The diverse and lush hill country in Sri Lanka not only produces some of the world’s finest tea but also holds a number of hiking and trekking tours for keen hikers and is a great way of exploring the nature and culture of the Central highlands and surrounding lowlands of the country.
Many eco-tourism and adventure teams provide excellent packages for trekking enthusiasts, with base camps strategically located at some of the best hiking sites in the country.
Belihuloya provides an excellent base, from which one could experience a wide variety of hiking from wandering through jungle, across paddy fields and scaling up mountains along which the numerous waterfalls and rivers that criss-cross the region allow trekkers an invigorating dip.
A journey to the end of the world, which the Horton Plains National Park promises, is yet another popular destination for trekkers. Covered in grassland and cloud forest, the silent trek through the wilderness culminates in a sheer 880 metre drop at World’s End which offers breathtaking views of the surrounding area and the beautiful Baker’s Falls.
Scale up Sri Lanka’s sacred mountain, Adam’s Peak, with scores of pilgrims who make the journey every year through the darkness in time to make it for a magical sunrise during which the mystical shadow of the peak is perfectly cast across the clouds.
The Knuckles mountain range is also another popular site for trekking. Declared a world heritage site by UNESCO, it equipped with a trekking base camp from which one can set out to explore the mist-laden folds and peaks which resemble the knuckles of clenched fist when viewed from certain locations in the Kandy District from which it derives its name. A haven for wildlife enthusiasts, the cloud forests and striking landscapes harbours a variety of fauna and flora.