Sri Lanka Culture and Nature

Itinerary

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• Day 1: Arrival and Welcome Sri Lanka / Transfer to your hotel

  Enjoy a day of leisure / Transfer to your hotel (D)
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  You will be met upon arrival at the International Airport by our representative, who will assist you with your luggage and take you to your vehicle for your private transfer to your hotel for check in.

  Meals Included: Dinner.

• Day 2: Negombo / Pnnawala / Minneriya / Sigiriya

  Visit to Pinnawala elephant orphanage where you will have the unique experience to visit with and feed the elephants. The drive to the Cultural Circle brings you to Minneriya National Park (B, L, D)
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  After breakfast meet your private driver / guide and you will drive to the Cultural Triangle. En route you will visit the Pinnawala elephant orphanage, home to hundreds of abandoned or injured elephants who are looked after with warmth, love and affection. The elephants at the orphanage are bathed daily in a river located nearby. You will enjoy the unique experience of visiting with and feeding these gentle giants.

  After checking into you hotel you will proceed to Minneriya National Park, renowned for its large population of elephants which gather around the lake in herds of 100 to 150.

  You will also see leopards, sloth bears, buffalo, wild boar, spotted deer, crocodiles, jackals. Nine species of amphibians, 25 species of reptiles, 160 species of birds, 26 species of fishes and 78 species of butterflies are also found in the park.

  Your private driver / guide will transfer you to the hotel for check in.

  Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Day 3: Sigiriya / Polonnaruwa

  Step back in time and visit the Ancient Sigiriya Rock Fortress, Buddhist temples,statues and shrines. (B, L, D)
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  This morning after breakfast, meet your private driver / guide in the lobby of your hotel.  Depart for a visit to the Sigiriya Rock Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fortress palace was built in the 5th Century during the reign of King Kasyapa. Known as Lion Rock because of the huge lion that used to stand at the entrance, it is one of the wonders of Sri Lanka.

  After climbing the majestic rock, you will proceed to the hotel, where you may refresh yourself and relax.

  In the afternoon you will drive to Polonnaruwa, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. This historic Second Kingdom of Sri Lanka is replete with myriad palaces and Buddhist temples and shrines dating to the 12th Century.

  A particular highlight is the Gal Vihara Temple complex, which includes three statues of Lord Buddha carved out of a massive rock face: the meditation posture, the reclining posture and the seating posture.

  You also have the option of seeing more of the ancient city ruins on a cycle ride.

  Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Day 4: Sigiriya / Dambulla / Matale / Kandy

  Go inside the largest cave monastery in the country. Journey to the fascinating Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic and visit the Royal Botanical Gardens (B, L, D)
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  After breakfast meet your private driver / guide in the lobby of your hotel and depart for Kandy.  Kandy is surrounded by rolling hills and forests. It was the last capital of the Singhalese kingdom, and best known for the Temple of the Tooth, our most sacred relic of the Buddha himself.

  En-route to Kandy you will see the Matale Aluviharaya, another magnificent cave temple containing many statues of the Buddha, and the Nalanda Gedige, an ancient Hindu Temple constructed between the 8th to 10th century with Pallava style dravidian architecture.

  Enjoy a relaxing stroll is the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens 30 minutes north of Kandy and home to the fruit bats that hang from the tree tops as they sleep during day.

  Visit the beautiful Dambulla Cave Temple complex, the largest cave monastery in the country with a history going back to the 1st century BC. It has dozens of amazing Buddha statues, with walls covered in priceless paintings and frescos.  The best time to visit is in the cool of evening, when the floodlit temple is an amazing spectacle, as is the Puja ceremony, the act of showing reverence to a god, a spirit, or another aspect of the divine through invocations, prayers, songs, and rituals. The ceremony starts at 7.00 pm every evening.

  The temple is on the banks of Kandy Lake, from which the seaplane service to the capital Colombo operates. North of the lake is the Udawattakelle Sanctuary, with its monkeys and profusion of forest birds.

