Arrive at Katunayake airport, where Red Dot agents will
transport you to your Colombo hotel. Accommodation profile: Sri Lanka is famed
for its geniality, and the Ceylon Continental exemplifies it.
Its warm welcome is striking for a 5-star city centre hotel
– and that matters. Outstanding value for money and bonny
pool deck.
Day 2:
After a leisurely morning in Colombo, travel to your cultural
triangle hotel, a journey of about three-and-a-quarter hours.
We recommend Hotel Kandalama for this tour.
Accommodation profile: Mean,
moody and magnificent – Kandalama symbolizes the best
in Sri Lankan ecological design. It snakes along a rocky outcrop,
in a light tropical jungle, overlooked by Kandalama reservoir
and the Knuckles hills. Slightly formal, richly elegant.
Day 3 (Riding Day):
After breakfast, mount and ride from Kandalama through
paddy fields, bush jungle and orchards. Picnic en route, watch
the horses bathe in the lake and eat under the shade of an orchard
grove. In the evening ride around an area where elephants are
common.
Riding: 4 hrs, 25-30kms.
Day 4 (Riding Day):
Morning, mount and ride in the elephant corridor
area over plains, paddy fields, villages and ancient temples
towards the famous Sigiriya Rock Fortress. Picnic lunch en route,
beside a gushing stream before mounting to continue the trek.
Riding: 4 hrs, 30kms.
Day 5:
After breakfast, travel to the hill-country capital of Kandy
– the last stand of the Sri Lankan kings. Visit the world
famous Dalada Maligawa – the temple of the sacred tooth
relic -- and explore the lakeside town.
Accommodation
profile: The Tree of Life sprawls across 64
acres of woody, hilly terrain, a haven of solitude where guests
prefer dawn nature walks to noisier pleasures. An individualistic
hotel with ayurvedic philosophy at its heart.
Day 6 (Riding day):
After breakfast mount and ride through tea plantations
and over the hills before stopping for a picnic lunch. Evening
provides another unforgettable trek through the tea bushes,
seeing the country the way the tea planters did in the cool
temperature of the hills.
Riding:
4-5 hrs, 25kms.
Day 7 (Riding Day):
After breakfast mount and ride through valleys and plains
rich in flora and fauna, stopping at noon for a picnic lunch
and rest. Mount and ride in the evening through tea plantations
and streams to the hotel.
Day 8:
After a leisurely breakfast, sightsee and travel on towards
Nuwara Eliya – the quaint hill-country town known as Little
England. Lunch en route.
Accommodation profile: St Andrews’
Hotel, a stately Tudor-style colonial mansion built in the latter
part of the 19th century, is our recommendation in Nuwara Eliya.
Standing alongside imposing pine trees, it has a stern exterior,
but inside is a world of open fires and candlelit dinners.
Day 9 (Riding Day):
After breakfast, arrive at the only race track in the island,
and mount the horses before embarking on a ride through the
town, tea plantations and villages, teaming with friendly villagers
and, of course, spectacular scenery. Break for picnic lunch
and rest. Evening mount and ride over hills and plantations
treks before returning to hotel.
Day 10 (Riding Day):
After an early breakfast, take the inspiring two-hour
journey to Ella. Mount at 9am and ride in its spectacular mountain
scenery. The ride will pass through welcoming hamlets and soothing
green paddy fields. Splash across the streamlets and trot through
jungle trails in another untouched area of the island.
Picnic lunch will be alongside a lake, under the shade of tents,
while the houses bathe. The evening ride will include a similar
scene: trekking over untamed lands and small villages to arrive
at the Ella Adventure Park before nightfall. A hike of 2km is
required to the Jungle Camp.
Accommodation profile: Ella Adventure
Park nestles on the banks of Kirindi river, six miles to the
south of Ella village, amid the stirring peaks of the Southern
Highlands. The chance for challenging outdoor activities in
an unspoilt jungle setting.
Riding: 4 hrs, 30kms.
Day 11:
After breakfast engage in your choice of adventure activities
in a committed eco hotel. Activities range from abseiling, rock
climbing, bathing in the fresh water stream running through
the hotel or even in the private waterfall available to each
cabin. Or else, just soak in the peaceful natural atmosphere
in the cup-shaped valley housing the jungle camp. After a traditional
Sri Lankan lunch, travel to Tissamaharama.
Accommodation
profile: The Rosen Hotel is situated in shady,
tranquil gardens, at the foot of a range of hills, near the
holy shrine of Kataragama, close to Yala game park and Bundala
bird sanctuary. It is a bright, airy hotel, with 52 a/c, well-appointed
rooms. Alternatively, you may prefer to use luxury tents.
Day 12 (Riding day):
After
breakfast, ride through one of the most prominent ancient capitals
of the island – Tissamaharama. The ride will cover paddy
fields, lakes, streams, banana plantations, plains and the occasional
town trek.
The picnic lunch will be in the shade of the tents, in the bush
jungle with a few hours of rest before embarking on a late-afternoon
ride. In the evening have dinner and a cultural show at a Tissa
bungalow.
Riding: 4-6 hrs, 35-40kms.
Day 13 (Riding Day):
After breakfast, mount and ride from Tissamaharama to Yala game
park, the most popular national wildlife reserve in the island.
Trek through bush jungle, alongside lakes and across paddy fields.
Arrive in time for lunch at Yala Village Hotel. The afternoon
ride through sand dunes on the edge of Yala completes a spectacular
day and allows the rider an aspect of the island not seen on
traditional tours.
Riding: 4-6 hrs, 40kms
Accommodation profile: Yala Village
Hotel is not just a good base for a Yala safari, but a wonderfully
relaxing hotel in its own right. Its 40 stylish cabanas blend
subtly into scrub forest, close to Yala game park in Sri Lanka’s
south-east corner
Day 14:
After an early breakfast, visit the game park by jeep, followed
by the Kataragama temple, a popular place of worship for Hindus
and Buddhist worldwide.
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