Sri Lankan cuisine is very distinctive, an exotic blend of tastes and aromas enriched by ethnic diversity and centuries of interaction with outside settlers, including the European colonial powers. From rice and curry – a meal with a deceptively simple name that incorporates seven separate dishes, from curries to sambols – to the ever-popular string hoppers served hawker-style on ...

Escape the Christmas crowds… Christmas in Sri Lanka is magical, whether you’re trekking through the tea-covered Hill Country, climbing to the top of Sigiriya Rock Fortress or sipping a cocktail on the beach and watching the sun sink into the sea. Peak season begins in December and runs all the way through to April. As the glorious sunshine sets ...

Galle Literary Festival 2017 will run between 11th – 15th January and is an unmissable event for those interested in literature. Now in its 8th year, this event takes place in the streets of historic Galle Fort and has attracted internationally-renowned authors from across the globe. The first four authors appearing next year have just been announced as: Colm Toibin, ...

Picture courtesy goodtrippers.co.uk What do a bunch of Tuk-tuks and two goal posts have in common? Well, nothing that I can really think of, which is why the world’s first ever Tuk-tuk Polo tournament will definitely be a spectacle you wouldn’t want to miss! Those fortunate enough to be in the Galle Fort in early March will have been able ...

For our journey to Pasekudah, which is fast winning a worldwide reputation as one of the jewels of Sri Lanka’s east coast, we took the route from Kandy through the Knuckles range and the challenge of the 18 hairpin bends. The route has been reopened recently after it was closed for road construction and despite ear-popping ascents and descents and ...

Rubber and tea plantations I have always been a sucker for adventure, scaling rocks without equipment, checking how fast I can go on a bike without a helmet and I even attempted to ballroom dance, which didn’t turn out too well. Whitewater rafting has always been on the top of my bucket list, keeping company with bungee jumping, sky diving, ...

Visiting one of Sri Lanka’s many National Parks and Nature Reserves is usually one of the many highlights for travelers who visit the island, however quite often the experience is limited due to the lack of quality accommodation options. Recent restrictions imposed on tented safaris, have also dealt a major blow to both operators, and tourists who want to mix ...

Like it or not, you have to admit that we all love to go with what’s in vogue. Be it the latest in mobile phone technology, the latest fashion trends and even the TV series or movie that everyone’s going on about. Well, the same rule applies to holiday destinations and if you don’t know it already, Sri Lanka has ...

Sri Lanka has been named as the best value for money for the third consecutive year by the UK’s 2012 Post Office ‘Long Haul’ Report. The report published annually in the United Kingdom compares the cost of common holiday purchases, including meals and drinks between 32 of the country’s popular holiday destinations. Despite Sri Lanka maintaining its position on the ...

When you think of nuts, the most common conception is a dry fruit or casing that contains one or two seeds in it, but even though all nuts have their own unique characteristic, one nut stands out from the rest. Growing on the outside of a fleshy fruit known as the cashew apple, the cashew nut is quite an intriguing ...

Escaping the Sri Lankan heat on a warm day can be quite tricky if you don’t have the comfort of an air conditioned room or vehicle, but in most places in Sri Lanka, there is always a ready solution in the form of an orange coloured fruit. While the colour orange can be attributed to the refreshing fruit the orange ...

If you’re a foodie who loves their grub with that extra bit of kick, then you wouldn’t want to miss the World Spice Food Festival 2012. The festival titled ‘Hawkers’ Street Food Promotion’, will be held for 3 days from the 5th to the 7th of October at the ‘Boardwalk’ of Water’s Edge, overlooking the picturesque Diyawanna lake. So if ...

When the word ‘masked men’ comes up in conversation, it would most often be in relation to a Batman or Spiderman, or the many other masked super heroes from your favourite comics or movies. But what if I told you there is not only one, but many masked men in Sri Lanka who possess special powers of their own? Would ...

The Gallery Café held on to their title as the Best Themed Restaurant in Sri Lanka for the third year running at the Sri Lanka tourism awards that were held recently. The café which is the former office of renowned architect Geoffrey Bawa has attracted visitors and locals alike for its ambience, history and most of all, quality of food ...

Despite being once described by Sir Arthur. C Clarke as “a small universe [that] contains many variations of culture, scenery, and climate as some countries a dozen its size”, Sri Lanka can sometimes be quite tricky to navigate, despite its relatively small size. More often than not it requires an overnight stopover in order to travel to the pristine beaches ...

The legendary tuk tuk takes centre stage yet again at the popular Lanka Challenge 2012. The 12 – day three-wheeler encounter that takes competitors who arrive from across the globe on a journey across the island. This year’s event is unlike in any other in the competition’s four-year history with the opening up of the Northern hemisphere, allowing participants to ...

Thanks to the success of the Murali Cup 2011 and with the compassionate support of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the Indian Ocean Disaster Relief charity (IODR) and other commercial and private fund-raising efforts, Red Dot and the Foundation of Goodness are proud to announce a 20 team Murali Harmony Cup T20 tournament to run between 8th to 12th September ...

Cantaloupe Aqua, a boutique hotel situated on a private strip of land on the Southern coast of Thalpe has been featured in the UK newspaper, The Sunday Times , . The hotel, just 2 years since opening, was the only Sri Lankan hotel to be featured in the magazine’s top 50 hotels for under GBP £100. Cantaloupe’s exclusive location together ...

‘Seeing is believing’ they say, and quite often, when it comes to tourism, people pay for things they don’t see and are disappointed with what they end up with. To give travelers an idea of what they actually are paying for, the ever-popular Bentota Beach Hotel has for the first time in Sri Lanka introduced a virtual tour of their ...

Sri Lanka is the place to be for all ravers this October with Colombo being the venue for one the most popular music festivals in Asia – Sunburn. The largest youth event in India, Sunburn is a music festival that features both international and local artists across all genres. The star attraction at this year’s inaugural event will be Grammy ...