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Smoking Hot Indian Ocean
Travel Tips: Sri Lanka & The Maldives
26 September 2011
The secret is out and word is spreading: Sri Lanka is Asia's hippest up-and-coming travel destination, with sexy boutique hotels and villas a dime a dozen and more cropping up all the time.
It is also the perfect destination for experience-greedy travellers like us who literally want it all: art, culture, beach, jungle, mountains, wildlife and history.
After all this, there's nowhere better to reflect and relax than the Maldives, a 1.5-hr flight away. Lightfoot's dedicated travel team have tried and tested this formula (just to be sure) and we think it is the ultimate Indian Ocean combo.
First stop: Sri Lanka. Once you've hit the cool shops and restaurants in Colombo and sipped the Amangalla's Arak Sour cocktails in the colonial fort town of Galle, head east through lush jungle for a few hours and you'll find yourself in totally different scenery. Yala National Park's dramatic panoramas are punctuated with achingly beautiful lakes and thriving wildlife. Bed down in a mobile tented camp and enjoy fun open-back 4x4 safaris amongst herds of elephant, spotted and samba deer, chirping birds and strutting peacocks, and if luck is on your side, the highly endangered leopard.
Next, snake your way inland to yet another staggeringly different landscape: the cool and hilly tea country of Bogawantalawa Valley. Visit a working tea factory and travel back in time by sleeping Sri Lanka's classiest luxury hotel, Tea Trails, a collection of 4 bungalows once home to colonial era tea planters. Further north still you'll arrive at the enchanting lakeside city of Kandy. Wait till after dark to visit the fabled Temple of the Tooth (where Lord Buddha's tooth relic is reputedly kept) to experience a symphony of chanting and candlelit ceremonies.
Suitably dazzled? Good, because it's time to flop on a beach. Not any old beach, mind you - Cocoa Island is our favourite barefoot luxury resort in the Maldives. Snooze, sunbathe and snorkel in warm, see-through seas teaming with marine life and colourful coral. Other "activities" here include eating delicious gourmet food and receiving able-fingered massages at the spa. Dream holiday: guaranteed.
These escapes were brought to you by Lightfoot Travel p. 6438 4091, e. info@lightfoottravel.com, a Singapore-based luxury tour operator offering expert travel advice & inspiration, tailor-made itineraries & full booking services.
Smoking Hot Indian O | 26 Sep 2011 at 04:23 PM
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