Ida Lindholm

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.

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.

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.

I didn't receive a final confirmation of the itinerary which meant I didn't pick up on a misunderstanding on the last day of the trip. In re reading our emails I understood the last day was to be changed from Sigirya to Negombo. So I also take responsibility for not confirming this change. A bit more guidance on the timing of events would have been helpful - our driver left it to us to decide when to leave in the morning - I thought he would have had a better idea than us. We had lots of questions but felt his English wasn't good enough, first of all to understand the question and then to give us an informed answer. He was very pleasant and easy going but also a little difficult for us to understand sometimes.

Thank you for a wonderful trip it was great to have all accommodation and attraction fees organized and the driver and vehicle were excellent. My daughter and I enjoyed everything and even had time to fit in a couple of extras with the help of Nishanthna using our free time. I have told everybody what a great time I had and have recommended KimKim as the people to see. I am now in the process of deciding where and when my next trip will be so will be in touch at a later date. Thank you, Gary & Julia.

Plane was late from India-however Roshen was waiting and proceeded to make the trip a pleasure. As you may know when traveling single and its just you and the driver for the next few days a bond has to be made and it was-from the start-perfect timing with a stop at a hotel for a cup of café and then forth every nook and corner I wanted to see he helped with. I am impressed with the overall service you granted me with the minimum fee for your services (however being in India I know the business of the business-)-hats off-will need your services soon-wish to arrange Northern India/Nepal. Looking at February 2018 ,

Thanks for all

Please see that Roshen is told of his excellent services.

Stand out-she was a pleasure to work with