Temples, tea plantations and elephants on an island the size of Switzerland – Sri Lanka is Asia in two weeks.
Photo: Dylan Shaw (Unsplash)
Full disclosure: I know Sri Lanka from other people's stories, not from seeing it myself. Friends who've been rave about the variety packed into such a small space: on the Lion Rock of Sigiriya in the morning, temples in Kandy at midday, and up in the tea country at 18 degrees by evening.
The train ride from Kandy to Ella through the tea plantations is said to be one of the most beautiful in the world – slow, with open doors and vendors in the aisle. Then a safari in Yala National Park with elephants and leopards, and to finish, the beaches in the south around Mirissa and Tangalle, where blue whales pass by in winter.
You travel round Sri Lanka with a driver – that's the norm and it's cheap; a car with chauffeur costs around 60 francs a day. The tours on TourRadar do exactly that, with a guide and hotels, in 10 to 14 days.
A round trip with changing hotels; at the end, three or four nights on the beach in the south (Mirissa, Tangalle, Unawatuna).
I almost always compare hotels, apartments and guesthouses on Booking.com – with genuine reviews and usually free cancellation.
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