Day Six

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Today we spent the day at the to the Kumbuk River Resort again.
We woke up a little earlier to go bird watching and try and see some Peacocks then after that we took a swim in the river we headed off at 2:30 for Then that night we stayed at the resort and had BBQ for dinner. Overall it was a very chill day. 

Bird Watching - Natural Environment: At the Kumbuk River resort, there are many trails that cover the large resort area. The five of us took a hike through one of the trails and enjoyed the beautiful views of the day. We brought our binoculars so we could try and see as much wild life as possible. We went out before the sun rose because our guide told us we were the most likely to see peacocks early in the morning. We watched as the sun rose through the trees and we were all extremely excited to see a large family of peacocks right in front of us. We didn't need any binoculars to see them and they were not scared of us. There were three really cute babies in the mothers nests who made loud chirping noises. After a while we decided to continue on to see what other cool animals we could find. There were some more pretty birds but no other significant animals. We ate lunch by a small river and were about to go in for a dip until we realized there were leaches in the river so we were all happy no one had stepped into there.

Weather: The weather was perfect, it was about 80 degrees throughout the entire day, a little more humid than we expected but made for a relaxing temperature while bird watching. There were also some clouds covering us from the sun, releasing us from the stress of having to layer ourselves with sunblock.

Hotel: Elephant Villa, there is just something about sleeping in an elephant that makes you feel well-rested.

Day Five

Friday, October 20, 2017

Today we decided to spend an extra day in Kandy and explore the market place and enjoy a low-key day. We slept in because we were all tired from last nights festival. Every one was still in awe over the beautiful fireworks and views of the lighten up city. At around 11 we enjoyed a nice breakfast of Hoppers which is Indigenous to Sri Lanka. Then we left to a local market, we went shopping and found unique things to bring back to all our friends back at home. Later we enjoyed our technology activity and at the end of the day we packed up everything and drove to Buttala to spend a few days at the famous Kumbuk River Resort.

Hoppers

Hoppers - Indigenous Food: Hoppers are native breakfast/lunch food that are made from dough, shredded coconuts, chopped onions, and green chilies. It was very different than the western food we were accustomed to. Brenna was not found of it and not so smoothly spit it into her napkin. 

Three Wheelers - Technology: We rode a three wheeler around the market of Kandy. A three wheeler is similar to a motorcycle except for the fact it has an extra wheel. Elyse and I, Brenna and Madison, Camille and the tour guide, drove around Kandy on the three wheeler's. I had to trade spaces with Elyse as to who was driving because she was having a lot of difficulty steering the vehicle. Everyone else did a good job driving and we all saw what everyday life looked like in Sri Lanka.

Weather: We all got dressed preparing for the day ahead, it was going to be a hotter day than most with a high of 82 degrees Fahrenheit. There were some early morning showers that made the atmosphere very humid. 

Elephant Villa

Hotel: Our hotel that night was the Elephant Villa at the Kumbuk River Resort it cost us $140 a night and had great views and excellent reviews.

Day Four

Thursday, October 19, 2017



Botanical Gardens of Peradeniya

Today we were picked up at our hotel by a car at 8:30 in the morning. Our Tour Guide for the Temple of the Tooth picked us up in a large van to tour the city and the temple. We were on tour until 6:00 at night and it included visiting the Botanical Gardens of Peradeniya, Sri Maha Bodhi Vihara,


Sri Maha Bodhi Vihara

and the Temple of the Tooth. At the end of the tour we had a Kandy Cultural Dance Show performed for us at the very end. Camille and Madison both wanted to learn the dances because of their interesting movements incorporated.

Temple of the Tooth - Culture: The Tour included a trip to The Royal Botanical Gardens of Peradeniya are gardens dating back to the British era. It was used as an Allied Forces Headquarters during World War 2. for the Asian Region. It contains thousands of plant species that are beautifully placed and smell even better than they look. After that we visited the Sri Maha Bodhi Vihara in Bahiravakanda which was used as a meeting center for


Temple of the Tooth

National and International Buddhist Relations. The monastery boasts a giant Buddha statue that can be seen from all over Kandy. We climbed to the top and reached a room that has ultimate scenic views of Kandy. After a quick lunch we went to The Temple of the Tooth Relic. It has a history spanning over several centuries and homes the Sacred Tooth Relic of Buddha. Finally at the end of the tour we saw a  cultural dance show featuring many traditional Kandyan dances and acts. They performed one called the demon dance, the fire dance and many more beautiful performances.

