Hi all, I couldn't find a Sri Lanka topic.
found a great fare to get to CMB on my way to Singapore in March 2023. March should be a nice month to visit.

i came up with a 12 day itinerary. Purely focussing on the WHS. The TWHS in the east, it would add to much time which I don't have.

what do you think? (note, day 8-9 i start again at day 1. because between there i need to fly to singapore for 5 days).
based on selfdrive. I think a regular car will do? or better go for 4x4?
I would only stay in Dambulla, Kandy and Galle (possible in CMB airport pending flight times)

Day 1 Arrival direct to Dambulla (3-4h drive)?
Day 2 Sigiriya (rock fortress with art) day trip from Dambulla (<1h drive)
Day 3 Anuradhapura (old city) day trip from Dambulla (1.5h drive)
Day 4 Polonnaruva (old city) day trip from Dambulla (1.5h drive)
Day 5 Rangiri Dambulla Cave Temple (in Dambulla) – drive to Kandy (2h drive)
Day 6 Day trip to Central Highlands Knuckles Range (2h drive to Deenstone Conservation Centre)
Day 7 Day in Kandy – afternoon to CMB
Day 8 Fly out
Day 1 (9) Arrival CMB to Galle
Day 2 (10) Day trip to Sinharaja Forest (3h drive both ways)
Day 3 (11) Day in Galle drive to CMB
Day 4 (12) Fly out

Tnx in advance!

This looks like a great plan Chris, and it has the same elements to what I did, particularly using Dambulla as a base. I would've suggested taking the train for a day trip to Galle from Colombo as it is a nice experience and staying overnight in Anuradhapura, but you have the benefit of the car.

Yes maybe, but I plan actually to not go to Colombo itself. The airport is far out the city and the city is only busy :-)
Take the rental at the airport and go.
I know there is some scenic train rides in Sri Lanka.

You would not need a 4x4 for this.

Some of the coastal towns in the southwest have (had?) congestion just slightly less than India, so you might want to ask around once you get there to confirm if your anticipated travel times are realistic.

However, how the deteriorating political/economic situation in the country during the last year will affect your plans seems like an open question...

Yes; what I read from other travellers is that tourists go first at gas stations.


OK tnx!

I recall the road being a bit rough to Sinharaja, which we paid for a day trip from Galle. Our driver managed it with a 2WD sedan, and going slow, but I'm pretty sure thinking it was good we weren't driving ourselves!

This looks like an announcement of an updated Sri Lanka T List:
https://www.dailynews.lk/2023/08/08/local/65689/four-iconic-sri-lankan-sites-to-be-proposed-for-world-heritage-list/

— Nine Arch Bridge
— Ritigala
— Arankele
— Manakanda

Ritigala, Arankele and Manakanda — 3 archaeological sites of «Forest Monasteries» all within 70 miles/115 kms of each other in the same region as Sigiriya, Dambulla and Polonaruwa. within Sri Lanka's «Cultural Triangle» and all «Padhanaghara» monastic complexes. They would surely have to be nominated as a series (Though Ritigala might also be on the T List for the mountain's Natural values?) and this would seem to constitute a «type» of cultural architectural heritage about which an «OUV» story could be constructed.? One can also understand Sri Lanka wanting to «spread the load» of tourism in that area. I note that christravelblog above didn't visit any of them (and neither did we across 2 visits to SL in 1972 and 2005)... but even if he had it would surely have been in addition to those which he did so, not much impact on «load»... butr maybe spreading the «benefits» a bit more?

Nine Arch Bridge Mmmmm? Its value (other than being a local «attraction» in an pleasant setting) would seem to lay in the fact that no steel was used in its construction and that the engineer was a Sri Lankan («The construction of the bridge is generally attributed to a local Ceylonese builder, P. K. Appuhami, in consultation with British engineers.[5][6] The chief designer and project manager of the 'upcountry railway line of Ceylon' project was D. J. Wimalasurendra, a distinguished Ceylonese engineer and inventor. The designer of the viaduct was Harold Cuthbert Marwood of Railway Construction Department of Ceylon Government Railway» — Wiki). How «special» does a bridge have to be to gain inscription? I am not an expert but I don't think that «Brick bridges» without steel are that unusual? I know with personal local knowledge of the amazing «Maidenhead Railway bridge» built entirely of brick by I K Brunel in 1838. (which was once a part of UK's former T List entry for the «Great Western Railway») and combining both novel engineering and a very early (for a railway bridge) design/construction date (83 years before that of the Sri Lankan bridge).

