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A Taste of Sri Lanka

This tropical country which old name is Ceylon, is famous for its ancient city ruins, temples, caves, national parks and beaches. 
Our group's unplanned travel to Sri Lanka made us experienced an incredibly cool adventure.
The scorching July 2017 was probably one of Sri Lanka’s hottest temperatures, but it did not lessen our joy of exploring the country’s world heritage sites and ancient ruins. We took a promo package offered by Air Arabia, flew 8 in the evening from Muscat, Oman on June 14, arrived Sharjah (UAE) by 9pm for transfer to Colombo flight  at 9:40pm. The flight, however, was delayed for two hours. We were boarded by 11:30 pm and flew for four hours. Sri Lanka is one and a half hour advanced of UAE/Oman time.
We reached Bandaranaike International Airport 5am the next day (June 15). The free transfer from airport to our accommodation was not properly coordinated by Air Arabia to the car company. After doing some calls and learning it will take some time for a replacement car to come, we decided to take an airport taxi to drive us to our accommodation for a fare of 13 US dollars. Good thing, the taxi company who supposed to bring us to our accommodation in Colombo promised to refund the transfer fee. We reached our accommodation, Alexadra Family Villa in Colombo city after a 40-minute drive. We were welcomed warmly by the villa owners. The villa personnel can also arranged your tour itineraries.
At Sigiriya Lion Rock Mountain
After resting for some minutes, our Sri Lankan breakfast was served at the villa. Tropical fruits are always part of the Sri Lankan meals.
Right after breakfast, we proceeded with our day planned itineraries:
 Day 1:
1. Colombo city tour – Sri Jinarathana Floating temple, Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple, Independence Square.

At Sri Jinarathana Floating Temple


Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple

Independence Square

Traveling from Negombo to Colombo will be one to two hours depending on the traffic situation.
2. Kelaniya Buddhist Temple
At Kelaniya Buddhist Temple

3. Negombo Churches visit – Majority of the people of Negombo are Christians, so big and small churches are found in almost all the major streets in the city. There are a lot of resorts, villas, hotels and restaurants to choose from in Negombo because the city is very near the beach. Restaurants are open up to 2 in the morning and the city is generally safe.
The Saint Sebastian Catholic Church is one of the many churches we visited in Negombo.

Day 2:
1. Sigiriya – Traveling to Sigiriya from Negombo will take 5 to 6 hours, so we decided to stay overnight in a resort in Sigiriya. The place is home to Lion Rock Mountain, a UNESCO world heritage site in Sri Lanka.
Sigiriya is an ancient rock fortress in the central province of Sri Lanka. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the best preserved examples of ancient urban planning.
At the summit of the Lion Rock Mountain
2. Dambulla Cave

Inside Dambulla Cave
3. Dambulla Golden Temple
Dambulla Golden Temple - you will reach the place after climbing more than 100 steps
Day 3
1. Ancient city in Sigiriya
Ancient city
Ancient city
2. Dagaba Temple
Dagaba temple
3. Travel back to Negombo
4. Souvenir Shopping
Notes:
  • Filipinos traveling to Sri Lanka are required to obtain visas. You can apply for evisa at https://www.srilankaimmigration.org/. or you may obtain visa on arrival.
  • You can explore the Colombo and its neighboring cities on your own but I suggest you avail of package tour. Food, accommodation and fares are affordable.




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