Experiential Journeys

Our trip was breathtaking....We were met at the airport in the middle of the night by Ruwan who was to be our fantastic, knowledgable and generous driver and guide throughout our 16 day trip. I highly recommend to ask for him specifically. He made sure entries into all the sites went smoothly and he was a safe and careful driver on very tricky roads. We were greeted at the hotel at 3am with fresh juice and a lovely hotel team. Next morning we met Ishan who was our amazing guide as well, predominantly but not only , when we were on our bicycles which was up to 6 hours a day. He cycled us, a party of 4 - 50 something old parents and 2 strapping 20 something old sons, through the gentle quiet roads, through forests pointing out all kinds of stunning scenery, the magnificent birds that he knew by name, up and down hills and through jungles. All are requests for what we were interested in...mainly the Sri Lankan life and as little as possible touristy places, were met gracefully. Every evening we sorted out the route for the next day....exactly according to our ability, interests and his advice regarding the best path, scenery. Both Ruwan and Ishan I can recommend very highly for their unfaltering reliability, knowledge, humor, kindness and understanding....The hotels were all superb...quiet places that all provided breakfast on the go and a wonderful dinner. We particularly enjoyed the camp sites in the countryside with fabulous views and our own lake to canoe in. Yasantha was in touch with our guides throughout and had been in touch all the time as we planning...with patience and understanding helping us plan our trip and with irreplaceable advice. I recommend everything about the trip.....Even after the trip was over our wonderful guides offered unlimited support to our son who stayed in Sri Lanka another 2 weeks. We would like to thank all of the kimkim team that provided the platform for Yasantha Ishan and Ruwan and for a life long memorable holiday.

Hotel Reviews

Blue Magpie Lodge

Sinharaja

Loved it. Great large room. Beautiful surrounds. Very kind staff and great food.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Big Game Camp - Udawalawe

Udawalawe, Angunakolapelessa

Ecocamps are a must for any trip in Sri Lanka....they are outstanding....on everything....

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lady Hill Hotel

Galle

Very interesting renovated hotel....super staff lovely swimming pool great views

Authenticity & Character

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Cleanliness & Comfort

Morning Star Resort

Negombo

Loved it, great garden lovely dinner perfect swimming pool

Authenticity & Character

Location

Just a short ride from the airport. Quiet steet

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Big Game Camp -Wilpattu

Wilpattu

Middle of the jungle, camping in incredible style. Fantastic dinner and night nature walk....unforgettable

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Amaara Forest

Sigiriya

Loved it. Lovely rooms Beautiful surroundings, cool refreshing pool. Great service. Nearby lots of historical sites at Sirygia.

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Thilanka Hotel

Kandy

Stunning room. Great views....lovely dinner including live music and European food.

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Lake View Comfort Bungalow

Nuwara Eliya

Unexpectedly unique place. Lovely staff cooked us a delicious meal. Great scenery all around us.

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Kinchigune Adventure Camp

Belihuloya

Camping for real in the heart of the country surrounded by birds, monkeys. The guy who runs the place was fantastic, welcoming and knowledgable. And the lake was incredibly warm and we could swim and canoe. Breathtaking scenery and wild life....birds, buffalo, dear....

Authenticity & Character

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Camping with all its charm!

Fairview Hotel

Colombo

Very convenient and quiet in the midst of busy Colombo...Very comfortable and clean. Relaxing...perfect place.

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Activity Reviews

City Tour in Colombo

Colombo

Ruwan took us on a fascinating tour of the city. Memorable, interesting and diverse. Help us with some lasting minute shopping as well making sure we got a good deal.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cycling Trail in the backyards of Sigiriya

Sigiriya

Ishan was a wonderful cycling guide and was the best we could have imagined. He fulfilled our dream of a cycling holiday....we cycled through villages, past lakes with countless birds, though forests and jungles and even through bustling towns...always with our warfare and satisfaction foremost in his thoughts....thank you

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our guide was the absolute best. We were so lucky to have him and all arrangements were as promised Everything went very smoothly and could not have asked for more. The people at all the hotels were so kind and couldn’t do enough for us. The whole experience was amazing.

