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Tour Itinerary
Tour Itinerary III
Departs from Bandaranaike International airport
10 Nights & 11 Days
Day 1. Airport/Kandy...
Arrival at the Bandaranaike International airport.. Welcome and assistance upon arrival and transfer to the Hotel in Kandy. On the way visit the Elephant Orphanage at Pinnawela. It is an orphanage for baby elephants set up by the Department of National Zoological Gardens. The Orphanage was established to feed, nurse and house young elephants found abandoned by their mothers. Other inmates are those found displaced from their natural environs by development projects or those found wounded. evening arrive in Kandy and check in at the Hotel.
Day 2. Kandy
After breakfast, visit the Royal Botanical Gardens of Peradeniya. The Royal Botanical Garden at Peradeniya were established in 1821 and now cover 140 acres snuggled in a loop in the Mahaweli river, the longest river in Sri Lanka. Its primary aim was the testing and acclimatizing of plants for Commercial use in Sri Lanka. Today the Gardens have one largest collections of flora from sub tropical climates around the world.And a beautiful collection of Orchids. And visit an ancient cave Temple in Hindagela or visit Triangle Temple, Gadaladeniya Embekke and Lankatilaka ( those Temple are built in AD1300) Evening visit the temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha, Kandyan cultural dance, and visiting a Sri Lanka Gem Museum. Over night stay at Kandy.
Day 3 Kandy/ Mathale/ Aluvihara/ Dambulla/ Sigiriya/ Polonnaruwa
After breakfast, proceed to Dambulla, visit the Rock caved golden temple of Dambulla, Has a history since 3rd century BC and belonging to Malwatta Chapter, is recorded to have given shelter and protection to KING WALAGAMBA, who was defeated by the CHOLAS during war. This location, formerly know as JAMBUKOLA PATTANA, was found by King Walagamba, under the guidance of a farmer. He has been given a small cave by the Buddhist priests, and he has taken refuge at the temple for twelve years as a priest, after gaining much war strength within these twelve years, King Walagamba marched strongly through the enemy forces to Anuradhapura with his army and regained complete control over the city from the Chola rule. As means of appreciation of the refuge given to him, King Walagamba ordered the construction of the temple, in a grand scale, of the five main caves, three caves by the names of DEVARAJA LENA, MAHARAJA LENA & RAJA LENA respectively, have given prominence. Proceed to Matale, and visit a spice garden
Sigiriya, a massive rock fortress rising 183 meters above the surrounding green scrub jungle, just declared a world heritage site, is perhaps the most memorable place for visitors to Sri Lanka. The site was built under the orders of the paranoid King Kasyapa. The well-planned complex included caved temples, bathing pools, lovely ponds and Asia's oldest surviving landscaped gardens. Today Sigiriya is famous for its frescoes painted in the pocket of the rock, The "Lion Stairway", the 'Mirror Wall' and the Water Gardens are its other highlights. Climb to the summit of the rock to view the ruins of the monastic complex.
DAMBULLA
The gateway to the northwest, and the first of its great sights, is Dambulla, where one of Sri Lanka's finest cave temples stands - 150m (150yd) outside the modern village, and 72km (45 miles) north of Kandy on the outskirts of the dry zone. Within five large caverns the largest some 50m (360ft) deep and 6m (19ft) in height, are sitting, standing and reclining Buddha images by the dozen, as well as Hindu gods; and each cave is decorated with mural paintings of scenes from the Buddha's life. These murals are much more modern than the carvings, some of which are as much as 200 years old. The first temples are said to have been created by King Valagam Bahu (104-76BC), one of the kings of Anuradhapura, who was driven from his throne by South Indian invaders during the 1st century BC. He took shelter here, and on regaining power had a rock temple built in thanksgiving. The ascent to the caves - which are on the higher part of one of the smooth, sloping crags of rock that are a feature of dry zone landscapes - is steep, but as a reward for your efforts there is a great view of the crag of Sigiriya, about 20km (12 miles) away. Over night stay at Polonnaruwa.
Day 4 Polonnaruwa / Kandy
Polonnaruwa, The medieval capital of ancient ceylon. The city of polonnaruwa was the 2nd capital of Ceylon, with its comparatively brief history with over a dozen of rulers. visit the sites where once seven story castles and temples were situated , archeological museum , famous for its three of the Buddha statues, and the 2500 hector man made reservoir ( 1153 - 1183 AD ) with capacity of 134 million cubic meters of water. over night stay at Kandy
Day 5 Kandy /Nuwara Eliya
After breakfast proceed to Nuwara Eliya
Nuwara Eliya, 100km (62 miles) south of Kandy and among some of Sri Lanka's most verdant hillsides at 1800m (5906ft) above sea level, is more reminiscent of the days of the English tea planters than any other place in Sri Lanka. This is hardly surprising, for Nuwara Eliya was built entirely during the 19th century and its architecture mimics that of an English country town, with red-brick walls and mock-Tudor half-timbering. Though the British planters and officials who found Nuwara Eliya a congenial place to escape from the heat of the lowlands are long gone, Sri Lanka's well-to-do still migrate to its cool climes during the hottest parts of the year and especially during the Sinhalese New Year holidays in April.With mountain forests, wilderness areas and national parks in easy reach - starting only 8km (5 miles) from the center Nuwara Eliya is a very popular base for bird watchers and eco tourists.It also has an adequate 18-hole golf course over night stay at Nuwara Eliya
Day 6 World's End / Ella
early morning proceed to worlds end......
