My trip to Sri Lanka would not have been complete without uncle Upali. With his friendly yet fatherly demeanor and all those interesting stories – uncle Upali is not just any tour guide or driver. He certainly meant more than that to us.
I was referred to uncle Upali by an ex-colleague of mine, who is a Sri Lankan as well. When I reached out to her for help on how to commute between cities in Sri Lanka, she recommended her father’s close friend, a retired business man who now drives tourists as a part-time gig. Aka uncle Upali.
Travelling with my mother, I didn’t want any hurdles in terms of transportation. I wanted it to be as comfortable as possible for her. So having uncle Upali and his Nissan Tiida at our service was one of the best decisions we made for our trip to Sri Lanka.
Apart from the usual sights and sounds, uncle went out of his way to make sure our trip was not just special but also safe. He always checked if our accommodation was comfortable, he took us to some amazing local eateries that no guide book will tell you about and when we did want to do/see something a guide book suggested, he made a real effort to make it happen.
On a cold evening in Nuwara Eliya, I was craving hot hoppers. Unfortunately, the restaurants in the area were done making them for the evening. When I told uncle, he hopped from restaurant to restaurant until we found a place serving piping hot egg hoppers with beef, chicken and dal curry. Yum!
Driving through and between cities, I almost always sat upfront with uncle – not just because it’s easier to take time-lapse videos from the front but because talking to uncle was such a delight. He’s full of stories and information from having spent all his life in Sri Lanka. I couldn’t have asked for better local company on our trip.
If you’re looking to travel in Sri Lanka by car, and you need a local, trustworthy guide to take you around (at a reasonable price too!), I say give uncle Upali a call.
Write to me and I’ll be happy to share his details with you.
Later Alligator 
Sounds like a great way to travel. Looking for wRd to more posts on Sri Lanka.
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Good local company can make such a difference to travel experiences – it surely was great 🙂
And thank you, I look forward to sharing more stories from my trip to Sri Lanka.
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