Sri Lanka - The Brief Encounter

Relieve your thirst for culture and heritage by visiting one of the most important cultural sites - Dambulla - The Golden Temple & sacred Kandy Temple of the Tooth. Tour will start after a nights stay from Day 1 and will continue to cover the sites and places according to your desires. Engage in optional activities such as climbing the Sigiriya rock fortress and gain an extra step to the wisdom while you are on the tour.

DAY 01 : Warmly met and greeted at the airport and transfer to Uswatakeiyawa. (Travel Time approximately 10 Minutes). Overnight stay at Palm Village Hotel.

DAY 02 : After breakfast, check out from the hotel and proceed straight to Sigiriya. (Travel Time approximately 5 hrs) Check in at Palwehera Village. Spend the rest of the day at leisure. (Optional - Climb the 5th century Sigiriya Rock fortress which is a world heritage site. Sigiriya... meaning lion rock is more than just a fortress; it was one of the most unique cities in the history of Sri Lanka. A massive monolith of red stone that rises 600ft, this famous rock fortress, stark and forbidding, haunted by an epic story of murder and betrayal, was built in the 5th Century AD by King Kashyapa. The climb to the summit is reached between the paws of a lion. A niche in the rock is decorated with frescoes of spellbindingly lovely maidens; it has a moat abutted by a wall and is surrounded by rock and water gardens). Overnight stay at the hotel.

DAY 03 : After breakfast is leisurely taken, proceed to Dambulla and witness the famous Dambulla rock temple. (Travel Time approximately 15 minutes)

Dambulla... the Dambulla cave temple is by far the most impressive of all the many cave temples in Sri Lanka. Among the cave's numerous statues - there are 48 of the Buddha alone - are images of Upulvan (Vishnu) and Saman dating from the 12^th Century (they may be the earliest devala statues to appear in a Buddhist image house). The cave's history dates to the 2^nd or 1^st Century BC, when King Valagam Bahu took refuge here after being driven out of Anuradhapura by invading armies.

Transfer from Dambulla to Kandalama. (Travel Time approximately 30 minutes)

Proceed back to the hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure. Lounge at the pool to get over the evening heat. Overnight stay at Palwehera Hotel.

DAY 04 : After breakfast, check out from the hotel and proceed straight to Kandy. En-route stop at a near by spice garden and witness the "Raw" mode of the spices that you see in your kitchen, totally in a different shape. Check in at Hotel Topaz and take a short rest before you proceed on a site seeing tour in the sacred city. In the evening proceed on a site seeing tour around Kandy.

Kandy... this royal city, sheltered by the hills and looped by the Mahaweli - Sri Lanka's longest river, still holds religious and cultural significance. A stroll around the sleepy, but serene Kandy Lake, where balmy winds waft across, a walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens located at Peradeniya and a visit to the University of Peradeniya - the spacious green campus is laid out near the banks of the Mahaweli is a must for any visitor to Kandy The Temple of the Tooth Relic.

Lunch at Round Tour Restaurant. Late evening witness a cultural Kandiyan dance performance. Overnight stay at Hotel Topaz

DAY 05 : After breakfast and according to the flight details proceed to the airport and if time permits go on a short drive around the busy routes of Colombo so that you will not miss out those shops that you always wanted to go. (Travel Time approximately 3 1/2 hrs)

Colombo... Sri Lanka's capital up to recent times, spread along the shore of the Indian Ocean for some miles, where business and commerce begin and end. Take in The Cinnamon Gardens and the Pettah, Colombo's busiest and most traditional bazaar area. Visit the Hindu temple with elaborate stone carvings, the Dutch Church at Wolfendhal dating back to 1749, the historic Devatagaha mosque and the Ganagaramaya Temple. While the city holds less obvious interest than many other parts of the island, it's still a colourful enough place and worth a visit to see what makes Sri Lanka tick. Transfer from Colombo to Airport. (Travel Time approximately 1 hr).