Overview
Endless beaches, timeless ruins, welcoming people, and oodles of elephants, cheap prices, fun trains, famous tea, and great food – need we go on? You might say Sri Lanka has been hiding in plain sight. Countless travellers have passed overhead on their way to someplace else, but years of war
Inclusions
- Return Economy class airfare with taxes
- 2 nights in Kandy
- 2 nights in Colombo
- Daily buffet breakfast
- Trip to Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage
- Kandy city tour
- Colombo city tour
- Transportation by private air-conditioned car/van with an English speaking chauffeur-cum-guide
Exclusions
Day
1
Kandy
Meals: None
Upon your arrival in Colombo, you will be welcomed by our representative who will also arrange form your transfer to Kandy (120 km / 3 hours). On the way, you will visit the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage. Started in 1975 to house the abandoned and wounded elephants, the orphanage has grown to be a big family of around 90 elephants today. After you reach Kandy, check-in to the hotel, relax and spend the rest of the day at leisure. The evening is reserved for a cultural show. Return and stay overnight at the hotel.
Day
2
Exploring Kandy
Meals: Breakfast
After breakfast at the hotel, embark on the tour of Kandy. Some say Kandy is the only other real ‘city’ in Sri Lanka, other than Colombo. The easy-going capital of the Hill Country has a lot to offer – history, culture, forested hills and a touch of urban buzz. The highlights of the tour include visits to Upper Lake Drive, Market Square and the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic houses Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist relic - a tooth of the Buddha. The tooth is said to have been snatched from the flames of the Buddha's funeral pyre in 543 BC, and was smuggled into Sri Lanka during the 4th century AD, hidden in the hair of a princess. At first it was taken to Anuradhapura, but with the ups and downs of Sri Lankan history it moved from place to place before eventually ending up at Kandy. Other major attraction is the Royal Botanical Gardens, which was started in 1374 as a pleasure garden of the Kings of Gampola and Kandy. At the end of the day, return and spend the evening at leisure in the hotel.
Day
3
Kandy to Colombo
Meals: Breakfast
Post a filling breakfast at the hotel, check-out and proceed to Colombo. Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, biggest city and major port, draws together all the colours and cultures that make up this island nation, condenses them into a patchwork of markets, gardens and buildings both humble and grand, and knocks them against a narrow slab of beachfront. You will appreciate Colombo’s colonial heritage, its fine dining and shopping opportunities, and the dash of urban buzz in an overwhelmingly rural country. Check-in to your hotel, relax and spend the rest of the day and the overnight stay at leisure.
Day
4
Exploring Colombo
Meals: Breakfast
After breakfast at the hotel, proceed for a morning city tour of Colombo. The tour will take you to the busy commercial areas as well as the tree-lined residential, Cinnamon Gardens. One of the first stops on the route is the Fort. During the European era Fort was indeed a fort, surrounded by the sea on two sides and a moat on the landward sides. Today it’s a curious mix of brash modern structures, such as the World Trade Center, and venerable red-brick institutions from the Colonial-era, such as Cargills and Millers. You are also taken to visit Sea Street - the Goldsmiths quarters, where you will also find a Hindu temple with elaborate stone carvings. Nearby is the Wolvendaal Church, the most important Dutch building in Sri Lanka. When the church was built in 1749, this area was a wilderness beyond the city walls. The Europeans mistook the packs of roaming jackals for wolves, and the area became known as Wolf’s Dale, or Wolvendaal in Dutch. The historic Dewatagaha Mosque and the former Eye Hospital are two buildings in Cinnamon Gardens worth visiting. Also visit the BMICH (Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall), see the replica of Avukana Buddha and the Independence Square. Return and stay overnight at the hotel.
Day
5
Depart from Colombo
Meals: Breakfast
After breakfast, check-out from the hotel. You will be transferred to the airport to board your flight back home.
Tour Ends.
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