We don't yet know whether these are going to replace or be added to SL's 3 existing T List sites...... nor what other sites were considered. But one does note a considerable «concentration» of inscribed and T List sites in the Central area. Perhaps this just reflects the reality... but one might have thought that SL would have considered —
a. getting a site in its capital (most countries do!), Perhpas there really is nothing of adequate significcance — just a lot f 19th C buildings of no grerat merit?
b. Yala NP in the SE. This site was suggested by IUCN in its 1982 publication « https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiBnODC68yAAxUwW0EAHYSoB30QFnoECCoQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fportals.iucn.org%2Flibrary%2Fsites%2Flibrary%2Ffiles%2Fdocuments%2F1982-004.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3K16bYkJjm3s5MbVdIBaZ_&opi=89978449 ».
c. trying to include something from the Tamil area in the North which remains completely unrepresented.

Just booked a two week visit in November (mid to end) to Sri Lanka and the weather forecast is pretty awful. Any one have experiences how bad it gets?

Looking online I find that most cultural WHS should be fine with Kandy the only one impaired by weather. The two natural sites seem pretty hard to visit, though.

Anuradhapura - Tolerable - https://www.whereandwhen.net/when/central-and-south-asia/sri-lanka/anuradhapura/november/
Kandy - Bad - https://www.whereandwhen.net/when/central-and-south-asia/sri-lanka/kandy/november/
Dambulla - Tolerable - https://www.whereandwhen.net/when/central-and-south-asia/sri-lanka/dambulla/november/
Polonnaruwa - Tolerable - https://www.whereandwhen.net/when/central-and-south-asia/sri-lanka/polonnaruwa/november/
Adams Peak - Very bad - https://www.whereandwhen.net/when/central-and-south-asia/sri-lanka/adam-s-peak/november/
Hortons Plain - Very bad - https://www.whereandwhen.net/when/central-and-south-asia/sri-lanka/horton-plains-national-park/november
Knuckles - Very bad https://visitinsrilanka.com/knuckles-mountain-range/
Sinharaja - Very bad "https://www.whereandwhen.net/when/central-and-south-asia/sri-lanka/sinharaja/november/
Galle - Tolerable - https://www.whereandwhen.net/when/central-and-south-asia/sri-lanka/galle/november/

We will probably rearrange our itinerary based on the daily weather forecast. Sri Lanka doesn't seem to be too big and getting up and down from Kandy should be feasible.

Questions:
* Are the two natural WHS accessible during monsoon? I don't need to climb mountains, but I would like to have a foot in the core zone. Knuckles or Horton >>Plains<< seem managable. The rain forest (lower half) could work, too.
* Is monsoon in Sri Lanka 24x7 or does it come in bursts of heavy rainß

I don't think you want to believe the data. Don't fret about your vacation because there are two monsoons and the northeast one is weak and shouldn't affect your sites. Kandy is even ok when it's raining anyway and then you don't have hundreds of people lining up for the temples ;)
Hortons Plain should be totally fine for example, cold (and you want to go early, early morning) around that time of the year, but rain is "regular" rain not monsoon rain if it should occur. Don't bring plastic!
Sinharaja is going to be muddy one way or another (even outside the monsoon season) and I would think like most people you just visit the waterfall for the day hike which should be fine around that time of the year. I would be more worried about leeches (the guides will give you protection).

Look into the two monsoons to understand it better and ignore the weather data. You should still get lovely weather down at Galle to relax at the beaches :) There was also something on the news about the maha monsoon being weak this year which impacts agriculture but I think that won't happen until December.

@zoe. thanks for the feedback. calmed me a bit. we will do a bit of dynamic itinerary based on the weather forecast. either we do clockwise or counterclockwise. or we move kandy and the central highlands to the end.


What do you mean?


What entry is it?


Yeah...


Will learn on site :)

One isn't allowed to bring plastic into Hortons Plains. A bottle (reusable) might be acceptable. The guards will go through all your gear. The hike doesn't take that long that you need more than a super tiny backpack. I went in "dry" season and it was still very misty up there in the morning.

Quite sure it was the Lankagama entrance. It seems the easier place to go with tourists but waterfalls aren't a main thrill for our kind of tourists I would say. In retrospective Pitadeniya seems the better hiking area.

