Travelling as guests of MW Tours, the agents experienced many of the sights and sounds that make Sri Lanka unique, including a spice garden in Matale, a lush tea plantation outside Kandy, Colombo’s famous Pettah bazaar, and some classic colonial-era railway architecture in Ella.
The tour also incorporated a selection of Sri Lanka's eight celebrated UNESCO World Heritage listed sites. Among them was the medieval capital Polonnaruwa, the port city of Galle, and the 180m tall Sigiriya Rock (Lion Rock), upon which King Kashyapa built his palace on top of the rock in the fifth century AD, decorating its sides with frescoes and an enormous lion halfway up the side.
The UNESCO-inspired excursions also included a visit to Kandy, the royal capital of Sri Lankan kings until 1815 and the home to one of the most revered places of worship in the Buddhist world, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha.
Sri Lanka's natural attractions are just as arresting as its cultural icons and one of the highlights of the tour was a Safari at Yala National Park, home to elephant, sloth bear, spotted dear, jackal, birdlife and the highest density of leopards in the world. In addition, the group called in at the Elephant Transit Home in Udawalawe, a sanctuary dedicated to the care and rehabilitation of orphaned and injured elephants.