Sri Lanka Travelers Experience Local Ways

Sri Lanka Travel—Ancient Cultures, Wildlife, Festival Asia Transpacific Journeys’ Travelers Experience Local Ways

BOULDER, CO, April 2010 — Author Paul Theroux wrote in Ghost Train to the Eastern Star of his stay in Galle, Sri Lanka:  “I considered this one of the best evenings of my trip: the muted buzz of the small seaside town at night the soft, air, the perfume of the blossoms.”
 
Splendid Sri Lanka  is a 16-day journey crafted by Asia Transpacific Journeys that departs Aug. 15, 2010. Land cost is from $6,195 per person, double occupancy; single supplements are available.
 
Sri Lanka’s population is less dense than that of neighboring India, a reality that gives traveler’s unexpected breathing room in acres of wildlife sanctuaries while searching for leopards, elephants and other creatures of the jungle. On this Asia Transpacific Journeys tour guests virtually hop scotch from one UNESCO World Heritage Site to another along a route scheduled to accommodate one of Asia’s most spectacular festivals, Esala Perahera, a celebration of Buddhism held annually in Kandy.
 
In addition to bottle-feeding orphaned elephant babies and dipping into regional cuisine through cooking classes, guests will enjoy pampering at elegant and authentic accommodations, including a masterpiece of water and rock called Heritance Kandalama created by Geoffrey Bawa, an architect whose name is synonymous with Sri Lanka, once known as Ceylon, the country that lent its name famously to tea.
 
The majority ethnic group of Sri Lanka are Sinhalese, which loosely translated means “lion people” from ancient myth. An element of their mythology that visitors will experience is a visit to the Sri Maha Bodhi (Sacred Bo-Tree), considered a sapling from the original tree under which Prince Siddhartha (Buddha) attained enlightenment and became the Buddha. It is over 2,200 years old and is the oldest historically documented tree in the world.
 
A custom journey to Sri Lanka  can also be arranged on a private basis around a traveler’s dates for just friends or family.
 
About Asia Transpacific Journeys
Asia Transpacific Journeys is a Boulder, Colorado-based Asia travel company and Asia tour operator specializing in Custom Journeys and Small Group Trips to Asia and the Pacific region since 1987. Outstanding service, long-standing connections in Asia and deeply insightful cultural interpretation make them the Asia travel company of choice for the American Museum of Natural History, The Harvard and Yale alumni associations, the World Wildlife Fund, as well as discerning individuals, their families and friends.
In November 2009 Asia Transpacific Journeys received Travel + Leisure magazine’s Global Vision Award to the Asia Transpacific Foundation for its clean water project in Burma and featured their Insider’s Vietnam Small Group Trip among “15 Trips to Change Your World.” National Geographic Adventure magazine gave the company star billing in its “25 Best New Trips for 2010” feature story, recognizing Asia Transpacific Journeys exploration of Laos. http://www.AsiaTranspacific.com