Before planning a trip to Srilanka I was poring over some literature about the place and most of them termed Sri Lanka as the island of Dharma, Pearl of the orient and Resplendent isle. These names reveal the rich multi-faceted , cultural and natural beauty of Srilanka formerly known as Ceylon. This paradise located in the south of India has seen many ups and downs in the recent past but seems to have steadied down now.

Srilanka has a history and heritage of more than 2500 years, being very much a part of our great epic Ramayana. India and Srilanka share a lot of things in common because of the close proximity and also shared culture and civilisation. Since it is quite a small island one can easily plan a trip that covers most of the important spots.When we planned to visit this little paradise on earth we had a pretty packed itinerary that included the seven heritage sites as well as nature and environmental sites.

When we arrived there what welcomed us was a landscape of verdant mountains, rainforests, paddy fields, tumbling waterfalls - very beautiful and we were all set to explore what Srilanka had to offer!

Useful information for travelers

Srilanka is well connected to India. Besides Indian airlines and Jet airways, there are also daily flights offered by Sri Lanka airlines from Chennai, Hyderabad ,Mumbai, Kochi, Bangalore and a few other places. There are many good hotels - medium, cheap and luxurious and expensive to stay depending on your budget. Some of the well known hotels are Hilton International at Colombo, Kandalama at Dambulla, Galadari at Colombo, Eden Hotel at Beruwala and some of the more well known guest houses like Luckissme guest house at Kandy ( yes that is actually its name), Village Inn at Unawatuna and Charm Inn at Anuradhapura. Of course there are many more places and generally they are all clean and well maintained.

We kick started our Srilanka trip with a visit to the Dambulla Rock caves.

Dambulla Rock Caves

We took a train to reach Dambulla from Combo where we had arrived the previous day. The 2 hours plus train journey is very pleasant and scenic. You also get to see the Colombo forts in the distance. The cave temples date back to the 1st century and there are five caves that have been turned into shrines. The caves are crammed by Buddha’s images of various sizes and in various positions. As you look up at the ceiling of the shrine, you see some really intricate artwork depicting Buddha. Surprisingly there are also some images of Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi. The main attraction is the Golden Buddha which towers over the structure and is 30 meters long and is the largest in the country.

Dombulla caves are located on the top of a small hill which you have to climb, just about 10 minutes and you need to leave your footwear out while walking through the caves. You can buy snacks, drinks and trinkets and stuff from shops nearby – it is well maintained and well managed.I also feel that it is a must visit spot in Srilanka. There are some nice hotels in Dombulla and people stay there since it is relatively peaceful and we felt that, had we known earlier we too could have stayed there instead of in Colombo which is a busy and crowded city. Anyway, it was a day well spent looking at all the historical relics and spending time in those magnificent caves.

The Sigiraya

Sigiraya was built by King Khashyap apparently as a pleasure palace, but with the invasion of Buddhism it became a monastery after 3rd century BC. We made our way through the complex network of paths, remains of gardens ,reservoirs and moats to the foot of the slope. When we climbed up we were greeted by a terrace like structure. There is a wall above the terrace known as mirror wall which is beautifully painted with pictures of pretty damsels. It is basically a huge rock structure and a world heritage site.

Apparently John Stillwell, the famous mathematician is supposed to have been very impressed by the structure and observed – The entire face of the hill appears to have been a gigantic picture gallery...the largest picture in the world. As we climbed further we were faced with massive paws of lion and you have to climb further up to the top gallery from where you have a magnificent view. However, if you are one of those who is scared of heights, take care because certain places where you have to climb are very steep. Another marvelous place and a great day...

Kandy

The next day we went to Kandy which is considered to be the top city of Srilanka. We took a bus and the bus ride was really something since the route is filled with lush greenery, small villages and hamlets. The beautiful city of Kandy is surrounded by hills and the Mahaweli river runs through it. There is a lot of Buddhist history connected to the city and a tooth of Buddha is enshrined in the palace complex. The temple where the sacred tooth is kept is known as Dalada Maligawa.This place is sacred for Buddhists and millions of Buddhists from all over the world visit the temple every year.We became friendly with a Japanese couple who were extremely interested and curious to learn about all the details about the temple and its architecture etc ! I was impressed by the precise manner in which they noted down the details. Travel is a great learning experience with regard to people as well. We get to learn new things each day.

After the amazing temple we visited the Kirhi Muhuda lake which means milky ocean, supposed to have been one of the favorite haunts of the king. There is an old building which was part of the kings harem and pleasure house. Kandy has many old temples and for us what was even more interesting was the botanical garden which is amazing.

Srilanka is a green haven anyway and the Perandeniya Botanical garden is simply amazing. It covers an area of 60 hectares and has over 100 varieties of palm trees and more than 300 varieties of colorful and beautiful orchids. We spent a lot of time in the garden and for me that was the best memory of Kandy along with the temple.

Anuradhapura

To the north of Kandy is Anuradhapura which is THE most ancient city. There are many things to see here and since we were pressed for time we had to really rush about. We saw Sri Maha Bodhi which is one of the major attractions. The Bodhi tree was gifted by Emperor Ashoka to Sri Lanka and that Gautam Buddha meditated under this tree. Just next to the Maha Bodhi tree is the Loha Prasad , The Brass palace.But, sadly not much of it remains today. It was a nine storeyed building supported by 1600 pillars.

Next we went to Jetavana Dagoba or stupa which is also a Museum, which in turn is a huge dome structure, very ancient and impressive. It covers more than 8 acres of area and is immense! According to records It is also the world's biggest stupa and is still the tallest & largest structure made entirely of brick anywhere on earth. It took 27 years to build and contains over ninety million bricks, that is really something!

Other than that there is a gem palace called Ratan palace which has a snake pillars covered with gems and a royal garden in 35 acres of land , where the landscaping is a marvel. Such a small city and so many things to see and do, we were exhausted by the end of it.

Wilpattu National Park

The next day we visited the famous Wilpattu National Park. You need to keep at least two days , more if you can  to cover the entire area and we just had one and a half days since we arrived here only in the afternoon after lunch and after checking into a resort close to the park . But unfortunately certain things were not up to the mark, especially the way it has been maintained. The most disappointing thing was the toilets which were as bad as it is in India, not worse though ! Sri lanka is a clean country , so it came as a surprise and one can probably attribute it to the toursits who visit the place.

I was told by some Indians who were there that Kaziranga is any day better than this which I felt was not entirely true since Wilpattu was impressive in its own way. There are many different species like the spotted leopards which we got to see, elephants ,sloth bear and crocodiles which are there in great numbers going in and out of the water.

Sinharaja Forest Reserve

This can be reached from Colombo by road and it is at a distance of about 125kms from there. This tropical forest on an area of 9300 hectares is filled with trees and greenery, animals, birds and many waterfalls. According to those who have visited the place earlier you need at least 3 or 4 days to get a grip of all the flora and fauna properly. Of course as always we didn’t have 3 or 4 days , just one day at our disposal and we tried to make the most of it.

There are two entrances to the reserve forests in the north and the south. Before I go on I must mention this, it is wise to invest in a pair of locally available leech proof socks because the place is infested with leeches and plenty of snakes. We did get to see a huge one and we almost cut short our tour! There are plenty of monkeys , the special kind of purple faced ones and deers and number of birds. We got to spot a few through our binoculars like the red faced malkoha,Blue magpie and the shy headed babbler !

Beaches

If you are a beach buff then you have stuck it rich ! Sri Lanka is dotted with beaches. There is Negambo beach which is just 7 kms from the International airport at Colombo. It is a very popular holiday destination since it has acres of golden beaches and palm trees, plenty of sea food. It is a pretty fishing town that also has some interesting looking churches.

Mt Lavinia is another favorite destination as it is considered one of the best beaches in the world. It is also close to Colombo at just 12 kms. The white sands and the calm sea add to its charm. There is a lagoon and the whole beach is very attractive. At night sea turtles come out and lay their eggs. These eggs are hatched in safety in the nearby Turtle sanctuary and then the young turtles are released in their natural environment.

Beruwala beach is another popular resort covered in golden sand for a long stretch of 130 kms. There are a number of resorts in this area and the sea is tame the year round even during the monsoons. Sri Lanka is at its best during monsoons since earlier I had visited it in the month of July when it was covered with torrential rains..

Hikkadua

Hikkaduwa is one of the most popular tourist destinations because it offers something to everybody. The pristine white sands look inviting for sun bathers. Then there are coral gardens that can be seen either by diving up to them or in glass – bottomed boats. We took the boat and it was truly fabulous and I never imagined that corals had that many colors.

Many tourists come here for scuba diving since there are as many as 18 locations from where one can try it. It was a great experience and the beach itself is beautiful with lots of greenery around it and rocks jutting out and of course the perfect weather to top it all.

Galle

Close to Hikkadua is Galle.There are two different stories about this city and how it derived its name.

It is said that when the Portuguese reached Galle they were greeted by the crowing of crows ( Gallus in Portuguese) and that is how the town ended up being named Galle. But according to old timer Sinhalese, the name Gallus is derived from Sinhalese word gala which means Rock.The harbor itself is rocky so that story seems more credible! The Galle fort was built by the Dutch in the 17th century. Most of the tourists enter the fort through the main gate which was cut by the British in 1873.

All the buildings date back to the Dutch era and there are some imposing structures like an old church which is white and is called the Dutch Great Church, which is the first protestant church established in Sri Lanka. Although Most Srilankans are Buddhists, there is a large Hindu population as well as Christian and Muslim population.

Galle also has a museum and another church equally beautiful built by the Dutch. Gale was a place definitely worth visiting and we had not planned on visiting it but whille we were at Hikkadua some toursist we met there suggested that we visit the place.

Sri Lankan Cuisine and shopping

Sri Lanka is known for its various spices like pepper, cloves and cinnamon and it is liberally used in many of their dishes. Food is tasty and spicy. Though Sri Lankan food can be compared to South Indian food, it remains distinctly its own form of cuisine. There have been many influences on this little island through history , so Sri Lanka has adapted its food culture into a blend of different concoctions and dishes.

They love very spicy food and some of the popular Sri Lankan dishes are Sambhal which is like a mixed salad and kottu , which is like the Indian version of kootu made vegetables and egg. They also use coconut in most of their dishes like the South Indians do. Sea food is delicious especially their fiery hot fish curry and prawn curry which is served with rice or hoppers ( dosas) or appams .They also make a egg hopper which is Dosa with egg mixture pored on top of it and served with a stew.

We all loved the food since it is tasty and had a lot of flavor , very similar to our food yet different in some ways since the blend of spices is different. A platter of food is the best bet, like our Thali in India - comes with a thick paratha, a variety of dishes both vegetarian and non vegetarian and steamed rice and a sweet dish. They make some lovely desserts with coconut called Wattappams and Kithul pudding.

Shopping is great in Sri Lanka. One can buy the locally made handicraft items especially those made from coconut shells, sea shells and also cotton clothes which are not too expensive. There are street side shops and also many malls spread all over the popular tourist destinations. We picked cotton tops and shirts which have really lasted, the quality being excellent !

Conclusions

We were very curious and also were not sure how things would be after all the turmoil that was there, so wanted to know how Sri lanka and the tamil population had coped after the violence which took place a couple of years ago which took many lives and also put an end to LTTE problem. There is a lot of unrest still.

According to some of the Tamilians , they were better off now, since LTTE only made false promises and fleeced money from them in the name of bringing them liberation. It started off as a liberation force but went on to become another mafia that lost its purpose and became a nuisance. At least some of the people seem quite happy and they inter mingle freely and go about their activities since peace has been established now.

However, there are also tales or horror where hundreds of Tamilians were butchered by the Sri Lankan army after most of the LTTE commandos were caught and the chief was  killed. It is a period of history that may never be forgotten since it had long standing effects on the entire population, but the only way left is to forget and move on and the Sri Lankan population is doing just that.

For visitors Sri Lanka has many delights and one is floored by its charm and like us, most would want to visit the place yet again. Sri Lanka is a dream destination for travelers and truly a pearl of the orient !