  Your private driver / guide will take you to your hotel.

  Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Day 5: Kandy

  Day of leisure in Sri Lanka followed by an evening drive around Kandy Lake (B, L, D)
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  Enjoy breakfast and a day for relaxing and sightseeing, including an evening drive around the lake. Kandy Lake is also known as Kiri Muhuda or the Sea of Milk.

  Your private driver / guide will be at your disposal for sightseeing.

  Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Day 6: Kandy / Gampola / Nuwara Eliya

  Sit back and enjoy a magical and scenic train ride along the countryside (B, L, D)
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  This morning after breakfast meet your private driver / guide in the lobby of your hotel.  Depart for a roundtrip train ride from Peradeniya to Nanu Oya. Take the observation carriage and enjoy the tea and hill country, a magical way to see the countryside. Your private driver / guide will take care of your luggage.

  Continue on to Nuwara Eliya or ‘Little England’ as it is also aptly known. Sri Lanka's most popular summer-season holiday resort.  It is 6,500 feet above sea level, with temperatures ranging from 12C to 22C, so have a jacket or sweater ready! Beautiful gardens, cascading waterfalls, lakes and sweet smelling mountain air, tea plantations and tea factories are the main attractions.

  Your private driver / guide will return you to the hotel. English high tea will be served in the afternoon, which is reminiscent of colonial-style gracious living.

  Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Day 7: Horton Plains National Park half day tour

  Visit a cloud forest and walk among the jungle wildlife. (B, L, D)
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  After an early breakfast meet your private driver / guide and drive to Horton Plains National Park via Ambawela and Pattipola. The park is a cloud forest, and the only national park in Sri Lanka where visitors can walk freely in the jungle to observe the wildlife.

  There is an abundance of bird life, including Yellow-eared Bul-bul, Ceylon Hill White Eye, Dusky Blue Fly-Catcher, The Wood Pigeon, Ceylon Warbler, Spotted-winged Thrush, The Whistling Thrush (Arrenga), Blue Magpie, Layards Parakeet, Green-billed Coucal, and Orange-billed Babbler.

  Later you will visit World's End and Little World's End for their dramatic cliff-edge views over the surrounding countryside. The terrain consists of stunted trees and sparse jungle interspersed with grasslands, crystal-clear streams and flowering shrubs such as rhododendron, while the many examples of plant life include forget-me-nots, with their small blue flowers, ground and tree orchids, and dwarf Marsh Bamboo.

  In the afternoon return to Nuwara Eliya.

  Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Day 8: Nuwara Eliya / Ella / Yala

  See the tallest Buddha statue as you drive the majestic Hill Country towards Yala National Park (B, L, D)
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  After breakfast meet your private driver / guide and drive to Yala National Park via Ella, one of the most beautiful and scenic of our Hill Country locations, Wellawaya and Wirawila. At Buduruvagala you will see the tallest Buddha statue (51 feet in height) as well as six other statues dating to the 8th Century AD.

  Arrive at Yala, check in at the hotel and relax.

  Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Day 9: Yala

  Yala National Park (B, L, D)
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  Depart for an early morning jeep safari by Jeep to Yala National Park. With luck you will see one or more of the many leopards resident in the park, or elephant, spotted deer, barking deer, wild boar, wild buffalo, crocodiles or sambhur deer.

  The many species of birds including Sri Lanka Jungle Fowl, Brown-capped Babbler, Stone Curlew, Great Thick Knee, Black-necked Stork, (the largest bird in Sri Lanka) Lesser Adjutant, Painted Stork, Sirkeer Malkoha, Blue-faced Malkoha, Brahminy Myna, Orange-breasted Green Pigeon, Grey Hornbill, Malabar Pied Hornbill, Cormorants, Darters, Herons, Bitterns and Lapwings.

  Return to your Hut for leisure and relaxation.

  Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Day 10: Yala / Tangalle / Mirissa / Galle

  A day driving and exploring the scenic south followed by a visit to the Galle Fort. (B, L, D)
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  After breakfast meet your private driver / guide and leave for Galle via Tissa, Tangalle and Matara.

