The land of pearls,the land of Buddha, the land of Ramayan, the
land of lanka…Sri lanka !
Day
1:
That
was an early morning 3:25 PM UL 174 Srilankan Airlines to Colombo from Bangalore
International Airport.Excitement was really high.Mom was very happy.Ram Setu
was so clearly visible from the window seat and was a spectacular view.We
reached Colombo on 21st Oct at sharp 5 AM.Darkness covered us all
around as soon as we stepped the ground.There was a bus which took us to the
airport from the landing arena.We filled up the immigration form and stared
waiting for the luggage.It took nearly 10 min to find ours.Then we found our
guide cum driver Sisira waiting for us with the board and took us straight to
Dambulla.On the way we stopped for coffee in a beautiful hotel.Mom was tired
and her stomach was upset.Later all was well !That was a beautiful long drive
to Pinelwehra hotel.
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| Hotel Pinelwehra |
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| We in front of the hotel |
On the way we purchased the famous Srilankan potato bun,biscuits
and water bottles.We reached hotel at 9.45 AM.Breakfast time was almost over
but luckily we got to eat some fruits and bread.That was a beautiful hotel with
lots of greenery around.After freshening up we headed towards Dambulla caves @
10.30 AM.It was a super hot day .We had to take the entry ticket and we had to climb up to reach the caves but the feel of entering
into a new country and the Bhuddha statues took away our tiredness.
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| In front of the Golden temple |
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| Wall paintings |
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| Buddha idols |
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| The golden Buddha statue |
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| Cave entrance after climbing up |
Dambulla is
a world heritage site situated in central province of Srilanka.Major
attractions constitues 5 caves which contains statues and paintings related to
Gautam Buddha and his life,total 153 statues.Depiction on the walls of the
caves include the temptation by the demon Mara and Buddha’s first sermon.
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| On the way to the cave temple |
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| Buddha statues inside the cave |
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| Buddha statues inside the cave |
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| Buddha statues inside the cave |
It was
12.30 PM by the time we reached back to the parking area and we were very
hungry.Sisira took us to a vegetarian hotel near the hotel we stayed.We were
severed rice,bindi,dal,curd etc etc ..All Srilankan style and the food was
super yummy after all the walk in the caves.
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| Lunch time |
We rested in our room for 2 hrs and
left to Sigiriya fort at 3.30 PM.Wow, the same piece of rock which I used to
gaze in the internet .Beautiful area surrounded by foreigners.After paying the
entry ticket we stared to climb the 1000 steps fort.the view from
every step was splendid.It is UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most
visited historic site in Srilanka.
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| Entrance |
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| Steps to climb up |
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| Fort rock behind me |
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| Small caves |
The place was selected by king kashyapa .he
built his palace on top of the rock.Half way upside of this rock he built a
gateway in th form of an enormous lion paw,hence the name sigiriya(Sihagiri-The
lion rock).The gardens around the rock hill is amoung the oldest landscaped
gardens in the world.The three types of gardens are water garden,cave and
boulder garden , and terraced garden.
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| Lion paws entrance |
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| Steep steps |
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| Steps |
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| Paintings inside a small cave |
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| At the top |
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| View from the top |
Cool breeze above the fort took our
breath.Just worth all the pain ! It was almost dark and mom was a bit scared
while we were getting down and advised me to activate the sim so that we could
contact Sisira at any time.Sisira took us to a nearby mobile store and I got
the local sim activated.Dinner was served at the same hotel with a beautiful
weather outside we had our dinner and a good night sleep.That was a hard day
but enjoyed every bit of the experience.
Day
2:
The
day began with a typical Srilankan bakery buns and coffee at a small cafeteria
on the way to Kandy.It was Vijayadashami festival in India and luckily we
stopped at Maramma temple .I surprisingly found lots of Tamilians performing
the rituals and some special pooja was undertaken in the temple premises .
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| Maramma temple on the way to Kandy |
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| Maramma temple on the way to Kandy |
We
had the darshana of Goddess Durga and left to Temple tooth of Relic.Sri Dalada
Maliawa or the Temple of Scared tooth is located in the royal complex of the
former kingdom of Kandy which houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha.Wow !
the surroundings of the temple was amazing .
