top ten sri lanka travel destinations my name is steve yalo in this video i
want to bring you around to some of my favorite places in this country and
mind you these are just my favorite places there are still so many more
places to explore but with that being said, let's start the video
all right here we go starting with number 10
Anuradhapura what a name this ancient city is the capital of the north central
province in sri lanka it's one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in
the world this area is most famous for these giant stupas and well-preserved
ruins of an ancient buddhist civilization and here we have what's
known as the oldest tree in the world this is a Bodhi tree it's actually
derived from the original Bodhi tree where it's believed that Buddha sat
under and achieved enlightenment and it's called the oldest tree in the world
because it's the oldest known planted tree some important things to know if
you want to explore the main sights of this area you will need to pay an
admission fee of 25 US dollars per person another important thing is your
clothing since this is a highly regarded religious destination all of these sites
require you to dress appropriately by covering your shoulders and knees I came
here with my friend tal and we had a nice time appreciating and admiring
these sacred places but I think we had the most fun with our spontaneous
adventures trying to find new jobs helping some locals what's going on here
so I just joined the assembly line and I can't get out
all right so our agreement was if we finished cleaning out this whole back which we just did then they're gonna let
us drive the tractor do you think he's good tractor driver ok
next up coming in at number nine we have Jaffna located at the tippy top of the
island jaffna is the capital city of the northern province of sri lanka this is
an area of the country often skipped by many travelers Jaffna has been a
territory of severe conflict and tension so it's important to understand its
history up until 2009 Sri Lanka was divided by a brutal civil war while the
entire country was affected by this the north suffered the worst damage with
that being said the area is now safe and growing in popularity for travelers so
today we're getting a little local experience there's a bazaar here in
Jaffna some local markets
since we are here at the bazaar in Jaffna and there are a lot of options for
clothing I think it's time we try to look a little bit more local and see if
we can find some new outfits today
jaffna may not have such attractive features like breathtaking mountain
views or Wildlife safaris like some other areas may have but what attracts
most visitors here is a raw authentic travel experience real quick before we
go to our next location just want to mention the sponsor of this video Trift
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moving on to number eight we have Trincomalee or more commonly referred to
as just Trinko this is a major port city located on the east coast of Sri Lanka
most travelers are interested in coming here for the beautiful beaches and
things that come with it scuba diving and whale watching are some
of the most popular water activities Uppaveli Beach is one of the most
well known but you can find Nilaveli Beach a bit to the north which tends to
be a bit quieter there's nobody here we are the only humans on this Beach there
are a few dogs but were the only humans fort frederick is an old fort built by
the Portuguese and it's a nice quiet contrast from the busy town inside fort
frederick you can follow the road until the end which leads to the colorful
Hindu Koneswaram temple you can walk through the temple to admire the
mesmerizing colorful artistic depictions of Hindu history during my visit I
stayed at a small hostel called the social Shack which organized some nice
activities like a local cooking class and a boat trip with a local fisherman
we even went back to this fisherman's home to see his village and meet his
family moving down the East Coast brings us to
our next location coming in at number 7 arugam bay hey what did the ocean say to
the beach nothing it just waved and that's what makes this place so popular
arugam bay was once a quiet fishing village but the consistent waves
attracted surfers from all around the world so this town has developed into a
hub for backpackers there's only one road in town and it runs parallel to the
beach filled with restaurants bars hostels and plenty of barefoot hippies
walking around during the high season you can find parties every weekend but
during the low season this town becomes rather quiet high season in arugam bay
is about April to October and low season is November through March it's good to
know that the seasons alternate on the east and south coast so while it's low
season in arugam bay it's high season at beaches down south so there's always a
spot for surfing and beautiful beach weather no matter what time of the year
if you're still watching this right now please click that like button and
subscribe for more adventures alright let's get back to the video moving on to
our next destination we have Nuwara Eliya so we made it to the top here of single
Tree Hill which has the best view of the entire town of Nuwara Eliya and one really
interesting thing about this town it's a little bit different than the rest of
the country of Sri Lanka one it's a little bit elevated so it tends to be
colder here and also this is where the British occupied this is where they live
because it resembles kind of what some parts of England look like so as you
explore the town you might be able to see up
there's a lake back there that's a man-made lake built by the British and a
lot of the architecture here resembles an Old English style so it's really
different from the other parts of sri lanka but really interesting to come
here and see all that while it is nice to explore the center of town my
favorite parts are the outskirts driving through the winding mountain roads where
you can enjoy stunning views of lush green landscapes if you're up for a
scenic adventure check out Rambo - Falls about 45 minutes away from nuwara eliya
when I traveled around sri lanka i decided to rent a tuk tuk so i can drive
myself around and have the freedom to stop wherever and whenever i want but i
do just want to mention that there's a certain train that has become quite
popular around here this blue train has been gaining a lot of popularity on
instagram as a lot of people have been sharing photos hanging out of the train
which is just stupid come on who would do something like this really I'm just
kidding obviously I've done this before but it's not something I would encourage
as it is dangerous hanging out of a moving train but most people are
interested in riding this train for the incredible mountain views passing
through what feels like endless tea plantations and just a quick travel tip
the first-class train car locks all of the windows and doors because the
