- Date: November 3 - 18, 2012
- Trip duration: 16 days
- Price PROMOTIONAL: $2990 USD plus $675 USD tax
- Seats:
SRI LANKA – The monsoon kingdom of tea
"Ayubowan" means long life - it's a way to greet people in Sri Lanka.
It may seem that most people don’t know much, if anything, about Sri Lanka. What most of us don’t know is that this small Southern Asian country, located on the island of Ceylon and famous for the plantations of one of the world’s finest teas, derives its name from Sanskrit. And in Sanskrit, Sri Lanka means “resplendent land.”
The lush greenness of native plants and the enormous diversity of local fauna are Sri Lanka’s greatest treasures. There are over 60 national parks and natural reserves which are homes and havens for many endemic species. Almost 30% of the country area is protected, and Sinharaja Forest Reserve was listed a natural world heritage site by UNESCO in 1998. During an excursion into the midst of the humid, tropical forest, a close encounter with an Indian elephant, a crocodile, a cobra, and even a leopard is more than likely. The island is also the home for the Veddas, indigenous peoples whose ancestors inhabited this area as early as 18,000 BCE.
Mentioned in the writings of Ptolemy, the ancient civilization of Sri Lanka developed in the 6th century BCE and has thrived continuously since then. Sri Lanka is the mysterious Serendip from the Persian fairy tale of “The Three Princes of Serendip”; the place where three protagonists kept finding objects they were not looking for. The local reality still has a fairy-tale like flavor to it. In the country sometimes called the “Isle of Delight”, the "Island of Teaching”, “India's teardrop", and the "Pearl of the Indian Ocean", you can still make many serendipitous discoveries. Sri Lanka is one of the few countries with rich gemstones deposits, and the origin place of the Blue Belle of Asia, the 400 carats world-famous sapphire. The unique ambience of the island can be felt in the vastness of tea fields and of the sandy beaches, among the hills covered by the tropical rainforest, in the soothing shade of Buddhist pagodas, and around Sri Lankan gorgeous coral reefs. Sri Lanka has a lot to boast about and a lot to offer to international tourists. The famous Temple of The Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy contains the highly venerated tooth of the Buddha. In the Royal Botanical Garden, an impressive display of over 300 types of orchids and a collection of spices, herbs, and palms is another must-see destination on the island. There is a medieval city of Polonnaruwa, with the ruins of the king palace and temple structures, three giant Buddha statues, and a maginificent system of irrigation canals from the 12th century. And finally, there is Sigiriya, the picturesque fortess and king’s palace built under the rule of king Kassapa on a conspicuous, igneous rock formation. Until this day, tourists can admire the perfectly preserved foundations and fortifications of the palace, the rock frescoes picturing most likely the ladies-in-waiting, and the palace gardens with the fountains that have been functioning flawlessly for centuries.
After days and days of new experiences, memories, and events, we will be basking on the stunning beaches of the Maldives. Can fall ever get any more sunny and happy?
