On holiday with Chaminda
Chaminda is a terrific, careful driver and host. He collected me from my accommodation at No. 53, drove me to Heretika for two nights where I met up with my daughter. He sought out a local barber for me to have a cutthroat shave.
We explored the area, swam and ate lovely Sri Lankan food. We spent two nights in Ella, visited temples, the tea plantation and ate Buffalo Curd.
We drove to Ahangama and stayed by the beach and found cool restaurants and coffee shops. We also visited the Dutch fort town of Galle and finally made it to Negombo where I flew out to Perth, Australia and my daughter flew out to London.
This trip was incredibly important to me as it allowed my daughter to reconnect with me and to rebuild our relationship albeit for a brief 7 days. What made it perfect was Chaminda.
Chaminda is an incredible human being. He is kind, thoughtful, generous, passionate, speaks good English, is a knowledgeable and patient guide, honest beyond words and a lovely man. He is now my friend and I cried when hugged him on his way.
I have travelled extensively in Asia, always weary of being ripped off by exuberant locals, being driven the long way to one’s hotel to ensure they get the most tourist dollars, being hit with hidden fees and costs and sometimes being lied to to enable back handers and bribes.
Chaminda is a true gentleman. He paid for tolls, temple visits, parking, water and fended off those I have described above. I offered to pay him his set rate (which incidentally was the lowest I could find on line) up front as well as an advance on the total cost, knowing that he had a wife and two children at home and he refused each time. On the last day, I gave him the agreed funds and he accepted that with a smile and his genuine ‘thank you sir’ even though I had worked hard for 7 days to get him to call me Nic. The best he did was to call me Sir Nic with true respect.
I could go on about what an awesome person Chaminda is but I won’t. What I will say is if you see this review, please please employ him as your driver. You will not be disappointed. His Buddhist philosophy shines through but he is a true humanist and has great love for all.
14 maja 2026
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