

• Day 1-4 Wedding Prep, Colombo
• Day 3 Wedding Prep, Dance Party PM
• Day 4 Wedding Prep, Colombo
• Day 5 Wedding
• Day 6 Post Wedding / Dalawella for food
• Day 7 Pierre Harra Festival
• Day 8 Dambulla Caves AM, Sigiriya PM (20 mins drive between)
• Day 9 Polonnaruwa AM, Minneriya National Park Safari PM (30 mins drive between)
• Day 10 6 August Lagoon Boat Tour.
• Day 11 Diving in Trincomalee
• Day 12 Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
• Day 13 9 August Home Coming Wedding Party 
• Day 14-15 Colombo

Accommodation

• Day 1-4 28 July to 31 July: Colombo. Radisson Hotel Colombo.
• Day 4-7 31 July to 3 August: Beruwala. Cinnamon Bay Beruwala and Occidental Eden#
• Day 7-8 3 August to 4 August: Kandy. Cinnamon Citadel Kandy. 
• Day 8-10 4 August to 6 August: Harbarana. Habarana Village by Cinnamon.
• Day 10-12 6 August to 8 August: Trincomalee. JKAB Beach Resort.
• Day 12-Day 15 8 August to 11 August: Colombo. Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo.

Flights

To make the most of trips, I often prefer to do extreme day trips or stopover holidays on the way to and from destinations. Below are the stopovers I planned for on the way to and from Sri Lanka. Each stopover has its own blog post, which you can search for in the search box. All flights were searched for using Sky Scanner, the itinerates checked using ChatGPT but then booked direct using the airlines. My partner and I shared one rucksack and then had our own small carry on bag. The cost of all flights came to £860.59pp. 

On the way to this holiday in Sri Lanka:

• Ryanair East Midlands EMA to Milan Bergamo BGY 5:50am-8:55am (2h05) 27/07/25 
• 14h05 stopover in Bergamo
• Air Arabia Milan Bergamo BGY to Sharjah SHJ 11pm 27/07/25 – 7am 28/07/25 (6h) 
• 1h20 stopover at Sharjah Airport
• Air Arabia Sharjah SHJ to Colombo CMB 8:20am-2:20pm (4h30) 28/07/26 

On the way from this holiday in Sri Lanka:

• AirAsia Colombo CMB to Bangkok DMK 1:15pm 11/08/25 - 4:15am 12/08/25 (3h30) 
• 4 day stopover in Bangkok
• Turkmenistan Bangkok BKK to Ashgabat ASB 4:40am-9:40am 16/08/25 (7h)
• 2h35 stopover at Ashgabat Airport
• Turkmenistan Ashgabat ASB to London Gatwick LGW 12:15pm-3:25pm 16/08/25 (7h10)

Natalie Lamb and the travel post: Rotterdam and Gouda

I had been traveling to London a lot for my day job and whenever I do so, my train takes me into London St Pancras Train Station. The platform I arrive on has a very low barrier separating my train’s arrival with the Eurostar’s departure. I watch, with great jealousy, at the travellers getting to go on their holidays while I am heading for a day in the office. After two years of watching with jealousy, I finally joined them! I decided to go to Rotterdam because I had never been before and because I wanted to visit Gouda to eat some gouda! Here is my blog post for things to do on a day trip.

The Trains

I had to arrive at St Pancras at 5:01am to make the 6:16am train (3h16). I took the Eurostar 21 January London St Pancras 6:16am-10:32am Rotterdam Central. I feel like the early time was not necessary but maybe I felt that because, due to me arriving so early, I was able to escape any large security queues.

The Eurostar itself was very comfortable. The WiFi/signal was very bad and unreliable. While AI told me there would be USB chargers available, there were not and it was UK plug and EU plug sockets. The charging power was good enough for fast charging though.

On arrival at Rotterdam, I went just across the platform (no barriers etc) to immediately take the train Rotterdam Central to Gouda 10:35am-11:08am (very impressive, considering the Eurostar arrived at 10:32am!). I had pre-paid for my anytime return ticket using the NS app. Just a warning that my ticket was checked on the train and that there are barriers to leave the station in Gouda so make sure you have bought a ticket!

Gouda

I really recommend a trip to Gouda. Especially midweek in January, the only people I met were Dutch and everyone was speaking to me in Dutch, which was nice, as a tourist. It was very quaint, with a lot of beautiful Dutch architecture. Everything was in walking distance. Everywhere seemed to be a lot cheaper than in Rotterdam. I much preferred Gouda to Rotterdam.

Markus Stroopwafels

On my walk from Gouda to the train station, I saw my first ever stroopwafel vending machine, which I thought was very cool! It was very cheap for gifts, with a standard pack of stroopwafel costing only £2.62.

Gouda Cheese Experience

My next stop was the Gouda Cheese Experience, where I browsed the gift shop. Unfortunately, due to Foot and Mouth disease, there is currently a £1000 fine for any cheese brought back to the UK so anything I bought, I had to eat on my extreme day trip. 

De Goudse Waag

Top on my Gouda agenda was eating cheese! I headed straight to the Gouda Cheese Weigh House, De Goudse Waag. Unfortunately, due to it being off season, they were not running any cheese tasting sessions that day. They instead recommend I go to the Gouda Cheese Experience for a tasting but I had other plans for my cheese-filled stop.

Stadhuis

I took a quick photo of the beautiful Stadhuis (the town hall with red flags), still pretty despite the ongoing construction works.