We did a 2 weeks round trip of Sri Lanka with KimKim. Everything was perfectly organized by our agent Yasantha. Our driver Denver was the best. Very good and safe driver. He showed us all the special places and hidden waterfalls, knows the good local restaurants and the best Nature Guides. There was daily follow up between Yasantha and Denver to make sure everything went ok. Even when we wanted to make changes to the trip, Yasantha arranged it immediately. When another lockdown was announced there were some places that we couldn’t visit. Even the same day they made other arrangement to replace these activities.
The nature guides of EcoTeam are excellent. They can spot you any animal or bird.
We had an exceptional trip : all the main tourist areas and parks we visited as the only foreign tourist. It is safe to travel during corona.
I can fully recommend KimKim as an agent. We actually are arranging our next trip with them.

We were delighted with our Sri Lanka trip. The organization was great and when we were dissatisfied with one of our hotels, Yasantha quickly made alternate arrangements that were perfect. Our guide/driver, Kumar added to the overall enjoyment of our visit to Sri Lanka. He is an excellent reflection on the Kim Kim operation, along with Yasantha.

There are too many highlights to cover. We REALLY enjoyed the Horton Plains hike; and, of course, Sigiriya, and the cave temples of Dambulla.

Trip was great, the country is beautiful. we saw many beautiful spots. we had a very good time based on the itinerary that we had customized. Sigiriya rock, Dambulla cave, Cutlural dance show. Yala National Park was amazing. The tracker and naturist were very good and made us see mostly all animals. We saw Leopards, Sloth bear, Tusk Elephant, Crocodile, lots of Birds, Peacock, Land monitor, Deer, Eagle, etc. Then we went to Mirissa and saw the Blue Whale, it was so beautiful. We took a ride on Madu Ganga river seeing the mangroves and we watched the best sunset when the birds were flying over water. Gangarama temple was very beautiful. On the way to these places we stopped at couple of hindu temples that we customized in the trip. Sri Baktha Hanuman Temple, Ashoka Vatika, Sita Amman Temple, etc. The Peradeniya botanical garden is not worth the visit.
our Driver/ Guide Pradeep was great, very honest, tried everything to keep us happy. The hospitality at all hotels were great. Food was good everywhere. the only thing we didn't like is that every hotel, the dinner is open buffet but not so great menu. and the hotels are not interested to take a la carte orders. however on our last day we ordered a la carte, it was more expensive than buffet but it was very nice food and we were happy with that. The car also was too low and not fit for countryside driving, too many slopes, each time the bottom would hit the road when driving. next time, they should provide an saloon car or an SUV.
All the hotels, the guide, the driver, the national park people helped us to have a wonderful trip. Every single place we went to was worth the drive, we wouldn't remove any place we went to based on our customized trip.

This was my first experience with KimKim and it resulted in one of the best trips I have ever taken. Our guide on the ground Nathantha was fantastic. He was very responsive and made sure that we were comfortable and safe at all times. All of the places he took us to were great. He understood what we wanted and did his best to make sure we got it. For example, we told him we were really interested in elephants and he hired an extraordinary man with a jeep that took us into the jungle and made sure we saw lots of elephants up close in their natural habitats. He took us to wonderful temples that weren't even on the program and explained the history and local custom. I would rate him 10 out of 10.

The planning and booking process was good, but could have been better. Natasha provided a good basic itinerary and always responded to my questions. I would have liked more details and perhaps better information. For example, when we said we wanted to go snorkeling we were told we had to go to Hikkadua, but what we had read about Hikkadua indicated that it was not our kind of place, Natasha told us that snorkeling was not possible any place else. In fact, we booked our own snorkeling trip in Mirissa that was wonderful. It seemed that changes to the itinerary were not welcomed by the local specialist and it was only grudgingly that the price reduced when we took items out. I am sure that Natasha knows a lot about travel in Sri Lanka, but too many of our interactions were canned responses rather than detailed knowledge.

I arranged my trip with Bilal not Yasantha. Arrangements for my trip was good. Not perfect only because initially Yasantha never returned my calls. Bilal was good but also not great at returning calls. Bilal did a good job planning my trip. Once I got to Srilanka my driver was excellent. Excursions and hotels were great also.

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.

The whole trip was very well organised.
The initial specialist Yasantha put together a very comprehensive itinerary that covered all the places I wanted to see and more. In fact it was so busy that I had to ask my driver/guide for some time off from all the sight seeing!
Boni the driver was very courteous and helpful and struck the right balance between being informative and not engaging in conversation.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the holiday.
Thank you
Jason