This tropical island is known for its diverse and stunning nature including green mountain slopes, lush tea plantations, pristine beaches and national parks showcasing an abundance of wildlife. Below can you read an excerpt from the travel-log from the trip 12 - 24 November!
Thursday 16 November
The journey continued by bus and we saw some wild elephants cross the road ahead of us. We had lunch and made ourselves at home in the spacious bungalows of Aliya Resort. During the afternoon we went for a village nearby. On our way there we got to experience a short and a bit bumby ride with oxcart and even cross a lake by raft. In a small hut were we shown how to mince millet, bake bread over open fire and mix coconut-sambal. We also had the pleasure to taste some of it and drink herbal tea with palm sugar. During the evening and dinner we got to explore even more flavours from the Sri Lankan food tradition.
Friday 17 November
After breakfast we went for the majestic lion cliff Sigiriya Rock, which is on UNESCO's world heritage list. After have made it all the way to the top, were we rewarded with an amazing view! We enjoyed our lunch which was cooked over open fire next to the rice-fields, and there were many tasty dishes to choose from: curry with jackfruit, banana, beans or cucumber for example, and as usual was a woderful fruit salad served as desert. It was also possible to taste yoghurt from buffalo and palm syrup.
Later we headed for another UNESCO-world heritage; Polonnaruwa, where we admired the old, beautiful buddha statues, sculptured direct into the rock. We were guided among the ruins of the old kingdom by the primate researcher Dr. Wolfgang Dittus, who has studied monkeys for 50 years. He showed us gray langur, toque macaque and purple-faced langur. The last two ones are endemic, which means it is not possible to see them in the wild anywhere but Sri Lanka.