Festival lights we held

Diwali Festival: Diwali Festival is also known as Festival of the Lights. It is a Hindu festival and represents good triumphing over evil. Diwali is the beginning of a New Year for Hindus The festivities are grand and homes are decorated with designs known as Kolam and Rangoli. Colorful drawings of folk art believed to represent sacred deities

Weather: Today's weather was a little misty when we first woke up so everyone required coffee to get themselves moving for the day. It was lightly raining off and on all morning and afternoon. It made the gardens smell amazing as the water brought all the flowers alive. We were lucky enough to be in the car for most of the showers. When we arrived back, you could feel the tension of the locals who were concerned about to upcoming festival. The worst shower was only a few hours before the main activities would start. Then all of a sudden all the rain stopped and the clouds cleared the sky. The festivals activities would continue on as planned. It was a Diwali miracle.

Hotel: Our hotel in Kandy is Hotel Sunray again tonight. It is about 10 mins away from the town so we are able to go there very easily and by walking.

Day Three

Wednesday, October, 18, 2017



Entrance to King's Fortress

Sigiriya - Early morning leave for Sigiriya about a four hour drive and climb the 5th-century Sigiriya rock fortress. Sigiriya is famous for its toadstool of golden-hued granite, protruding into the searing blue sky from a hot, flat wilderness of scrub-land, which is transformed in the rainy season to a water garden. Afterwards visiting this beautiful area, have lunch at New Sigiri Restaurant. After lunch, visit Dambulla rock temple that was built by King Walagambahu in the 1st century B.C. and it is a World Heritage Site. It is the most impressive of Sri Lanka's cave temples. The complex of five caves with over 2000 sq. meters of painted walls and ceilings, is the largest area of paintings found in the world. It contains over 150 images of the Buddha and the largest is the colossal figure of the Buddha carved out of rock and spanning 14 meters.On completion of this visit, you will be driven back to your hotel (approx. 4 hours drive)

Yapahuwa stone Lion

History: When many talk of the city of Sigiriya, they're usually referring to its ancient Rock Fortress as this mass of 600 ft rock was actually presumed a city in itself. Its King, Kasyapa (477-495 AD) reigned from this fortress, which was also his palace, ornamented with what was believed to be over 500 frescoes of women. These, have now faded, however a few are still visible on parts of the rock faces. Yapahuwa is a 300ft rock fortress that was once home to Buddha's Sacred Tooth Relic and also the capital of Sri Lanka during the reign of King Buvenekabuhu (1273-1284 AD). It is often scaled as an alternative to climbing Sigiriya. The rock kingdom was heavily guarded with a moat and a high-rise wall. The Yapahuwa stone Lion sits smiling at its visitors while an amazing stone stairway revives evidence of an entrance to the King's fortress, which was also his royal palace.




Hotel Sunray

Hotel: After we walked around the Fortress, we drove to Kandy and checked into our Hotel. We selected a nice hotel near the middle of the city so that we could do anything the two days we were staying there. We selected Hotel Sunray because it is a quick 15 minute walk from the temple and we can start the tour on time.

Weather: The weather today was mild so we dressed in light layers. It got warmer throughout the day so we had to cool off with many water breaks in the afternoon. 

Day Two

Tuesday, October 17, 2017



Baby Elephant

Today we arrived in CMB after a long day of flying yesterday. It was 11:42 in the morning but we didn't get out of customs until around 1:30. At the airport we received our rental which was very small. We then drove for about 2 hours to go to the Elephant Orphanage in Pinnawala. We barely
missed the chance to feed the Elephants but we got there in time to watch them play around in the river. Afterwards we talked to one of the Directors and she allowed us to go feed the elephants ourselves. They were super cute and playful. One jumped into the water and splashed mud all over Keeley and Elyse. We then drove to our hotel in Sigiriya. It was a short 2 hour drive after a memorable day with the Elephants.