air-conditioned is on so if you are looking for that open-air experience do
not buy a ticket for first-class the main line starts in Kandy it runs
through Nuwara Eliya and brings you to our next destination coming in at number
five Ella this small town in the hill country has become a hotspot for
travelers with some chilled out hostels and beautiful options for accommodation
iconic spots around here include the 9 arch bridge which that blue train
actually passes over and if you're up for a hike be sure to check out Ella Rock
or little adam's peak for some really nice views
and about an hour drive outside of Ella you can find the Diyaluma Falls where
you can hike through some trails to get to the top for some incredible views and
there are different tiers of waterfalls up there so you can swim and hang out
and it is just a great nature adventure moving down the list to number four is
Sigiriya located in the center of sri lanka
sigiriya is an ancient city most
commonly known for lion rock and this has a crazy history involving some royal
brotherly betrayal I already made a video that dives deeper into explaining
this in detail so if you want to see that I'll leave a link in the
description of this video I also have individual videos from each location
I've mentioned so far so if you want more information about a certain
location find the links below anyway back to Sigiriya
well actually I want to talk about more than just Lion Rock because I think
that's what most people picture when they think of this area but there are so
many really amazing things to do around here for example right near Lion Rock is
an even bigger crazy looking rock that you can hike up called Pidurangala I
just want to quickly talk about the difference between this rock and Lion
Rock which is sometimes known as the more famous Rock one of the main
differences is the cost because coming here we've paid five hundred rupees
which is the equivalent to like two and a half US dollars the other one costs
over 30 US dollars per person so significant price difference if you are
more into the history side of travel you like ancient archaeology then the other
one has more of that for sure there is a whole ancient garden in front of Lion
Rock and then when you get up to the top there are ancient ruins because there
was a Palace built on top there thousands of years ago so it is more I
would say maybe preserved history as as this obviously also has history but it's
more for the hike nature and the viewpoint up top if you want some more
cool ancient places check out Dambulla cave temple and not too far away is
Kaudulla National Park you can go on Safari here to see large herds of elephants
Another option that's even closer to Sigiriya and usually cheaper too is hiring a jeep
safari driver to take you in Huluru Eco Park in Habarana you may not see large
herds of elephants like in Kaudulla but when I went we saw some smaller herds of
these beautiful animals right up close and now since we're talking about
elephants let's jump to our next location on the list the Udawalawe
There are 22 national parks in Sri Lanka and Udawalawe is my personal favorite
probably because of the elephants just so many elephants
a little different than what we just mentioned in Kaudulla national park where
you might see large herds of 20 30 40 elephants together but they can be a
little far away here in Udawalawe you might not see that many at one time
but they're scattered all over so you see different elephants throughout your
Safari and they tend to come much closer to the vehicle too so you see them so
close and the landscape around here is just so beautiful when you drive down
the main road that borders the National Park and opens up to this large
reservoir of water bordered by a wall of mountains it just feels like you're in
Jurassic Park or something another interesting and somewhat controversial
thing is how the main road runs next to the National Park and there is an
electric fence that divides the road from the park but elephants are known to
come up to this fence unfortunately it's because people tend
to feed them so now the elephants are getting dependent on this fruit and food
it's a topic that I'm not going to go deep into but with that being said it is
just such a surreal experience seeing this wild elephant up close so close it
scares me every time but yeah Udawalawe is just a
special place and since we're talking about national parks another really
popular one is yala national park I do love that Park as well even though it
did not make this list because I've mentioned it in so many other videos
figured I'd give some other parks a time to shine okay already down to number two
this chilled out surf paradise is my favorite spot on the south coast of Sri
Lanka it's called here Hiriketiya I mean just look at that it's a perfect Cove
consistent waves and just really relaxing vibes all around here and right
around the corner is Dikwella Beach super quiet area an amazing spot to
catch the sunset and although I'm giving Hiriketiya the number 2 spot I'm
really giving the number 2 spot to the
entire south coast but I did just make a complete travel guide for the south
coast so if you have any interest in going down south which you definitely
should it's incredible check out that video for more juicy
travel tips about the south coast do it okay we have made it ladies and
gentlemen the number one travel destination in my opinion in sri lanka
is drumroll please
the knuckles mountain range yeah Wow look at that located near the centre of
the country this gorgeous mountain range has been recognized as a UNESCO natural
world heritage site for its unique biodiversity that can't be found
anywhere else on this planet with 34 mountains to explore and nature trails
galore this is a paradise for hikers waterfalls dense forests and endless
mesmerizing viewpoints the Knuckles mountain range is truly special in fact
the reason I'm selecting this as my number one destination in Sri Lanka is
because I haven't really explored it much I spent two days in this area I did
one quick hike but there's so so much more for me to explore and when I go
back to Sri Lanka this is where I want to go if you go here there's a cozy
little guest house called the pepper cottage I stayed here for a couple
nights and like I said it's just an amazing area and I really really want to
go back here just to explore more and that concludes the top 10 travel
destinations in Sri Lanka if you enjoyed lik that like button and subscribe for
more again these are just my opinions I haven't traveled everywhere
in Sri Lanka I know there's still so much more to explore so I will
definitely be coming back to make more videos about some lesser-known parts of
Sri Lanka so you have some more to look forward to go watch some more videos
there are plenty about Sri Lanka and other places all around the world so
I'll see you there peace it's doody doody Italy