Dambulla, Sigiriya, Minneriya, Kaudulla, Kandy, Pinnawela, Nuwara Eliya, Yala & Galle.
June & July 2010
A very last minute 11 day overland-trip to Sri Lanka, with the main focus on some of the most famous national parks and some of the not-to-be-missed cultural highlights. We particularly wanted to do a couple of jeep safaris to see wild elephants and hopefully leopards, with the famous Yala National Park as the hopefully highlight at the end of our itinerary.
Sri Lanka indeed turned out to be an excellent destination for both nature, wildlife as well as culture, with a very diverse landscape, very friendly people and the always so awesome delicious food..! The parks are truly packed with wildlife, and particularly also with a large variety of birds; I’m not a fanatic birder, but Sri Lanka is certainly a paradise for bird watching.
Destinations
Dambulla Cave Temple
Sigiriya
Minneriya National Park
Polonnaruwa
Kaudulla National Park
Kandy
Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage
Yala National Park
Galle
Bentota Mangrove
Introduction
I didn’t have much time to prepare; in fact I organised the entire trip in less than a week. To save time I used a travel agent which I happened to know, and they were very helpful to put a realistic but still packed itinerary together, at a very affordable price. We had a good car and excellent driver – guide with us throughout the tour, which is really the perfect way to travel through Sri Lanka. It saves a lot of time!
Itinerary
Day 1 – Jun 23: Bangkok – Colombo – Negombo (Browns Beach Hotel)
Day 2 – Jun 24: Negombo – Dambulla Caves – Habarana (Hotel Sorowwa)
Day 3 – Jun 25: Habarana – Sigiriya – Minneriya National Park – Habarana (Hotel Sorowwa)
Day 4 – Jun 26: Habarana – Polonnaruwa – Kaudulla National Park – Habarana (Hotel Sorowwa)
Day 5 – Jun 27: Habarana – Kandy (Amaya Hills Hotel)
Day 6 – Jun 28: Kandy – Pinnawela – Kandy (Amaya Hills Hotel)
Day 7 – Jun 29: Kandy – Nuwara Eliya (Grand Hotel Nuwara Eliya)
Day 8 – Jun 30: Nuwara Eliya – Kataragama (Mandara Rosen Hotel)
Day 9 – Jul 1: Kataragama – Yala National Park (Yala Village Resort – now Cinnamon Wild Yala)
Day 10 – Jul 2: Yala National Park (Yala Village Resort – now Cinnamon Wild Yala)
Day 11 – Jul 3: Yala National Park – Galle – Colombo – Bangkok
Route
