Excursion tour "Pearl of the Indian Ocean"

After breakfast, free time at the hotel, which you can devote to exploring the surrounding area or go on one of the following excursions (optional): Anuradhapura is a city of ancient Ceylon, which remained the capital of the Sinhalese state for 1,400 years. Anuradhapura is not only an ancient capital, but also a sacred city. Every year, thousands of believers make a pilgrimage to the holy places, of which there are eight in the city: the Bo tree and seven dagobas. In the center of the city stands one of the seven stupas - the Ruwanovelli dagoba or Mahathupa (Great Stupa), built on a foundation of golden gravel in the 2nd century BC. Only at the foot it has a diameter of more than 80 m. All stupas contain relics (fragments of the physical remains of the Buddha) or were built on the site of important religious or historical events. Option. Pre-order. US$70 per person (min. 2 persons, including entrance fees) Minneriya. Jeep safari in Minneriya National Park. The park covers an area of over 8,800 hectares. The opportunity to see animal life in the park is very high, there are 9 species of mammals, 160 species of birds, 25 species of reptiles and 78 species of butterflies. Of course, the most interesting part of the program is watching wild elephants on the shore of the Minneriya reservoir, they come here for fresh grass during the dry season. The national park is home to over 400 elephants, and this is the largest population in the world concentrated in one place. Option. Pre-booking. US$80 per person (min. 2 persons, including entrance fees and safari) In the afternoon we will visit the "Fortress in the Sky": Sigiriya. The residence of King Kasap was built in the 5th century AD. Sigiriya or Lion Rock, 370 meters high, got its name from the huge stone lion that once stood at the entrance to the top. At the top are the ruins of the Upper Palace, and at the foot is the Lower Palace, surrounded by walls and a moat filled with water. Steps carved in stone lead to the Upper Palace. During the time of ancient rulers, the surface of the wall, 140 meters long and 40 meters high, was completely covered with frescoes with figures of apsaras - heavenly dancers. Durable plant paints allowed the frescoes to partially survive; even the past fifteen hundred years have not been able to completely erase them. Since 1982, Sigiriya has been under the protection of UNESCO. Batik factory. Batik is a national craft in Sri Lanka. As a result of the painstaking work of local craftsmen, works of art are created that you will not be ashamed to take as a gift to your friends. There are many factories in the country that produce batik, we will visit one of them to admire all the stages of creating a miracle. Dinner and overnight at a hotel in Sigiriya or Habarana. Anuradhapura is a city of ancient Ceylon, which remained the capital of the Sinhalese state for 1400 years. Anuradhapura is not only an ancient capital, but also a holy city. Every year, thousands of believers make a pilgrimage to holy places, of which there are eight in the city: the Bo tree and seven dagobas. In the center of the city stands one of the seven stupas - the Ruwanovelli dagoba or Mahathupa (Great Stupa), built on a foundation of golden gravel in the 2nd century BC. Only at the foot it has a diameter of more than 80 m. All stupas contain relics (fragments of the physical remains of the Buddha) or were built on the site of important religious or historical events. Option. Pre-order. US$ 70 per person (Min. 2 pax includes entrance fees) Minneriya. Jeep safari in Minneriya National Park. The Park covers more than 8800 hectares. The opportunity to see the life of animals in the Park is very great: there are 9 species of mammals, 160 species of birds, 25 species of reptiles and 78 species of butterflies. Of course, the most interesting part of the program is watching wild elephants on the shore of the Minneriya reservoir, they come here for fresh grass in the dry season. There are more than 400 elephants in the national park and this is the largest population in the world concentrated in one place. Option. Pre-order. US$ 80 per person (Min. 2 pax includes entrance fees and safari) In the afternoon we visit the "Fortress in the Sky": Sigiriya. The residence for King Kasap was built in the 5th century AD. Sigiriya or Lion Rock, 370 meters high, was named so because of the huge stone lion that once stood at the entrance to the top. At the top are the ruins of the Upper Palace, and at the foot is the Lower Palace, surrounded by walls and a moat filled with water. Steps cut in stone lead to the Upper Palace. During the time of ancient rulers, the surface of the wall 140 m long and 40 m high was completely covered with frescoes with figures of apsaras - heavenly dancers. Persistent plant paints allowed the frescoes to partially survive, even the past one and a half thousand years could not completely erase them. Since 1982, Sigiriya has been under the protection of UNESCO. Batik factory. Batik is a national craft in Sri Lanka. As a result of the painstaking work of local craftsmen, works of art are created that you will not be ashamed to take as a gift to friends. There are many factories in the country that make batik, we will visit one of them to admire all the stages of the miracle. Dinner and night at a hotel in Sigiriya or Habarana.

After breakfast, visit the Dambulla Cave Temple and depart for Kandy. 148 km from Colombo, near the town of Matale, there is a Buddhist cave temple carved by people 2000 years ago. The rock temple of Buddha entering parinirvana is the largest cave temple in South Asia. The complex consists of several caves. In addition to them, there are many niches, the walls of which are covered with paintings with Buddhist motifs with a total area of 2100 m². There are five main caves and twenty-five rock cells, which contain 153 statues of Buddha, 3 statues of kings and 4 gods. Sometimes the temple is called Golden, because 73 statues are covered with gold. Further on the road to Kandy, an extensive program: wood carving workshop; Spice Garden; Museum and factory of precious stones; Temple of the Tooth Relic of Buddha and a dance performance. Spice Garden in Matale. Spices are the treasure that attracted Asian traders to the ports of ancient Sri Lanka. Later, Europeans arrived and quickly realized that it was easier to select than to trade. We will visit the spice garden, where the smells of cinnamon, pepper, cardamom, nutmeg create previously unknown sensations, resurrecting blurred images of the history of the Great Discoveries. Museum and jewelry factory. Marco Polo wrote that the best sapphires and topazes in the world are mined on this island. Nothing has changed since then, the jewelry industry has a very long history. Sri Lanka was once known as Ratna-Dvipa, which means the Island of Gems - up to 85 varieties of stones are found here. Sapphires, tourmalines, amethysts and moonstones are world famous. By the way, the largest sapphire of over 400 carats, called the "Blue Beauty of Asia", was found in an ordinary rice field in Sri Lanka. Kandy is the last royal capital of Sri Lanka of the Sinhalese and the current cultural capital of the island. Among the hilly terrain, in the center of the city there is a lake, next to which there is a Buddhist shrine - the temple of Sri Dalada Maligawa, the Sacred Tooth Relic of Buddha. This is one of the most beautiful cities in Sri Lanka, famous for its craftsmen. In Kandy there are art and archaeological museums, a center of traditional crafts. In the evening we will see a national dance performance. Dinner and overnight at a hotel in Kandy.

Breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast - the Royal Botanical Garden, Ramboda Waterfall, tea plantation and factory. The Royal Botanical Garden is the largest in Asia, it contains 4,000 specimens of southern plants. It has the largest collection of orchids in the world - more than 1,000 species. The famous Benjamin ficus occupies an entire meadow, and the giant Burmese bamboo can reach 40 meters in height, growing 30 centimeters in just one day. In the center of the garden there is a memorial alley, the trees of which were planted by famous guests of Sri Lanka. Among them were Emperor Nicholas II, A. P. Chekhov, Yu. A. Gagarin. Visit to the tea factory in Jiragam. Visit to the tea factory. Then departure to the hotel on the coast.