I was typing my research during lunch break and Paul posted faster :D

Some background on the tanks:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230922-the-ancient-sri-lankan-tank-cascade-systems-tackling-drought

Oratory churches from remains of the dark days. A few are near Colombo. Personally, I am itching to go to St Anne. Probably not all will make the cut, but looks similar to mission churches in Bolivia.

1 – Church of St. Anne, in Keerimalai 2 - Church of St. James, in Ilavalai 3 - Church of St. James, in Kilaly 4 - Church of St. Michael, in Kilaly 5 - Church of St. Mary, in Allaippiddi 6 - Church of St. Mary, in Delft Island 7 - Church of St. Thomas, in Delft Island 8 - Church of St. Bartholomew, in Olaithoduvai 9 - Church of St. Mary, in Mannar 10 - Church of Our Lady of Refuge, in Salampan 11- Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, in Palayadipudukulam 12 - Church of Our Lady of Assumption, in Parappankandaal 13 - Church of St. Joseph, in Kanthankulam 14 - Church of the Queen of Heaven, in Mullikulam 15 - Church of Sts. Peter & Paul, in Palakuda 16 - Church of St. Anne, in Talawila 17 - Church of St. Sebastian, in Narakkalliya 18 - Church of St. Mary, in Puttalam 19 - Church of St. Mary, in Mattakotuwa 20 - Church of St. Lazarus, in Hunupitiya 21 – Church of St. Anne, in Nawagamuwa

Godawaya on the Southern shore seems to be missing.
Maintai is the port of Anuradhapura.
Beruwala is later and most notable for Islamic remnants.

One more update re 19th century Buddhist murals:
* Kathaluwa Poorvarama Maha Viharaya seems to be in decay but the highlight.
* Sri Sugatharama Purana Viharaya, Batuwanthudawa, Galle.

Lets see when Sri Lanka publishes the official nominations.

Just came back from Sri Lanka. Some feedback on the visited (8/8) below. General impressions: Sites are good, but not great. There are no world class sites, but also no below average ones.

*** WHS ********************************

* Great 4*
Sigiriya: MP in Sri Lanka.
Polonnaruva: Angkor in Sri Lanka.
* Good 3.5*
Dambulla: Stellar cave paintings.
Anuradhapura: Vatican in Sri Lanka. Interesting to see the heart of Sri Lankan Buddhism.
* Above average 3*
Central Highlands: Pretty nice views.
Sinharaja Forest: A 30min walk takes you right into a biosphere. Leeches, chameleons, snakes, flesh eating fish, ...
* Average 2.5*
Galle: Nice place to hang out. But preferred Macao and Malaka.
Kandy: Just didn't wow me. Not sure why not.

*** Tentative ********************************
Only managed to visit one component of the potential extension near Kandy. I think this would be fine, but not great.

*** Aspiring********************************
Did on the ground research for the proposed sites. Unfortunately, the descriptions are very vague and I assume that I will have plenty of near misses.

* Tanks: Pretty sure this would make it. The whole country was terraformed with reservoirs (tanks) making it the green country it is today. They are everywhere. Challenge will be to find the most representative examples. Several WHS have tanks, so possibly easy tick for everyone who has been to Sri Lnaka.
* Buddhist 19th century paintings: Visited one possible site near Galle (Kathaluwa Poorvarama Maha Viharaya). Stunning, but in need of some renovations. If you are in Galle, go.
* Buddhist meditation monasteries: Not sure if Rihintale belongs in this bucket. Whatever bucket it is, Rihintale would be a strong addition. If you are in Sigiriya, go.
* Prehistoric Caves: We visited Fa-hienlena. Nice, but not sure there is enough tangible there to justify inscription.
* Oratorian churches: We visited 3 sites North of Colombo. Issue is that they were rather new (19th century). Not sure what the most original components are and what would make the cut. Generally, this felt a bit like the missions in the Americas and if they find good / original sites, would favour this.
* Tea landscape: Not sure what the core zone is. Nuwara Eliya was nice and there are loads of tea estates across the country. Issue is that these are not every historic tea estates and not sure how this would be distinct from sites in India. Would rather see a transnational site.
* Mihintale: Not strong enough on its own. Only as extension to Anuradhapura.
* Maritime Centres: We visited Beruwala. This is were Islam came to Sri Lanka. Could work, some old buidlings remain. Visit was nice.

Last but not least: Tropical modernism.
On the face of it, strong yes. Modernism and western buildings don't work in the tropics and they adapted the style to local needs and culture. I think it should cover works by Geoffrey Bawa and Minnette de Silva. Buildings I would see:
* Bawa Residence in Colombo, Heritance Kandalama
* Kandyan Art Association, 88 Acres (The Watapuluwa Housing Scheme)

We stayed at De Saram House and it was memorable. But not sure this would be part of any inscription. Garden Cafe was too simple to appreciate.