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| Temple of Tooth relic premises |
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| Temple of Tooth relic premises |
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| Temple of Tooth relic premises |
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| Temple of Tooth relic premises |
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| Inside the temple |
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| Inside the temple |
Sisira our guide explained the
importance of the temple and also showed us Srilankan national tree.Temple was
so pleaceful and cleansed our souls.I really didn’t want to come out of
it.
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| Inside the temple |
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| Inside the temple |
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| Sri lankan National tree behind me |
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| Inside the temple |
Later we headed to a hotel for a thali lunch very close to the temple.Rains
started pouring in the city ! Our next destination was gem museum which Srilanka is very proud of.There was a private
hall with a big screen to showcase gem making process and also three floored
showroom ! After moving around the museum we left to Hill top hotel .Such a
nice hotel it was with a beautiful view from the window.We relaxed for a while
and later Sisira took us to Cultural dance show which was organized for
tourists with 12 dance forms and finally fire dance show.
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| Sri Lankan dance forms |
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| Sri Lankan dance forms |
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| Sri Lankan dance forms |
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| Sri Lankan dance forms |
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| Fire dance |
It was indeed very
different.I also shopped T-shirts for
myself and my friend in the basement of the same building where dance show was
arranged.We finally headed to Hill top for dinner which included music bands
around and had a tight sleep.It was a relaxing and fun filled day.
Day
3 :
Our
breakfast for day 3 was at Hill top
hotel .
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| Hilltop hotel |
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| Hilltop Hotel |
One of the best breakfast in the entire tour.It was time to explore the
wild life and thus we left for Pinnawala Elephant Orphange where 100s of
orphaned Elephants were taken care of .
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| Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage |
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| Bamboo feeding |
It is the biggest Elephant orphanage in
the world.It was initially established by the Srilankan dept of Wildlife
Conservation in 1975 for feeding and providing care to orphaned baby elephants
that were found in the wild.Now there are more than 100 elephants and 48
mahouts to take care.We left hotel @ 7 AM and reached orphanage @ 8.30 AM.There
was bottle milk and bamboo feeding sessions which was a treat to watch.Sisira
took us to Glenlock tea estate which was quite close to the orphanage .
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| Glenlock Tea Estate |
Tea
making and tea tasting process was explained to us by the estate owners.Again
we headed back to Pinnawala to watch Elephant bathing near the Oya river side..That
was an amazing view.
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| Elephant bathing sessions |
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| Elephant bathing sessions |
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| Elephant bathing sessions |
After an hour or so, we left to Bentota by 12 PM.It was a
long journey.On the way in express highway, Sisira took us to a mall where we
had biryani for lunch.By 3.30 PM,we reached Madhu river , one of the major
rivers of Srilanka to take a ride for one and half hour.We could see mangrove
trees,prawnfarming,traditional fishing techniques and variety of birds.
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| Mom enjoying river ride |
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| Madhu river |
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| Myself in between the Mangroves |
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| Bridge connecting one island to another |
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| Here we saw Cinnamon making process |
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| Lady describing the process |
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| Buddha temple during the river ride |
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| Buddha temple during the river ride |
During
the river ride,we could see bridges connecting from one island to the other
where locals were passing by.That was very new to us.We were also taken to a
small hut to see how cinnamons are made.While riding back , there was a small Kothduwa
Bhuddha temple in an island.After making a quick visit , finally our Madhu
river ride was successfully done ! We were very happy since it was a peaceful
journey ! Now, it was time to look into the turtles in turtle hatchery just 5
kms from Balapitya where madhu river was located.
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| Turtle Hatchery |
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| Turtle Hatchery |
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| Holding turtle |
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| Turtle eggs |
Turtle eggs are purchased from
fishermen, re buried along the beach and left there for 48 days allowing the
eggs ample time to hatch.Then the baby turtles are collected form the beach and
kept in tanks for 2-3 days and released into the ocean.Those lovely turtles of
different sizes , shapes and ages ! I had never held or seen turtles so
close.That was very special attraction.We then moved to Club Bentota,one of the
best hotels in Srilanka.Hotel lies in between the island and behind the hotel
is the Ocean !
