Sri Lanka

HIGHLIGHTS: Nine Days Tour

About Sri Lanka: www.gov.lk

AIRFARE: International Airfare Upon Request

ACCOMMODATIONS: Hotels used (or similar)

Kandalama/Habarana : Chaaya Village, Heritance
Kandy: Cinnamon Citadel, Earl’s Regency
Nuwara Eliya: Heritance Tea Fortress
Negombo: Jetwing Sea
Colombo: Cinnamon Grand
LUXURY: Please inquire

Visit to historical sites/monuments

Climb Sigiriya Rock Fortress

• Enjoy an enchanting jeep safari at the Minneriya National Park
• Visit Dambulla Rock Cave temple
• Evening visit the temple of the tooth relic of Lord Buddha and then witness a cultural show in Kandy
• At Pinnawela visit the elephant orphanage
• Visit to Gadaladeniya Temple, Embekke Devala, and Lankathilaka Viharaya, Kandy
• Enroute visit a Tea Estate and a Tea Factory
• Tour of Nuwara Eliya. Visit the Golf club & Golf course, the Hill Club to view its
  trophies, the market place & Hakgala botanical gardens
• Horton plains. Arrive at the entrance to buy tickets & then hike along jungle trail to visit Bakers fall, Small & Big world’s ends
• Visit to Negombo fishing village
• Sightseeing in Colombo: See the vibrant markets and bazaars of Pettah, and the National Museum.

Included:

• Accommodations Per Person Sharing, including hotel taxes
• Arrival & departure transfers where applicable
• Local guides where applicable
• Meals per itinerary
• You need to pay entrance and sightseeing fees if required
• Applicable transportation

Not Included:

• Airfare and air taxes
• Cancellation, baggage, travel and medical insurance
• Personal items like baggage porters, gratuities and tips, laundry, phone calls, drinking water,
  etc. shall be taken into account.
• Visa and visa fees
• Optional sightseeing and activities
• Itinerary doesn’t come up with meals, beverages and services

ITINERARY

Day 1 Arrive Bandaranaike – Sigiriya

Upon arrival at the airport in Sri Lanka, you will be warmly met by a representative, who will
provide assistance and transfer to your accommodation for check-in.

Activities:

• Rest of the day at leisure.

Overnight: Sigiriya

Day 2 Sigiriya

Activities:

• After breakfast climb Sigiriya Rock Fortress which was built by king Kassapa in the
  05th century A.D. and was a royal citadel for more than 18 years. The lion rock rises
  200 meters above the scrub jungle, and it’s a bastion of extraordinary beauty. The base
  of the rock is ringed by a moat and rampart and extensive gardens including the
  renowned water gardens see the world famous frescoes of the “heavenly maidens’ ‘ of
  Sigiriya in a sheltered pocket of the rock.
• Afternoon continues to Minneriya, for a jeep safari at the Minneriya National Park.
  Park which is about 8900 hectares in extent and is an ideal ecotourism location in Sri
  Lanka. The park consists of mixed evergreen forest and scrub area and is home to Sri
  Lanka’s favorites such as spotted deer, Sambar, leopards and elephants. However, the
  prime attraction of the park is the ancient Minneriya Tank (constructed in the 3rd
  century). It’s an astounding place to spot elephants bathing in the water and nibbling
  on the grass. Several species of birds, cormorants and painted storks come here to fish
  in the shallows.
• Return to Sigiriya.

Overnight: Sigiriya – (B)

Day 3 Sigriya – Dambulla – Kandy

Activities:

• After breakfast leave for Dambulla and visit Dambulla Rock Cave temple. Dambulla
  cave temple is a vast isolated rock mass, which houses a rock temple (formally caves).
  Some of its frescoes are over 2000 years old and there is a colossal figure of
  recumbent Buddha carved out of the rock, some 14 meters long. Afternoon proceed to
  Kandy.
• Evening visit the temple of the tooth relic of Lord Buddha and then witness a cultural
  show.

Overnight: Kandy – (B)

Day 4 Kandy

Activities:

