From Mountains to Beaches… The Diversity of Sri Lanka!

Cant decide where to go on your next holiday? Tossing up between a safari in Africa, a trek through Peru or a beach vacation?? Why don’t we have both? Sri Lanka has a little taste of everything!! From the mountains in Ella, to the animal safari in Yala to the beaches in Galle, Sri Lanka is truely one of the most diverse countries in terms of landscapes, that Ive ever been to!!

In November this year I jetted off to Sri Lanka, the pearl of the Indian ocean. An easy 10 hour flight from Melbourne landed me in the capital city, Colombo. It was a short but fantastic adventure, and I loved every minute of it! Read on to find out more about Sri Lanka, just how diverse it really is, and my favourite parts of the beautiful country!

The Lush Greenery!

Let’s start with the mountains! Probably my favourite scenery from Sri Lanka, lush forests alongside perfectly lined tea plantations. I took the train from Kandy to Ella, which is absolutely incredible and a must do when visiting Sri Lanka! On the way we passed through (the clouds and) the Summit Level otherwise known as the highest train station in Sri Lanka, and 12th highest in the world at 1898m (6226ft)! It’s fair to say we were pretty high up and got some spectacular views!!

Whilst in Ella I hiked up Ella Rock, one of two mountains that make up the famous ‘Ella Gap’, the other being Little Adam’s Peak. The Ella Rock climb was definitely a work out and I had to take many breaks (my dad told me before I left that I should’ve trained a bit so the climb would be easier, and during the hike I was cursing myself for not listening to him (hope he doesn’t read this lmao))! With some determination it was definitely doable though, and my god was it worth it!! There were multiple lookouts both half way

up and at the top, I was pretty stoked about being able to fly my drone up there around the mountain!! The summit reached 6561ft (2000m) and offered spectacular views of the rural life below, more mountains and even waterfalls! 

National Park Safari!

Another different landscape was Yala National Park, which I headed to from Ella! I definitely felt like I was racing through Africa when on the Yala Animal Safari!!

I also happened to get super lucky that day and spotted so many different animals in the wild!! Like Elephants, Crocodiles, Water Buffalos, Wild Hogs, many different birds and even a Leopard!! It was super cool how all the safari drivers would communicate and page each other once there was a sighting of a rare to see animal such as a Leopard!! Our driver got the call and we zoomed off through the National Park to find a cluster of other safari jeeps sitting quietly watching the Leopard go about its day! Once the sun set I headed to ‘Big Game Camp Yala’ to which I was definitely expecting a full on sleeping on the ground sitch. But to my delight I got to GLAMP it uppp!!!

My tent even included a shower and toilet…. Yep, definitely my kind of camping!!!! We spent the night teaching the locals how to toast marshmallows around the campfire, one of those nights that was so much fun and laughs all round!

 

 

 

Palm Fringed Beaches!

From Yala NP I headed to the south of the island to Unawatuna beach!! That’s right (although I was in Sri Lanka for 2 weeks) in just three days I had seen mountains, elephants in a safari, and the beach!! How’s that for diverse! Unawatuna is just east of Galle so I managed to slip in a trip to the Galle Dutch Fort!

The fort was built in 1588 originally by the Portuguese however underwent massive

modifications in the 17th century by the Dutch! This made it one of the most significant archaeological, architectural and historic monuments to illustrate how the European influenced South East Asia between the 16th and 18th centuries!! Inside the fort I adored the little streets lined with European architecture so different from the country outside the forts walls!

 

Many days after this were spent lounging by the beach, me getting extremely sunburnt and drinking so much pineapple juice, what better way to spend a vacay (minus the sunburn would be nice)!!!

One day was spent on Jungle beach – A groovy beach where all the locals spend their weekend!! You have to adventure through a steep jungle section for about 5-10 mins to get down to the beach, and it’s definitely clear where the name comes from! The ocean water was perfect, enough to cool you off but comfortably warming at the same time! Another beach we ventured to was Wijaya Beach! We ended up here in search of the wild turtles who are known to swim here! Unfortunately, we didn’t spot any HOWEVER once I got home and went through my drone footage you’ll never guess what I spotted…. YEP a damn turtle swimming right in the waters we swam in!

Incase you’re not already conviced about the beauty and diversity of Sri Lanka, heres a few more memorable experiences that I looooved!!

Sigiya!
From Kandy it took a 5am start and 2.5hr drive to reach the Ancient Rock Fortress in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. The rock stands out so dramatically amongst the greenery that surrounds it, with almost vertical walls up to a flat top summit that holds the ruins of an ancient civilisation!

Some call it the 8th Wonder of the World and it is the most visited destination amongst tourists in all of Sri Lanka! What first began as a monastery in the 3rd century BC, later became the royal residence to King Kasyapa before returning to a monastery before it was abandoned in the 14th century. The climb to the summit includes 1200 steps! But that was no worries as there is sooo much to see on the way up!! Halfway up the rock you can walk through a cave of stroke paintings but unfortunately I couldn’t take pictures because the flash, overtime, actually causes the paintings to fade away.

 

Before the final summit climb there are two lions feet on either side of the stairs, the rock is actually known as ‘Lion Rock’ and was said to once be fully shaped like a lion, plus Sigriya in Sinhala literally translates to ‘Lion Rock’. The more you know hey! Then comes the battle of the last set of stairs somehow mounted to the complete vertical side of the rock! No good if you’re afraid of heights, sorry mates! Once I reached the top I was awarded with the most spectacular 360◦ views!! Not only that but the top of the rock also contains remnants of the ancient palace, old swimming pools (which were STILL filled with water, probs from the rain but still cool!). I definitely ramble on too much about all this but I just have so much to say it was all so amazing!

 

Temples and Monasteries!
Another amazing part of Sri Lanka and most other South East Asian Countries is all their temples, monasteries, churches, mosques, the lot! One of my favourite things about travelling is learning about new cultures and religion is apart of that! Some noteworthy places I visted in Sri Lanka include the Temple of the Tooth Relic, Cave Temple, Colombo Jami Ul-Afar Mosque + many more!

So there you have it! Next vacay sorted? Thanks so much for reading, as always I hope this inspired you just that bit more to travel!

Until next time,

Signing off,

Alexx