After planning our Sri Lankan tour, on a budget we realized that it was impossible to travel to all the four corners of the island within just five days. We went for the next best option by picking out few of the best-visited places in Sri Lanka, and deciding on the time and the days we should be spending on each.
- Day 01: Galle
We arrived in Colombo and hailed a taxi that drove us to the Kottawa Southern Expressway entrance point. We got onto the 8 o’clock highway bus and arrived in Galle around 10.30 in the morning. The Galle Fort offered a taste of Colonial Sri Lanka, with its white and pastel colored houses and cobbled streets. As we were early we were lucky enough to have the strip of beach near the lighthouse to ourselves. We walked around the Fort and had breakfast at a small cafe. We later found out that the food inside the fort costs much more than food outside!
We managed to return to Galle Fort to catch up with the picturesque sunset, and caught the highway bus back to Colombo around 5.30, as we were to catch the night mail to Badulla from the Fort Railway Station.
- Day 02: Ella
. We arrived in Badulla around 8 in the morning and took the train back to Ella, in order to see the much talked about scenic train trail of Bandarawela. It was indeed a feast for our tired eyes! We arrived in Ella around ten in the morning. And were guided to our accommodation. We had a much needed catching up on sleep til our lunch time and decided to hike up the nine arches bridge and to climb Ella Rock in time to watch the Sunset. The rainforests around Ella are simply breathtaking. The climb wasn’t steep or harsh, and we were able to trail a few small waterfalls. The view from the top of Ella Rock was to die for. After visiting the almost haunting effects of the Ravana falls at night, we retired to our bungalow, for the night.
- Day 03: Kandy
Early next morning we bought tickets to the Expo Rail, from Ella to Kandy, to visit the famous Historical City. The seven hour train ride included breathtaking views of the central highlands. We were mesmerized by the terraced paddy cultivations and the lush greenery of the area. We arrived in Kandy in time for lunch, and visited the Temple of the tooth relic. They required us to wear white cloth that covered our legs. Then we visited Embekke and Gadaladeniya temples, which had arts and crafts of the Kandyan period.
- Day 04: Sigiriya
Sigiriya, the Lion’s rock was in our priority list when visiting Sri Lanka. We woke up early morning and hailed a taxi through our accommodation. We arrived in Sigiriya ten thirty in the morning. We climbed the famous Lion’s rock, once a fortress to one of Sri Lanka’s kings named Kashyapa. The fortress was simply breathtaking. The water garden was still spouting water even after thousands of years. The highlight of Sigiriya was the mirror wall with scribbled poetry from the past, being a poet myself I felt rather nostalgic.
- Day 05: Minneriya
We spent the night in Sigiriya as we wanted to drive to Minneriya national park early morning to see elephants in their natural habitat. We entered the National Park in hired Safari jeeps, around 6 in the morning. What awaited us was magnificent beyond imagination. Groups of Wild elephants were grazing and bathing in the water holes. The beautiful creatures and their young stole our hearts. We left the park around 11 a.m. and headed on to Colombo as we had a flight to catch.