Küttel's Sri Lanka Trip (21 Oct - 7 Nov 2008)

Asia » Sri Lanka
November 26th 2008

Published: November 27th 2008

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Kuttel

Colombo

Galle Face Hotel

Dear friends,

Please find attached some pictures illustrating my visit to Sri Lanka from October 21 to November 7, 2008.

Basically, I visited Steffi in Colombo (she's woring for GTZ there) and travelled around with her and her boyfriend Daniel who flew in from Geneva. Was great fun!!!

The route: Colombo - Kandy - Rangala - Nuwara Eliya (--> Horton Plains) - Tissamaharama (--> Yala National Park) - Hambantota - Polhena (Matara) - Unawatuna - Colombo.

Unfortunately, the gouvernement intensed their war activities against the LTTE (aka Tamil Tigers) during our stay, resulting in a counter-attack on Colombo (whilst we were in Nuwara Eliya) in form of an air-strike. In general, Colombo was a bit mind-troubling, having Army check points every 50 meters and to being checked by them ever once in a while... However, the country as such is absolutely beautiful, and since we travelled off season there were hardly any tourists around (apart from the southern beaches).

The highlights for me were the Rangala House (a 3 bedroom colonial style hotel overlooking the tea plantations in the highlands south of Kandy), the Horton Plains (highlands south of Nuwara Eliya, with sharp cliffs at their

Colombo

Galle Face Hotel

edges offering beautiful walks), the Yala National Park southeast (elephants, crocodiles, water buffalos, lots of birds & a leopard!), and finally Unawatuna (a little village situated at a beautiful little bay in the very south of Sri Lanka - great for diving, snorkeling or just hanging around at the beach).

Additional photos below

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