Berg’s Bakery

Then it was time for the most important stop on my Gouda trip, the gouda! I headed to Berg’s Bakery because I was hoping to join a make your own stroopwaffel workshop (for less than €10!). However, due to it being off season, they were not running them. The café was full of local people though, which is always a good sign, so I went ahead and took a seat. I ended up ordering a warm and gooey stroopwaffel as big as my head for around €3, as well as “Gouds Momentje”, a giant cheese platter of 3 different types of cheeses, cheese soup, cheese bread and a cheese croquette for around €13. The menu was just in Dutch so I recommend having a translator app. Also the toilet situation was a bit odd? I think customers were supposed to pay €1 to visit the toilet but I didn’t have any change? I also can’t confirm this because the sign was in Dutch.

Cheese Shops

I then had a wander around some cheese shops on my list. Some shops I visited included: Kaaswinkeltje Gouda, Gouda Cheese House, Say Cheese Gouda and Jeruzalemstraat. They were all located just a short walk away from one another.

De Roode Leeuw

I ended my trip to Gouda by locating the windmill De Roode Leeuw. I took some photos and then took the picturesque walk from the windmill and along the river back to the train station, leaving for Rotterdam about 2pm.

Rotterdam

Instagrammable Spot #1

On arrival into Rotterdam, I headed straight for some pretty views. It was around 30 minutes walk (but not a very beautiful walk- I recommend taking public transport instead!) to the bridge Lage Erfbrug. There were some views of some really nice buildings across the water “Historisch bedrijfsvaartuig Spes. Rivierenklipper Gebouwd In 1906” on Google Maps.

Instagrammable Spot #2

From there, I recommend walking a short distance down the water to the next bridge (at 51°54'30.3"N 4°26'54.6"E), where you can see a windmill in the distance across the water. From there, you can cross over and continue along the narrow island of the historic Delfshaven back to the bridge Lage Erfbrug. This is by far the most beautiful spot in Rotterdam, although I would say that Gouda is nicer.

Gnome Statue

I then walked 30 minutes to (again, I recommend taking the public transport and not walking) the Santa Claus gnome statue for a quick photo. From this point, the sights were a lot closer together.

Instagrammable Spot #3

Instagrammable Spot #3 was found in the form of Spanjaards Bridge, where there is a pretty, big, white hotel.

Cube Houses

Just around the corner from Spanjaards Bridge was the Cube Houses, which I had seen everywhere in photos of Rotterdam. I actually found them less impressive in person though, because they are a lot higher in the sky than I had expected.

Markthal

One place I definitely would recommend is Markthal, not only is it a great and diverse food hall but the building is very impressive too. As a peanut butter lover, I was really happy to see De Pindakaaswinkel there, a place on my Amsterdam list which I could instead cross off while I was in Rotterdam.

Bram Ladage

Talking of peanut butter, one thing I was really keen to try while in Markthal was Bram Ladage. This fries-by-the-cone fast food stall has the Dutch classic of mayo, peanut sauce and chips. I’m not a mayo fan though so just opted for patat pinda (fries and peanut sauce). If you’re wanting to avoid the peanut butter, pindasaus means peanut sauce. It reminded me of a satay sauce, rather than peanut butter, it was thick, goopy and peanutty but there was a very very mild spice to it.

The Trains – Round 2

I walked from Markthal back to Rotterdam Central Station for my train back to London St Pancras, ending my extreme day trip. I arrived a bit early actually- I probably could have gotten away with taking the train before the one I took. I had to arrive at the station for 6:43pm for my 7:28pm to 9:57pm (3h29) Eurostar. One thing to note is the barriers did not open for me at Rotterdam to let me through to the Eurostar. But there is an info box to the right of the barriers. I pressed the button to use the intercom and the people let me through. I do not know why it didn’t work? I did book my Eurostar ticket through Uber so it could be that or it could be because I was a little early.

I also found it a bit confusing at Rotterdam Central Eurostar Station. You arrive on the station platform where the train arrives but you got into a small room for security and passport control. From there, you go up some stairs to a holding area. You stay in the holding area until they make an announcement on the speakers. Staff will then escort everyone in the holding area back down the same stairs (that you have just only gone up) to go back to the station platform (the one before security and passport control). What I am trying to say is stay in the holding area until you are told differently- there is no need to rush downstairs before the announcement.

And so ended my extreme day trip to both Rotterdam and Gouda in a day!

Spend

• Eurostar £58 (Black Friday sale)
• Return train Rotterdam to Gouda £11.55
• Bergs Bakery (food) £19.19 
• Bergs Bakery (gift) £4.47 
• Markus and Markus Strrop (gift) £2.62
• Peanut butter £17.44
• Bram Ladage chips £4.37
• Total £117.64

 What would I do next time?

• Euromast for nice views of the city. It was closed at the time of my visit (again, not the best place to go to off season!)
• Kinderdijk for many pretty windmills. You take Waterbus Number 21 (again, not operating due to the off season) from Rotterdam – Erasmus Waterbus Stop to Kinderdijk, Molenkade for ~25 minutes
• 25 minutes by boat from Rotterdam – Erasmus Waterbus stop. To get to Kinderdijk, Molenkade you’ll need to take waterbus number 21.
• If still hungry, even after Markthal, I would go to Fenix Food Factory or the Foodhallen Rotterdam .