If excursions are booked seperatly without transportation and/or hotels, this offer is not covered by the STO Garant guarantee. You can find the conditions for this guarantee scheme on STO Garant’s website (www.sto-garant.nl/de/downloads).
Ariyapala Traditional Masks (museum in Ambalangoda)
Ariyapala Traditional Masks is a small ground-floor museum starring a life-sized statue of the last king and queen of Kandy. It also has a shop selling quality pieces. It’s across the road from the Ariyapala Mask Museum.
Balapitiya
Balapitiya you will reach the Madu River and will embark on a one-hour river safari. This area of Balapitiya has a rich and dense ecosystem with swampy waters that support entire forests of mangroves, crocodiles, boars and marsh animals, and a large variety of waterbirds; including cormorants and pelicans. You will be travelling through secretive waterways created by mangrove tunnels and viewing tiny islands; some with temples or cinnamon pluckers, who you can buy fresh cinnamon from.
Galle
Galle is a jewel. A Unesco World Heritage Site, this historic city is a delight to explore on foot, an endlessly exotic old trading port blessed with imposing Dutch-colonial buildings, ancient mosques and churches, grand mansions and museums. Wandering its rambling lanes you’ll pass stylish cafes, quirky boutiques and impeccably restored hotels owned by local and foreign artists, writers, photographers and designers.
Built by the Dutch, beginning in 1663, Galle’s core is the Fort, a walled enclave surrounded on three sides by the ocean. A key part of the Fort’s appeal is that it isn’t just a pretty place. Sure, tourism now dominates the local economy, but this unique city remains a working community: there are administrative offices and courts, export companies, schools and colleges.
Most travellers are utterly seduced by Galle’s ambience, and it’s undoubtedly southern Sri Lanka’s one unmissable sight.