Even before we had reached the Denver airport, we suspected that we might run into some trouble with our flights... We had booked a separate ticket to Seattle, with our long haul flights booked from there and back through Turkish Airlines via Istanbul . Unfortunately, our flight from Denver was delayed quite a bit. At first, leaving us with a 40 min connection, but we feared much less. We tried all of the ideas we could come up with, including flying to Seattle on any different airline, and changing our tickets with Turkish Airlines, but none of them would work out. We were left with boarding our flight to Seattle, which was slow to take off and by the time we landed, we had only 10 minutes before our flight was to take off. Feeling very doubtful, we ran to our gate, only to see our plane there and the gate agents telling us we could not board as they were already departing.

Back to our worst case scenario, we called and cancelled our roundtrip flights, asking for a refund. We had to take a partial loss but it was our only option. Thinking we were going to be stuck in Seattle for the night, as it was already 9pm, we left security and then sat down to see if we could find a new option. Luckily, we were able to find new flights that were to leave just after midnight flying on Starlux Airline from Seattle to Taiwan and on to Singapore. From Singapore, we found another round trip on Sri Lankan Airlines and Singapore Airlines on the way back, getting us to Colombo about 15 hours later than planned.

We started with a simple breakfast at our hotel - fruit, toast and eggs - and our driver picked us up around 9am. We made the mistake of unknowingly drinking tap water with our breakfast and crossed our fingers that we would be ok. (luckily, we were!). We drove to the Dambulla cave temples complex and it started to become clear that this may be our driver's first time taking people around. As one of the major sights to see in Sri Lanka, he had no idea where to enter or park, or much about it at all. After enjoying the cave temples, we headed for Sigiriya, stopping for lunch at Kenoli Restaurant. We had our first Sri Lankan chicken curry, which was delicious. We had to ward off several attempts by our driver to drop us at touristy fake "villages" that included things like riding in an ox cart around the field and having a buffet lunch with the other tourists. We said no thank you, and once we drove by the area, we saw that there were several of these fake villages set up near Sigiriya.

Since our lunch was fairly late by the time we made it to Sigiriya, we had just enough time to find our hotel, check in, rest for about 30 minutes and get ready for the hike up to the top of Piduangala rock. Hiking up the rock for sunset did not disappoint and will probably be one of the highlights of our trip. Back at our hotel, the Roo Mansala Boutique Hotel, we enjoyed a freshly prepared dinner of fried shrimp appetizer, shredded passion fruit leaves salad, and lake fish with coconut sauce, which was all delicious! The hotel asks for your order in advance of dinner so they can get only the freshest ingredients!

Dambulla Cave Temples

Also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and one of the oldest and best preserved cave sights in Sri Lanka. To enter, you can walk up one of two ways, each taking you up a long set of stairs to get to the rock area with natural caves. The walk up takes you up sets of stone steps and is a little less than a mile round trip and 400-500 ft elevation gain. Inside the caves, you will find many Buddha statues and intricate paintings. We were impressed with how well the painting was preserved, covering the ceilings and walls. There are large Buddhas laying down as well as many other Buddha statues lining the caves. Many locals were bringing fresh flowers as offerings. There are 5 caves to visit and you must make sure to cover your legs and shoulders. The entrance fee was 3,000 LKR, about $10 USD. You can rent coverups in case you forgot to dress in pants and longer shirt, for only 100 LKR per person.

Piduangala Rock

The hike up Pidurangala Rock leads you to one of the most rewarding views in central in Sri Lanka. Located just across from the famous Sigiriya Rock Fortress, the trail winds through a temple at the base and gradually climbs through forest and boulder fields. Near the top, you have to do a bit of scrambling over larger rocks before reaching a wide, open summit with breathtaking panoramic views of Sigiriya Rock, also known Lion's Rock and the surrounding jungle for miles and miles on each side. We chose to do this hike in the late afternoon, starting around 4:30pm to enjoy cooler temps and the sunset light. The trail ends up being about a mile round trip and ~400 ft elevation gain.

The cost is 1,000 LKR, about $3 US, which is well worth it. Even though we were definitely not alone for this sunset hike (many other tourists had the same idea!), the top of the rock is so large that you are able to spread out and each enjoy a piece of it during sunset. We were able to fly the drone and get some pretty fantastic views of Sigiriya Rock in the setting sun. You pass through a small temple at the bottom, but they will lend you coverups to wear for the 2 minutes and you can leave them after exiting the temple property. The hike down is assisted by some lightposts, but it's recommended to bring a flashlight or headlamp for personal use. Definitely don't skip this while in Sri Lanka, and we highly recommend sunset over sunrise.

Sigiriya Rock Fortress, or Lion's Rock

Sigiriya Rock Fortress is one of the most famous historic sites in Sri Lanka, rising dramatically ~600 feet above the surrounding area. It was built in the 5th century by King Kashyapa I, who created a royal palace and fortress on top of the rock to protect himself from rivals after seizing the throne. The complex once included elaborate gardens, water features, frescoes, and the famous Lion's Gate entrance that gave the site its nickname, the “Lion Rock.” At the top, you can explore multiple levels of what was once the king's fortress. Apparently they have an issue with agressive bees / wasps, as we saw many signs for them along the way. We heard that they may come out later in the afternoon and not as much in the morning. Signs will advise you to stay silent to not stir up the wasps!