• After breakfast, proceed to Pinnawala near Kegalle. At Pinnawela visit the elephant
  orphanage. This orphanage was set up by the government to rescue and rehabilitate
  elephants from the jungles that have fallen into pits dug up by poachers etc., to obtain tusks etc., at the elephant orphanage witness the feeding of elephants. The sole
  objective of this event is to observe feeding of baby elephants using bottles of milk.
  Once the feeding completes, these gentle giants will be taken by foot to the adjacent
  river for their daily bath.
• Thereafter visit the ruined temples at Gadaladeniya, Embekke & Lankathilaka
• Gadaladeniya Temple: At Diggala, in the province of Kandy, this place is discovered
  with an ancient monastery on a flat rock. This temple was built in the year 1446 by
  King Buwanekabahu IV, according to these inscriptions. The temple portrays a
  South-Indian design as it is built by a South-Indian architect named, Ganesvarachari.
  The prime shrine room possesses a seated (in Vajrasana) Buddha Statue under a
  Makara Thorana along with four vertical Buddha images. The makara thorana is
  adorned with deities such as Brahma, Suyama, Santhusuta, Natha and Maithree, and
  two entourages.
• Embekke Devala: The historic Embekke Devala was built in the 14th or 15th century,
  which tradition asserts, was the audience hall of the Gampola kings. This was later
  converted and dedicated to the Sinhalese war-god Kartikeya, better known as
  Kataragama Deviyo. In the ‘Dig-ge'(drumming hall) are to be found, sculptured in the
  panels of the wooden pillars and on the beams, conventional Sinhalese designs of the
  swan, the double-headed eagle, a woman emerging from a vine, lively Bacchanalian
  figures in their signature stances, a duo engaged in wrestling, dancers, soldiers, and
  men and women moving with fluid grace and elegance. These unique carvings display
  the skills of the ancient masters and bear testimony to the craftsmanship of the school
  of the wood-sculptors of the period.
• Lankathilaka Viharaya, Kandy: This popular temple was built by the King
  Parakrambahu in the 14th century. It was revived later by Vijayabahu IV. Lankathilaka
  Viharaya, Kandy was made in the conventional Sinhalese way, it is one of the popular
  tourist destinations in Kandy which is worth visiting. This place is a dramatic building
  made out of clay brick. At one time it was a five-storied building, decorated with
  flowers, creepers, birds, animals and statues of gods. You will encounter two gigantic
  pillars at the entrance of the building. These pillars’ height was almost doubled the
  height of the previous one.
• Return to Kandy. Enroute visit Peradeniya Botanical Gardens, & thereafter drive past
  the picturesque university campus premises and with a visit to the market place, an
  arts & crafts show room.
• Then drive along the upper lake road to get a panoramic view of the Kandy lake and
  its environs and Temple of Sacred Tooth Relic.

Overnight: Kandy – (B)

Day 5 Kandy – Nuwara Eliya

Activities:

• After breakfast leave for Nuwara Eliya enroute visit a Tea Estate and a Tea Factory.
  Arrive at Nuwara Eliya, check-in at the hotel.
• Afternoon, commence a tour of Nuwara Eliya.
• Visit the Golf club & Golf course, the Hill Club to view its trophies, the market place
  & Hakgala botanical gardens.
• Enjoy a drive alongside Lake Gregory before returning to your hotel. Located in the
  heart of tea country, this enthralling town is the place where the British succeeded in
  creating an English countryside. You will observe most homes in style from Georgian
  to Queen Anne. Well-preserved lawns with verges, a serene Anglican Church, and the
  popular golf course and soothing parks give the place an air of nostalgia. The place is
  situated above 1890 meters from the sea level. The breeze is refreshing and cool,
  making it a perfect retreat spot from the bustling streets of Colombo.

Overnight: Nuwara Eliya – (B)

Day 6 Nuwara Eliya – Horton Plains

Activities:

• Very early breakfast at the hotel. Early morning leave for Horton plains.
• Arrive at the entrance to buy tickets & then hike along jungle trail to visit Bakers fall,
  Small & Big world’s ends.
• One of Sri Lanka’s most forbidding yet fascinating and stunning regions, high in the
  central hills of the island, where the bright and clear, the soft and misty change from
  one moment to the next is one of the most beautiful in the world, rests on a wild and
  windswept saddle at an altitude of 7200 feet.
• Here, as the name suggests, are a series of wide open plains that, as far as the eye can
  see, dip now and then into mist vales and mossy, muddy marshes, often rising again to
  pointed peaks and running into deep wooded areas of mossy forest. The cliff is
  surrounded by a dense forest, crystal clear streams, pools and waterfalls, making it a
  stunning tourist destination.
• The Horton plains grips you with her unique atmosphere and ever-changing character
  while you are there and then beckons you again with her cold, stark beauty when you
  have left her. Two of the main attractions are “worlds end” & “bakers falls”
  spectacular views are available in the world’s end where the plateau plunges into 2900
  feet in a vertical drop. Due to the high elevation and wind swept areas Horton plains
  has unique vegetation and is famous for many rare and endemic highland birds.

Overnight: Nuwara Eliya – (B)

Day 7 Nuwara Eliya – Negombo

Activities:

• Morning leave for Negombo & upon arrival check-in at the hotel.
• Our afternoon will start with visiting Negombo fishing village. This tiny fishing port
  is a visual treat with its fort and channels of the Dutch era. But the most intriguing
  part lies with its beautiful beaches where the fishermen live. The houses are made of
  coconut palm leaves. It is fascinating to watch the lively boat and outrigger boats or
  Oravans pulling into the lagoon with their catch, fish market, old Dutch churches that
  dot the landscape of hundreds of kilometers of canals. You can take a boat trip into the
  lagoon and one of the oldest canals, which have been used for centuries by Dutch
  colonists.

Overnight: Negombo – (B)

Day 8 Negombo – Colombo

Activities:

• Morning transfer to Colombo.
• Later, sightseeing in CMB.
• Drive through the commercial and city center, called the Fort. The place was
  constructed by the Portuguese in the 16th century, where you can still find colonial
  era buildings alongside ultra-modern office edifices.
• Explore the boisterous markets of Pettah, and the National Museum. The museum has
  a collection of lovely antiques and portrays the art of Sri Lanka.
• Visiting a Buddhist temple and a Hindu Kovil, you will experience the diversity of
  religion, background, origin and rituals of the people.
• You can also allocate some time for shopping.
  Overnight: Colombo – (B)

Day 9 Depart Colombo

Departure: We will drop you to the airport from where you can board your flight with a
smiling face. – (B)
Meals as per itinerary: (B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner)