• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

POINTS SOUTH

Individual tours to India and Sri Lanka

  • GALLERY
  • ITINERARIES
    • Southern India Twenty-one days
    • Kerala Home Stays
    • Culinary tour of Kerala
    • Tamil Nadu
    • Karnataka & Kerala
    • Sri Lanka
    • Rural Rajasthan
  • ABOUT US
  • CLIENT FEEDBACK
  • AYURVEDA/YOGA
  • CONTACT US
  • BLOG
  • PRESS COVERAGE
  • GENERAL INFORMATION
  • HONEYMOONS
  • MAPS
    • Southern India
    • Northern India
    • Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Recent Research Trip

March 21, 2016 By Kathy

The teardrop shaped island sits just to the east of India, with a very similar climate to Southern India. On my recent research trip to the island, I visited the west coast, famous for kite surfing and dolphin watching, the landscape is flat with many wind farms, the beaches long and sandy. I stayed on the Kalpitiya peninsula, the area is unspoilt with no large hotels-yet. I stayed at Dolphin beach with fabulous posh tents, perfect barefoot living. The area is a two-hour drive from the airport and close to Wilpattu national park.
srilanka1-300x225I then travelled to the cultural triangle, via Anuradhapura, here I visited Forest Rock garden, built in the style of the ancient city nearby, with a superb swimming pool resembling an ancient tank, the rooms are all elevated above the forest, beautifully appointed-perfect for honeymooners. I then stopped at the recently refurbished rest house, called the sanctuary, a perfect location to explore the ancient city, a delightful heritage property.

Next to the area known as the cultural triangle, near Sigiriya, here I stayed at the fabulous Vil Uyana, the cottages are situated amongst reclaimed forest land with a large lake, wonderful birdlife, peacocks sitting in trees and a family of mongoose living near my cottage. They also arrange night-time loris spotting trips in the forest, there is an excellent spa to revive you after climbing the rock fortress at Sigiriya.

I saw several recently opened properties, loved Wild Grass, luxury tree houses set in thirty acres of un-spoilt forest, ideal for nature lovers. Mainstream tourism has engulfed Sri Lanka, now it is even more important to choose your accommodation well in advance at the smaller properties where the coaches filled with package tours cannot access. I also visited Back of beyond, tucked away in the forest at the base of Pidurangula rock, this can be climbed to see the Buddhist temple half way up, and a superb view of Sigiriya from the top, without having to queue! The newly opened Aliya hotel reminded me of terminal 5-grim. The Camelia was the nicest of the resort hotels in the cultural triangle area.
sri-lanka-2-300x225From here I went east to Polonarruwa, the smaller ancient city, the old rest house by the lake has been refurbished unfortunately, the character has been spoilt. From here to the east coast to stay at Pasikudah, a beautiful bay of golden sand and shallow water, several large hotels have been built along the bay, some in keeping some ugly modern blocks, such a shame. I stay at Uga bay, very stylish but next door is a half-built hotel, there is very little else to do in the area and the nearest town of Batticaloa is 40 minutes’ drive.

Here I saw the Cinnamon air-sea plane land, Sri Lanka now has a good internal flight network, saving long car journeys. I spent two days in this area trying to find a small interesting property for my clients and failed.

From here I drove back inland to Kandy the former capital, now a major tourist destination, they all come to see the Temple of the Tooth, where a remnant of Buddha’s tooth is kept. There is an excellent Botanical gardens near the town at Peridenya. I visited several properties in the town, Kandy is very much on the main tourist trail, unless one is interested in temples and gardens I wouldn’t bother staying here. I staying in the countryside nearby at a charming country house called Elpitiya Walauwe, the house is owned by the Panabokke family, eminent Sri Lankans, and full of fascinating memorabilia. There is a small tea factory run by the family, the hospitality was excellent here.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Sri Lanka recent research trip, tailor made Sri Lanka holidays

  • CONTACT US
  • BLOG
  • PRESS COVERAGE
  • GENERAL INFORMATION
  • HONEYMOONS
  • MAPS
    • Southern India
    • Northern India
    • Sri Lanka

Primary Sidebar

Simple social icons

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Footer



MEMBERSHIP NO. 5212

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER

© 2016 Points South Holidays. All Rights Reserved. | Sitemap| Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | www.rst-webdesign.co.uk

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.