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Sri Lanka

Colombo / Kandy / Nuwara Eliya Kataragama 

6D 5N

Day 01 ARRIVAL/COLOMBO/NEGOMBO (-)


Upon morning arrival in Sri Lanka airport, meet our representative, drive to Negombo, transfer to hotel, check in, refresh and proceed for Negombo Lagoon tour.

 

Negombo is a city on the west coast of Sri Lanka, north of the capital. It is a modest beach town located just 10km from Bandaranaike International Airport. With a stash of decent hotels and restaurants to suit all pockets, a friendly local community, an interesting old quarter and a reasonable  beach.


Take a boat ride through the nearby Muthurajawela wetlands and canals.


The Muthurajawela Visitor Centre is at the southern end of the road along Pamunugama, next to the Hamilton Canal. It has some moth-eaten displays and a 25-minute video on the wetland’s fauna; but much more interestingly, it also runs boat trips. A two-hour guided boat ride (per person approx Rs 900) through the wetland is highly recommended.

 

Muthurajawela Marsh, which evocatively translates as ‘Supreme Field of Pearls’, is a little-known gem of a wetland at the southern end of Negombo’s lagoon. The area had been a rich rice-growing basin before the Portuguese constructed a canal that ruined the fields with sea water. Over the centuries, Mother Nature turned Muthurajawela into Sri Lanka’s biggest saline wetland, home to purple herons, cormorants and kingfishers. However, the marsh is under pressure from encroaching industrial development.

  

The wetlands provide a home to some 75 bird species, as well as crocodiles, monkeys and even some very rarely seen otters. A percentage of the profits go towards local conservation initiatives.

Later continue, go for sailing, one of the big catamarans will be a good trip that operate from the beach, just for a motor launch ride on the sea, around the Negombo Lagoon or along the river/canal route.


For the lagoon, go into Negombo town and find the lagoon bridge near the Browns beach hotel for the boat. It's a nice area to wander around as hundreds of colourful fishing boats moor up there and it makes for great photo opportunities. Ask any of the fishermen there and they should point you to someone.

 

This boating will travel a couple of miles further up the coast, enters through a river estuary, scraping over the sand banks, then spent a couple of hours on the river and a canal. Watch bird life and a few big monitors as well. Along the way you can also go ashore to see a toddy tapper at work and to visit an illegal arrack stalls, in the bush. Transfer to hotel. 


Refresh and walk along the beach or shop along the street side sovenier shops or window shopping, have dinner and walk back to the hotel within your walking distance. Overnight in Negombo.

Day 02 NEGOMBO/DAMBULLA/SIGIRIYA (B)


After breakfast, check out and proceed to Dambulla, have lunch and visit Dambulla Cave Temple, was first used as a refuge for King Valagambahu in 1st century BC. Concealed by the local monks upon returning from exile to his throne at Anuradhapura he had the magnificent cave temple built for them. The cave temple consists of a complex of Buddhist image houses. Its rock ceiling is one large sweep of colourful frescoes, some of which dates back to over 2,000 years, which depicts Buddhist mythology and the tales of the Buddha’s previous births.


Have lunch and visit, Sigiriya Rock Fortress is home to the 5th Century “Fortress in the Sky” which is perhaps the most fantastic single wonder of the island. It is also known as Lion Rock because of the huge lion that used to stand at the entrance to the fortress. Within its triple – moated defence the huge rock rises almost to a sheer height of 500ft. On one of the stairways the only known ancient work of Sinhala secular painting survived in the form of Frescoes of life sized damsels in all the freshness and delicacy of their original colour. Have dinner and transfer to hotel. Overnight in Sigiriya.

Day 03 SIGIRIYA/TRINCOMALEE/PASSIKUDAH (B)


After breakfast. check out and proceed to Trincomalee, the beautiful white sandy beaches, located on the east coast of the island, right next to a natural harbour that was once an epicentre of strategic naval placings in the days of old, the town of Trincomalee is shrouded in many a tale that is both mythological and documented. The town possesses a multitude of experiences for any and all traveller journeying across the east coast of the island. 


