Cultural Triangle · Hill Country · The South
12-Day Sri Lanka Culture, Village Life & Highlands Escape
Polgahawela / Sigiriya / Kandy / Ambewela / Ella / Udawalawe / Unawatuna
The shape
The sights everyone comes for, and the days in between spent somewhere else entirely. Eleven nights across seven bases. Sigiriya is held for three and Ambewela for two - and the Ambewela pair are the point of this one.
Sigiriya at dawn and Polonnaruwa in the cool of the day. A catamaran across the tank at Hiriwadunna and lunch cooked in a village kitchen. Then a full day with a farming family in the high country - picking vegetables, cooking with them, the Pedro factory, and a long lunch that nobody hurries.
The famous places are all here. What is different is the time given to the ones that are not: a forest temple with a monk who will sit with you, a lakeside village, a farm at six thousand feet.
The Peacock Standard
Always included
- Private vehicle and chauffeur guide throughout
- Every property booked and confirmed
- Breakfast daily, dinner most nights
- Park and site entrances arranged in advance
- Airport meet-and-greet on arrival and departure
- Cold towels and chilled king coconut in the vehicle
- A number answered at any hour
What each day holds
Day by day
Day 1 · Polgahawela
A night in the countryside
Met at the airport and driven inland to Polgahawela, away from the coast road and the hotels on it. Nothing is scheduled. The point of this night is that day two starts properly.
Days 2–4 · Sigiriya · three nights
A silver temple, then the rock
Ridi Viharaya on the way north - a cave temple built where silver was found in the second century BC, quiet enough that a monk will sit and talk if you want to. Then Sigiriya for three nights. Dambulla and Polonnaruwa fill the second day, with rice and curry at a house rather than a hotel. The third is the climb at first light, then Hiriwadunna: a catamaran across the tank, a walk through the paddy, and lunch cooked over a wood fire.
Day 5 · Kandy
The lake, and the relic
Into Kandy in the afternoon for a walk around the lake while the heat goes out of it. The Tooth Relic the next morning, during the Thevava rather than around it.
Days 6–7 · Ambewela · two nights
A day on the farm
Up through Kotmale, with a stop at a natural bathing pool, then Nuwara Eliya - Gregory Lake, the old red post office - and on to Ambewela. The following day belongs to a farming family: welcome tea, a cooking session with what has just been picked, the Pedro factory and a tasting, the vegetable beds, and a long lunch with the stories that come with it.
Days 8–9 · Ella · two nights
Four hours on the Nanu Oya line
The train from Nanu Oya to Ella - four hours through tea slopes and cloud forest with the doors open, and it is the day rather than a way of getting somewhere. First-class seats are limited and go months ahead; we book as early as we can and tell you honestly if we cannot. The next day is Ella on foot: Little Adam’s Peak, Nine Arches, the Demodara Loop, and pol roti with black tea.
Day 10 · Udawalawe
Elephant country
Ravana Falls on the road down, then Udawalawe. The Transit Home first, where rescued calves are fed and then released back to the wild rather than kept. The afternoon drive is in the park itself, which has more elephants and fewer vehicles than Yala.
Days 11–12 · Unawatuna · two nights
The coast, and the fort
A cooking demonstration and lunch before the drive south, then Koggala for the stilt fishermen and a Buddha Puja with oil lamps at a village temple in the evening. The last full day is Unawatuna and the fort at Galle - the ramparts at sunset, when the families come out to sit on the wall.
Day 13 · Departure
A last swim, then the expressway north.
2.5 hrs