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Rawana Ella Falls
The 19m-high Rawana Ella Falls are about 6km down Ella Gap towards Wellawaya. During rainy months the water comes leaping down the mountainside in what is claimed to be the wildest-looking fall in Sri Lanka, but during the dry season it may not flow at all. There are vendors sellin
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Canals
The Dutch showed their love of canals here like nowhere else in Sri Lanka. Canals extend from Negombo all the way south to Colombo and north to Puttalam, a total distance of over 120km. You can hire a bicycle in Negombo from various hotels and ride the canal-side paths for some dis
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Marine Archeological Museum
With an entrance behind the iconic old Bell Tower, this updated facility is easily the more engaging of Galles two maritime museums. Exhibits include lots of videos and interactive displays that illuminate the town’s maritime past, including the many shipwrecks in the surrounding w
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Kandy Garrison Cemetery
This cemetery, which is a short walk uphill behind the National Museum, contains 163 graves dating back to colonial times. The most striking aspect of a visit to this melancholy place is just how young most people were when they died – if you made it to forty you were of a very rip
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Imperial Saloon
Consider a haircut and head massage (Rs 400) at this utterly bizarre salon, a monument to kitsch. Every inch is covered in decorative painting, fake flowers, sequins, filigree, stained glass or tinsel garlands, and at the back of the salon, up towards the faux-sky ceiling, is an in
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Pettah Mosques
In the heart of Pettah, the decorative 1909 Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque is a show-stopper with its candy-striped red-and-white brickwork. Guards will usually let you in for a look, except during peak prayer times on Friday. Afterwards have a coffee at one of the Halal cafes across the way
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Thiruchendur Murugan Alayam Temple
Built in 1984 as a stopping point on the Pada Yatra pilgrimage to Kataragama, its Murugan image is said to have opened its own eyes before the painter could do the job. The structure was slammed by the tsunami, leaving its small gopuram leaning at an alarming angle. The colourful l
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Madu Ganga
Between Ambalangoda and Iduruwa the muddy Madu Ganga dances around the coastline forming a complicated network of lagoons and off-shoots. It’s fantastic birding territory and in praise of this it’s been made into a Ramsar site. Boat tours (Rs 2500 per boat, 1½ hours) are run by Mad
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Cave IV (Pachima Viharaya)
The relatively small Western Cave is not the most westerly cave – that position belongs to Cave V. The central Buddha figure is seated under a makara torana, with its hands in dhyana mudra (a meditative pose in which the hands are cupped). The small dagoba in the centre was broken
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Seema Malakaya Meditation Centre
One of Colombo’s most photographed sights is on an island on the east side of the lake. This small but captivating meditation centre was designed by Geoffrey Bawa in 1985 and is run by Gangaramaya Temple. The pavilions – one filled with Thai bronze Buddhas, the other centred on a b
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Kechimalai Mosque
The first recorded Muslim settlement on the island took place at Beruwela in 1024. The Kechimalai Mosque, on a headland north of the hotel strip, is said to be built on the site of the landing and is the focus for a major Eid-ul-Fitr festival at the end of Ramadan. It’s part of a f
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Dondra
About 5km southeast of Matara you come to the town of Dondra. Travel south from the main road for 1.2km and you’ll reach the lighthouse at the southernmost point of Sri Lanka. There are good views from here, and there’s a humdrum cafe nearby.Buses from Matara will drop you in the c
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Jetavanarama Museum
A 1937 British colonial building provides a suitably regal venue for some of the treasures found at Jetavanarama. The objects displayed here show great artisanship and detail. Look for the elaborate carved urinal in Room 1. In the fittingly named Treasure Room there are beautiful e
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Cargills Main Store
Local retail giant Cargills once had its main store on York St. The now mostly empty ornate 1906 red building still shows its faded elegance in its long arcades with old store signage such as the one noting ‘toilet requisites’. Ground-floor colonnades like those here were once a fe
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Alut Maligawa
Behind the main part of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic stands the three-storey Alut Maligawa, a newer and larger shrine hall displaying dozens of sitting Buddhas donated by Thai devotees. The design resembles a Thai Buddhist shrine hall in tribute to the fact that Thai monks
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Passekudah Beach
Passekudah Beach is the most visited and at weekends you might find two or three carloads of local beachgoers hanging out. At the southern end of the beach, gaudy little fishing boats add splashes of colour to the stunning pale sands. Head north along the beach, past the LTTE-destr
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Mahinda Rajapaksa National Tele
Named for its patron, the gift-bearing Sri Lankan president, this studio located halfway between Tissa and Kataragama is only mentioned because some drivers and tours will suggest you visit. Theres a small soundstage and a tiny backlot meant to recreate colonial Bombay (which is al
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Kiri Vihara
Construction of the dagoba Kiri Vihara is credited to Subhadra, King Parakramabahu’s queen. Originally known as the Rupavati Chetiya, the present name means ‘milk white’ because when the overgrown jungle was cleared away after 700 years of neglect, the original lime plaster was fou
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Gregory Lake
Enjoying the paved walkways, paddling a swan-shaped paddle boat (or a giant helicopter boat) or trotting around on a pony are all good reasons to devote an hour or so to Gregory Lake, at the southern end of town. There are also picnic tables, a small restaurant and a snack bar. Boa
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Maha Devale
This is the most important shrine. It contains the lance of the six-faced, 12-armed Hindu war god, Murugan (Skanda), who is seen as identical to the Kataragama Deviyo. Followers make offerings at daily puja at 4.30am, 10.30am and 6.30pm (no 4.30am offering on Saturday). Outside thi
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