Northern Magnificence – A Sensorial Spectacle

Accommodation – Jetwing Thalahena Villas

Room type – Deluxe Room

Basis – Bed & Breakfast Basis

Welcome to Sri Lanka, the pearl of the Indian Ocean! In keeping with Sri Lankan tradition, all of us here at Jetwing Travels will like to extend to you our heartiest “Ayubowan!” (Traditional Sri Lankan greeting wishing long life to the other)

On arrival at the Bandaranaike International Airport you will be met by your Chauffeur guide & transfer to your hotel in Negombo.

Transfer Time (Airport to Negombo): Approximately 30 minutes’ drive

Check into the hotel & spend rest of the day at leisure enjoying the hotel facilities.

Accommodation – Jetwing Jaffna

Room type – Deluxe Room

Basis – Bed & Breakfast Basis

Today take the train to Jaffna, where your guide drop you at Fort railway station and proceed to Jaffna with your baggage.

Train transfer Time (Colombo to Jaffna): Approximately 8 ½ hours

You will be picked up from Jaffna railway station by a hotel driver.

Spend the day at leisure. Don’t forget to enjoy the scrumptious crab curry for dinner, which is a must try on their menu.

Accommodation – Jetwing Jaffna

Room type –  Deluxe Room

Basis – Bed & Breakfast Basis

Day 1 of your Jaffna city tour,

• Visit Keerimalai hot springs. This is a natural spring, touching the seas west of Palaly. A bathing tank has been constructed which surrounds the pool, meaning only the walls are separating the fresh waters of the spring and the crashing waves of the sea. Although the tank edges the salty sea, the water is comes from an underground fresh water spring in Tellippalai-Maviddapuram. It is said this underwater source also connects to the Nilavarai bottomless well which lies over 10km away from here. This spring is popular among the Hindus for the miraculous powers it holds.
• Dambakola Patuna can be reached via road on a 45-minute journey from Jetwing Jaffna. The Sri Sangamitta Viharaya is situated on a coastline that skirts the northern edge of Sri Lanka, overlooking the azure waters of the Palk Strait. On a clear day, you may even be able to see the edge of India’s southern coastline.
• Nallur temple – The original, Kandaswamy Temple was founded in 948 ad. According to the Yalpana Vaipava Malai, the temple was developed at the site in the 13th century by Buwanika Bahu, a minister to the King of Kotte.  Sapumal Kumaraya (also known as Chempaha Perumal in Tamil), who ruled the Jaffna kingdom on behalf of the Kotte kingdom is credited with building the third  Nallur Kandaswamy temple. Nallur served as the capital of the Jaffna kings, with the royal palace situated very close to the temple. Nallur was built with four entrances with gates. There were two main roadways and four temples at the four gateways.

Accommodation – Jetwing Vil Uyana

Room type – Garden Dwelling

Basis – Bed & Breakfast Basis

After breakfast leave to Sigirya.

Transfer Time (Jaffna to Sigiriya): Approximately 5 ½ hours’ drive

Towards evening, enjoy the climb to the Sigiriya Rock Fortress with the antics of the local monkeys to amuse you and the art and architecture on every level to reward your climb.

Near-vertical walls soar to a flat-topped summit that contains the ruins of an ancient civilization, thought to be once the epicenter of the short-lived kingdom of Kassapa, and there are spellbinding vistas across mist-wrapped forests and serene landscapes.

Accommodation – Jetwing Vil Uyana

Room type – Garden Dwelling

Basis –  Bed & Breakfast Basis

Today morning, visit to Polonnaruwa. Discover Polonnaruwa:  A UNESCO World Heritage Site and the ancient capital of Sri Lanka. The world famous rock-cut Buddha statues of Gal Vihara and the Parakrama Samudra are part of a 2500-hectare man made reservoir built by King Parakramabahu I (1153 –1186 AD)

Transfer Time (Sigiriya to Polonnaruwa): Approximately 1 ½ hours’ drive per way

Towards late afternoon, visit the National Parks for elephant watching (choice of park depending on ‘local intelligence’ on the elephants’ location, either Minneriya or Kaudulla). Witness the annual migration of elephants on the receded shores of the Minneriya Tank. The gathering of elephants at Minneriya is an awesome spectacle, which ranks alongside better known wildlife spectacles such as the migration of the wildebeest in Africa. In September and October, as the north central province goes dry and trees hang wilted and shorn off their leaves, elephants migrate from the Flood Plains National Park across the jungle, through to Kaudulla and thence to Minneriya National Park. Conservationists have feared that the migration may be doomed with more and more chenas springing up in the way of the elephants. Those fears have been addressed with the creation of the Kaudulla National Park, opened formally to the public in September 2002. Around the tanks, look out for painted stork, openbill stork, black-headed ibis, Asian spoonbill and grey-headed fish eagle.

Accommodation – Jetwing Vil Uyana

Room type – Garden Dwelling

Basis – Bed & Breakfast Basis

Spend the day at leisure, enjoying hotel facilities.

Evening with the hotel naturalist, take a Loris watch, The private biosphere of this property shares a habitat with the elusive Grey Slender Loris, a nocturnal primate hidden in the scrublands . Known for its protruding eyes and nimble limbs, the loris scavenges for insects and berries above the trees on a moonlit trail that has been carefully designed for you to observe the rare creature in its natural habitat. Accompanied by hotel resident naturalist, a quiet evening walk takes you through the streams and bamboo bridges of our lush forest eco-system to the Loris Information Centre and Conservation Site. Equipped with harmless red light emitting headlamps that reflect off the characteristic eyes of our resident loris population, your silent search may even be prized with a close-up encounter of this fleeting species.

As all good things must come to an end, we bid you farewell as our Chauffeur Guide transfers you to the Airport to meet your departure flight home.

Transfer Time (Sigiriya to Airport): Approximately 4 ½ hours’ drive