It was in early times, a major settlement of Indo-Aryan immigrants. The Temple of a Thousand Columns (also called Koneswaram Temple), located at the extremity of the peninsula, came into use as a Hindu temple sometime in the 7th century or earlier. The first Europeans to occupy the town were the Portuguese in the 17th century; they razed the temple, using its stone to construct a fort. Discover the beauty of this city and the clear water beach. Free and easy at the beach.


Have lunch and continue to Passikudah, a small coastal village situated in the east of Sri Lanka about 35 kilometres from Batticaloa.

It is famous for its golden bay and clear, shallow waters in which you can wade 50 metres out to sea. The bay of Passikudah is truly scenic and is protected by a reef that runs across the bay making it one of the safest and calmest stretches of coastline in the east. The reef is home to some lovely coral formations and schools of reef fish can be seen while snorkelling. Have dinner, and transfer to hotel. Overnight in Pasikudah.

Day 4 PASSIKUDAH/MATALE/KANDY (B)


After breakfast, check out and proceed to Kandy. Visit a Spice Garden in Matale to see the different spices, which Sri Lanka is famous for. You will be introduced to different spices and shown how some of these spices are grown and processed.


After the spice garden, have lunch and continue to Kandy for a sightseeing including Upper Lake Drive, Market Crafts Centre, Gem Museum. Kandy the hill capital, venue of the annual Perahera, the last stronghold of the Sinhala Kings was finally ceded to the British in 1815. Visit the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, ever since 4th Century A.D, when the Buddha’s Tooth was brought to Sri Lanka hidden from sacrilegious hands in an Orissan princess’ hair, the Relic has grown in repute and holiness in Sri Lanka and throughout the Buddhist world. By night experience a colourful show where you will be taken to mind blowing Sri Lankan culture extravaganza. Get ready for Heavy drumbeat and acrobatic act. Have dinner and transfer to hotel. Overnight in Kandy.

Day 5 KANDY/NUWARA ELIYA (B)


After breakfast, check out and proceed to Nuwara Eliya for a Tea experience, which involves a visit to a plantation to observe firsthand process, starting from the plucking field where it all begins with the picking of “two leaves and a bud” to the factory where the processing begins. Originally introduced to the island around 1850 by the British, Ceylon Tea is world famous for its high quality and has remained a major contributor to the island’s economy for generations. Currently, Sri Lanka is one of largest exporter of tea worldwide. 


Visit the ‘Little England’ of Sri Lanka, in Nuwara Eliya set against beautiful backdrops of Mountains, Valleys, Waterfalls and Tea Plantations. The temperature does drop at night. All around Nuwara Eliya, see evidences of the British influence, houses like country cottages or Queen Ann style mansions. The Victoria Park, in the middle of the town, is a lovely place for a stroll or a picnic and is also good for Birding as you get some rare birds in this Park. Visit, the Lake Gregory is one of the significant tourist attractions in Nuwara Eliya. Enjoy the Lake Park in the evening by the lake. Have dinner and transfer to hotel. Overnight in Nuwara Eliya.

Day 6 NUWARA ELIYA/COLOMBO/AIRPORT (B)

After breakfast, check out and proceed to Colombo for City tour. Take a drive through the city, through the busy commercial areas as well as the tree lined residential, Cinnamon Gardens. Visit the Fort, the former British administrative center and military garrison, Sea Street – the Goldsmiths quarters in the heart of Pettah, the Bazaar area, where is also a Hindu Temple with elaborate stone carvings, and the Dutch Church of Wolfendhal dating back to 1749. Also visit the BMICH, see the replica of Avukana Buddha & the Independence Square.


Have lunch, and shop in Colombo, visit the ODEL, House of Fashion, Arcade Independence square, Race Course, and Beverly Street, visit bargain market in Colombo Pettah. Later transfer to the Airport for your onward destination.


********** End of Tour **********

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Package excludes:-

 


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