Travel Blog #1: Emergency Vacay To Gal Oya - Day #1

Ever decided to suddenly book a hotel in the middle of nowhere with your equally "rash decision-making" friend? Cause HELL YEAH! That's exactly what we did #sorrynotsorrymom and it turned out to be the best 2 days of our lives. Or best 2 day of the year 2020... Yeah 2020... F You year 2020!

On second thought, going to take that F You back cause we took full advantage of the fancy hotel deals currently in Sri Lanka. Broke, seriously, seriously broke, but life goes on... :)

Alright... Here's all you got to know about how to get there, what to do, who to get in touch with, to spend the best two days in the middle of nowhere with zero phone signal with your fancy human friend. Yasssssssss! Don't worry about getting lost cause you'll still be in Sri Lanka anyway, right? Righttttt... #awkwardsmile

Booked the only hotel in Gal Oya (Thank you Mr. Harsha), a beautiful eco-lodge called Gal Oya Lodge. Left Colombo at 6:00 am on a Saturday (thanks for the car dad, also, sorry for leaving you car-less for 2 days). The 6hr drive us actually enjoyable with really nice roads and scenic views. Got to Bibila which is the last town before Gal Oya with phone coverage so make sure to call the hotel and give them a heads up.

Note to self: Next time call mom and tell her that you guys are still alive before signal disappears... again... sorry mom... and about 10 other people back in Colombo...hehe???

Here's a picture of us ending up accidentally in Namal Oya (which btw is beautiful) due to bad directions by fabulous Charlie who after a while became our favorite human. Don't worry about getting lost tho, we told them never to let Charlie give directions ever again. LOL

Since we didn't stop for breakfast along the way we made it to Gal Oya Lodge by noon and quickly changed to head off to the Jeep Bird Safari and Picnic (12:30pm - 7:00pm) which we requested 2hrs before our arrival and they made it happen! So happy with the amazing service! Last minute planning is kind of our thing apparently.

Safari Time!

Ok, so cannot really comment on the bird watching bit (probably took 40-60mins including the time it took to get to the Gal Oya National Park from the hotel) since I'm blind in one eye (somewhat) and honestly, we were hangry and just wanted food.... Charlie did show us a couple of cool birds (again... no pictures cause we just wanted to eat) along the drive through the park, crossing streams... so COOL! And finally...

WE MADE IT! Food! Charlie setup the fanciest picnic for us in the middle of the river where we stuffed ourselves with freshly made wraps, hummus dips, coconut soup, salad and more! Thank you Charlie bear! Best highlight of our trip.

Charlie (yup, him again... see why we are not mad at him anymore for making us drive an extra 20 Km) later took us on a little excursion through the massive rocks, crossing the river which was waist high (again, sorry mom) stepping into the jungle and exploring the beautiful wilderness, barefoot, first time walking through a forest barefoot, sketchy but still EPIC! Unless you end up jumping on to a rock with sharpe edges and limping the rest of the way... Not going to say who it was, but it wasn't me neither was it Charlie.. LOL ... Was very funny to watch, but, OUCH! Sorry Cotton Balls.

What we experienced during the trek cannot be described in words. It is a place everyone in Sri Lanka should visit and enjoy. This is also where the largest reservoir, Senanayaka Samudra, in Sri Lanka is with lush greenery all around. So... Go! Go see all the beauty Gal Oya has to offer.

Made it back to the hotel a little past 7pm. Pretty tired after the long ass drive and spontaneous trek. Relaxed for a bit in the cozy room and the two of us just enjoyed the rest of evening with a yummy dinner, no phones (other than to take pictures), sipping on wine #wefancylikethat (which we bought from a random tiny wine store in Bibile) under the beautiful sky full of stars.

Gal Oya Day #1 over and out!