BEAUTIFUL KANDY

KANDY LAKE

Built by the last king of Sri Lanka and Kandy, Wikrama Rajasinhe, in order to add beauty to the Temple of Tooth, Kandy lake is an artificial construction marking a remnant of the last ever Sri Lankan kingdom.Originally called Kiri Muhuda or the Milky Ocean, the lake has an unfinished wall called the Valakulu Bamma or clouds wall. Its incompletion is due to the arrest and imprisonment of King Wikrama Rajasinhe in 1815 when the British invaded and took Kandy. At 2060 feet, the cloud wall remains standing today in its unfinished state; the triangular holes in it are used to light oil lamps. The lake has an island at the centre which is also an artificial creation of the king. It was initially part of a dam, which King Ramasinghe had built across the lake, but it was soon destroyed from both ends, leaving just the island in the middle. 

Legend has it that this island was actually used by the King's helm for bathing, and was connected to the palace through a secret tunnel. On one side of the lake, there is also the bathing house for the queen, called the Dalada Maligawa.

There are also many protections put in place for Kandy Lake, one of them being the prohibition of fishing. The lake has reduced considerably over the years, to having a perimeter of just less than 3.5 kilometres, although when initially built, it was much bigger than that.

Having been built on excavated paddy fields, this lake is highly protected as it's considered extremely important in maintaining the decor of Kandy along with many auspicious stories related to it. 

Adam’s Peak

Adam’s Peak or the Sri Pada is an important pilgrim site. Buddhist believe the impression on the summit is the footprint of lord Buddha himself. Though it takes around 5 hours to reach the peak by foot, devotees of many religions climb the mountain daily to invoke blessings. The mountain is also named as Samanala Kanda or Butterfly Mountain.

Rich biodiversity

Adam’s Peak is surrounded, largely by the forested hills, with no mountain of comparable size anywhere near the vicinity. The region of Peak Wilderness Sanctuary that encompass the Adam’s Peak together with Horton Plains National Park and Knuckles Range, all in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka is recognized as a World Heritage Site in the year 2011.

Begin from the Base

The city of Hatton can be reached by Highland Railway line as well as by the main motor roads, the cities of Ratnapura and Kuruwita can be reached only by main motor roads.

Access to the Adam’s Peak is possible by 6 trails: Hatton-Nallathanni; Ratnapura-Palabaddala; Kuruwita-Erathna; Murraywatte; Mookuwatte; Malimboda.

The most popular routes are the Hatton-Nallathanni & Ratnapura-Palabaddala due to the picturesque views and postcard worthy scenery that can be encountered along them.

Reaching the Peak

Once you reach a final node (Nallanthanni or Palabaddala or Erathna) there begins the difficult journey through the jungle on foot. Most of the pilgrims use the Hatton route as the journey can be reduced by more than five kilometers even though the slope of this route is much greater than the others.

The Season and Timing

The pilgrims season to Sri Pada traditionally starts on the full moon of December and ends on the full moon of April. During the first half of the season the night ascent isn’t crowded. However during the latter half of the season, more people attempt the climb with each passing day..

Tourism Record in September arrivals jump3 5.9% to cross1.3 million

In the backdrop of Sri Lanka's informal tourism sector consuming almost half of the tourist arrivals, the September tourism numbers jumped to an all-time record growth of 35.9% to cross 1.3 million. The European tourists registered a growth of 11.2% whilst the Asian travelers accounting for 45.2% grew by a commanding 27.9% to reach 595,583 visitors. This indicate the changing products range that Sri Lanka will be challenged with in the future said Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau Chairman Dr.Rohana Athukorala.
(Source: Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau- Voice of the pearl article)

Adventure Sports in Sri Lanka   

(Source: http://www.srilanka.travel/)

Trekking and Hiking

With multitude of roads winding through expanding mountains, lush green forests, paddy fields, parks and sleepy villages, Sri Lanka offers a plethora of opportunities to the Keen hikers and trekkers. The highlands of Sri Lanka with virgin rain forests, sacred mountains, lush tea gardens and plains filled with rare birds and insects coupled with mild temperatures and welcoming smiles of the villagers provide the ideal setting to an unforgettable walking experience.

