Pick up from 0600 hrs thereafter proceed to Kandy en route visiting Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage : App. 55 miles from Colombo, off the Colombo – Kandy road is Pinnawala, where an orphanage was started in 1975 to house the abandoned and the wounded elephants. The number of elephants has increased to more than 65 now; including Baby Elephants brought from various parts, as well as some of the more then 25 babies born, as a result of the captive breeding programmed. The best time to visit is the feeding time from 0930-1000 hrs and 1330-1400 hrs and the bathing time from 1000-1030 hrs and 1400-1430 hrs when all the elephants are taken to the river close by.
Kandy: Kandy, the Hill Capital was the last bastion of the Sinhala kings and is a charming city offering a living record of a magnificent past. Some say Kandy is the only other real ‘city’ in Sri Lanka, other than Colombo. The easygoing capital of the hill country has a lot to offer – history, culture, forested hills and a touch of urban buzz. Only 115 km inland from the capital, climatically it is a world away due to its 500m altitude. Kandy was also the capital of the last Sinhalese kingdom, which fell to the British in 1815 after defying the Portuguese and Dutch for three centuries. Town, and the countryside around it, is lush and green and there are many pleasant walk both from the town or further afield. The town centre, close of Kandy’s picturesque lake set in a bowl if hills, is a delightful jumble of old shops, antique and gemstones specialists, a bustling market and a good selection of hotels, guesthouses and restaurants.
Kandy is a romantic city any time of the year, but in August, this ancient capital becomes the venue of one of the most legendary festivals in Asia, the Festival of the August Moon when thousands of people from all parts of the country and from foreign countries throng to the Hill Capital to witness the magnificent spectacle.
Royal Botanical Garden : 147 acres in extent; Started in 1374 as a pleasure garden of the Kings of Gampola and Kandy. There are more than 4,000 species of trees, plants and creepers. Some rare and endemic as well as flora from the tropical world are found in the gardens. Spice Garden and Orchid House are popular with tourists.
There are 5 Palm Avenues beautifying the gardens, the earliest and tallest Palm Avenue (Royal Palm Avenue) was planted in 1905 and the Double Coconuts from the Seashells Island, with the largest seed of all plants in the world is one such avenue.
Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the sacred Tooth Relic): Dalada Maligawa or the Temple of the sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy is the most venerated place of worship for Buddhists throughout the world. Built in the 16th century this temple houses the sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha brought to Sri Lanka from the Kalinga province in ancient India in the 4th century AD. Several buildings have been added to the temple complex by successive rulers, the latest being the Golden Canopy over the inner shrine where the Tooth Relic is placed. Originally the Temple was within the King’s palace complex as it was the symbol of Royal Authority.
Shopping : Kandyan Art Association & Cultural Centre, beside the lake, has a good selection of local lacquer world, brass-ware and other craft items in a colonial-era showroom covered in a patina of age. There are some crafts people working on the spot. There’s a government-run Laksala arts and crafts shop to the west of the lake with cheaper prices than the art Association & Cultural Centre, but it has nothing on the big Laksala in Colombo. Central Kandy has a number of shops selling antique jewellery, silver belts and other items. You can also buy crafts in and around the colourful main market on station Rd. Kandy has a number of batik manufacturer; some of the best and most original are the batik pictures on the Peradeniya Rd outside Kandy
(Including: A/C car with English speaking Chauffeur.)