Must do experience whilst in Sri Lanka - Our driver guide suggested this tour and we were not disappointed it was a wonderful experience and we learnt a lot about SriLankan family life and cooking. The experience started with a TukTuk drive to the village, my husband even got to try driving the Tuktuk! We then enjoyed a cooking lesson and got to try some of the techniques ourselves. A delicious lunch with plentiful food was then served before enjoying a boat ride on the a nearby lake which was beautiful. The experience ended with a trip in an Ox cart back to our starting point. A truly wonderful experience we would highly recommend.

Highly recommend - Awesome trip all round. We had a ride on the cart to the boat that was paddled around the lake, we saw lovely birds and even a crocodile. Then to the village where 2 lovely ladies showed us how to make dinner, we joined in helping (fabulously for me all wheat and dairy free) and then we got to eat, fabulous food and we also saw a monitor lizard. Tuk tuk back to the start. Highly recommend was a great visit

Definitely do it! - You feel close and connected to the people there... and we also learned a lot about the food, the handling and preparation of food. A thoroughly adorable excursion that should definitely be made... one of my highlights

Brilliant! Definitely recommended - Fabulous experience, they could not do enough for us. Ignore photos of elephants though. Now more ethical I guess. We had the chance to get involved in making lunch, grinding flour and frying snacks. Delicious. Definitely add this to your itinery.

Best tour guide in Sri Lanka - I am so grateful to have Nuraj as my guide, his is so kind and reliable, and so much fun to be with. During the 5 days tour from Colombo to Kithugala and Hikkaduwa, he gave me so many good recommendations, and helped me so much. He is professional in any aspect. I would hire him again in April when I come back again with friends.

A sample of traditional rural life in Sri Lanka - We started with a tuk - tuk ride ( from just off the main road)through paddy fields and past farms to a lake where we had a catamaran ride . We then walked to a traditional mud hut where we witnessed ( and took part in ) preparation of a traditional Sri Lankan foods in a village hut with a local family . We then sampled the food they prepared. The mango curry was delicious. Loved this experience

Nice experience - The program was part of our tour with H.O.T. We started with an idyllic rowing boat trip. Bouquets of water lilies were made for all of us. It was very nice, but we would prefer if not so many water lilies were picked for each tourist and could continue to bloom in the water. Food was cooked with and for us in a show kitchen. Everything tasted very good. We did not go on the ox cart. Probably because our guide knew that our children felt sorry for the animals. In Sigiriya they offered elephant rides, which we all found terrible.

Mediocre tour, probably scam operators - Regarding the tour itself: it was . . . fine. You get what you pay for in this situation. It's not an actual village tour, but rather a recreation of traditional activities done in traditional villages, and I feel like if I had known that in advance it would have managed my expectations a bit better. Everything is super fast and you do feel rushed the whole time. The woman who did my cooking demonstration told me I didn't tip her enough, which, fine, I was willing to give her more, but I did find that pretty off-putting. But all that being said, it's a nice enough way to see some of these traditions, as long as you know what you're getting yourself into--that is to say, that it's a recreation rather than the genuine article. The 1 star review is really for the operator, Kashyapa Tours, who I think are likely scammers. Transportation is supposed to be included (they say they can pick you up from any of the area hotels); an hour before the tour began, I still had heard nothing from them by phone, email, or whatsapp. I messaged to ask if it was happening and got back an "oh yeah, we'll send a tuk-tuk, what time do you want it?" I found this odd since I had already told them the time, both through tripadvisor and through whatsapp. Eventually I was picked up. Did the tour, came back, my tuk-tuk driver was waiting for me. All good. Except then when he drops me off at my hotel he demands payment for the whole roundtrip plus waiting time! I told him that Kashyapa was paying for it and he just shook his head and kept demanding it from me. I whatsapp'd and called Kashyapa about this; no response. They totally ghosted me. I eventually negotiated the driver down just to pay for the return trip. But man, what an unprofessional experience. Bottom line: I thought the tour itself was mediocre, but I was admittedly expecting something different from what I got based on the description. If a recreation is up your alley, it does its just well enough! But if you want to do the tour, just go straight to the direct operators. They have a stand on the main street of Sigiriya. Don't bother with Kashyapa, these guys are terrible.

No interest - Completely irrelevant. The carriage driver keeps asking us for money, there is a lot of waiting, the boat is not there, this tour is totally uninteresting

A bad joke - This experience was ridiculous ! An arnaque total we wait all morning for stupid activities. We really did not like it at all