You need to allow yourself at least two weeks to do this whistle
\nstop tour! Arrive into Colombo and take a bus north east to Kandy a
\n100km so not too far. Take time out to see the Temple of the Tooth,
\nexplore around the lake, visit the botanical gardens, the elephant
\norphanage etc.<\/p>\n
Then another bus to Nuwara Eliya, some 80km away, up in the hill
\nstation region of Sri Lanka. Great hikes here, visit tea plantations
\netc. Then by bus again to Dambulla, Visit the cave temple of Dambulla
\nthere are 5 caves containing 150 images of the Buddha you are going
\nto be Budda'd out by the time you finish this!! Fantastic views
\nfrom the top of the temple.<\/p>\n
Take a bus to nearby Sigiriya (19km north-east of Dambulla about
\nhalf an hour) where there is an amazing fortress built into and on
\ntop of a mountain. It is quite steep and if you have problems with
\nheights, you may not be able to go all the way up the Beetle
\ncouldn't. It started as a fortress, then turned into a monastery
\nsort of retreat. There are fabulous frescos of dancing women inside
\nthe cave half way up.<\/p>\n
From here, go back to Dambulla and continue north by bus to
\nPolonnaruwa. This takes about three hours. Visit the ruins of the
\nancient civilisation and see the enormous seated Buddha. After
\nPolonnaruwa, take a bus up to Anuradhapura, (about four hours), the
\nsite of another ancient city, and there is a sacred Bo tree.<\/p>\n
You've done enough cultural stuff! So take the bus all the way
\nback down to Colombo – about five hours. Don't hang around in
\nColombo – it's not a nice place, but if you have funds and want
\nto go to the Maldives, try the big hotels and see if they have any
\nspecial deals – they can be quite good value. From Colombo, take the
\ntrain to Galle (around three hours) and a taxi to Unawatuna and relax
\non the beach before returning to Colombo by train.<\/p>\n
If you are interested in surfing, stop off at Hikkaduwa, a real
\nhippy and surf place on the south west coast.<\/p>\n
You need to allow yourself at least two weeks to do this whistle stop tour! Arrive into Colombo and take a bus north east to Kandy a 100km so not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"css_class_manager_body_classes":"","css_class_manager_use_in_post_loop":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[13],"class_list":["post-3079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-main-article","tag-april-2001"],"yoast_head":"\n