One of the attraction of Horton plains is world's end. There are infact two of them. The small world s end and The big world s end they are about 0.8km (1/2mile) apart from each other. From these, one could see the fall to the Tea states down bellow. A merry 1000ft(328m) from the small one and a dramatic 4000ft (1312m) from the big one. From here one could get a fantastic view of the surrounding hills and the mountain ranges wreathed in mists and clouds and on clear days even the Indian ocean which is about 50 miles (81km) to the south is visible.
Over night stay at Ella
Day 7 Ella / Yala
Ella, situated at 1,050 meters, is famous for the view from its mountain gap, its towering rock, and mysterious cave. Although Sri Lanka has many scenic delights, there are few places to equal Ella. The view from the front garden of the rest house is particularly awe-inspiring. The terrain falls away precipitously down a ravine and then over miles of jungle to the shimmering expanse of the sea in the far distance, a scene enhanced by the looming Ella Rock on the right and a jingly ridge on the left
Ella Rock is remarkable for the cave popularly known as the Cave of Ravana, because legend has it that it was here that Ravana, the demon villain of the Ramayana, hid his captive, the beautiful Site. Properly known as Rattaran Guhava, it was in this cave that the Sri Lankan paleontologist, Dr Paul Deraniyagala, discovered ten skeletons of the cannibalistic Balangoda Man, Homo sapiens balangodensis. A visit to the cave requires a rope or rope ladder for entry as the floor is below the mouth. The cave has not been explored beyond the lake that fills it only a short way from the entrance.
Ravana Ella Falls, about 5 km from Ella, are also associated with the Ramayana. Ravana The stream plunges with a foaming spray over a series of ledges into the valley close to the road. Wide but not very high (9m) this waterfall has been described as the wildest looking in Sri Lanka. It is certainly one of the most beautiful. Over night stay at Yala
Day 8 Yala National Park
Early morning proceed to Yala
Yala West (Ruhuna) National Park is well recognised as one of the best parks in the world to observe and photograph leopards. The park covers an area of over 100,000 hectares and is divided into five blocks. Block one is the most visited area since it contains the highest density of leopards. However other areas of Yala such as Yala East had been closed to visitors for some years and it will take time to research leopard numbers in these areas. Yala West consists of scrub jungle, brackish lagoons and stunning rock monoliths scattered throughout the park, its eastern edge is bounded by the South East coast
an excellent 'Natural World' wildlife documentary was filmed here featuring the 'Leopards of Yala', by Gordon Buchanan. Two local leopard experts, Jehan Kumara and Ravi Samarasinha assisted with the research and filming, Ravi continues his study of the park and its residents. One of the main findings of the film was that Yala has well over thirty leopards, probably the highest density anywhere in the world. It is also thought that Sri Lankan leopards are a distinct sub-species from their Indian neighbours, and the largest leopards in Asia. over night stay at Yala
Day 9 Yala / Hikkaduwa OR choice of beach in south
Hikkaduwa Beach with beautiful corals also visiting the Galle Datch port Once Galle is the main port of Ceylon.The 90 acre Galle fort, which was originally founded by the Portuguese and later extended by the Dutch in 1663.The fort houses many important Dutch buildings including a Dutch period museum.over night stay Hikkaduwa
Day 10 Hikkaduwa/ Galle Fort
A perfect creation of nature. Hikkaduwa Beach recognized as one of the 12 best beaches of the world, its beauty is fittingly matched by the equally famed Sri Lankan smile and hospitality.
Atmospheric Capital of the Southern Province, Galle boasts of a long history stretching back centuries, even before the Portuguese, Dutch and British colonial days. Some scholars believe it to be the "Tarshish" of the Old Testament to which King Solomon sent his merchant vessels
Today it is home to the historic 90-acre preserved Dutch Fort, declared an archeological reserve by the UN since 1969. This walled city is the slow-beating heart of Galle, bearing witness to it's past through the near crumbling architecture of grand old buildings, street names, and Dutch churches, still active. Join Galle's citizenry by taking a promenade at dusk around the old walls, ending up at the Star Bastion, front and center to one of the loveliest sunsets in the Indian Ocean. Over night stay at Hikkaduwa.
Day 11 Hikkaduwa
After breakfast proceed to the airport in time for departure
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