About
this holiday:
This
14-night honeymoon offers some of the highlights of
Sri Lanka and Kerela, two exotic and fascinating lands
that have so much to appeal, including ancient cities,
lush tea-growing hills, palm-fringed beaches, 400-year-old
walled cities and serene backwaters. This is a honeymoon
that focuses on generally small, personal and relatively
upmarket hotels, properties that we believe are perfect
for honeymoons.
Holiday highlights:
• Palm-fringed sandy beaches
• Spectacular hill country
• A proud cultural heritage
• The most genial of welcomes
• Exotic and historic Kochi
• Kerela’s serene backwaters
• Wildlife and spice plantations
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Day 1 & 2:
Upon arriving in Sri Lanka,
transfer to the Beach, a chic five star property on the
best stretch of beach in Negombo, a short drive from the
airport. Relax and unwind after your flight, preparing
yourself for the adventure ahead. Stay one night.
Accommodation
profile: The Beach is the best thing
to have happened to Negombo in the past decade. The five-star
hotel was reopened in Jan 2005 after a complete refurbishment
which has transformed the property into a chic and stylish
hotel offering great luxury and a warm and attentive level
of service. Red Dot highly recommends it. The theme for
the interior décor is similar to The Lighthouse
in Galle, another Jetwing Hotel, with an emphasis on natural
simplicity, but there is also a slightly more modern touch.
The rooms are spacious and furnished with beautiful dark
wooden furniture and high quality linen. The bathrooms
have showers like waterfalls and bathtubs. |
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Day 3 & 4:
Sri Lanka's famous cultural
triangle offers plenty to fire both mind and body over
the next two days. The ruined capital of Polonnaruwa,
the lion rock of Mount Sigiriya and Dambulla’s Buddhist
Cave Temples are all UNESCO world heritage sites and are
included in your package. En route, you also have the
option of visiting Yapahuwa, an ancient temple and place
built on a rock described by the Insight Guide to Sri
Lanka as "one of the great architectural wonders
of the island”, and Aukana, where the Buddha stands
42 feet high, the best-preserved statue in Sri Lanka.
Accommodation
profile: Kandalama Hotel is the finest
hotel in the cultural triangle. Cleverly designed by Geoffery
Bawa, Sri Lanka’s most referred architect, to snake
along a rock outcrop overlooking Kandalama tank (ancient
reservoir), the hotel is a naturalists dream. Stroll along
its restful, atmospheric corridors and you may spot a
tame monkey, or some of the 160 resident bird species.
And you can experience it all in the finest comfort. Tasteful
bedrooms possess telephone, satellite TV, mini bar, hairdryer,
bath/shower/WC, and all facilities aim for the highest
standards Sri Lanka. Refurbished in 2005. |
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Day 5:
The journey from the cultural
triangle to Sri Lanka's hill capital - the small lakeside
city of Kandy - will occupy most of the morning. In the
afternoon, a city tour includes such delights as the fabulous
botanical gardens and the Temple of the Tooth, which is
said to hold a holy relic of the Lord Buddha. We have
recommended spending one night at Le Kandyan hotel, a
friendly four-star hilltop hotel just outside the town.
Accommodation profile:
Le Kandyan has an authentic Sri Lankan feel allowed to
only a privileged few hotels on the island. It rises from
the foothills of the hill country in traditional Kandyan
colours of red, yellow and black, while murals, flags
and massive carved columns emphasise a rich historical
past. Every effort is made to provide a special Sri Lankan
experience. |
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Day
6 & 7:
Today you head for Nuwara Eliya, a former British hill
station that has retained its popularity as a hill-country
retreat. The 80km drive from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya winds
deeper into the hill country, through a succession of
tea estates. Check into the Tea Factory Hotel. The next
morning you have the option of rising early, armed with
a picnic breakfast, and being driven to Horton's Plains
for a trek amid the wild scenery of this mountain plateau.
Visit the famous viewpoint at World's End and watch out
for Sambur deer, and a profusion of endemic bird life.
Accommodation
profile: The Tea Factory lies,
alone and unique, on the slopes of the tea plantations
at Kandapola, high above the hill-country town of Nuwara
Eliya. the largest and most popular town in the highlands.
It was once exactly as it claims - a tea factory built
in the 1930s by British planters. The gentle howl of the
night-time breezes is likely to lull the most troubled
mind to sleep. There is no more luxurious way to explore
Sri Lanka's history of tea making. |
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Day 8 & 9:
Leave very early in the morning
for Galle, a laid-back south coast town with a magnetic
appeal for most visitors. The journey will take about
five hours. You may prefer to stay on the beach, but we
recommend staying in the UNESCO-protected Galle Fort and
the newly renovated and opened Galle Fort Hotel –
an immediate entrant into Conde Naste’s Top 100
hotels in the world. From here you can jump in a tri-shaw
and travel to a wide selection of nearby beaches.
Accommodation
profile: The renovation of Galle Fort
Hotel is a triumph. The hotel evokes a subtle sense of
colonial grandeur, skillfully updated for the modern age.
The inner courtyard, wit h a tiny garden and 10-metre
swimming pool, offers a tranquil and exclusive area for
guests. But a sense of history does not mean that the
Galle Fort’s guests will gather dust; far from it.