By the way there is awesome rafting at the west coast if you are interested. Very popular. Not WHS of course :p

Sri Lanka will come with a new T List: https://www.newsfirst.lk/2023/10/27/decision-to-add-10-more-sri-lankan-sites-to-world-heritage-list

It "includes Buddhist meditation monasteries of ancient Sri Lanka, Mihintale, ancient irrigation systems, ancient maritime centres of Sri Lanka and the tea landscape. "

Quite an interesting list which has shed the 9 arch bridge but is still heavily concentrated in the Cultural Triangle area. Sri Lanka has gone for the sorts of themes which have been successful elsewhere recently - Modern Architecture linked to the region, Irrigation, something from the Colonial period, an attempt to include various religious groups and cultural areas.......

To expand a bit more on the 10

Buddhist meditation monasteries of ancient Sri Lanka -as discussed above in August? See Padhanaghara

Mihintale - Standard tourist trail site already within the Cultural Triangle

Ancient irrigation systems. Yet another site located around the Cultural Triangle - the main examples seem to be the enormous "tanks" (Lakes) around Sigiriya

Ancient Maritime Centres of Sri Lanka. Addresses the issue i raised above of lack of anything from the North. May be linked in with the Maritime silk route? See the 2 towns mentioned by UNESCO - Maintai and Beruwala.

Tea landscape. Plenty to go at -will they finish up with a "monster" equivalent to Colombia's Coffee Landscape. Every region will want a part of the action? Nuwara Elliya is as good as any I would have thought for the Tea aspects - and does have some rather fine colonial buildings.

The architecture of tropical modernism -this seems likely to relate (totally or primarily??) to the work of Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. He has an international reputation and an architect friend of mine who went to Sri Lanka recently went our if his way to see examples.

Oratorian churches From the Portuguese period and related to Goa. See here.

Mahayanist influenced monastic complexes. As a non expert on matters Buddhist ir isn't that clear to me which "complexes" meet the definition - But, potentially quite an overlap with existing sites e.g Anuradhapura and the other Buddhist sies in the new list - e.g Mihintale?? From this article - "By the 7th and 8th Centuries the centres of Mahayana practices were the Abhayagiri and Jethawana monasteries (which also includes the country's largest stupa) complexes in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka's ancient capital."

Prehistoric cave habitation sites. "Pahiyangala cave in Bulathsinhala (48,000 YBP) Batadombalena in Kuruwita (28,000 YBP) Belilena in Kithulgala (27,000 YBP), Alu Lena in Aththanagoda (10,500 YBP), Bellan Bendi Pellassa in Ambilipitiya (6,500 YBP) has yielded for the most early evidences of the anatomically modern human in the South Asian region". And this specifically about Batadombalena

Buddhist mural sites of late 19th century maritime region. Would seem to be this? It describes the murals at one "image house" at the Monastery of Batuvantudava,,,, and states that the village is about 5 miles from Galle, I have so far failed to find the village on Google Maps. From the T List title one might expect there to be other similar sites?

Breaking down:
1 - Buddhist meditation monasteries
Some candidates:
Polgahawela.
Anuradhapura Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery
Malambe Monastery (near Colombo)
https://mahamevnawa.lk/en/monastery-day-visit/

2 - Mihintale Rock
Easy to find.
https://sltraveler.com/mihintale-rock/

3 - ancient irrigation systems
[b]4 - ancient maritime centres of Sri Lanka
5 - tea landscape
No clue.

The architecture of tropical modernism
The Kandalama Hotel
(New) Parliament
Oruwala Steel Offices
Kannangara Studio / Dwelling
Geoffrey Bawa's Residence
Kandyan Art Association

https://www.housebeautiful.com/design-inspiration/a36720424/tropical-modernism/
https://parametric-architecture.com/tropical-modern-architecture-8-iconic-buildings-that-showcase-tropical-modernism/
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/sri-lankan-architecture
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Bawa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnette_de_Silva

10 - oratorian churches
No idea. Found this:
St. Lucia's Cathedral
St. Anthony's Church

https://traveltriangle.com/blog/sri-lanka-churches/

8 - Mahayanist influenced monastic complexes

https://www2.buddhistdoor.net/features/the-impact-of-mahayana-buddhism-on-sri-lanka

9 - prehistoric cave habitatiFa-hienlena Prehistoric Caveon sites
Fa-hienlena Prehistoric Cave
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fa_Hien_Cave

10 - Buddhist mural sites of late 19th century maritime region
?

https://chulie.wordpress.com/category/sri-lanka-temple-paintings-19th-century/
https://www.persee.fr/doc/arasi_0004-3958_2020_num_75_1_2062