After breakfast, you will experience the Sri Lanka wildlife thrill of an elephant back safari at Hurulu Eco Park in Habarana, which is ranked very highly on the list of wildlife parks where one can observe the Asian elephant in the wild. In the park, once you mount the Elephant, you will be taken deep in to the jungle, accompanied by a Mahout. During the journey, you will occasionally be able to spot a herd of Asian wild elephants and other wildlife such as, wild water buffolo, deer, peacock, eagles and other bird life. A truly adventurous journey!

After your wildlife safari, you will have an intersting excursion and experience a traditional Bullock Cart Ride to the countryside in Habrana, a truly Sri Lankan experience that you will cherish for years to come. Travelling by Bullock Cart is an ancient Sri Lanka’s transportation system and some villages still use this as a mode of transportation. In the village, you will experience typical Sri Lankan countryside hospitality, you can walk through a farmers farm and get a chance to see a Sri Lankan cooking demonstration and take part in the village cooking as well as enjoying a tasty Sri Lankan village lunch, with vegetables picked from green paddy fields just meters away, cooked and served in traditional village style on banana leaves.

Elephant rides and a bullock cart tour to the countryside and canoeing to a famer’s house in Harbana are fun ways to explore rustic Sri Lanka.

In the afternoon you will return to the Ancient City of Sigiriya. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is situated in the Matale district near Dambulla and climb the Sigiriya Rock Frescoes and Sky Palace. Sigiriya or Simhagiri is home to the 5th Century ‘Fortress in the Sky’, the most amazing and fantastic single historical wonder of the Island built by King Kashyapa (477- 495 AD), referred to by locals as the Eighth Wonder of the World. This ancient palace and fortress also known as Lion Rock because of the huge lion that used to stand at the entrance to the fortress.  Within it triple-moated defence, the huge rock rises almost to a sheer height of 500ft. On its summit are the foundations of what was once a great and sumptuous palace and gardens complete with swimming pool.  On one of the stairways the only known ancient work of Sinhala secular painting survived in the form of frescoes of life sized damsels in all the freshness and delicacy of their original color. These Frescos are painted in earth pigments on plaster.

Towards the end of the day’s journey, en route, you will visit a Batik Factory where you can see the manufacturing of beautiful Batik prints, the dyeing process first hand as well as see the designs being created from scratch. Batik is a wax resist dyeing ancient artform on painting cloth, that was bought to Sri Lanka from Java and Indonesia by the artform Dutch.

Many colourful Batik shops and stalls sell Batik designed clothes, including some beautiful beachwear, wall decorations, table cloths, bed sheets and many more. Most are made of cotton, but some are made of silk. You can also get great deals on batiks, which also make great gifts for friends and family. The craft is so enticing that you cannot leave Sri Lanka without a Batik printed cloth.

In the evening, return back to the hotel for Dinner and overnight stay in Dambulla or Sigiriya or Habarana.

After breakfast proceed to visit the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradneiya. Impressively spread over 60 hecters, it is located west from the city of Kandy near the Mahaweli River. This botanic garden is renowned for its finest collection of orchids and a stately avenue of royal palms, are a horticulturist’s delight. Another huge hit is the mammoth Javan fig tree on the great lawn. Covering 2500 sq meters, it resembles a goliath, living geodesic vault. This Peradeniya Botanic Gardens attracts romantically inclined tourists, and you can hardly move without tripping over yet another canoodling young couple.

Thereafter you will take a luxury train ride from Peradeniya to Nanu Oya Village, named after the Nanu Oya river. The village is located within the Nuwara Eliya District.  It’s a pretty short train journey, you will cross a lot of mountain ranges and pass through tea plantations, eucalyptus forests, mountains, villages and more tea plantations. Most of the track, is along the edge of the mountains overlooking huge valleys of firstly tea plantations and small villages, then forests and waterfalls, before crossing to the other side of the range and being greeted with more valleys of tea plantations and small villages.

The scenery is stunning and makes the journey amazing and fun. You will enjoy the complementary lunch that will be served with wifi access on board.