If this turns into a personalized Geoffrey Bawa inscription, I would be concerned. Issue is his close association/intimate relationship with Donald Friend. Look Donald Friend up in wikipedia. Icky is putting it mildly. Being at one degree of separation to a predator is not where you want to be.

Itinerary
Friday - Arrival Colombo
* Siteseeing in the city: Bawa House, Garden Cafe, 2 Buddhist temples, 1 Hindu temple.
* Staying at De Saram house. A bit like an Asian version of Casase Luis Barragan.

Saturday - Colombo to Galle
* Pick up by driver at hotel.
* Stops at Fa-hienlena and Beruwala.

Sunday - Galle
* Turtle sanctuary
* Kathaluwa Poorvarama Maha Viharaya -> Stunning.
* Galle Old Town.

Monday - Galle to Udawalawe
* Sinharaja NP: Leeches. A few steps and you are deep in the jungle. We entered at Lankagama entry. It also seems that the Neluwa Doowili Ella Falls is part of the WHS, so we entered twice. The path was pretty strenuous, especially seeing I was sick that day.
* Tea Plantations: We passed several plantations on our way from Sinharaja to Udawalawe.
* Elephant transit home: So cute.
* We stayed as Max Safari home (recommended).

Tuesday - Udawalawe to Ella
* Udawalawe NP was pretty great. You can discuss if safaris are good for the animals, but personally I feel, it's better the locals can make a living with the elephants in a National Park than not making a living and resorting to different income streams. Note: I think the elephant NPs should be a WHS.
* On the way to Ella, stopped at Buduruwagala Raja Maha Viharaya.
* Weather turned bad at Ella. Ella itself felt hyped and overrated.

Wednesday - Ella to Nuwara Eliya
* Early morning visit of Nine Arches.
* Day spent in the train due to mudslides. 6h stuck. Note: Dont take the train in rain season.
+ Stayed at Hill Club. A bit older interiors, but stellar, examplary service. Really consider staying. At least go for tea time to appreciate the place.

Thursday - Nuwara Eliya to Kandy
* Morning tour of Nuwara Eliya. Way nicer than Ella.
* Stopped at a tea place (Labookellie), some waterfalls plus Embekka Dewalaya (T).
* Sitseeing in Kandy.
* Stayed at Royal Bar and Hotel. While part of the WHS, the place had a ventilation / mould problem.

Friday - Kandy to Knuckles.
* Ticked of Central Highlands like Joel and Zos did by a visit to Knuckles. There were leeches, though. Loads. Great views from Mini Worlds End.
* Did the Victoria Hydro Plant and the Botanical Garden. Traffic in Kandy sucked though and lost a lot of time. The Botanical garden didn't impress me.
* At 17:00 saw a Kandyian performance at YMBA.

Saturday - Kandy to Polonaruwa
* Stopped at Aluviharaya Rock Cave Temple on the way. There are more temples along the way to split the trip into more parts.
* Visisted Dambulla next (nice combination). Our driver dropped us at the foreigner ticket booth so we missed the entry.
* Stayed at Ekho Lake Hotel. Recommended. Their simple rooms are incorreclty listed without bathroom. Best hotel we stayed at in Sri Lanka.

Sunday - Polonaruwa to Sigiriya
* Area is large. Our driver took us to all relevant stops. I am not sure riding bicycle in the heat is what you want to do. Driver was fine.
* Climbed Pidurangala for a view of Sigiriya. Note: Last bit is strenuous (climbing, not hiking). Don't do this at nightfall.

Monday - Sigiriya to Heritance Kandalama
* Walked Sigiriya early in the morning. It's way easier than Pidurangala. Last bit is a staircase. Some hints: Go early to evade heat and crowds. The exit is different from the entry, so take the time to visit all stops when you climb. Should take 2h. If you have breakfast in the hotel, ask to have breakfast AFTER your visit.
* Ritigale. Superb. We followed the trail into forest like the monks. Great experience. Google maps has the wrong road and makes a large detour.
* Heritance Kandalama. Most expensive hotel we stayed at. While location, view and architecture are good, service doesn't keep up. They didnt have our room ready at 15:00. They put plastic bottles on our table. Breakfast was a crowded buffet (stampede). Not what I would have expected.

Tuesday - Heritance Kandalama to Anuradhapura
* Visit Anuradhapura. Again: Driver drove us to each location.
* Follow up with a visit to nearby Mihintale.
* Hotels sucked. Get a place in the new town near hotels. Ours was too remote.

Wednesday - Anuradhapura to Negombo
* Stopped at several potential orartory churches along the way. Best examples would have been in Jaffna (not possible) or Kalpitya peninsula, but we didn't want to make the detour.
* In Negombo we visited one of the attacked churches.
* Stayed at Mango Japanese Guest House. Recommeded if you are flying in and need a place to cool down.

