Best Places to Visit in Sri Lanka For 10 Days
Hi Guys, before starting my stories on everywhere I visited in Sri Lanka. I thought to make a list of the places I visited on my 10 days solo trip to Sri Lanka. Like a textual trailer of a beautiful journey of my first foreign trip. So here are the best places or you can say all the places that I visited during the trip. Not adding many details on this as that will be coming soon as each day becomes a post on the blog with more details on how the day goes and also how to reach the particular places. Most of them using the buses around Sri Lanka. Sharing these in a Day format like the articles will start coming up on my blog so let’s start the Best Places to Visit in Sri Lanka For 10 Days.
Day 1 in Sri Lanka – Kandy
I took the other route so instead of starting with the beaches I headed over to Kandy. I had some 2-3 hours before the evening so I headed over to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha.
Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha
The Temple is the most famous spot if you are in Kandy as it holds the Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha. Which is displayed to everyone visiting the place, which has played an active role in local politics during ancient times. As it is believed that if you hold the relic, you have a hold on the governance of the whole country. After my visit to the temple, I headed back to my room as I planned to wake up early so I can take the first bus towards Sigiriya.
Day 2 in Sri Lanka – Sigiriya
I started early to Sigiriya as I had planned two treks there and also it was far from Kandy. Instead, later I got to know that it would have been great if I would have gone directly to Sigiriya and later to Kandy. Which I will suggest you guys too so you don’t do the to and fro that I did on my second day.
Sigiriya Rock
The day started with the hike on the Sigiriya or the Lion Rock. It’s a massive rock of 200 m height, where King Kasyapa built his new palace on top of it. Halfway to the top, you reach the famous lion paw structure which is considered to be the gateway to the place.
Pidurangala Rock
Wasn’t much tired after the trek so I headed over to the Pidurangala Rock. Which was around 3 km from Sigiriya Rock but people said that it will give you the best view of both Sigiriya and the Sigiriya Rock. Not a tough one but the last stretch was a pain in the ass to climb those broken pieces of rock, which isn’t that easy. But yeah as promised the view from the top is totally worth the climb.
Dambulla Caves
You won’t have much time after visiting both of these spots, as you need to go back if you are staying at Kandy. But I thought to take a tuk-tuk towards the Dambulla Caves so I can visit it before ending the day. The Dambulla Cave or the Golden Temple of Dambulla is included in the world heritage sites, as the caves have around 153 Buddha statues, three statues of Sri Lankan Kings and four of Gods and Goddesses. The temple complex is dated to be from the first century, and also is the most famous among all the cave temples found in Sri Lanka
Day 3 in Sri Lanka – Nuwara Eliya
Day 3 was more about travelling and reaching Nuwara Eliya, to go for the morning trek to Horton Plains National Park. And to find some people who would be interested in sharing a cab with you as the cab rates to reach the Horton Plains is just impossible. And if you are here ask anyone with a backpack on and you will have your partner for tomorrow. But before looking out for people and cab drivers, I thought to visit the Seetha Amman Temple which was not that far from the place I was staying at.
Seetha Amman Temple
The temple is located in the village of Seetha Eliya and is considered the place where Sita was kept by Ravana. Where she used to pray daily for Lord Rama to come and rescue her from there in the Hindu Epic – Ramayana. I was really happy to call my mom and show her the temple. It was really amazing how the whole area was covered in fog as the sun went down.
Day 4 in Sri Lanka – Horton Plains
I found a partner to share the taxi at the homestay I was staying at. We started very early the next day as we wanted to see the view from the World’s End which you can’t after 9 AM.
Horton Plains National Park
It is one of the favourite places, for everyone who comes to Sri Lanka. With the amazing flora and fauna, this national park has the World’s End as they call the place which if reached early gives you some really amazing view of the surroundings. But even the drive with the view around is totally worth, you have to trek through the path laid by them which is not that easy. But the many waterfalls and the most famous among them the Baker’s Fall is really a treat to the eyes in the morning.
After Horton Plains I took the train from the highest station – Pattipola in Sri Lanka towards Hatton for my next big trek to the top of Adam’s Peak.
Day 5 in Sri Lanka – Maskeliya
Finally, the spot which I was excited about my visit to Sri Lanka. Morning trek to the top of Adam’s Peak.
Adam’s Peak
It was not even morning when I left the place I was staying at in Maskeliya. I was in my auto at around 1 AM to reach the start point of Adam’s Peak. So that I can reach the top before sunrise, the summit is also famous for the sacred footprint which in Buddhist tradition is considered to be the footprint of Buddha, in Hindu tradition of Shiva and in Islamic and Christian tradition that of Adam or St. Thomas. It was really tough, not that I did Horton Plains in morning but even the fittest guys I saw were tired before even reaching half of it. But I made it just before the day would have started, and was able to see the most beautiful sunrise ever.
Ella
After reaching back to Maskeliya, from the Adam’s Peak. I took my train from Hatton to Ella.
The Most Beautiful Train Ride to Ella
I was not taking the whole part of the train ride as they say it’s from Kandy to Ella. But I actually broke it in two rides one from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya and the other one from Hatton to Kandy. Which too was awesome as the views out of the window on this half, sweet is the best word I can describe it in. Nothing much to explore today, as I took half of the day trekking down from the Adam’s Peak and was very tired.
Day 6 in Sri Lanka – Ella
I was not that sure if you are allowed to ride around Sri Lanka without an international license. But as the owner of the homestay was happy to give me the keys to her scooter, I thought why not. Obviously for some money as rent, and the petrol I needed to fill it.
