The Thrill, Beauty and Danger of Solo Travel in Sri Lanka

Anita Horan at a market in Sri Lanka.

I travelled solo for 19 days in Sri Lanka. I had some of the most wonderful and frightening experiences of my life.

I talked to my husband Tim about my experiences on our podcast below. I know our conversation is a bit long, but it’s crammed full of amazing tales from the beginning to the end. The first half is my travel adventure in Colombo where I am ‘passively kidnapped’ twice, then hosted with graciousness to see all things plastic-free in the city.

I next travel inland to sacred sites and climb the eighth wonder of the world and see an elephant put chains on itself. My Facebook page turns into a war zone and I am personally attacked through my phone as I travel to Kandy and visit beautiful, elderly people and perform a good deed.

I then travel the world’s most beautiful train ride to Ella where someone prowls outside my room. Next is Tissa bike riding, dodging snakes, homeless people and a safari. Half way through the podcast, things take a drastic turn when I am passively kidnapping again – ‘Tuk Tuk’ man latches onto me and tries to…

There’s a great escape, and I am rescued by a stranger on a beach, only to be passively kidnapped a fourth time, by beautiful people, the intensity of the situation is off the charts. No sleep for three nights as I navigate my way to safety, with one final exquisite reward on my last night. This is one hell of a ride. I hope you’re ready for some over the top intensity and enjoy taking this wild journey with me.

Download the episode here or listen on Libsyn or YouTube below.

Show Notes and Photos

An elephant with owner in Sri Lanka.
An elephant following his owner’s commands to put chains on himself. Photo taken by me in Sigiriya, Sri Lanka.
Old ladies in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
As I left the aged care home, these two beautiful ladies came to the window to wave goodbye to me. Photo taken by me near Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Anita Horan with elderly women in Sri Lanka.
On my last night I spent an exquisite hour with these beautiful women, three were called Margaret!

4 Replies to “The Thrill, Beauty and Danger of Solo Travel in Sri Lanka”

  1. Oh my goodness Anita, what a wild ride you had on your recent trip to Sri Lanka!! I was literally on the edge of my seat throughout the whole podcast. I do hope you get a positive outcome legally for the trauma and fear you went through, and I applaud your courage for telling your story to warn others. I am glad that there were other better experiences on your journey that will leave you with some treasured memories. Your kindness, and willingness to engage with another culture, and the photos and stories you shared were great….as was being able to find opportunities to spread the anti plastic message! You have a good heart and I love how you were drawn to the elderly and young, and I’m sure your acts of generosity will stay with them always too. I have to say, both you and Tim have a style of conversation and interaction that is engaging and very easy to listen to….hoping there will be more to follow! 🙂

    1. Hi Deborah, I am so pleased you listened to our podcast and thank you for all of your feedback. Knowing that it touched one person, makes all the effort of recording it worth it. So appreciative. In case you haven’t already, just letting you know there are two podcasts before this one on different topics. I hope down the track to publish a blog post with travel tips for Sri Lanka and I have many more beautiful photos to share with it. Xx

  2. Hi Anita,

    I loved listening to your podcast! What an amazing trip you had! I thought Tim’s observation was very astute, that being such an open person leads you to have such in depth experiences both positive and negative and of course Sri Lanka and other South Asian countries lend themselves to this with all their sharp contrasts. It was so lovely that you really helped brighten up some people’s lives whilst their and after too. Thanks for sharing everything with us!

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