The small bar-cum-verandah cafe is becoming a favoured
meeting point, with the two Australian owners encouraging
a convivial atmosphere where intelligent opinions are
to be shared, not hidden. An exciting restaurant offers
classic Asian-West dishes, freshly and locally bought.
The staff ensure a warm and welcoming atmosphere. |
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Day 10 & 11:
Leave early foryour short flight
to Kerela. Arrive mid-morning in Kochi, an ancient trading
port since at least Roman times that provided a safe port
of call for sailors on the main trade route from Europe
to China. The journey from the airport will take approximately
one hour before you check-in to Malabar House in the fort.
After resting at the hotel, dipping into the cool courtyard
swimming pool and enjoying you first taste of Kerela’s
distinctive, spicy cuisine, we recommend wandering around
the fort before dusk. The following day, refreshed after
a sleep, we will show you around the fort, the highlights
of which include Mattancherry Palace, a gift to the Raja
of Kochi back in 1557, St. Francis Church, first built
in 1510 and the resting place of Vasco de Gama, and a
magnificent synagogue dating back to 1568. During the
evening you may wish to watch a Kathakali dance performance
– a noisy, colourful and spellbinding 400-year dance-drama
that is usually staged outdoors and lasts for approximately
3-4 hours.
Accommodation profile: The
Malabar House is a small triumph; a fascinating and sophisticated
boutique hotel that has become, quite understandably,
one of the most sought-after properties in Fort Cochin.
Formerly a Dutch col onial mansion which has been lovingly
restored, there are 17 individually designed suites that
mix contemporary design with vibrant colours and local
antique furnishings. The atmosphere is serene and peaceful.
The staff are friendly, cheerful, attentive and discreet.
The fusion food is acclaimed (they only have a wine and
beer licence). |
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Day 12:
After breakfast depart for
Alappuzha (formerly known as Alleppy), a town surrounded
by a large network of canals that has now become a major
centre for backwater tours and is most famous for its
annual ‘snake boat’ races in August. The drive
from Kochi will take about 90 minutes and you will board
your traditional Kettuvallum houseboat (reconverted rice
barges) at noon for one of the highlights of your holiday
– a journey through Kuttanad country, a land of
shimmering waterways, dense tropical greenery and age-old
village livelihoods so vividly described in Arundhati
Roy’s remarkable novel The God of Small Things.
Your comfortable houseboat, fully staffed with a friendly
and attentive crew, will chug slowly through the tributaries,
lakes and creeks allowing you to relax and unwind. Hours
slip by easily as you gaze ashore, soaking up a myriad
of views as you pass homes, farms, paddy fields, fisherfolk
in traditional dugouts, children playing and bathing buffaloes.
See fish eagles circling for prey and wise comorants perched
on the riverbank. At 6pm the houseboat will moor up and
the staff will cook a sumptuous traditional feast. Sleep
contentedly in your airconditioned cabin.
Accommodation profile: The
Malabar House is a small triumph; a fascinating and sophisticated
boutique hotel that has become, quite understandably,
one of the most sought-after properties in Fort Cochin.
Formerly a Dutch col onial mansion which has been lovingly
restored, there are 17 individually designed suites that
mix contemporary design with vibrant colours and local
antique furnishings. The atmosphere is serene and peaceful.
The staff are friendly, cheerful, attentive and discreet.
The fusion food is acclaimed (they only have a wine and
beer licence). |
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Day 13 & 14:
After
breakfast you will have another two hours to cruise as
you head for Kumarakom, an island on the large Lake Vembanad
that is blessed with an idyllic location. The area has
attracted several exotic hotels offering backwater and
Ayurveda holidays. There is also a wonderful bird sanctuary.
We head straight for Coconut Lagoon, one of Red Dot’s
favourite properties in Kerala for a relaxing two-night
stay.
Accommodation profile: Coconut
Lagoon is an architectural triumph, a boutique hotel that
has been cleverly crafted from the fragments of ancient
village homes and palaces. In some cases whole houses,
complete with beautiful wood carvings and its original
brass work, have been painstakingly transplanted into
the property piece-by-piece. The result is the ultimate
backwater resort, a property where fine traditional craftsmanship
and the stunningly beautiful natural surroundings makes
it utterly impossible not to relax, unwind and dream.
The Keralan cuisine is delicious and the staff are friendly
and attentive. Like the other Casino Hotels, there is
a special emphasis on caring for the environment. In fact,
they are so serious about the natural environment that
there is a fulltime director in charge of there environmental
policies, which include comprehensive waste management
schemes and a breeding programme to protect the endangered
Vechoor cows. |
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| Day
15: Unfortunately,
you have to leave. Your late morning flight connects with
a lunchtime flight from Colombo and an arrival in the
UK by the early evening. |
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| Cost:
Price available on request
Package price includes:
- 14 night’s BB accommodation on twin-sharing
basis
- 1 night’s full-board accommodation on houseboat
- Airconditioned car and English-speaking driver for
tour and transfers
- Entrance: Dambulla Cave Temples, Sigiriya Rock, Polonnaruwa,
Temple of the Tooth, St. Francis Church, Mattancherry
Palace, Synagogue, Kathakali dance performance
- Jeep hire and entrance for Horton Plains
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