I have 10 days in Sri Lanka end of August – does anyone have any suggestions? Flying in and out of Colombo.

Make sure you go to the elephant orphanage at Pinnawala and watch the ele’s go down to the river for a swim. (happens twice a day)Truely a moving experience!!

Cheers for that 🙂

After what they did to the Tamils I wouldn’t give them a penny.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz_eCLcp1Mc[/video]
PS good friend of mine at 3:40

Stayed here a good few years ago, it was allright.
Beautiful country.
Go stick fishing.
Ride an elephant.
Drink tea in a plantation.

Sri Lanka is an amazing country sadly ripped apart by the fighting over the last too many years.

As far as travelling is concerned it is very easy using all the minibus services that go between all the main destinations.

The two ancient capitals are Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. Both are amazing places. The best way to see them is by wiring the what are truely awful boneshakers. Both need a day. When at Polonnaruwa, stay at the government rest house.

Another great location is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigiriya.

The street food is amazing, string hoppers, jack fruit curries, heaven.

Horton Plaines/World End and the town of Nuwara Eliya is worth a visit. Go by train from Kandy.

It is a small country and you can travel around very quickly. You may not manage all this but give it a go. Out of thios list perhaps skip Anuradhapura as it is similar to Polonnaruwa.

I pretty much did all of MadBillMcMads itiniery and would do it all again, wonderful place.

Keep away from any hotels that have an all inclusive option. We didn’t for one week and it was awful, but being out every day sorted that.

Brief gardens are worth a visit, probably need a taxi but it’s pretty cheap and they’re usually happy to wait for you.

Do a safari. I’d recommend the guys we went with, but I’ve no idea who they were – just some random ‘uncles’ our taxi driver knew, picked up a ranger on the way into the reserve in their shagged 4×4. Started off thinking we were going to get robbed, murdered and dumped in the bush, but ended as one of the most memorable evenings I’ve ever had, meters from wild elephants, getting charged by a frisky teenager and them having to outrun it…

Temple of the Tooth in Kandy is well worth going round, as is the golden temple / Buddaha statue caves @ Dambulla – amazing.

Of all the places I’ve been in the world, it’s the one place I’d go back to in a heartbeat. Went on honeymoon there and had a driver fir three days. Visited Kandi, mountain temples, spice gardens, the elephant orphanage, stayed in a hotel built into a hill (Kandalama Hotel – google it, it’s amazing).

Very jealous, you’ll have a great time.

So you booked the holiday without knowing what was there?