Diving

Surrounded by the Indian Ocean with its coral gardens, multitudeof exotic fishes and ancient wrecks Sri Lanka offers one of the best diving experiences in the world. The colorful coral gardens along southern coasts and old and new ship wrecks around the Galle harbor and little and great basses are the favourite Sri Lankan dive sites yet Kalpitiya, Ampara and Trincomalee in Eastern and Western coasts offering rare chances of wreck diving, skin diving and diving with dolphins.

Deep Sea Fishing

Surrounded by the Indian Ocean and filled with fresh water reservoir inland, Sri Lanka is the hidden paradise for extreme anglers. With a shoreline of 1,140 miles and a continental shelf of 10,000 square miles, the seas around Sri Lanka is one of the most challenging marine game fishing locations while The outfalls of 103 major river basins and hundreds of estuaries, lagoons and coastal lakes all around the country are yet to be fully explored by sporting anglers.

Rock Climbing

Experience the thrills of crumbling rocks beneath the feet, head spinning heights and the earth expanding beneath conquering the mountains of Sri Lanka. The ranges of mountains standing guard around the highlands of Sri Lanka including the Knuckles range, Ella range, Habarana, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Horton Plains and Buttala provide challenging climbs to armature as well as experienced climbers. The newest experience in mountaineering in waterfall climbing with exciting climbs like the rock face of Bambarakanda waterfall, the tallest in the country.

Sri Lanka - The Place of a Lifetime

Sigiriya

Sigiriya  is a major archaeological site in Sri Lanka. It was made a World Heritage Site, by UNESCO in 1982. Rising 200 meters vertically from the flat pains, Sigiriya Rock provides you with one of the most dramatic sites in Sri Lanka. The Sigiriya site consists of a 200 meter tall granite rock, whose sides are so steep that at some points the top overhangs the base. Ruins of various chambers, stairways and pools can be seen at the top of this rock. There is a stone stairway leading from the base to the top of the mountain. About half way to the top, there is a giant pair of lions paws which is in fact are the remains of a huge head of a lion whose open mouth served as the entrance to the royal palace. Surrounding the palace complex are the ruins of a garden complex consisting of two moats and various pools, some with water fountains still functioning after 1500 years.

Unawatuna Beach

Unawatuna is a cautionary tale for the rest of Sri Lanka's south coast. Where there was once a flawless crescent of golden sand that swept along a palm-lined shore with turquoise waters that had just enough surf to make for ideal swimming conditions, there is now one of Sri Lanka's less appealing beach towns.

The beautiful water is still there and you can still find decent patches of sand, but in several places greed has replaced good taste and common sense. Bulldozers have pushed huge boulders right up to and beyond the high tide line, allowing for the construction of some especially ugly hotels and cafes. Ironically, authorities have actually enforced setbacks on the west half of Unawatuna's beach and the result is much more salubrious.

Beautiful Sri Lanka

PERADENIYA BOTANICAL GARDEN

As Sri Lanka’s largest garden an elegant and spacious 147-acres (60-hectares) plenty of time is needed to stroll Peradeniya’s imposing Avenue of Royal Palms.

There are some 4,000 different species of plants at Peradeniya Gardens. The 10,000 or so trees, which are the stars, are mature, lofty giants, many of them tropical timber trees. Highlights of the collection include the Giant Bamboo of Burma, capable of growing to 40 meters height (130 feet) with a 25-centimetre (10-inch) stem diameter. And it can grow by a rapid 30 centimeters a day (12 inches).

Absolutely sensational is the century old giant Javan fig tree, its tentacle like roots spread across the enormous area of about 1,800 square meters (19,375 square feet) a massive central trunk beneath the tree’s vast canopy ‘umbrella’.

The Cannonball tree is also intriguing, with its cannonball-like fruit hanging off the trunk and large open, waxy pink-white flowers. So is the Double Coconut Palm, one of 200 types of palms displayed at Peradeniya – originating from the Seychelles, this tree produces the largest seed known. Its fruits take five years to mature.

The gardens showcase all of Sri Lanka’s flora and representative species from around the tropical world. Luminaries as varied as Queen Elizabeth II , Marshal Tito and Yuri Gugarin have planted trees to mark their visits to the garden.

Source :http://www.botanicgardens.gov.lk/