Stunning Sri Lanka
I was lucky enough to travel to Sri Lanka last month with the Sri Lankan Tourist Board. It is an amazing destination, with fantastic scenery, stunning nature reserves and fabulous historical monuments.
Sri Lanka is now a peaceful destination following the cessation of civil unrest in the north in 2008 and is an ideal destination to combine sightseeing with a stay in one of their top quality hotels on the coast.
We travelled with Sri Lankan Airlines to Colombo, where we stayed for the first night, after visiting Independence Square and the Gangaram Temple. The next morning we headed north to the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage. It was the most amazing sight to see upwards of 50 rescued and orphaned elephants enjoying a cooling dip in the shallows of the river. From Pinnawela we travelled on to Dambulla Caves, a UNESCO world heritage site. The rock towers 160 meters over the surrounding plains and the caves contain a wealth of Buddhist statues and paintings.
After an overnight stay at Amaya Lake, we made an early morning start to climb Sigiriya (Lion’s Rock). This is an ancient rock fortress and palace set high on the rock, with over 1200 steps to reach the top. It takes around 45 minutes to reach the top, but it is worth it for the most amazing view of the central Matale area.
After a visit to the temples of Polonnaruwa, we stared our climb up to the hill country with a visit to the city of Kandy and the Temple of the Tooth, the royal palace which houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Further on we reached Tea Country, where the air is cooler, stopping en route to enjoy a tea tasting event. We stay in Nuwara Eliya, where they have open log fires and greet us with vegetable soup (even though it’s still 20 degrees!).
The next day we make our way down to the coast to the Yala National Park. We left on our first safari that afternoon and were lucky enough to see Elephant, a Leopard and a Sloth Bear, as well as a variety of fabulous birdlife and smaller animals. We had such a great time we elected to get up at 5.30 am the next morning to do it all again!
The next day we headed further along the coast to the wonderful walled city of Galle. First built by the Dutch in the 17th century it is a fascinating place, and withstood the effects of the tsunami which caused such devastation along the coast.
We then visited a selection of great hotels that run along the coast, staying overnight before our flight back to London. It was a really hectic trip, but gave me a great opportunity to see some of the top attractions and some of the wonderful hotels. We received a very warm welcome wherever we travelled and the food was excellent, lots of fresh seafood, and all of an excellent standard.
I would certainly recommend Sri Lanka, either on its own or in combination with the Maldives. If you are thinking of travelling there, just let me know and I can advise you on the best places to see and stay.