In love with Sri Lanka
I want to go
Many picture Sri Lanka as India’s little sister; this could not be farther from the truth. Sri Lanka is a full-fledged destination that I recommend you visit at least once in your life.
Colombo
As soon as I arrived in Colombo, the capital, I was able to sense the good atmosphere of the city as I walked around the picturesque neighbourhood of Pettah, an open-air bazaar where you can find everything, from chili peppers to colourful saris.
We went through dozens of alleyways, with their luminous signs, zigzag cables and smiling merchants, together with our emblematic guide, a very interesting character who enjoys sharing his knowledge with anyone who wants to listen to him.
In Colombo, decadent buildings stand alongside renovated colonial-style houses in a city that slowly strives to match other high-end Asian capitals. If you ever visit this amazing city, do not forget to try the delicious crab at the Ministry of Crab Restaurant!
After visiting the capital of Sri Lanka we headed to Santani Resort, near Kandy, where we were able to enjoy some wonderful days of relaxation, yoga and cultural outings...
Transformative travel mode on!
Santani Resort was undoubtedly the ideal accommodation for the first BRU&BRU Yoga & Wellness Retreat. Together with our beloved yoga teacher Arianna Forte we were able to experience the benefits of daily practices in a privileged location and make progress in our personal and corporal knowledge.
Our practices were accompanied by daily access to the spa and wellness treatments; my favourite was an original donkey's milk body bath!
The resort’s gastronomy also deserves special mention: high-level Ayurveda cuisine based on the doshas of each of the guests (Ayurvedic biotypes). A treat for the palate and medicine for our bodies!
Our stay in Santani also allowed us to visit the rural areas and nearby villages, tea plantations, as well as some of the most important temples of the island’s cultural and historical heritage, where we received the monks’ blessings, after we earned them with our hard work!
Our retreat at Santani Resort helped us find the balance to reach a deep well-being that accompanied us for the rest of the trip.
Discovering Sri Lanka...
From Kandy we traveled to the heart of the cultural triangle, home to the archaeological and historical sites of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya, dating back to the 4th century BC. Walking among its temples, caves and ruins completely by ourselves was a spectacular experience that filled us with energy.
From the cultural triangle we traveled to The Ceylon Tea Trails, the first resort located in the spectacular tea area of Ceylon. Along the way, part of it aboard a picturesque train, we enjoyed the spectacular views of the center of the island. If I had to define it in one word, it would be "green". The greenery of the tea plantations marks the stepped landscape of the region, a unique and exotic landscape interrupted only by the original Warleigh pink church.
The best experience: enjoying these wonderful landscapes from the air, flying on a helicopter towards Yala National Park, where we enjoyed a surprising safari in which we were able to spot elephants, deer, crocodiles, all kinds of birds, and even a leopard!
The welcome we received from the children in Yala was also spectacular, without a doubt one of the best moments of the trip.
And as you can imagine we didn’t leave Sri Lanka without spending a few days on the coast, admiring the beautiful wild landscapes and observing the fishermen while they kept their balance on the reeds, over the wavy sea.