  There will be photo opportunities at Tissa and Yatala Dagoba, with their unique features found only in the south, beach scenes, Wevurukannala Buddha Statue (the largest on the Island), stilt fishermen at Koggala and the Galle Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

  Your hotel awaits you for an evening of relaxation.

  Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Day 11: Galle

  Historian & Author Juliet Coombe leads you through historic Galle Fort (B, L, D)
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  Meet your private driver / guide in the lobby of your hotel and leave for Galle.

  Meet Juliet Coombe, the author and historian who will guide you through the historic Galle Fort. This 1–1½ hour walk will give you an idea of what life was like during the Dutch colonial period.

  You will learn the history of the largest ‘living’ fort in Asia, meet the descendants of the original fort families, visit the historic buildings and landmarks, learn about the spice trade, and relax with Juliet at the end of your walk to recap your day’s experiences over cup of spiced tea.

  Your private driver / guide will return you to your hotel.

  Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Day 12: Gallee

  Cycling Tour and Beach Day (B, L, D)
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  After a late breakfast, meet your private driver / guide in the lobby of your hotel and proceed to Jetwing Lighthouse resort for your beach stay in Galle.

  You will have the option of a leisurely cycle tour through some of the surrounding villages. Your host, a villager himself, will meet you at the Wijaya Beach Resort in Dalawella.

  Compare our modern-day houses and luxury private villas with the more traditional Sri Lankan homes. Learn how a farmer works his fields, and receive a blessing at the village temple. Join the village children flying their homemade kites, or local teenagers in a game of cricket!

  You will also experience the diverse wildlife that thrives in and around the Dutch canals as village life goes on all about you. Enjoy a refreshing drink of king coconut milk amid the breeze from the paddy fields.

  Return at a leisurely pace to the starting point, where private driver / guide will meet you and take you back to the hotel.

  Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Day 13: Galle and Cinnamon Spice Tour

  Sri Lanka has long been renowned for its spices. The best known is cinnamon which is native to Sri Lanka (B, L, D)
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  Meet your private driver / guide in the lobby of your hotel and depart for Vila Mayurana.

  The bark of the cinnamon tree is Sri Lanka’s most prized spice, which has been exported and traded around the world for thousands of years. Today you will see it growing in the wild, and learn about its great value in food preparation and as a medicinal treatment.

  Sri Lanka produces 90% of the world's true cinnamon, and in the past was a prime reason for Sri Lanka’s colonization by the Portuguese, Dutch and British. At Vila Mayurana you will see how it is cultivated and harvested, and sample a selection of specially prepared dishes in which cinnamon is a main ingredient.

  In the afternoon your private driver / guide will return you to the hotel.

  Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Day 14: Galle to Colombo

  Enjoy Sri Lanka's Capital City of Colombo and Cultural Metropolis (B, L, D)
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  Meet your private driver / guide in the lobby of your hotel and travel north up the coast to Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital city.

  Developed and enlarged over the centuries as a major Indian Ocean port and administrative centre by the Portuguese, Dutch and British, Colombo is now a thriving commercial and cultural metropolis.

  Colonial influences, particularly Dutch and British, are much in evidence in the architectural styles, particularly fine examples being the old Dutch Hospital site, now restored as a major shopping and restaurant precinct, and the imposing British administrative and parliamentary buildings.

  Your hotel, the Galle Face, is a landmark of gracious colonial style made famous over the years by a host of celebrities including Prince Phillip, the Aga Khan, James Bond (Roger Moore), US President Richard Nixon, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Noël Coward … the list goes on.

  Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Day 15: Depart Sri Lanka

  Transfer to airport and depart Sri Lanka (B, L, D)
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  Bid farewell to scenic Sri Lanka.

  At at time to be determined, meet your private driver / guide in the lobby of your hotel and depart for the airport for your homebound flight.

  Meals Included: Breakfast.