After reaching, your guide will pick-you-up from Nanu Oya station and proceed on a city tour of Nuwara Eliya, which is a city in the hill country or hill station in Sri Lanka. Nick named as “city on the plain (table land)” or “city of light” and ‘Little England’ of Sri Lanka, It is set against beautiful backdrops of Mountains, Valleys, Waterfalls and Tea Plantations. The surroundings are really all about your cup of tea. Literally. Tea gardens abound and the place is reminiscent of a quaint British village you may encounter during your sojourns to the interiors of England. It is supposed to be one of the coldest places on the island, but is really just like an England spring day. All around Nuwara Eliya you will see evidence of the British influence.  Houses are like country cottages or Queen Ann style mansions. Nuwara-Eliya also has one of the finest 18 hole golf courses in South Asia. The town also has many Tudor style bungalows with gable roofs and well-kept gardens, and rose bushes blooming between moss-covered gravestones. Mostly populated by tea planters, it also has many people who are on their way to Ratnapura, which is the heart of the gem center of Sri Lanka. This is where one can find the famous Ceylon blue sapphire.  During your city exploration, you will come across Grey metallic buildings, which are the tea factories, that are also worth visiting. These are the places which process the tea leaves into the recognizable form that pops out of the carton you throw into your shopping cart. However, the finest tea can be bought here much cheaper than back home. That itself is a good incentive to visit the tea garden if the lush green surroundings are not enough.

It is hard to count all the waterfalls that the region has, but like the Devon falls and Laksapana falls particularly stand out.

Once upon a time, this ‘Little England’, was a hill country retreat where the British colonialists could immerse in their pastimes such as fox hunting, deer hunting, elephant hunting, polo, golf and cricket. Although the town was founded in the 19th century by the British, the district is today visited by native travelers, especially during the season of flowers, also for pony races, go cart races and auto rally.

After your amazing retreat, you will return back to the hotel in the evening for Dinner and an overnight stay in Nuwara Eliya .

After a stupendous Sri Lankan breakfast, your tour journey will end with you getting transferred to the south beach or up to the Airport for departure to UK. On the way, en route, visit the Dutch Fort in Galle, stilt fishermen and turtle hatchery in Weligama.

Your en route day trip to Galle starts with a visit to The Fort of Galle or the Galle Dutch Fort which will brush your journey with the oldest landmark, which is the massive Portuguese and Dutch fort in which the central city is contained. To add to the natural beauty, Galle has a great history too. The history goes in to king Solomon’s time. It is believed that Galle is the ancient seaport “Tarshish” of the Old testament, to which King Solomon sent his merchant Vessels with ivory and other valuables, and to which Jonah fled from the Lord. Today, the 90 acre Galle Fort who’s no evidence of the Portuguese founders.  The Dutch incorporated the Portuguese northern wall in a great rampart in 1663.  A second, taller wall was build inside of it.  Between the two walls, a covered passage connected the central bastion with the fort’s two half bastion’s overlooking the sea.  The original gate to the fort was by the harbor.  It is still there, marked by the old Dutch V.O.C (for ‘Verenigde Oost Indische Compagnie) armed with a rooster crest.

After learning about the oldest seaport, you will head down for your next stop with a visit to see the amazing Stilt Fishermen in Weligama. The fishermen sit on a cross bar tied to a vertical pole which is planted in the coral reef and the stilt with one hand while seated and carry out rod and line fishing with the other hand. The practice of stilt fishing started about 50 years after the end of the Second World War when fishermen found that fishing off the rocks that protrude over the sea was not enough to catch fish in large numbers, so they started planting discarded metal pipes into the reef and using them to lean against and fish. Over time the fishermen discovered that timber worked just as well as the poles and so developed them into the more modern day versions that we see today. It is a unique sight to behold and one that should not be missed as we watch and marvel at Man’s dexterity to overcome any hurdle.

Complete your day en route tour with a visit to see the mesmerizing Turtle Hatchery. Sri Lanka is home to many different wildlife creatures including sea- life and of the seven species of marine turtles in the world; five of them make their way to Sri Lanka to nest throughout the year. The five species of marine turtle nesting in Sri Lanka include the Green Turtle, the Leatherback, and the Hawksbill, the Loggerhead and the Olive Ridley.  Established to protect turtles that nest in the Sri Lankan beaches from extinction, the marine turtle hatcheries are operated by the Wild Life Protection Society of Sri Lanka and rely on volunteers to help with their conservation project. You can help release the turtles back into the sea and find out how we can help these endangered species live a little while longer.

You can experience all that Sri Lanka has to offer from Hassium Holidays. Make it yours and have one of the best holidays of your life in Sri Lanka