2017 was a successful year for Lanka Excursions Holidays. We hope to welcome many visitors and find new friends from foreign countries in the year to come, too.

The website, which attracts users searching for travel information already now, will be developed in two more steps in 2018:

We will continue to write blog posts about Sri Lanka destinations on a daily basis and we will add more main pages for important destinations, providing more comprehensive information.

In the second half of the year 2018, Lanka Excursions Holidays will also publish tour reports, as blog posts as well as for recommendable ready-made itineraries.

We hope to encourage you to contribute your own experiences by sending them to us or writing comments. 

Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka’s hghest town, likes to be referred to as  „Little England“ due to its colonial architecture in the Tudor style and garden landscapes and its tradition of distinguished club life. The cool climate attracted the British high society during the hottest month of the year. Nuwara Eliya was Sri Lanka’s hillstation. Nuwara Eliya was inhabited not before the 19th century. English and Scottish pioneers invented vegetable plantations in the misty and rainy and cold region in order to provide European food for the British families in Colombo. Nuwara Eliya has also become the name of one of the three highest tea regions of Sri Lanka. It stretches from the town along the Kandy road. Lambookellie, which is Sri Lanka’s largest tea plantation and Bluefield and Glenloch are open to the public, all of them are close to the most frequented access road to Nuwara Eliya, which starts in Gampola near Kandy. For Indian travellers or Hindu pilgrims in particular, Nuwara Eliya is the number one destination für spiritual journeys in Sri Lanka, as it is the nearby Sita Eliya which is believed to be the famous Ashoka Vatika of the Ramayana epic, the hiding place of Sita during her captivity on the island.

Find more about Nuwara Eliya...

Arisimalai is the loveliest untouched beach in the area to the north of Trincomalee, there are no houses, no stalls and no roads close to the beach, but it can be reached within 10 minutes from a car park near Pulmoddai. „Arisi“ means raw rice in Tamil, and „malai“ or „male“ means hills. The name, also transcribed „Arisi Malai“, refers to the send of the beach which resemblesrice. The grain of sand is remarkably big and seems like polished.  This gives an amazing feeling to your feet when walking along the charming beach. Swimming is relatively safe compared to other beaches, as the bay is protected by rocky small promontories. Not many foreigners find their way to this lovely place.

Koskandawala, formally recognized as an archaeological site, is one of the ancient rock temples in the rural region of Siyane Korale in Gampaha District to the northeast of Colombo. It’s situated in between the larger ancient complexes of Pilikuttuwa, Maligathenna and, a little bit farer away, Warana. The full name of the tempe is Koskandawala Sri Sunandarama Pirivena Raja Maha Viharaya.

Traditionally, Attanagalla Rajamaha Viharaya in Gampaha District has been considered to be the place where King Sirisanghabo beheaded himself in order to help a poor peasant. The most comprehensive account of this story is told in the chronicle of the Attanagalla monastery. It’s the most famous royal legend of Sri Lanka. The narrative of King Sirisanghabo’s self-sacrifice resembles that of Jataka stories. Jatakas are canonical stories about previous incarnations of the historical Buddha. His self-sacrifices in his previous lies were the reason why his Karma was good enough to find enlightenment and become a Buddha in his final incarnation. Sirisanghabo‘s self-beheading in favour of a fellow being thus is the story of a future Buddha. The king thereby turnes out to be a Bodhisattva, a being that will become a Buddha in a future incarnation. As the site of a Bodhisattva, Attanagalla is an extraorinarily holy place in Sri Lanka. The architecture is by and large modern and the decorations are gaudy. However, there is a unique roofed Vatadage in the centre of the compund that dates from the Kandy period.

Asked, which one is the most beautiful of Sri Lanka’s numerous waterfalls, everyone will give you a different answer, depending on personal preferences. Our own preference is: various sights due to various cacades, bathing opportunity, jungle surrounding and solitude. This is why we think, that Mannakethi Ella can be recommend as one of the most charming waterfalls in Sri Lanka.

Although Mannakethi is situated in only 5 km distance from Kitulgala, which is Sri Lanka’s major tourist hub for adventure holidays, it is rarely visited. The main waterfall is 60m tall. A bassin at the bottom is safe for bathing, though currents are strong close to the foot of the falls. Mannakethi has another pool below a  wider waterfall consisting of several waterfalls, this upper level is just above this horsetail fall. Actually, Mannakethi consists of two waterfalls of quite different appearance, both are very picturesquely surrounded by rocks and dense vegetation.

The source of Mannakethi Fall is a river known as Girankitha Oya, which is a tributary of the Kelani Ganga.

See large photos of the two different waterfalls of Mannakethi Ella here...

Belilena, a cave complex near Kitulgala, is one of the important finding places of the prehistoric Balangoda culture in Sabaragamuwa Province. E.P. Deraniyagala, Sri Lanka’s most renowned anthropologist, found remnants from Sri Lanka’s stone age in Belilena during his excavations from 1978 till 1983. He discovered skeletal remains of ten human beings who lived more than 30.000 years ago. Belilena is declared an Archaeological Reserve. But not much is left from the Balangoda culture in situ. Nonetheless, Belilena is a rewarding destination due to ist natural beauty. It’s an entire group of caves, one of them behind a veil of a small waterfall.

Nilavari near Puttur is the largest well on the dry Jaffna Peninsula. It’s locally known as the Bottomless Well. Indeed, it’s more than 40 meters deep. The salinity of the water is increasing with the depth, this means, the freshest water is closest to the surface. The reason is, that the Nilavari well is fed by both freshwater springs close to the surface and brackish groundwater which is infiltraded by sea water. Nevertheless, Nilavari is the best source of freshwater on the otherwise semi-arid peninsula. Not surprisingly, Nilavari is considered to be a miracle. Learn more about the legends surrounding Nilavari here...

Nedunthivu alias Delft Island is one of the major attactions of Jaffna District. Among the eight larger islands in the Palk Strait to the west of Jaffna Peninsula, this is the most remote one, situated almost half way to India. Nedunthivu is a dry and windy place. The flat and rough landscape consits od semi-arid scrubland in the wildlife zone in the south and some palm groves in the northern half which is inhabited by Tamils. The island is famous for its population of feral horses, descendants of forebears abandoned here in the colonial period. Remnants of stables can be seen close to the wildlife zone, whereas the ruins of a Dutch colonial fort are close to the port at the northern coastline. In the west of the island are remnants of a stupa from the Chola period. An imposing specimen of a Baobab tree of African origin is another major attraction of Nedunthivu Island.   

More about Nedunthivu alias Delft Island...

Shelters called Ambalamas are a characteristic element of Sri Lankan culture. Ambalamas are refuges for local farmers and for itinerant pilgrims alike. Many of them, particularly those close to temples, are built of stone. But the loveliest Ambalamas are wooden sructures. Asked, which is the best example of such a wooden Ambalama, the answer is clear: Panavitiya’s wooden hall has woodcarvings that are only second to Embekke, which is Sri Lanka‘s most famous wooden temple.