Sri Lanka is a tourist's paradise. Wonderful pristine beaches, lush-green hills, wild life, heritage sites, exotic cuisine - Sri Lanka has everything. Travelling to Sri Lanka was a wonderful opportunity to relax, unwind and see nature at its best. We could however only have a glimpse of the country in our 5 night/6 day trip.
Arriving at Kandy we began our tour immediately by a visit to Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, enjoyed a cultural show featuring various dance types of Srilanka and then visited the Temple of Tooth Relic (a tooth of Buddha is said to be enshrined here) on the very auspicious Buddha Purnima night. In the following days we visited the Royal Botanical Gardens and spent a night at The Tea Factory resort, in Nuwara Eliya, tea estate area in the central highlands of Sri Lanka with a picturesque landscape and temperate climate. We visited the Udawalawa National Park, and in our ride through the Park watched birds, buffaloes, monkeys and of course elephants.
In Colombo we stayed at Hilton, and were invited by Mr Anirban Ghosh Dastidar, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank, Sri Lanka, to lunch with the who’s who of Sri Lanka. This included Ms Shyamala Gomez, Lawyter; Dr Pramilla Senanayake, Honorary President of the Family Planning Association; Ms Rosy Senanayake, MP; Mrs Nirmali Wickremesinghe, Principal, Ladies College; Ms Shehara Rajapakshe, Editor, Lanka Women; Ms Surekha Sellahewa, CEO , Colombo Stock Exchange ; Ms Dharshi Keerthisena , Creative Director , Buddhi Batiks ;
Mrs Sharmila Kantha, wife of Indian High Commissioner Shri Ashok Kantha and daughter of former Indian Finance Minister Shri Yashwant Sinha. We of shopped and shopped and shopped some more in Colombo, at every opportunity we got !