On one fine day I received a message from our District ISD in the group about the IDYEP to Sri Lanka. It was at that moment I was available to check and reply instantly that I’m in for the IDYEP. And that was one of my best decisions. Our group was of 5 people having 3 girls and 2 boys. The dates finalized for the trip was from 16th October to 20th October. We left from Pune at 10:30 pm on 15th October and reached at Colombo airport at 5:00am on 16th. And that’s when our tour to Sri Lanka started. Who knew that it could have been such a great trip for all of us.
The day we landed at the Airport at early morning, Rtr. Nipun and Rtr. Shehani were already there to welcome us to their country. I liked the food we tried and the cleanliness of the country, the kind and polite people there.
In Colombo, we visited many places, Colombo City Center where we did shopping from the SPA Ceylon which had great Sri Lankan Products, Gangaramaya Temple where you can feel the peace inside when you go and it also had museum and kept all the religious and cultural things which were gifted to them from all over the world, Laksala where we did little shopping for us and our friends to take back some souvenirs and this is also the place where we fought for the elephant shaped oil diffuser which was the single and the last piece left in all of the Laksala stores in Sri Lanka. We had many local dishes of Sri Lanka, Kottu, String Hoppers, Hoppers, Lamprais and not to forget the great ice cream of Rio which is all the way from Jaffna to Colombo.
After being in Colombo for two days our next destination was Kandy. So on our third day in Sri Lanka we travelled to Kandy by bus. Kandy is one of the most beautiful cities to go. Rtr. Kenneth, Rtr. Laihru and Rtr. Rehan were there at the bus stop to welcome us. It is a beautiful city with mountains and a lake in the center of the city. You can just sit at the View Point and watch the beautiful lake with city all around. We visited the Bahirawakanda Temple where they have a huge Lord Buddha statue which can be seen from the city and once you climb you can see the complete city from up the top it is like the Buddha is watching over the city, University of Peradeniya which is the largest university in Sri Lanka and has a beautiful campus with trees all around, Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic which is beautifully made and had the complete story of Lord Buddha.
Again after two days in Kandy now it was our last day in Sri Lanka and on this day we travelled to Negombo from Kandy by the train. This route had such great scene of Sri Lanka. Rtr. Thilan and Rtr. Nimesh were there to receive us at the station to take us to a cafe where we joined Rtr. Rajeev and others. After that we went for the city tour and also visited the church which was bombed in the Easter Attack. We then went to the beach and at last it was the time to say goodbyes as that night we had our flight back to India. All of us had only one thing in mind to extend this trip and stay more but unfortunately that could not have been possible. And so we plan on visiting the place again.
I would especially like to thank District 3220 ISD Dina Ali and District 3131 ISD Shantanu Arvindekar as well as DRR Akshay More and DRR Krishan Balaji for such a beautiful IDYEP which was a great experience to us. And Appreciations to all who were present in District 3220 to host us in such a smooth and homely manner that we didn’t even felt that we are away from home.
Honestly, it was a very good experience. We created many memories. Many more memories are yet to be made.
Rtr. Sarabdeep Singh | International Service Director Rotaract Club of Pune Hillside
