Horton Plains is one of Sri Lanka’s best hiking areas, it’s the island nation‘s only national park which allows walking freely without ranger and also the only one situated in the highlands. Highlights for hikers are the montane cloud forest with interspersed open grassland areas and the vantage points at the edge of the plateau, which are known as „World’s End“. It’s also one of the best places for birdwatching in Sri Lanka’s central highlands. Our website proudly presents one of the most comprehensive descriptions of Horton Plains you will find anywhere online...

Medirigiriya to the north of Polonnaruwa had been an important Buddhist monastery already in the Anuradhapura period, before becoming of historical relevance for the Polonnaruwa kingdom. The archaeological site of Medirigiriya is most famous for an excellent specimen of a Vatadage, an ancient Sinhalese circular temple. A Vatadage was a circular building with a wooden or tiled roof housing a small stupa. The round structure in Medirigiriya is from the late Anuradhapura period. Actually, the Vatadage of Medirigiriya is one of the three best-preserved edifices of this architectural style in Sri Lanka, the others being the older Vatadage of Tiriyaya and the much younger Vatadage of Polonnaruwa. In contrast to the said two other Vatadages, the circular temple of Medirigiriya has not an impressive outer circular wall any more. But is has the best-preserved rings of stone columns. The inner circle has 16 pillars and the outer two rows consist of 16 and 20 pillars respectively. Indeed, no other round temple in Sri Lanka has more pillars than the Medirigiriya Vatadage. On the four sides of the stupa surrounded by the siad three rows of columns are four beautiful seated Buddha still in situ. What contributes much to the charm of the Medirigiriya Vatadage is that this circular temple of Medirigiriya is placed on a small rock. Visitors have to climb 31 stone steps to reach the natural temple platform.

Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage is one of the most beloved tourist attractions in Sri Lanka, particularly families with children love this site. A viewing area at the elephant bathing place is part of the orphanage, though located on the opposite side of the main road crossing Pinnawela. Be aware, that there are several elephant camps in Pinnawela. The state-run elephant orphanage has by far the largest amount of elephants, with almost a hundred individuals it‘s actually the largest herd of elephants held in captivity in the world, whereas the private camps have smaller groups of about a dozen elephants. The advantage of the private camps is that they organize elephant rides and give you a chance to take part in the washing of the elephant. In contrast, there are no jungle tours on elephant backs with elephants from the orphanage. However, the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage is the best place to take part in bottle feeding of baby elephants. The sanctuary, a combination of nursery and artificial herd, was established by the Sri Lankan Department of Wildlife Conservation in 1975.

For those travelling from Negombo to Dambulla or Sigiriya or Anuradhapura via Kurunagala or Yapahuwa, Dambadeniya is definitely worth considering a stop on their way to the more famous sites. Actually, Dambadeniya has two major attraction. The former castle rock can be climbed. It’s a nice vantage point comparable to the Yapahuwa rock. And similar to Yapahuwa, it harboured a royal palace built after the Polonnaruwa and prior to the Kandy period. Traces of brick buildings and post holes once carrying wooden pillars of royal pavillons can still be seen on the plateau atop the steep rock. Three natural pools and an ancient stairway are further attractions of Dambadeniya rock. Not far from the monadnock is the temple, which served as the tooth temple of those Sinhalese kings residing in Dambadeniya in the 13th century. However, the wooden architecture that can be seen today, is mostly from the Kandy period. Most interesting are Kandyan paintings in the upper storey of this edifice. The key is available in the monastery’s small museum which is quite charming, too.

When you are travelling from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya or Ella, you will be crossing the highest tea region of Sri Lanka. Along the road you will see lots of waterfalls in a distance. However, there is one waterfall very close to the A5 roads you won’t see when not leaving your vehicle. Ramboda Falls is just below the main road. It can be best observed from the restaurant and garden area of the Ramboda Falls Hotel. The two cascades of Ramboda Falls measures 109 m in height altogether. They are situated in an altitude of about 1000 m above sea level. There is more to see in Ramboda...

