sri-lanka-13-full-pdf-ebook.pdf

Jaf fna & the

North

Discovery

Temples

Seashores

Off the Beaten

Path

All but shut down to

travel for years, the

North is now ready

to be explored. The

going is greatly

improved, while

seeing glimpses of

war history is pow-

erfully moving.

Religious

Discoveries

Hindu gods and

goddesses painted

in exquisite riots

of colour animate

towering temple

gateways all over

the North. Even

better, though, are

the friendly priests

and devotees who

will welcome you to

puja (prayer).

Jaffna’s Coasts

Seemingly end-

less coastlines curl

around the Jaffna

region’s mainland

and islands. Coast

roads, causeways

and wooden-boat

rides to isolated

islands are only sec-

ond to the islands’

sublime beauty.

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The East

Beaches

Activities

Wildlife

Lonely Sands

Most of the east

coast’s miles

of beaches are

untouched, but

even those that

are developed are

sandy wonderlands,

with just the right

amounts of palm

trees, white sands

and low-key scenes.

Snoozing &

Diving

The East provides

activities to alter-

nate with napping

on hammocks. The

ocean here isn’t just

calm and gorgeous,

but it has the reefs

and wrecks for great

snorkelling and div-

ing, and the right

waves for surfing.

Kumana

National Park

Kumana National

Park doesn’t have

the size (or the leop-

ard population) of

its neighbour Yala.

However, it does

lack Yala’s tourist

population, which

means the leopards,

elephants and birds

here are all yours.

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The Ancient

Cities

Monuments

Temples

Cycling

Ancient

Treasures

The Polonnaruwa

Quadrangle, the

ancient quarter of

Anuradhapura, the

jaw-dropping sight

of the rock monas-

tery at Sigiriya: just

some of the remark-

able ruins ready for

exploration.

Sri Maha Bodhi

Amid the leaf-

shrouded ruins of

Anuradhapura is

Sri Maha Bodhi, a

tree that has seen

history and devo-

tion for 2000 years.

Nearby, a welter of

temples and monu-

ments will inspire

your own devotion.

Biking the

Temples

The ruins of the An-

cient Cities are sited

within much larger

parks and reserves.

You can pedal be-

tween the wonders

along palm-shaded

paths and never see

a car. Guesthouses

have bikes for hire.

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The Hill

Country

Walking

Wildlife

Eating

Verdant Hikes

Hack through jun-

gles, shiver over high

plateaus, traipse to

vertigo-inspiring

viewpoints, tip-toe

through tea planta-

tions and walk in

the footsteps of gods.

Elephants &

More

No other part of

Sri Lanka offers

such varied wildlife

habitats. There’s

steamy rainforests

filled with noisy

birds, grassland

savannahs ruled by

elephants, and high-

land forests covered

in delicate lichens

and moss.

Guesthouse

Dining

Eating in Sri Lanka

is rarely anything

but a pleasure,

but it’s in the Hill

Country where the

preparation and

consumption of food

becomes an art form,

and the best food

comes from your

guesthouse kitchen.

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PLAN YOUR TRIP

Regions at a

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ance