The entrance fee is much more than other nearby attractions, at about $35 USD per person. Once inside, you walk through the outer gardens, then the boulder fields, and finally begin the climb. You will climb a series of staircases to the summit, passing ancient paintings and terraces along the way before reaching sweeping views of the surrounding landscape. Most people visit early in the morning or late afternoon to avoid the heat and crowds, some even starting before sunrise. We opted to have breakfast at our hotel and then started the climb around 9am. It was already very hot, but we could imagine it would be worse later in the day. There are a few places to take a break under some trees before making the final climb to the top. Those who are wary of metal staircases and heights, may have some challenges to overcome on this one, as many of the stairs were open back and on the edge of the rock.

National Spice Garden

There are many so-called Spice Gardens en route from Sigiriya to Kandy, but we can highly recommend going to the National Spice Garden. Run by the Sri Lankan government, this place is legit. Drivers will attempt to take you to one of the other roadside "spice gardens" because they receive a commission for taking you there. Many of the reviews that we read about those places were very poor, saying they are traps and had barely any plants to see, pushing you toward the gift shop. After reading those, and knowing that our driver planned to take us to one, we researched the National Spice Garden which had all positive reviews.

They gave us a free personal tour, as we were the only ones there at the time. Our tour guide knew every detail of the plants that they are growing there, and they are doing a lot of careful planning and research to make the spices successful in Sri Lanka. Some of the highlights were the black pepper vines, finding out that vanilla beans actually grow from a special kind of orchid, learning about Sri Lankan cinnamon and what makes it superior, and learning about clove trees and how they are harvested. They have a gift shop where you can purchase all of these and more, for extremely cheap prices! We ended up happily purchasing a variety to bring home.

Sri Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic)

We visited the Sri Dalada Maligawa, also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, in the evening after our arrival in Kandy. We recommend this time to come, as they are often performing a ritual with drums and horns, making the temple come alive. There were quite a few devotees there in the evening, and they were waiting in line to pray in front of where the tooth relic is kept. The tooth is said to be a canine from the Gautama Buddha, dating back to 543 BC when it was taken from his funeral pyre. From there it was kept in India for many years before being moved to Sri Lanka. The tooth is said to protect from droughts and disasters and is a highly sacred item in Buddhist culture.

Entrance to the temple was 2,000 LKR for foreigners, and you must cover your shoulders and knees. We noticed a majority of people here wearing all white, which we were not aware of at the time but apparently it is a respected thing to do in Sri Lanka when visiting a Buddhist temple, representing peace, humility and purity. When we entered, we watched the men with drums and horns before making our way around the inside of the temple, finally coming upon where we think the tooth relic was stored behind doors. You can not see the tooth, as it is stored within 7 golden boxes, forming the shape of a stupa. They will bring out the golden stupa during religious holidays.

Back in the car, we had a long day ahead of us. We had originally planned to take a long and scenic train ride from Kandy to Ella, but due to the recent typhoons, many of the portions of train are not operational. In the end, we think this turned out the be a blessing, as 7 hours on the train would definitely have been a long journey, especially in the heat. The drive was also very long, at 4-5 hours, but we felt that we saw a lot more of the country driving versus being on the train. We planned a few stops along the way, first at a waterfall and then at one of the many tea plantations along the way. Driving took us up much higher in elevation and the road was extremely curvy all the way up and down for many, many hours. But all around were the tea plantations, small villages, and cooler / different climate than we had seen before. We noticed that a lot of vegetables were being farmed up there, and even some fresh strawberries!

We finally made it to our hotel in Ella, the Ella Hide View hotel, where we were greeted with a fresh juice and could enjoy the view of the hills below. Our hotel was situated above the crowded town, and we were actually semi cold for the first time on the journey! We chose one of their newly constructed rooms, and we would learn that many places in Ella are busy building new rooms and hotels to meet the high demand. We took a tuk tuk to town for dinner and had an excellent meal at The Clay Pot restaurant before spending a little time walking around the town. The town was filled with live music, countless restaurants and places to stay, tourist shops, and was definitely a major backpacker destination.

Ramboda Waterfall

The Ramboda Waterfall is a must see stop when making the long drive from Kandy to Ella. The access to the waterfall is through the nearby hotel of the same name, and you pay the hotel a small fee (less than a dollar) to walk through the hotel and then down the path to the waterfall. From there you will be treated with views of the multi-tired waterfall. We took our time taking some pictures and flying the drone, and also admiring the paintings of a man who was there creating and selling his artwork. We bought one to bring home and add to our collection for only $6. The hotel has a restaurant where you can eat or just order drinks while admiring the view of the falls.

Bluefield Tea Gardens

Shortly after leaving the waterfall, you will enter Sri Lankan tea country! The road twists and turns for many hours from here on out. Along the way are many very large tea plantations to choose from. We decided to stop at the Bluefield Tea Gardens and were not disappointed. At Bluefield, we were greeted immediately upon our arrival and set off on a personal tour. On the tour, you could wear the local dress of the tea pickers including a basket for the leaves as a backpack. It sounded cheesy at first, but was kind of fun to get to experience learning how to pick the leaves and try to get them into the basket on your back. We had the opportunity to walk through the fields and take some pictures and then went into the factory where we saw the entire process of making the leaves into tea. Our guide was excellent and very imformative. After the tour, you can taste the tea and buy some to take home from their gift shop.

Sri Lanka is known as home to some of the most premium tea in the world. The British brought the tea industry here during their colonization and established many of the tea plantations that are still at work today. The tea is all hand picked, harvesting up to 4 times a month, and many tea pickers working in the fields each day. We were told that many of the tea pickers have come to Sri Lanka from southern India. Overall, their working conditions seemed to be ok, with a beautiful setting to live in the hill country, and much cooler temperatures than lower elevations.