Due to a longer hiking tour, there is no new upload today. The next blog post about travel destinations in Sri Lanka will be published tomorrow.

Muturajawela, also spelt Muthurajawela,  is one of the most recommendable destination for those who spend an afternoon in Negombo. For example, many travellers arriving at Colombo International Airport in the morning and staying the first night of their holidays in Negombo would have time enough to do this excursion.

The marshland of Muturajawela, covering about 20 square kilometers, is located in a river delta at the southern end of the Negombo Lagoon. They form Sri Lanka’s largest saline coastal peat bog. The biodiversity of the brackish mangrove forest and wetlands is inhabited by  192 plant species and 311 animal species, including 102 bird species, many of them seasonal migrants. Crocodiles occur but are rarely seen. Chances to observe water monitors, the world’s longest second largest species of scaled reptiles.  Boat tours in the Muturajawela wetlands start at the Marsh Conservation Centre, which is located further south at the Dutch chanel.

Although Arankale is one of Sri Lanka’s most charming ancient sites in sylvan surroundings, it’s rarely visited due to it’s location off the beaten path. Arankale is a so-called Padhanagara monastery,  that’s a modern name for forest monasteries of a special group of reclusive monks in the late Anuradhapura period. The Buddhist fraternity known for their austere abodes was called Pamsukulikas. This term, literally meaning „rag-robe“, refers to a vow taken by these forest monks to wear only robes made from rags found at cremation sites. Their most famous and largest forest monasteries are Ritigala in near Sigiriya and the Western Monasteries of Anuradhapura. Arankale, however, is comparable in size and definitely one of the most important ruins from that specific sect. As in the case of Ritigala, the monks were attracted to Arankale not only by ist isolation but also by the biodiversity of medicinal plants in the area. Arankale, like Ritigala, had a so-called hospital where these Ayurvedic plants were used for treatments. Further typical elements of Pamsukulika forest monasteries are bathes, urinal stones and meditation plattforms and meditation pathes. One specific attraction of Arankale is a picturesque cave of an even earlier period, it is said to have been abode of Maliyadeva, who according to legend was the last monk in Sri Lanka who attained enlightenment.

Polonnaruwa has two landmarks, one of them being the famous group of rock-carved Buddha Statues known as Gal Vihara. Another perfect symbol of Sri Lanka’s medieval capital is the Vatadage, a circular temple, which belongs to the Quadrangle, Polonnaruwa’s most important group of buildings. The Vatadage of Polonnaruwa is not huge in size, but the design is impressive, both the layout of the entire structure as well as its decorative details.

The Vatadage has been built during the reign of Polonnaruwa’s most famous king, Parakramabahu I (1153-86), who is also called Parakrambahu the Great. The circular temple is believed to have sheltered Sacred Tooth Relic, the Sinhalese national palladium, which had been kept in the nearby rectangular structures previously.

The Vatadage of Polonnaruwa is the best preserved example of a circular temple, round edifices being a characteristic feature of ancient Buddhist architecture in Sri Lanka. Such circular temples contain small stupas and are therefore also called Chetiyagaras, which translates to stupa houses. Four Buddha statues in the gesture of meditation (Samadhi Mudra) are seated around it, facing the cardinal directions. Some archaeologists have suggested that the building once carried a wooden roof. The Vatadagae in Polonnaruwa has two stone platforms, they are decorated with highly elaborate stone carvings such as friezes and guardstones and moonstones.

Ussangoda near Ambalantota at the south coast is one of the small national parks of Sri Lanka that were established for protecting a specific flora. It’s not a wildlife park. Ussangoda is the largest one of the very few areas in Sri Lanka that have serpentine soils. Due to the naturally high concentration of heavy metals in serpentine soils, only few plant species can survive in this habitat. These grasses do not occur in other habitats and are therefore protected. There are many folk stories related to Ussangoda. For example, it is said to be a former meteor. A popular belief is that this barren land was a kind of landing place orairport for the heavenly chariot (Pushpaka Vimana) of Lord Rama and that it was burnt by Lord Hanuman.