Insight Guides Sri Lanka (Travel Guide eBook) , livre ebook

How To Use This E-Book

Getting around the e-book
This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Sri Lanka, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editor’s Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Sri Lanka. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.
In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.
Maps
All key attractions and sights in Sri Lanka are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.
Images
You’ll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Sri Lanka. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.
About Insight Guides
Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.
Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

© 2018 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd




Table of Contents
Sri Lanka’s Top 10 Attractions
Editor’s choice
Introduction: Pearl of the Indian Ocean
Lie of the land
Decisive dates
Ancient civilisation
Colonialism and Kandy
Independence
People
Contemporary society
Religion
Insight: Shrines and offerings
Festivals
Dance and music
Art and architecture
Insight: The art of Sri Lanka’s muralists
Food and drink
Shopping
Wildlife
Introduction: Places
Colombo
West coast
South coast
Kandy and around
Insight: Elephants: Sri Lanka’s friendly giants
Hill Country
Cultural Triangle
Anuradhapura
Mihintale
Polonnaruwa
Sigiriya
Insight: Ayurveda
East coast
Jaffna and the north
Travel Tips: Transport
Travel Tips: A–Z
Travel Tips: Language
Travel Tips: Further Reading


Sri Lanka’s Top 10 Attractions



Top Attraction 1



Galle Fort. A perfectly preserved colonial time capsule, the quiet streets of Galle Fort ooze old-world atmosphere, with characterful Dutch-era mansions encircled by a venerable chain of ramparts and bastions, and the crashing waves of the Indian Ocean breaking just beyond. For more information, click here .
Corbis


Top Attraction 2



Kandy. The cultural capital of Sri Lanka has a vibrant traditional arts scene, a superb array of Buddhist temples and palaces, and a beautiful location amidst the island’s precipitous central hills. For more information, click here .
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 3



The Gathering, Minneriya National Park. The world’s largest gathering of Asian elephants, who congregate around the waters of Minneriya tank in their hundreds every year from June to September. For more information, click here .
Alamy


Top Attraction 4



Polonnaruwa. This is where you’ll find Sri Lanka’s finest collection of ancient Buddhist art and architecture, from the magnificent rock-carved statues of the Gal Vihara to the exquisitely decorated temples of the Quadrangle. For more information, click here .
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 5



Yala National Park. Sri Lanka’s foremost wildlife destination is home to the world’s highest concentration of leopards, alongside elephants aplenty, fabulous birdlife and skittish monkeys – plus a wonderful landscape of unspoilt jungle and salty lagoons. For more information, click here and here .
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 6



Sigiriya. The unforgettable rock-fortress of Sigiriya towers high over the surrounding plains, one of Sri Lanka’s most dramatic natural sights and brimful of historical interest too. For more information, click here .
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 7



Rice and curry. For the true flavour of Sri Lanka, tuck into an authentic Sri Lankan rice and curry, a miniature banquet of contrasting ingredients and flavours – with a fair bit of spice thrown in. For more information, click here .
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 8



Anuradhapura. Capital of Sri Lanka for over 1,000 years, its enormous dagobas and jungle-swathed ruins are among the island’s most magnificent, and atmospheric, ancient remains. For more information, click here .
Shutterstock


Top Attraction 9



World’s End. The hill country at its most dramatic: the sheer cliffs of World’s End fall away beneath one’s feet for the best part of a kilometre, offering heart-stopping views over the distant plains below. For more information, click here .
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications


Top Attraction 10



Whale-watching. Southern Sri Lanka offers arguably the best place in the world to see both blue and sperm whales together, along with lots of dolphins. For more information, click here .
Shutterstock


Editor’s Choice




A decorated elephant at Kandy’s Esala Perahera.
Getty Images


Best wildlife

Yala National Park. Best known for its remarkable population of leopards, but great for all sorts of other wildlife as well. For more information, click here .
Dolphin watching, Kalpitiya. Huge pods of dolphins can be seen most mornings in the waters off Kalpitiya, along with the occasional whale. For more information, click here .
Birdwatching in Bundala National Park. The lagoons of Bundala support an amazing array of aquatic birds, including great flocks of pink flamingos. For more information, click here .
Uda Walawe National Park. Sweeping plains and sparse vegetation make this one of the best places in Sri Lanka to see elephants in the wild. For more information, click here .
Sinharaja. A superb stretch of lush and unspoilt tropical rainforest, and home to some of Sri Lanka’s rarest birds. For more information, click here .



Aromatic cardamom seeds.
Sylvaine Poitau/Apa Publications


Best Buddhist temples

Temple of the Tooth, Kandy. The most important pilgrimage place in Sri Lanka, housing the revered Tooth Relic of the Buddha, believed by many Buddhists to be the most precious thing in the world. For more information, click here .
The four devales, Kandy. Untouristy little shrines offering a picture-perfect snapshot of Buddhist art and architecture. For more information, click here .
Dambulla Cave Temples. Dating from the 1st century BC, these are the most beautiful temples in Sri Lanka, festooned with a marvellous array of sculptures and murals. For more information, click here .
Mulgirigalla. Wonderfully atmospheric sequence of cave temples carved out of the flanks of a towering hillside in the rural depths of the south. For more information, click here .
Kelaniya. Vibrant modern temple on the edge of Colombo in an attractive colonial-era building. For more information, click here .


Best cultural experiences

Esala Perahera, Kandy. Sri Lanka’s finest festival: an extraordinary pageant of drummers, dancers and elephants. For more information, click here .
Kandyan dancing. Spectacularly costumed dancers perform acrobatic choreography to an insistent accompaniment of high-octane drumming. For more information, click here .
Kataragama. Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims alike flock to the shrines at Kataragama, the island’s most eclectic religious site and home to an extravagant summer festival. For more information, click here .
A cricket match. Join the crowds at a test or one-day match for an insight into Sri Lanka’s other major religion: cricket. For more information, click here .
Nallur Festival, Jaffna. Sri Lanka’s biggest and most spectacular Hindu festival, a pageant of colour, crowds and religious devotion. For more information, click here .