Dambulla to Trincomalee by Bus Made Easy

Despite our rather bad experience taking the bus from Kandy to Dambulla, we were not deterred. We continued from Dambulla to Trincomalee by bus and I am glad that I can say that this part of the journey was much more pleasant and rather uneventful.

We had originally planned on leaving Dambulla early morning. That however changed when we visited the Dambulla cave temple and spent more time than we expected there. Luckily the distance between Dambulla and Trincomalee isn’t much.

That meant that even though we left mid-afternoon, we reached Trincomalee before the dusk. That meant that we had plenty of time to explore after dumping our luggage rather unceremoniously at our accommodation which turned out to be a decent walk out of the city. Not that we minded!

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How To Get From Dambulla To Trincomalee?

Okay so here’s the deal. The way you travel in Sri Lanka depends on the amount of time you have and the amount of money you are willing to spend. The quickest and most efficient way to get to Dambulla would be to hire a car and a driver.

That way you aren’t too tired when you reach there. Alternatively you could drive yourself but make sure that you get a temporary drivers permit before you do because you can’t drive in Sri Lanka without one and the fines tend to be hefty. These two options however come with a cost.

You could choose to take the train but the route is rather tortuous. It is an exercise in patience but it should be more comfortable provided the train is not overcrowded. If it is, you will find yourself nose to armpit with a sweaty stranger!

Checking the train timings should always be done in advance and the government website has all the details in place. I would say that booking your ticket in advance is also a wise thing to do on crowded routes.

We found that the easiest way for us was by bus. It was also cheap and sort off energy efficient. Since you don’t hit any hills on the way, it isn’t an issue for anyone who suffers from motion sickness or at least I would hope that it wouldn’t be an issue.

Catching A Bus From Dambulla To Trincomalee

Usually catching the bus means heading out to the main city bus stand. This time however we did not head out to the Dambulla bus stand. Instead we took our host’s advice and headed out to the bus stand next to the clock tower.

Why? Since the bus stand is situated on the main road, the buses are more frequent and you can catch the ones that head to Trincomalee from Kandy and Colombo, and not just the ones that leave from Dambulla. I must say that our host was right, and we hardly reached the spot before a bus pulled up and we jumped in. I was as simple as that.

Getting From Dambulla Temple To The Bus Stand

At first, we wondered how to get from our accommodation to the bus stand. Sure, we could have caught a tuk-tuk but that would have been costly. Instead, we hopped on to a local bus and hopped out at the bus stand. It was simple as we caught the bus next to the Dambulla temple and it was cheap.

The Tickets And The Journey From Dambulla To Trincomalee

The bus that we got on to was one of those state run red buses that we had got used to. Spacious, crowded but with their windows down and cool breeze that provided ventilation.

We paid 166 LKR per person for our ticket from Dambulla to Trincomalee by bus. Shawn was told to place the backpack right in front. That meant we had more space to stretch our legs and we could also keep an eye on our belongings.

Like I said before, the journey was rather uneventful. The bus made a short stop on the way where everyone got down to catch a bite to eat and use the restrooms. The journey to Trincomalee was scenic and rather quiet.

A part of the route was the one that we covered on our two wheeler when we visited the UNESCO sites in the area. Our journey culminated with us getting down at the Trincomalee bus stand. From there we chose to catch a tuk-tuk for 400 LKR to our accommodation which was on the outskirts of the city.