Day 1 Sri Lanka Airport
Meeting at Sri Lanka airport. Let’s get started, Sri Lanka here we come!
Day 2 Welcome to Sri Lanka 15 km
After landing and being greeted by our tour guide, we head about 20 km outside of Colombo to a beautiful resort hotel right on the beach. On the program today, a short bike ride to the fishing villages in the area and the lagoon landscape north of Negombo. Afterwards relaxation and acclimatization in our beautiful hotel complex.
Day 3 Tropical Impressions Dambulla 44 km
After a short transfer, we cycle into the tropical landscape of Sri Lanka. Depending on the season, the travel fields glow deep green, we discover the first rubber plantations and coconuts are also grown in large plantations. We can experience the farming experience over lunch with a farming family. A warm exchange, thanks to our guides with the family, who are happy to answer our questions and spoil us with regional delicacies. Then we continue by bike on partly unpaved but easy-to-drive paths to the second highlight of our day, the cave temple and the wall paintings of the „Golden Temple of Dambulla“, which has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The tour of the Buddhist cave complex is very impressive and ends our cycling day today.
Day 4 Time travel to Polonnaruwa 36 km
Today we take our bikes to the old royal city of Polonnaruwa, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On the way rice and vegetable fields and tropical nature. Surrounded by monastery walls we experience the second largest medieval royal city in Sri Lanka. We marvel at stone tapestries, moonstones, accompanied by smiling Buddhas. Our bike route leads along one of the oldest irrigation canals in Sri Lanka. Now follows the Minneriya National Park with its herds of elephants. We switch from the wheels to the jeeps and go on safari to admire the pachyderms up close. Your elegant movements can be viewed more relaxed from the jeep.
Day 5 for the senses Sigiriya 33 km
On the program today is the rock fortress of Sigiriya. The climb to the top of the Lion Rock challenges us a little, but what a view once we reach the top! The green expanse is magnificent. The Lion Rock once served as a safe fortress for King Kassapa I, who protected himself from attacks by his half-brother on the top of the monolith. Magnificent gardens at the foot of the complex and a depiction of lovely cloud girls produced directly on the rock face declare it a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Day 6 Tribute at the Temple of Kandy
In the early hours of the morning we go to the sanctuary of Kandy. Many pilgrims and believers visit this famous temple, which houses one of Buddha’s canines. The canine tooth is kept in a valuable, ornate, golden shrine, which is revealed to the faithful during the morning ceremony. Getting up early is worth it! The ceremony is atmospheric. We leave UNESCO’s protected world cultural heritage site, not without first roaming the many bazaar streets. At the end of the day, an Ayurvedic massage delights us and allows the days to end relaxed.
Day 7 Mountains with tea scents 41 km
As long as the climb isn’t too demanding, we cycle through the beautiful surroundings of the tea plantations. Nothing but tea bushes to the right and left of the street! In the humid highland climate, Sri Lanka’s number one export product simply thrives splendidly. We then take the bus to Nuwara Eliya at an altitude of 2000 m. The former summer resort of the British! The colonial rulers built half-timbered houses, created rose borders and of course a horse racing track could not be missing.
Day 8 Spectacular train experience to the mountain village of Ella
Relaxed morning or option of a hike to Single Tree Hill with a promising view from 2100 m above Nuwara Eliya. Starting at Nanu Oya train station, one of the most impressive train journeys in Asia awaits us. Along the way, tea plantations, tropical mountain slopes, valleys covered by fog and waterfalls. The journey over the nine-arch bridge (somewhat reminiscent of Harry Potter’s Glenfinnan Viaduct) with a rushing waterfall is unforgettable. After two and a half hours of driving, the journey ends in the mountain village of Ella. A fantastic hotel complex located in the lush green of the mountains brings the day to an end. Would you like a tour in the pool?
Day 9 on the highlands 25 km
Today we start a tour in the highlands by bicycles. 6 km east of Bandarawela, on the road to Badulla, you can see the interesting Dhowa Temple. It is absolutely worth seeing thanks to its 4 m high standing Buddha carved into the rock face and the beautiful Buddhist paintings in the Sri Lankan style of the adjacent rock sanctuary. King Valagamba is said to have taken refuge here in the 1st century BC during his 14-year exile far from Anuradhapura. According to legend, a secret tunnel connects the temple to Kandy. We continue to a viewpoint with a spectacular panorama and even discover the nine-arch bridge from the day before. Tea plantations that enclose entire hills like carpets, interrupted by the colorful clothing of the tea pickers, accompany us.
Day 10 Exotic Wildlife Yala 41 km
Today we start the day with a short hike (easy, about 4 km, about 1.5 hours, +/-140 meters altitude) to Little Adams Peak, a small mountain peak that gives us a breathtaking view of the surrounding landscape. We finally leave the highlands by bike, jungle forests and farms accompany us. Suddenly he appears, the black rock of Buduruwagala. It is guarded by 7 Buddha statues which give the impression of looking down on us.
We continue to Yala National Park by bike. We are enjoying one of the last bike tours and the excitement is growing significantly. The jeep safari coming up in the afternoon is very promising in terms of the wildlife to be seen. A bush landscape has temporarily replaced tropical nature. The three-hour jeep safari for animal observation in Yala National Park allows the dozens of elephants living there, as well as water buffalo, red deer, numerous species of monkeys and other mammals, as well as crocodiles and other reptiles, to possibly be seen.
Day 11 From the highlands to the coast 35 km
Nice cycling stage of around 35 km to Mattala. On the route there is another savannah landscape, but also the impressive Lunugamwehera reservoir. In Mattala we get off our bikes for today and get on the bus to reach the lively port town of Galle. Before moving into our hotel in Galle in the late afternoon, we visit the very well-preserved old town of Galle from the 16th century, which is surrounded by the walls of the Galle Fort (UNESCO World Heritage Site). We are experiencing an interesting mix of colonial past, shaped by the British, Dutch and Portuguese, and an Asian present.
Day 12 Tropical Impressions Bentota 15 km
On our last day of cycling we benefit again from the incredibly beautiful landscapes. Carefully landscaped rice fields, palm groves, wild mangroves and always this view of the blue of the Indian Ocean. Fantastically. A little melancholy accompanies us on the last few kilometers of cycling. Check in at the hotel and later transfer to Colombo airport for the night flight back to Europe.
Day 13 return flight
The journey is already over and we return home with many wonderful memories.
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