A Pearl Shaped Island Nation – Sri Lanka

Click to read Part 1 : Kerala Floods - A prologue to Srilanka Trip before you proceed. 

We reached Colombo by noon. It was drizzling when we reached. Wherever we went, when people came to know we are from India they had to ask about the flood only. We had been to a restaurant “The Gallery Café” on Alfred House Road, Colombo. The place is fantastic not only for food, but it was a Gallery indeed. The next morning, we started our trip from Colombo (Fort Station) by train to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. The nearest railway station is Rambukkana. It takes 2.5 hours by train. The elephant orphanage is 2 kms from the Rambukkana railway station. We spent there 3 hours enjoying the elephant bathing, feeding etc. We also visited a nearby factory wherein the elephant dung was used to make books & paper. We happened to see a demo on how paper is made out of elephant dung. The shop also had a corner for souvenir.  

From there we went to Kandy. Kandy is known as the spiritual capital of Sri Lanka. It was another 3.5 hours journey by train. We stayed at Kandy for 3 nights. We were happy that we could witness the Festival of Tooth which is known as “The Kandy Esala Perahera”. It is a procession with a number of decorated elephants. One can also witness an elephant carrying the casket which holds tooth of Buddha. It is an annual festival to pay homage to the sacred tooth relic.

There is another temple dedicated to Lord Buddha - Bahirawakanda Temple. The temple is 2 KMs from the city center, but situated on a hilltop. This temple is known for the giant Buddha statue in white which can be seen from almost anywhere in Kandy. The night view of this statue is absolutely stunning. 

Next day of our travel was to Minneriya National Park(Click here to know more). It was 2.5 hours journey from Kandy. On our way, we had stopped at Ranweli Spice Garden, Sigiriya & Dambulla Cave Temple. People who have visited Kerala or living in Kerala, the spice garden is nothing new. The Dambulla Cave Temple which is also known as Golden Temple of Dambulla is a UNESCO world heritage site. Sigiriya is also another UNESCO world heritage site. It is an ancient rock fortress which has a gateway in the form of an enormous lion.  

Our next destination was Ella. Ella is a very small town. But what makes Ella so important is the train journey to Ella from Kandy. It definitely is one of the most beautiful train rides in the world. It is 9-10 hours journey. You would go crazy seeing the crowd on the train. But the journey is worth. The most picturesque journey ever. The train runs along a narrow mountain ridge & the landscape shifts from misty forests, beautiful waterfalls & mountains, tea plantations along with cool climate. Remember we are climbing the mountain, so the train would be slow. The tracks are single in most places except for the stations.

Nuwara Eliya is between Kandy & Ella. But one has to travel till Ella to enjoy the picturesque view. Nuwara Eliya is a hill station full of tea. Sri Lanka is famous for tea and Ceylon Tea is considered the cleanest tea in the world. The nearest railway station to Nuwara Eliya is Nanuoya. This is 5 hours journey by train. Lovers Leap waterfall was very close to the place where we stayed. We decided to hike the road that leads to this waterfall as it was very close. The stroll was even more beautiful due to the cool climate & we were surrounded by tea plantations. The fall is said to derive its name from the tragic tale of a prince, who while hunting in the jungle, lost his way. He was rescued by a beautiful girl from the local village, and the two became inseparable lovers. But the match was opposed by the king. So, the two decided to immortalise their love by leaping from the top of the fall to their death.

Next day our journey to Wadduwa started. We hopped into the bus which was to going to Colombo, since there was no direct bus going to Wadduwa directly. It was supposed to be 5 hours journey to Colombo and then another 1-hour journey to Wadduwa. But somewhere in the midst of our journey, Dileep realized, if we get down at a point ahead, we could save time as there was some other road that led to Wadduwa without reaching Colombo. And he was right too, we were able to reach Wadduwa in the meantime the bus reached Colombo or may be early.

Wadduwa is a coastal town which has many resorts facing beach. Since it was in the evening that we reached, we decided to spend time there itself at the beach. Next day morning Dileep’s colleague who was the reason for our tour also joined us & we went to Galle which was 1.5 hours journey. We spent the whole day at Galle & Unawatuna whole day. Then next day we visited his family who were away for 2 days as they had some family function. Galle & Unawatuna somehow reminded me of Pondicherry which is now Puducherry.

Again, our return flights were cancelled as Cochin airport remained closed. We were given flights for the next day to Trivandrum. We got a day extra which was not in our itinerary. So, after checkout from Wadduwa, we headed back to Colombo and chose to stay close to airport as we had early morning flights.

 Click here for photos from Minneriya National Park.

Click here for photos from this trip.