Riding Around Ella
Ella is really amazing, I had a plan to trek to the top of Little Adam’s Peak but the rain totally ruined it. So later after getting up, I thought to explore around almost everything the Ella Tourist map had. I started with Nine Arches Bridge which was little far but I had the scooter with me so I headed over there.
Nine Arches Bridge
The Nine Arches Bridge is one of the best examples of British railway constructions when Ceylon was a colony of British Empire. There are particular timings when trains run over those bridge and the crowd gathers all around the top spots to see the view. You can see a cafe near the top of the place where you enjoy some juice and look at the view. I made a mistake and instead of going left, I went towards the right where I was able to see a beautiful waterfall too. And later returned on time to the other side to see the bridge which was crowded with people, not just at the railway lines but also the other spots you can grab a view from.
Dhowa Rock Temple
I saw one of the pictures of the place of an unfinished statue of Buddha. And directly headed over there, but including the statue, the temple was amazing too. With paintings all over the interiors of the temple.
Ravana Falls
The ride towards the waterfall is something you should definitely add to your list of things to do while in Ella. Crazy views if you stop in the middle to just feel the view in front of you. About the waterfall, they say that Ravana kidnapped Sita and hid her in the cave behind this waterfall. Nothing much here to do except looking at the massive view of the waterfall or the mischievous monkeys around. But if you want there is a spot where you can take a bath in the water falling from the waterfall.
Ravana Caves
My last spot of the day was the Ravana Cave and Temple, and also the last spot to visit in Ella. It was getting dark and I was thinking if I should or not visit the place as there was a climb with some broken stairs in between and no light on the way. But still, I went over to the top and was happy that I visited so many places for the day. After the climb, I visited the nearby temple where the evening prayers were going on.
Day 7 in Sri Lanka – Mirissa
Day 7 Wow I know so much now about my neighbouring country. It has been an amazing journey so far, and the longest solo trip ever.
Mirissa Beach
We were now saying goodbye to the mountains and heading over to the beaches. There are many beaches in Sri Lanka, but as my 10 days journey was about to end. I planned to visit some of them and later head over to Colombo. So I took my bus from Ella towards Mirissa, one of the famous and party hard beaches in Sri Lanka. After reaching Mirissa it started to rain and lasted for quite some time so I was able to reach the beach just before sunset.
The sky was changing colours in every minute at that time. I spent my evening and had my dinner on the beach itself. That was the end of the chill day, and there was nothing much to do at Mirissa except you can go for dolphin watching every morning. Which I wasn’t that excited about so I thought to go to Hikkaduwa which is famous for the Scuba Dives.
Day 8 in Sri Lanka – Hikkaduwa
I left for the first train from Mirissa to Hikkaduwa. And reached there very early, allowing me some time to rest and then head over to the beach.
Hikkaduwa Beach – Scuba Diving
I had the plan to Snorkel at the beach, but later I thought why not try the Scuba Dive as this was the first time I would be doing that activity. I took the explore Scuba Dive plan, which was just available for 75 dollars. For two dives one just to check and teach you some of the lessons of diving and also the equipment you will use during your dive. And the other dive where they take you to the depth of 8 meters. The instructors were really great and they allowed me to dive till 12 meters which were really amazing.
Galle Fort
After my dive, I slept for some time and then took the bus towards Galle. To spend the evening at the Galle Fort. Which was built in 1588 by the Portuguese and later extensively fortified by the Dutch in the 17th Century. The fort is properly maintained by Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka, which gives this fort the polished appearance it still stands on. There are many properties which are still owned by the Dutch people inside the fort. It is really an amazing place for an evening walk and also for buying many things available inside the fort. With fancy restaurants, ice cream parlours and much more.
Day 9-10 in Sri Lanka – Colombo
It was a long journey from Galle to Colombo, and also the end of my 10 days trip to Sri Lanka. The 9th day was my chill day, as I didn’t go much around Colombo. As I had the last day with me to visit the city and then take my flight back to India. Still, there was actually not many places to visit around Colombo so I followed the suggestions found online.
Floating Market
I started my day, with some awesome kottu breakfast at the Floating Market of Colombo. Which wasn’t what I expected, there were no shops on boats instead the shops were not floating. And were laid down just the opposite side of a lake, some food joints, cloth stores and a big hotel on the other end of that lake.
The Old Colombo Dutch Hospital
The hospital building is the oldest building in the Colombo fort area. Which now has been converted to a shopping and dining area. I was excited to dine at the Ministry of Crabs which is included in the 50 best restaurants of Asia. And later found out that there was an advance booking of 6 days.
Seema Malaka
Situated in the Beira Lake, this temple is used mostly for meditation and rest. It is actually a part of the Gangaramaya Temple, the most important temple in Colombo. I wasn’t able to visit the Gangaramaya Temple, but the Seema Malaka too was amazing with so many Buddha statues. It was constructed in the 19th century and has a small fee to enter the complex. I saw some people meditating on one side of the main complex area. Which stores some unique statues of Buddha.
Colombo Zoo
The zoo is massive, if you have a day you won’t be able to finish the Zoo. There are like 100s of animals which you can see from even Ostrich, Giraffe and Rhinos. With a huge aquarium of the different fishes found there including Piranha. I spent around 3-4 hours here and was blown away by the number of animals they kept there. Also, there are shows going on like the famous Elephant Dance show and Sea Lion.
And I ended my Sri Lanka journey at the zoo, later collected my bags and headed over to the airport. For my flight back to India. And yeah, this was one of the biggest article so far on my blog. But there is more to the places I visited and the whole journey which I will be posting every week. So don’t forget to subscribe my newsletter to never miss an article on my blog.
