Arrived to a guide, left with a new friend! - We booked Buddhika for three days of tours during our stay in Kandy and from beginning to end he proved to be invaluable. He was easy to communicate with in advance of our arrival and responded to our queries very quickly. He was also excellent at suggesting sites to visit and advise us on how we could tailor our tours. Day one began with Buddhika meeting us at the train station and conveying us to our hotel, The Trees, Kandy (see separate review). Later that day we continued with a tour around the Tooth Relic Temple followed by a cultural show. Proving incredibly knowledgeable on the subject, Buddhika guided us through the temple complex explaining in great detail the history of it while also ensuring we didn't commit any tourist faux pas. Day two kicked off with journeying to Nuwara Eliya or "Little England" that was a hill country retreat where British colonialists could escape the heat and immerse themselves in their pastimes such as fox hunting, deer hunting, polo, golf and cricket. These days it is known for its waterfalls and tea plantations and Buddhika ensured we saw both as requested whilst also chatting to us throughout the journey. Day three began with a very early 7am start but yet again Buddhika was punctual and ready & waiting for us at our hotel to take us to our next requested tour, The Elephant Freedom Project (see separate review). Incredibly friendly, Buddhika proved to be a superb guide, safe driver and brilliant conversationalist with our chats covering a wide range of topics including food, local culture, history, economics and politics. We enjoyed his company immensely and have booked him to guide us around again when we return next year. Would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a fantastic tour guide!

Amazing Trip - While browsing through Tripadvisor, I found this trip. I booked late in the night. The next morning I called Buddhika and was picked up from Kandy Central. Buddhika was warm, welcoming and knowledgeable. His knowledge about the country, Buddhism and culture was immense. Our conversation started with cricket continued till economics, history, religion and food. We had an amazing breakfast on the way to Sigiriya. Buddhika was also my tour guide for Sigiriya rock. He explained me the history as we started exploring the Sigiriya rock and surroundings. He took me a to a local rice n curry place for lunch which was fab. He was kind enough to take me to the local market on my request. Then we visited the Dambulla cave. I had to go for cricket match in Pallekele at 7 PM in the evening. He drove me and dropped near the stadium. Buddhika was a honest, humble and hospitable person as every Srilankan I met in my trip. I highly recommend this trip and Buddhika as a tour guide.

Awesome 🤩🤩 - Our guide Buddhika was excellent. A great conversationalist. His intimate knowledge and pride in his culture is very apparent in every word he says. He has so much knowledge regarding the history of the places we visited with him and ensured we tried locally sourced and made goods. His knowledge regarding the Buddhist and Hindu religions was impressive and inspiring. He was so happy to let us know about all things Sri Lankan. He really puts a lot of thought and a lot of himself into his tours and it shows.

Excellent tour with Buddhika! - We had a lovely day trip to Sigiriya followed by a Sri Lankan traditional tour and lunch. Our guide picked us up from our hotel at Kandy right on time and drove us to Lions Rock. He was very knowledgeable about all of the history and details of Lions Rock and surrounding location. He's an experienced tour guide with knowledge of many other landmarks and tourist destinations (not just Kandy/Sigiriya) and studied it in university. He made all the details of where to go and what costs there would be clear ahead of time and was very professional. Afterwards, he joined us for the tour experience where we road in a traditional boat and bull cart, then ate (and helped a bit to prepare) a traditional meal with curries, sweets, and tea. It was one of the tastiest meals we've had in Sri Lanka! The next day he offered us to go white water rafting and canyoning, and we decided to go. It was a lovely time and again he informed us of the costs and schedule ahead of time. Buddhika was very punctual and professional, and answered all of our questions along the way. Would definitely recommend a tour with Buddhika!

eventful trip - We did a private tour from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya, to avoid a 4h train ride. A friend of mine highly recommended Buddhika, and now we totally agree! He is a safe driver and told us a lot of interesting things about the island. He managed do pick us up and drop off everywhere we wanted. So we visited for example the royal botanical garden, the ambuluwawa tower and a tea factory. He also offered us a stop at a local restaurant for lunch and it was delicious! After a long but exciting day he drove us to our next accommodation in Nanu Oya. Thanks for the great day!

Great Tour to Sigiriya & Dambulla - We had a great day with Buddhika! He was flexible to our wishes. We visited Sigirya, did the village tour with a very tasty lunch and visited Dambulla Temple, where Buddhika gave us a tour. He also drove along a road where we could see elephants. Buddhika told us lots of interesting things about the culture, country and people. A great tour and definitely recommended!

Very professional tour for a reasonable price.. - Great service. We went to Sigiriya from Kandy for one day tour and it was great, we had few additional stops in-between. Driver was waiting us all the time and was very kind and professional. I definitely recommend his service.

Beautiful day - The day was impeccably organised. Buddhika is a skilled driver and excellent guide; she did not hesitate to change the route to meet my needs and accompanied me on all visits, including the ascent to Pidurangala Rock, being alone. Even though the tour can be a little tiring, the day passed in an instant thanks to Buddhika's competence and friendliness. I hope to be able to return soon with my family, and I will turn to him again. Thanks again! I recommend everyone to book a day with Buddhika!

Brilliant tour guide - Buddhika is the nicest, passionate and well prepared tour guides I’ve met on my travels. Also, he is a very good and responsible driver which in Sri Lanka is not to be taken for granted.

Great Day Trip from Kandy! - We booked a last minute tour to Sigiriya with Buddhika. I was under the impression that Buddhika would have been our tour guide (and was hoping so because of all the glowing reviews). We also booked due to the very reasonable price. We did not get Buddhika but another driver (Poltee - spelling?). Our driver was very kind, professional, welcoming and patient, catering to what we wanted to do for the day. There was a language barrier though which prevented us from learning much about Sri Lanka and the places we were visiting. This is not meant to be a knock on our driver as he was excellent, just didn’t have the experience we believe we could have considering the amazing reviews of Buddhika as not only a driver but a guide as well. We opted to go to the spice garden, climb Sigiriya, do the village tour and visit the Dambulla cave temple before returning to Kandy. When you go to Sigiriya, there will be freelance guides (have certification) that offer to be your guide for the climb. If you opt for this, negotiate a price beforehand. When we asked our guide how much, he replied “as much as you want” and we left it at that. Our guide was very good and we learned a lot. At the end of the climb we gave him 5,000 LKR, which we believed was reasonable (hopefully this was reasonable and we’re not completely off base here). He said “other people give more” and then acted like he was angry for the walk back to the car. Bottom line, just lock in a price beforehand to avoid these awkward situations. The spice garden was a good experience with no obligation to buy anything. The village tour isn’t really a tour, you take an old village buggy towed by a cow, then a nice ride around a lake on a boat. The highlight was a private lunch which we were able to help prepare and learned a ton about traditional Sri Lankan dishes. The tour ends with a tuk tuk ride back to the start. $20USD per person, which we thought was worth it due to the lunch portion. The Dambulla cave temples were also very interesting. Hope this helps!