Mini Tour – 4 Days / 3 Nights
A simple private tour featuring main sights of heritage and culture of Sri Lanka includes; Kandy the last royal capital of Sri Lanka is a major tourist destination, most impressive of all the many cave temples in Dambulla, the famous Lion Rock Fortress Sigiriya, the ancient city of Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura that is famous for its well-preserved ruins of ancient Lankan civilization. Do not miss the chance of lifetime ride through the jungle on an elephant’s back ………! The ride will take you along the forest trail, across the river and through the village all on the elephant’s back.
This is an independent Mini Tour and can tailor to your specific needs.
Cost does not include:- Day 1: Depart to Kandy en route visiting the elephant orphanage in Pinnawela
Depart from your hotel in Colombo / beach and move on to Kandy (92 km, approx. 3 hour drive). Kandy, the bustling hill country capital is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is famous for the pink painted Temple of the Tooth which houses the most sacred religious relic, the tooth of the Buddha, the Kandy Lake built in 1807 which is an attractive centerpiece to the town and the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens. Kandy is also popular because of the annual festival known as the Esala Perahera where the inner casket covering the tooth relic of the Buddha is taken in a grand procession through the streets of the city held annually in the month of July or August. En route visiting the elephant orphanage in Pinnawela; see baby jumbos wondering around their cramped foster home or bottle fed and bathed by their human foster fathers at Pinnawala, about 90km from Colombo towards Kandy is the home to some 60 or more elephant orphans. A place you will really enjoy and never forget. Most orphans are accustomed to their curious human visitors are harmless. On arrival in Kandy, check in at the hotel. Evening visit the Temple of the Tooth and thereafter enjoy the Kandyan Cultural Show at the Kandyan Arts & Cultural Centre. The show features the graceful and rhythmic dancers and drummers culminating in an impressive fire walking show. Kandy is known for its antiques, but anything made earlier than this century cannot be legally exported. Dinner and overnight hotel accommodation: Suisse Hotel, Kandy, Chaaya Citadel Hotel, Kandy OR Earl’s Regency Hotel, Kandy Day 2: Kandy / Dambulla / Sigiriya
Following breakfast visit of the world famous Botanical Garden Peradeniya. The park dates back to 1371 under the reign of king Vikrama Bahu III when he held court here. The English put the cornerstone of the present garden in 1821. During the Second World War the garden served as headquarters of Earl Mountbatten, the supreme commander of the allied forces in Southeast Asia who became later the last Viceroy of India. You will find in the garden a very large variety of orchids, spice trees, palms, bushes, as well as tropical plants and flowers of all type. We now leave the central hill county and move on to Dambulla; situated 148 km north-east of Colombo and 72 km north of Kandy. Along the road you will see paddy fields, coconut groves, rubber and spice gardens and plantations and visit a spice garden in Matale. Later in Dambulla you will ascend for a visit of the most impressive of all the many cave temples in Sri Lanka. It is the largest and best preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka. The rock towers 160 m over the surrounding plains. There are more than 80 documented caves in the surrounding. Major attractions are spread over 5 caves, which contain statues and paintings. This paintings and statues are related to Lord Buddha and his life. There are a total of 153 Buddha statues, 3 statues of Srilankan kings and 4 statues of god and goddess. The latter 4 include two statues of Hindu gods, Vishnu and Ganesh. The murals cover an area of 2,100 m². Depictions in the walls of the caves include Buddha’s temptation by demon Mara and Buddha’s first sermon. Dinner and overnight hotel accommodation: Kassapa Lion Rock Hotel, Sigiriya , Amaya Lake Hotel, Dambulla OR Heritance Kandalama Hotel, Kandalama Day 3: Dambulla / Sigiriya / Elephant back safari at Habarana / Polonnaruwa / Dambulla
Have a leisurely breakfast and then leave for Sigiriya (24 km, approximately 30 minutes drive) and climb the Rock Fortress a UNESCO World Heritage site built by King Kassapa in the 05thcentury A.D. which was a Royal Citadel for more than 18 years. The lion rock is a citadel of unusual beauty, rising 200 meters from the scrub jungle. The base of the rock is ringed by a moat and rampart and extensive gardens including the renowned water gardens. The majestic Lion’s Paw picturesquely guards the stairway of the palace on the summit. See the famous frescoes of the “Heavenly maidens” of Sigiriya in a sheltered pocket of the rock and the 10 foot high Mirror Wall. On completion, proceed to Habarana (25km – approximate travel time 30 minutes) for an elephant ride. The feeling of stepping back in time, a time when kings rode on the backs of these magnificent mammals and the chance for you dear visitors to do the same is what we at the other corner offer. The tour will take you along the forest trail, across the river and through the village all on the elephant back ride. Afternoon visit the Polonnaruwa, a UNESCO World Heritage site (58 km – approximate travel time 1 ½ hours). It was the Capital of Sri Lanka from the 11th to 13th century, a well-planned medieval city defended by enclosing walls (around 5 km. which still remain), graced by palaces, shrines, monasteries, pavilions, parks, ponds and irrigation lakes. Polonnaruwa is strewn with ruins in a resplendent state of preservation. Of these the ‘Vatadage’ and the ‘Thuparama Image house’ are the most spectacular. The ‘Gal Vihara’ which consists of statues of the recumbent, standing and seated Buddha have been cut from a single granite wall and rank among the true masterpieces of Sri Lankan Art. Dinner and overnight hotel accommodation: Kassapa Lion Rock Hotel, Sigiriya , Amaya Lake Hotel, Dambulla OR Heritance Kandalama Hotel, Kandalama Day 4: Dambulla / Anuradhapura / Colombo
We depart after breakfast for a tour of Anuradhapura the sacred ancient city founded in the 04th century B.C, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1982. It has the largest number of ancient monuments of the great Sinhala civilization which flourished in this region. You will see some of the most famous as well as the tallest dagobas of Sri Lanka, Ruwanweliseya Dagoba, 2nd century BC with its famous elephant walls and the 3rd century BC ThuparamaDagoba. Ruins of ancient royal palaces specially the pillars of the Brazen Palace, which once had nine storeys, temples, the image of the Samadhi Buddha one of the finest pieces of Buddhist sculpture, monasteries, the twin ponds, guard stones and the moonstone. The ‘Sri Maha Bodhi’ or the sacred Bo tree is over 2200 years old grown from a branch of the very tree under which “The Buddha” attained enlightenment the oldest historically documented tree in the world. We arrive back at the Colombo/beach hotel in the early evening.
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