Feeding Elephants Milk

Elephant Orphanage - Natural Environment: Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is an orphanage, nursery and captive breeding ground for wild Asian elephants located at Pinnawala village, established in 1975. Pinnawala has the largest herd of captive elephants in the world. In 2011, there were 88 elephants, including 39 males and 49 females from 3 generations, living in Pinnawala. The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage started off with the introduction of five abandoned baby elephants to the premises. They were named Vijaya, Neela, Kadira , Mathlee and Kumari. The tragedy with these misplaced or abandoned babies is that they cannot survive in the wild on their own as they need milk from their mother until they are almost five years old. They hence need to be hand raised for their survival. They caters not only for the abandoned babies but also for those injured and maimed within the jungle. It has become one of the largest tourist attractions in the country due to its distinctive population of elephants.


Hotel Sigiriya

  Hotel: The hotel was located a short 12 minute walk away from Sigiriya so we could get there easily in the morning. The Rooms were beautiful and we had an excellent view of the Ruin. It was called Hotel Sigiriya. We checked in at around 9:00 pm and went up to our rooms. We decided to go for a late night swim to relax before our trip to Sigiriya tomorrow. The pool had an excellent view of the large place we would trek early in the morning. Shortly after we had settled in the pool we heard something rumble. We sat completely still and then a large
elephant walked up to the pool. He started drinking the water but shortly sprayed it out. I'm guessing he didn't like Chlorine. But all the water splashed all over the 5 of us making that a night to remember.

Weather: It was sprinkling when we arrived, as it is nearing the end of the monsoon season in Sri Lanka. The air was a humid cool and the beautiful Mid-Day dun embraced us peaking through the light gray clouds as we stepped out of the airport. It was a new climate to us, but a comfortable and beautiful one after our long captivity in the stuffy airplane. This soft tone in the air embraced us for the rest of the day creating a peaceful yet exciting greeting and marking a great way to start our trip.

Day One + Itinerary for Trip

Monday, October 16, 2017
Today is just for flying. Our first flight took off at 4:00 am. Earlier that week we decided to wake up at 1:00 am just so we got there in enough time to get through security and for our luggage to be put away. We all loaded in Madison's moms car and headed off to RDU airport. Our first flight was to JFK from RDU and we can't be late! We hopped out of the car with luggage in hand, then skipped straight into the airport giggling with excitement, finally we made our way to security, then had to go back to get new tickets because the lady at the desk spelled Camille's name wrong. Our trip was not starting out the way that we hoped but we didn't let that get in the way of us have the best time. We got through security faster than we anticipated, so we had a lot more time to get a proper breakfast at Burger's Bagels and stop at the usual airport store to get a few magazines and some gum for the flight. After we had got everything we needed we made our way back to our gate and then got ready to board around 3:30am.

 We shuffled onto the large airplane and settled into a tightly packed space. After about 10 minutes we took off and were souring through the air. Madison was super nerves for the take off part of the flying experience but after that she was fine. After a safe flight and a safe landing we had a few hours of layover. We took turns watching our bags and walking around to get some coffee. Everyone, especially Keeley, had a difficult time staying awake. I knew very well that we could sleep on our next flight. While it would feel like the middle of the day for us, it was over night in Sri Lanka which would help us adjust to the time zine difference. Finally just after 8:00 am we took off to DOH.

Flight to Sri Lanka

Arriving at DOH, which is in the United Arab Emirates which is a country near Saudi Arabia, we were all very exhausted. Even though we got some sleep on the plane, it was close to 5:00 am there which was completely different from where we started. While it was close to 8:00 pm at home. We had a small meal and walked around the airport for our one hour layover.

Finally we headed off for CMB at 9:32 Raleigh time. When we arrived there it was about 12:00 pm locally. It felt weird to be up seeing that it would have been 2:00 am at home. But everyone was excited for our first day on the island.

Below is a schedule of our flights in Local time and Raleigh Time.

1:30pm-3:21pm- To JFK (4:00am-5:51am)

3:21pm-5:37pm - Layover (5:51am-8:07am)

5:37pm-5:52am - To DOH (8:07am-8:22pm)

5:52am-7:02am - Layover (8:22pm-9:32pm)

7:02am-11:42am - CMB (9:32pm-2:12am)


Check out our itinerary here