Ceylon Diaries
On 9th September 2016, my friends and I escaped and headed to beautiful place called Sri Lanka! What a great place with so much diversity for a such a small country.
Sri Lanka is found simply off the east bank of Southern India, however the way of life and people appear to be so unique in relation to its neighbor. It additionally has a dominant part of Buddhists. If I had to compare them I would say that Sri Lanka is much more clean, less congested nation than India.
It was a short trip and you would definitely need at least 14 days to explore entire Sri Lanka.
Anyhow I’ll try my best to walk you through some of the places which we visited.
DAY 01: COLOMBO
As a city, Colombo highlights include cosmopolitan Galle Road, which keeps running along the sea, the Sri Lankan National Museum, Independence Square and Gangaramaya Temple.
Next to the Fort is the market district of Pettah. A clamoring zone crammed with markets as well as the main train and bus stations. This is the place we began our time in Colombo and we were eager to head back and explore it some more. This is one of the best places to visit in Colombo if you want to do some shopping or encircle yourself by local people and get lost for a moment.
It is additionally the spot to see a blend of Sri Lankan ethnic groups with a blend of religious buildings.
There are nice wide boulevards and footpaths, we barely noticed any garbage, and the roads were not crowded at all. People were kind and helpful, we were barely hassled and I started to understand why so many people love Sri Lanka.
DAY 02: KANDY
Kandy is Sri Lanka’s second-biggest city, after Colombo, there is nothing more to view except for the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, Kandy Lake and a pleasant plant garden. Kandy serves as the gateway to Sri Lanka’s so-called “Cultural Triangle,” there is a beautiful manmade lake in the centre of town that is perfect to explore day or night. We didn’t had additional time to wander around in Kandy but we made it to the Tooth Temple where they keep a tooth from Buddha which is a proven relic. Buddhists from everywhere throughout the world come here to worship and offer flowers.
Be that as it may, and since you have to pass through it to travel elsewhere in the locale, you ought to spend no less than a day in Kandy, although you needn’t spend the night.
One option from Kandy is to travel northward by bus, to the ancient “Rock City” of Sigiriya. You need to pass through the village of Dambulla in order to get to Sigiriya, to which your only transport options are private taxi or tuk-tuk.
DAY 03: SIGIRIYA & DAMBULLA
Sigiriya is an awesome experience, but at the same time it’s an extremely costly one. Transport from Dambulla to Sigiriya costs atleast 2,000 LKR, and entrance ticket is 1950 LKR per person — if one can show an identity card/passport of SAARC countries which consists of Maldives, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Afghanistan, which means that even if you avoid a hotel stay in Dambulla, you will be spending hefty amount of money just to see Sigiriya.
Dambulla’s renowned worldwide Royal Rock Temple is acquainted with its spectacular Buddha-filled interior long before you arrive in town. This remains an important holy place and should not be missed.
We could not miss the fantastic opportunity of learning more about batik and its history. We took time to know some batik tools and learnt how to make it.
Batik is an “resist” process for making outlines on texture. The artist uses wax to prevent dye from penetrating the cloth, leaving “blank” areas in the dyed fabric.
The procedure, wax resist then dye, can be repeated over and over to create complex multicolored designs. Batik has a process of repeated waxing and tub dyeing to achieve their final result. This method requires mastery of color mixing and over dyeing; as each layer of dye is applied over the last a new color is produced.
DAY 04: NUWARA ELIYA
Nuwara Eliya, the hub of Sri Lanka’s tea-producing region, is less than 70 km from Kandy, the bus ride takes over two hours. The train takes significantly more, although it is more comfortable.
Once you touch base in Nuwara Eliya, the pace of life is so refreshingly moderate any anxiety you brought about arriving will drift away. Green tea fields that seem to extend on forever, to gigantic waterfalls, to the baffling fog that hangs over the mountains throughout the year.
DAY 05: GALLE & UNAWATUNA
Sri Lanka is an island, which means that beaches are practically never-ending.
Galle Fort is simply stunning. It is a great spot to simply hang out and wander. It is less crowded than different parts of Sri Lanka, so it was much simpler to stroll around. There are bunches of wonderful shops and eateries and picture perfect landscapes wherever you look.
Unawatuna was likewise a great place. We were sad to the point that we have to leave this place so soon. The beach had a great vibe, but very few people around.
It has a fascinating history, being first established by the Portuguese then taken over by the Dutch before the British having a turn. It is currently Sri Lankan and this blend of various impacts makes an interesting destination.
DAY 06: AGAIN COLOMBO
From Galle, we reached Colombo by train and trust me when I say this: It was one of the most beautiful train trip which you will ever experience.
Before leaving Sri Lanka, we decided to do some souvenir shopping
If anyone has ever brought you a little gift that’s quintessentially Sri Lankan, mostly it would be from Laksala.
Today Laksala works through 13 branches located island wide and offer the greatest assortment of all Sri Lankan items at a sensible cost. Laksala empowers the various ventures that supply products to it to remain both beneficial and in business, they have various choices of flawlessly bundled tea, beautiful batik product to an intricate accumulation of craftsmanship and additionally the finest gathering of conventional Sri Lankan Gems and Jewelry.
Laksala is a one stop destination for souvenir shopping and trust me you won’t be disappointed.
Sri Lanka is an incredibly peaceful vacation destination.
Book a vacation to Sri Lanka for its delightful experience of culture, wildlife, beautiful scenery and adventure.
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Aditya Dhotre is a self-taught designer who specializes in visual design, He is fuelled by curiosity and passion for design, technology, and life.
When he is not busy breaking down design, he works on pet projects and short films.
Adi always believed that the “Creative” arena will be his best playground.
