After a stupendous breakfast, you will proceed to visit Kandy. It is the second major city in central Sri Lanka. It’s set on a plateau surrounded by mountains, which are home to tea plantations and a biodiverse rainforest.  In the heart of the city is the scenic Kandy Lake, which is popular for walking and relaxing. Kandy is famed for sacred Buddhist sites, including the Temple of the Tooth housed at Sri Dalada Maligawa shrine, and to pay homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha, the grand Kandy Esala Perahera annual procession, a festival celebrated with elegant costumes in Sri Lanka.

Then you will en-route your visit to the Dambulla Rock Temple, which is also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla and is a World Heritage Site in Sri Lanka. It is Sri Lanka’s Largest Rock Cave Temple built on a 600 feet high rock and over 2000 feet in length. This Rock Cave temple is famous for the five cave temples on a rock, which was donated by King Valagambahu in the 1st century BC to Buddhist monks. The first 3 caves are better, older and larger than the other two. It is home to the World’s most acclaimed cave complex of magnificent Buddha murals, images and rock paintings of vivid colours on all the five cave walls and ceilings and there are more than 130 Buddha statues, statues of Gods and Kings are also found here. The Temple shapes were constructed and painted from around 2nd Century BC – the Anuradhapura era and continued up to the Kandyan era of the 18th Century. Sinhalese people call it ‘Dambulu Gala’ – Dambulla Rock.

On your way, you will visit the Spice Garden at Matale and explore the luscious world renowned spice and herbal plantations. Here you will learn about fragrant clove, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, mace and pepper, and many other favourites such as chocolate and vanilla. Your guide will explain the different spices and show how some of these spices are grown and processed. You can also purchase your requirements of spices. While being in a serene, healthy environment, you will have the privilege to eat Sri Lankan style home made lunch at the Spice Garden if interested.

Thereafter you will proceed to Kandy.

In the afternoon you will visit Sri Dalada Maligawa or the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. This Buddhist temple was built between 1687 and 1707 in the royal palace complex of the Kandyan Kingdom of Kandy. The sacred tooth is believed to be the left upper canine tooth of the Lord Buddha himself. Legends says, it was brought to Sri Lanka in 313 AD, hidden in the hair of Princess Hemamali who fled the Hindu armies besieging her father’s kingdom in Odisha, India. It is considered to be Sri Lanka’s most prized possession.

The relic of the tooth is kept in a two-story inner shrine fronted by two large elephant tusks. The relic rests on a solid gold lotus flower, encased in jeweled caskets that sit on a throne.

The sacred tooth relic is taken out from its shrine only once a year, during the Esala Perahera, a 10-day torchlight parade of dancers and drummers, dignitaries, during which an ornamentally decorated royal male elephant carries the reliquary of the sacred tooth and leads the procession, flanked by two perfectly matched, smaller elephants. This ritual procession and festival began in the 18th century, and is now one of the better-known festivals in Asia, and it may be the largest Buddhist celebration in the world.

After your visit at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, your journey will proceed on a sightseeing tour of Kandy including a visit to a Gem factory where you will see gems of all types that are found in Sri Lanka. Finally, you will see skilled artisans cutting and polishing the gems. You will also visit the Kandy Garrison cemetery; this beautifully kept garden cemetery was founded in 1817 for the internment of British-era colonists and is managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Thereafter, witness a Srilankan cultural show, which is a real entertainer and parts of it will take you by surprise, as you wouldn’t have seen anything like that before.

Your day’s journey will end with dinner and an overnight stay in Kandy

Enjoy your breakfast with Srilankan tea at the scenic view of morning mist covered mountains. After breakfast, you will be transferred up to the Airport or down to south beach in Bentota, which is Sri Lanka’s most famous golden beach, that has a beautiful succession of gentle, curved bays backed by the large lagoon of the Bentota River.