Joanna James
A teardrop on the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka is a tropical haven. Made of beach, exotic wildlife, misty mountains, culture old as time and utterly friendly locals, you will always think of with warmth.
This small island packs quite a punch when it comes to delivering on eco-diversity. You can go from chilling on a sunny beach to cuddling up in front of a fireplace in a matter of four hours. Leave all this behind and head to the dry region, for stunningly rustic scrub jungles and exotic animals that roam its folds. Coastal plains, lagoons, wetlands are the sublime attractions that keep Sri Lanka on the list of all nature lovers. Tour Sri Lanka and you will be richly rewarded; whether you wish to explore the lush mangrove swamps, explore a coral reef, stare in awe at a blue whale or lay on the sun bleached sands of a tropical beach, the island will keep surprising you at every turn. Tour agents like Walkers Tours know this and strive to offer explorers the best of this island paradise.
There are six UNESCO Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka; to savour these you should plan a tour of Sri Lanka to the following sites. Anuradhapura the ancient kingdom, Polonnaruwa for well-preserved Buddhist relics, lush hill capital Kandy the last Kingdom, the ancient Lions Rock Fortress in Sigiriya, the amazing rock temples of Dambulla and colonial heritage city Galle.
Everyone talks about Sri Lankan hospitality; visitors are always greeted with a friendly smile, and nowhere else in the world do tourists feel more welcome. The broad range of ethnic groups means, the island is always celebrating a festival. Get to know the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Burghers, who together have made Sri Lanka a melting pot of cuisine. You can, therefore, treat the foodie in you to typical Sinhala delights such as hoppers, kavum and kokis, while wades, idli, thosai and chapathis are meals to be reckoned with. There are outlets proffering pot biryani, the milkiest faluda and odd collection of sweets you just may get hooked on. Only in Sri Lanka can you walk in and order a typical Dutch Lamprais, or fried rice or koththu, all washed down with a steaming hot mug of delicious Ceylon tea.
Book Ayurveda holidays to Sri Lanka and you will return totally relaxed and rejuvenated. Ayurveda has been practised for over 2,000 years on the island, while hela Ayurveda a more ancient form of herbal treatments is said to be over 5,000 years old. Enjoy being treated to age-old remedies, carefully preserved and passed down from generations; feel refreshed and relaxed in body, mind and soul, as you enjoy a full spa treatment holiday. Some even opt to visit the land to cure a particular illness, as Ayurveda is known to have a broad spectrum of solutions for many types of ailments.
Take a jeep safari into the wilds of the Yala National Park, and you will come across leopards, believed to be one of the largest groups in Asia; see a peacock in full plumage, watch a wild boar scurry along, spot a crocodile on the banks of a lagoon and see birds of many hues. There are many parks and reserves for spotting tropical wildlife; elephants are seen in impressive herds as you traverse the plains of Minneriya and Kaudulla while the Bundala wetlands a majestic wintering ground welcomes over 197 species of birds. This is not all; you can tour across Sri Lanka on wildlife expeditions from north to south and be amazed at the variety, every time.
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A travel writer who has a pas...
