Anuradhapura
Sri Lanka’s first capital, Anuradhapura, was the greatest monastic city of the ancient world. It was royal capital for more than 100 Sri Lankan kings and at its heights was home to thousands of monks from dozens of monasteries. Originally founded by a minister called Anuradha, in the 4th century BC, it became the capital of Sri Lanka two centuries later. The ruins of Mahavihara, the first monastery, built by King Devanam Piyatissa in 250 B.C.E, and several other monasteries and temples can be seen.
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Nuwaraliya
Nuwara Eliya is often referred to by the Sri Lankan tourist industry as ‘Little England’. While most British visitors struggle to recognise modern England in Nuwara Eliya, the toy-town ambience does have a rose-tinted English country village feel to it, though it comes with a disorienting surrealist edge. Three-wheelers whiz past red telephone boxes.
Arugam Bay
Arugam Bay is Sri Lanka at its most escapist. The relatively isolated beaches and a simple, laid-back lifestyle, away from the main tourist haunts, have many devotees. The local community is a particularly chilled-out and welcoming one where travellers and locals mingle contentedly. Arugam Bay offers high-class surfing (the best on the island) and deserted […]
Sinharaja Rainforest
The magnificent Sinharaja rainforest and the village of Kitulgala, which is popular for white water rafting, are situated in the western foothills, sandwiched between the west coast and the central highlands. This is an area of rolling hills, tropical rain forests and winding rivers. The Sinharaja tropical rainforest is renowned as a hotspot for birdlife. […]
Kumana National Park
Kumana, also known as Yala East National Park covers an area of about 18,000 hectares and can only be accessed from Okanda which is south of Arugam Bay on the South East Coast. The villus (swamp lakes) of Kumana is nesting sites for water birds. During the nesting season which begins towards June, large colonies […]