The Southeast Asia Travel Specialists Since 1999
The Rangri Dambulla Cave Temple – to give it the full name – is located in the area of north-central Sri Lanka known as the ‘Cultural Triangle’ due to its proliferation of spectacular ancient sites such as the nearby, UNESCO-listed rock fortress of Sigiriya, and also World Heritage-listed ancient cities of Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura. The series of 5 shallow, principal…
This fascinating 2-week Sri Lanka tour takes you from our starting point in coastal Negombo, via the walled city and World Heritage site Galle – perched on a rock jutting spectacularly into the Indian Ocean – through the scenic hill country with its tea estates and national parks. Travelling by road and rail we’ll discover the ancient capital Kandy and…
Current Sites UNESCO’s Sri Lanka World Heritage list currently stands at 6 cultural and 2 natural sites. The 6 cultural entries are predictable and logical and include the ancient city sites of Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura, the cave temples at Dambulla and the rock fortress of Sigiriya with the historic towns of Galle and Kandy completing the compliment. Anuradhapurain the north-central…
Some time ago we swapped our safari and camping activities on our Sri Lanka tour from Yala National Park to lesser-known Udawalawe. Both are fantastic Sri Lankan National Parks with Yala being the country’s best-known protected area but with the slightly smaller Udawalawe lying a short distance to the west still offering great wildlife spotting possibilities and excellent overnight camping…
A selection of Sri Lanka wildlife photos from a recent tour. The Island’s varied landscapes and climatic zones and plentiful national parks mean the country’s always excellent for wildlife sightings and although our recent Sri Lanka tour was in no way a specific nature or birdwatching trip we were lucky enough to have a keen-eyed wildlife specialist as our guide…
A random selection of Sri Lanka tour photos from our recent, ‘Island of Serendipity’ tour. These are kind of ‘people doing things’ photos rather than postcard-style, pretty pics (which we’ll save for a later post) so apologies for the fuzzy quality of some of the hurriedly taken smartphone shots. Somewhere between visiting the admittedly touristy, but certainly photogenic, stilt fishermen…
Sri Lanka – recommended reading. Published in 2015 Elephant Complex by English author John Gimlette is not only the best book we’ve read on Sri Lanka but simply one of the best travel books we’ve come across on any destination, anywhere! This compact yet insightful account covers over 2,000 years of the Island’s complex history, culture and society as well…
A 2-week Sri Lanka Family Tour. Explore the World Heritage ancient city of Polonnaruwa by bicycle, scale the dramatic rock fortress of Sigiriya, raft down the jungle-lined Kelani River, hike across Horton Plains National Park to the spectacular ‘World’s End’, go on jeep safaris through Minneriya and Wilpattu national parks, take boat trips snorkelling or whale watching in the Indian…
Although the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex – to give the National Park its full name – has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list for nearly 20 years now, we’ve regrettably only just managed to incorporate the fantastic site onto one of our regular Thailand tour itineraries. Until recently, our range of offerings has included north and south Thailand…
If you fancy checking out some ruined Khmer temples in the jungle, island hopping in Thailand’s Andaman Sea or exploring Sri Lanka’s remarkable collection of World Heritage sites then, at present, you have 2 basic choices; joining a group tour or independent travel We’re hoping our upcoming range of self-guided tours will offer a compromise option and go some way…
Our unique Hidden Maldives tour provides you with some glimpses into the authentic country, people and culture that few visitors get to see. The luxury resorts on private, tourist islands and turquoise atolls are world-famous; but what about the rest of the vast, sprawling archipelago nation? On this 1-week mini-tour, we’ll stay in family-run accommodation in a traditional fishing village…
Current Sites Thailand World Heritage Sites on UNESCO’s list are at present limited to 3 cultural and 2 natural sites. A rather meagre result we feel, considering the country’s rich history and magnificent and highly varied flora, fauna and landscapes. Of the 3 cultural sites, we’d also point out that early Bronze Age Ban Chiang, while of undoubted great archaeological…
Cambodia – Street Photography by Jeff Perigois. Getting those picturesque photographs of Cambodia’s sublime landscapes or spectacular, atmospheric shots of jungle-clad temple ruins is a relatively straightforward task. You’ll need someone to ensure you get to the right place at the right time then hope for a fortuitous monk to stroll past the stone carvings or an old ox-cart to…
For our 6-day, 5 night Maldives eco-resort stay, we’ve chosen the excellent Barefoot Eco Hotel on the north Maldives island of Hanimaadhoo. This is a ‘local’ island as opposed to a private resort island, and so the unique Barefoot forms a stepping stone between village guesthouses and the more well-known luxury resorts and provides a lot more than just your…
All Points East, Southeast Asia tours and travel specialist is an independent, fully licensed, UK and Asian-based travel company which has been running tours since 1999. Our goal is to produce original and quality trips at reasonable prices with an emphasis on genuinely small groups, off-the-beaten-track destinations and a commitment to responsible tourism. Our tours, both scheduled and tailor-made, are…
Since our recent Facebook photo proved popular we thought we’d post a few more of these wonderful images – the Maidens of the Clouds from Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. So-called because these wonderful frescoes are found halfway up a sheer cliff at the ancient site, and UNESCO World Heritage-listed, Sigiriya rock fortress in Sri Lanka’s ‘Cultural Triangle’. The rock shelters…
These famous gardens, or to give them their full name the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens Kandy, date all the way back to 1843 when they were established on the site of a former Royal Temple that the British had seen fit to demolish upon assuming control of the Kingdom of Kandy. (Well, shame about the historic temple but they did…
We’d have thought it was fairly obvious that dawn – whether sunrise at Angkor Wat, The Taj Mahal or anywhere else you can think of vary enormously. Some – spectacular explosions of vibrant colours whilst others – just plain, grey, overcast and however fantastic the setting is for the dawn is it has no influence at all over how dramatic…
Tours Considering family tours or holidays to Southeast Asia? No more “mum, I’m bored…”! With 20 years of experience in organising travel in Southeast Asia, at All Points East we’re pleased to be able to offer you a selection of unique itineraries, designed specifically with families in mind. We now offer dedicated family tours to the following destinations: Thailand,…
Having inexplicably suffered a detached retina whilst watching Barbie VDO’s with an 8-year-old, (no the doctor didn’t believe us either), we’ve not taken any new photos in while. A trawl through some catalogued images seemed to turn up an inordinate amount of bridges of Southeast Asia photos so for no reason whatsoever other than a plea for un-inspiration to be…