Thursday - Negombo to Colombo
* Some more siteseeing in and around Colombo. But took it slow.
* National Museum sucked, terrible presentation.
* Stayed at Galle Face Hotel.

Friday - Colombo to home
* Some shopping and siteseeing before heading to the airport.
* Saw an exhibition on 88 Acres.

Feedback:
* If you have a driver you can probably do way more in less time. We went the easy route and did some visits on the side. For getting a driver, you should get multiple offers and pick the one you like. I went with colomboairporttaxi.info. Keep in mind that you have to tip (we went with 10 EUR per day).
* I think you should consider skipping Colombo. Or limiting it to one day only.
* For elephants, there are three options: Yala, Udawalawe or Minnerya. Your call. We were happy with Udawalawe.
* Dont take the train.
* You could base yourself in Sigiriya and do the cultural triangle as day trips.
* Main challenge is getting from Galle to Kandy via Sinhajara.

Ritigala is on the T-List. Strong inscribe:
https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6774/

Hoping the other floating tentative sites are following shortly.

I have just finished my second trip to Sri Lanka, 30(!) years after the first one. In addition to some "memory refreshments" at the WHS of Galle and Anuradhapura, I mostly went to pick up my last remaining WHS here (Sinharaja) and to get to the North of the island, which had been off-limits during my previous trip. I also visited places from the list of potential future nominations (feedback on those will come in Sunday's blog post).

Overall, I enjoyed my trip, without it ever getting to a "Wow"-moment. I don't think I'll go there for a third time. The overall feel is sort of "backward", like they can't disentangle themselves from the British colonial period. A long Civil War and recent natural disasters also did not help of course and the economic situation is dire.

Transport
I planned to do as much as possible by public transport, but it did not work out fully. The main issue is the current disruptions at the (inland) train network, caused by the November cyclone. Repair works will go on until at least end of March 2026.

The trains and buses that I managed to use were frequent and easy to catch. Comfort is lacking – that "backward" feel again, as they are continuously patching things up instead of investing in something more suitable to 2026. The ferry to Delft Island was particularly appalling.

So I had to resort to the car with driver option a few times. Although popular in general among tourists in Sri Lanka, this is a seriously expensive option for a solo traveller at 70-100 EUR a day all-in. The drivers are easy to book online. Jaffna – Colombo logistically is tough, you may want to check out these charter flights that run on Monday and Friday only (and are cheaper than hiring a car, unfortunately, I only found out about them later).

Accommodation
I stayed in mid-budget places to keep the overall costs down while still having restful nights without being bothered by bugs or worse. I paid 36 EUR on average (ranging from 15-51 EUR a night). What you'll get for that is family-run guesthouses with modernized rooms. All had good beds, airco, wifi (except for 1), hot water in the bathroom. Some had breakfast included. I searched for 8+ rated lodgings on Booking.com and then scrutinized the reviews for cleanliness. I would recommend every single one of them (names are listed below).

Itinerary
D1: Late evening arrival with Emirates. ON Negombo (Optimum Residencies: free airport transfer and great breakfast)
D2: Minibus to Colombo (50mins), Train to Beruwala ATWHS, bus to Galle. ON Galle (The Entrance Galle: excellent location inside the fort but on a quiet side street).
D3: Revisit Galle WHS. Check out Painted Monasteries ATWHS Kathaluwa Poorvarama Maha Viharaya by Uber en bus (35mins). ON Galle.
D4: Driver to Deniyaya (4h). Afternoon around the lodge + night walk. ON Deniyaya (Rainforest Mount Lodge: choose the deluxe room, great balcony, good breakfast, close to park entrance).
D5: Morning visit to Sinharaja WHS. Driver pick-up to go to the eastern suburbs of Colombo (4h). ON Malabe (Yamu Lanka Inn: stop-over place close to the express way, European-run, too remote to do anything from there but food can be ordered via UberEats).
D6: Drive to Anuradhapura (4.5h). Afternoon revisit to Anuradhapura WHS on a bike. ON Anuradhapura (Sapumal Lodge: ultraclean, free bike rental and great coffee shop across the street).
D7: Visit to TWHS of Ritigala (Meditation Monasteries) by taxi. ON Anuradhapura.
D8: Bus to Jaffna (4h). Afternoon exploration of Jaffna. ON Jaffna (Jaffna City Palace Hotel: shiny new hotel)
D9: Full Day tour to Delft Island and Nainativu Island. ATWHS of Oratory Churches on Delft. ON Jaffna
D10: Driver to Colombo (9h). ON Colombo (Granny's House: boutiquey in a nice area close to Bawa's Residence and National Museum)
D11: Visit ATWHS Tropical Modernism sites in Colombo and National Museum. Late evening flight home. ON on the plane.