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| Hotel Club Bentota |
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| Buddha temple during the river ride |
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| Buddha temple during the river ride |
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| Buddha temple during the river ride |
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| Buddha temple during the river ride |
We took a boat and landed into the hotel @ 6 PM.Such a big hotel
and such a big room ! Dinner was really tasty with wide variety of food .That
was all about day 3.Super peaceful one !
Day
4 :
We
woke up early morning,freshened up and left for
Bentota beach walk just behind the hotel.After a long stroll along the
sea shore, it was breakfast time @8.30 AM in the same hotel.Those super yummy
varities of dishes was mouth watering.We had to check out and Sisira took us to
Khande Viharaya temple @ 9.30 AM which was about half an hour from the hotel on
the way to Colombo.
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| Khande Viharaya temple |
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| Khande Viharaya temple |
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| At the basement |
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| Khande Viharaya temple |
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| At the basement |
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| Museum opp to the temple |
That big Bhuddha statue , a temple and a small painting
chamber on the basement was breathtaking.On the way we finally found an Indian
resturant “Gandhi Hotel” and had traditional south Indian lunch served on a
banana leaf . We reached Colombo @ 11.30 AM and checked into Hotel
Berjaya.After taking some rest, Sisira took us to Gangaramaya temple in Colombo
city center @ 2 PM.It is one of the most important temples in Colombo with a
mixture of modern and cultural essence since it combines Thai,Srilankan,Indian
and Chinese architecture.Buddha’s hair is worshiped along with an idol which is
made from jade.That was quite a big temple with Buddha idols everywhere .On the
other side of the road was also a Buddhist temple on a plot of land of the
Baira lake .
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| Gangaramaya Temple |
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| Gangaramaya Temple |
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| Gangaramaya Temple |
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| Gangaramaya Temple |
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| Buddha's original hair |
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| Gangaramaya Temple |
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| Gangaramaya Temple |
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| Gangaramaya Temple |
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| Gangaramaya Temple |
It also consits of a library,a Bodhi tree,assembly hall for monks
and relic chamber which was too good.It started raining heavily.We left for a
small complex to purchase Cinnamon and chocolates and headed back to our hotel for dinner which was served just behind
the hotel in a tiny hut along the sea shore.That dinner is memorable one .I
never had dinner on a beach side ! Thanks to Berjaya !
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| Berjaya Hotel dinner near beach side |
Day
5:
Early
morning we decided to take a walk along the Colombo beach which was behind our
hotel.By 9 AM we had our breakfastat and later it was time for Colombo city tour.Sisira
took us to Laksala shopping mall where I purchased shorts,a painting ,a pen
stand and Buddhist flag.Mom purchased cards for her colleagues.From there we
moved to Independence square which is a national monument in Srilanka built for
commemoration of the independence of Srilanka from the British rule.Located at
the head of the monument is the statue of the 1st PM Rt. Hon.Don.
stephen senanayake “ The father of the nation”.Later we headed to galle face
green.
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| Galle face green |
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| Independence square |
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| Galle face green |
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| Independence square |
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| Independence square |
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| Sri Lanka Airlines. |
Galle is a huge 5 hectare ocean side promonade park with people all
around spending time with family and friends.Initially it was used for horce
racing and as golf course.We spent some time there and Sisira took us to a mall
where I purchased a T shirt and fridge magnet.From there we headed to a hotel
for our lunch where we had to sponser Sisira as well !It was time to say good
bye to Srilanka and we returned back to Bangalore with tons of memories .UL 171
– I will miss this flight .This was the best trip till date ! Love u Lanka !
**********************************************************************
Country:Sri lanka
Independence:1948,4 Feb
National Flower:Blue water lily
National Bird:Sri Lankan junglefowl
National Animal:None
National Dish:None
Currency:Rupee
Capital:Colombo
Language:Sinhala
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