Fun Travel Gadgets Of the three monasteries which define the Sacred City of Anuradhapura, our favorite was the Abhayagiri, towards the north. We spent hours roaming the sacred grounds, talking to the people who worship there, and getting lost among remnants of the distant past. In the first century BC, a Sinhalese King by the name of Vattagamini Abhaya had ...
Cheap Flights To Sri Lanka Our first month in Sri Lanka is already done?! It seems just yesterday that we were taking our first tuk tuk ride through Colombo‘s busy streets. But when I think about all the things we’ve seen and done, it’s amazing that we’ve only been here a month. Sri Lanka is the kind of place where ...
Did you Enjoy our Travel Books? We would be very happy about a review. The enigmatic remains of the Ritigala Monastery are tucked away on a mountain in the middle of a strict nature reserve. Difficult to reach and largely skipped by tourists, the archaeological site is the kind of place in which it’s easy to imagine Indiana Jones hunting ...
Book A Hotel With Overlooking Elephants in Sri Lanka In Sri Lanka, you’re bound to encounter a lot scenes that would be impossible at home. I mean, Elephants Crossing? I’m pretty sure we’re not in Germany anymore! Here is a random collection of some of the funnest, most beautiful and strangest pictures we’ve taken during our first six weeks in ...
Buddha Statues It can’t match the Sacred City for ancient splendor, and by itself wouldn’t warrant a visit on even the most comprehensive itinerary, but the New Town of Anuradhapura is unavoidable on any visit to the city. We spent a lot of time here, shopping, drinking and eating, and visiting the wonderful weekend market. Like the Sacred City, the ...
Ceylon Tea Known around Sri Lanka as “Little England”, Nuwara Eliya is the highest city on the island, at around 6128 feet above sea level. Throughout history, this mountainous patch of the country had been almost entirely unpopulated, but the British recognized the potential value of its soil and climate. In 1846, explorer Samuel Barker (who would later “discover” Africa’s ...
Book your Sigiriya Hotel Here After our tiring ascent to the summit of Sigiriya Rock, we deserved to spend the rest of the day lounging around the hotel. But too many people had recommended a climb up Pidurungala Rock. Sigh, I don’t know. But then, it’s right next to our hotel. But I’m so tired. We debated, deciding to skip ...
Hotels in Ella With an unbeatable setting high in the hills, tiny Ella has earned a reputation as one of Sri Lanka’s most beautiful villages. With its views over the Ella Gap and some incredible nature walks, the town has become one of the most popular destinations in the southern hill country. We spent a few days here, and had ...
Sri Lanka History Books One of our first mornings in Galle, we took a bus to Alanthgama with the intention of seeing stilt fisherman — one of Sri Lanka’s most iconic images. But whether it was due to the stormy seas, the time of day, or the recently completed New Year’s festivities, the stilts were unoccupied. Foiled! Now what would ...
Everything You Need To Know About Ayurveda Ayurveda is a traditional style of medicine which uses completely natural treatments and places emphasis on a balanced lifestyle. Although predominantly associated with India, it’s massively popular in Sri Lanka, where you can’t walk a block without finding another ayurvedic dispensary or clinic. Ayurveda has also gained a foothold in Europe and, predictably, ...
Travel Insurance For Sri Lanka Because of shoddy roads and slow buses, distances in Sri Lanka can be deceiving. When we looked at the map and saw that Matale was just twelve miles north of Kandy, and Ridigama another eleven miles from there, we thought: easy day trip. We’d probably be back home in time for lunch. Oh, poor fools! ...
Sri Lanka Travel Insurance “Why didn’t we think of that?!” “Our lives would be so much easier.” “It would be so much fun.” “Man, I’m so jealous!” These are among the sentences which have been finding their way into our conversations almost daily, ever since we met Marc and Carina at our guesthouse in Polonnaruwa. The Belgian couple immediately earned ...
With a magnificent setting in the 22nd floor of the Emperor Building, itself part of the five-star Cinnamon Grand’s complex, the luxury condo offered by Colombo Short Stay was an incredible place to spend our last night in Sri Lanka. Out on the balcony, with a bottle of red wine and a view that stretches out over the Indian Ocean ...
Anytime we head to a new place, we’ll hunt for novels to satisfy our curiosity about it, and learn a little about the culture. Here’s what we’ve been reading during our three months in Sri Lanka. Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje Michael Ondaatje, also the author of The English Patient, is Sri Lanka’s most famous novelist. A Burgher, ...
Buy Sun Lotion Online A gorgeous stretch of beach just a few kilometers north of the city, Uppaveli was our home during the week we spent in Trincomalee. A chain of hotels stretches up the coast, but we had the beach almost entirely to ourselves. After trips to action-packed cities like Kandy and Jaffna, a little sun, sand and solitude ...
Nature’s awesome beauty and the ingenuity of mankind come together majestically at Sigiriya Rock. A massive 320-meter granite stone set incomprehensibly in the jungle, the “Lion Rock” was attracting admiration long before King Kassapa built his castle on top of it, and continues dropping jaws today. Sigiriya is probably the top touristic sight in all Sri Lanka, and for good ...
Happy New Year Sri Lanka Song Sri Lankan New Year, that is. The holiday, which brings normal life on the island to a complete stop for two full days, is observed on either the 13th or 14th of April, depending on astrological calculations. Unlike the Western holiday, there is no sharp division between the “old” and “new” years — no ...
Cheap Flights To Sri Lanka Want to quickly gather together a massive group of Sri Lankans? Get into a car wreck. Want to play Twenty Questions with a Sri Lankan? Walk down the street. There isn’t a culture on Earth more nosy or curious than Sri Lanka’s. At least, I hope not! This really only applies to Sri Lankan men. ...
Reading Suggestion: Moby Dick Going out on a whale watch is like visiting a casino. You hope to hit the jackpot, but you’re prepared for the likelihood of ending up empty-handed. Along with Mirissa on the southern coast, Trinco offers the best odds on actually spotting whales, so we put our chips on “blue” and “sperm” (and, just for fun, ...
Between 1983 and 2009, a brutal civil war threatened to tear Sri Lanka apart at the seams. Waged primarily between the island’s Sinhalese majority government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the conflict claimed over 100,000 lives. The war only came to an end when the army killed the LTTE’s charismatic leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, after a bloody campaign ...
