Sri Lanka is an island of many names – all evocative of a tropical island with century-old temples, cool misty highlands and exotic spices. To the ancient Greeks, this was Taprobane; to the Arabs, Serendib; to later European conquerors, Ceylon; and in the Sinhala tongue of most of its own people, Sri Lanka – ‘Lanka the Blessed’.
Accompanied by Sri Lankan traveler,Ari Bondt, explore this tear-shaped island just off the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent. Staying at the newly refurbished Galle Face Hotel, discover Colombo, the country’s bustling commercial capital whose natural harbor at the mouth of the Kelani River was a magnet for successive traders and conquerors. Enjoy a carefully crafted walking tour through the old quarter stopping at Cargills, the once grand department store built to supply British planters with every imported luxury. Admire the collection of the National Museum which spans several centuries and includes four thousand palm leaf manuscripts.
Travel by train through terraced rice fields set in verdant forests to Kandy, the ancient highland capital where the last Sri Lankan kings held out against the European powers. Overlooking the north shore of Kandy Lake, the Temple of the Tooth is a place of pilgrimage for millions of devout Buddhists from all over Sri Lanka and is regarded by Buddhists as the treasure of their entire culture. Inside shadowy figures weave their sinuous way between elephants and packed crowds trying to get a glimpse of the casket enshrining Buddha’s tooth. Explore a trio of temples including the fourteenth-century Gadaladeniya Temple with its fine Buddhist frescoes. Further north the landscape broadens into the ‘land of rajas’, which boasts the greatest of the ancient capitals – Anuradhapura. Two thousand years ago, this was an ancient city filled with palaces and huge dagobas standing up to nine stories high with a processional avenue sixteen miles long surrounded by the richly decorated mansions of Sinhalese nobles and merchants.
Nearby Kasyapa, a usurper of the throne of Anuradhapura, constructed the palace complex of Sigiriya located on top of a vast, flat-topped rock. The move was a strategic one, as Sigiriya dominates the plains and is superbly defensible, but King Kasyapa was, above all, a lover of beauty. He exhorted his artists and engineers to build a magnificent palace in the sky. Shallow caves in the rock painted with frescoes of lovely maidens show an unsurpassed artistic genius. Drive east to Nuwara Eliya. This is the heart of the tea country and breathtaking views provide images of precipitous tea gardens whose bushes are as smooth and plump as an overstuffed sofa. Head south to the coast and spend a day tracking wildlife at the Yala National Park before arriving at Galle, a peaceful arcaded town which was home to the Dutch for many years and once served as an entrepôt for commerce between Sri Lanka and the Arab world. Return to Colombo along a beautiful coastal road where mud-walled cottages stand in lush gardens and stilt-fishermen balance precariously on sturdy poles in the ocean. Fly home from Colombo.
Group size is limited to 15 travelers.
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