About this experience
Your guide picks you up at 7:00 AM and heads east from Kandy along the 18 Bend Road — a serpentine mountain route with dramatic views over the Mahiyangana valley. First stop is Sorabora Wewa, an ancient reservoir built more than two millennia ago by damming the Diyawanna Oya with a 485-metre embankment. Walk along the embankment and examine the natural-rock sluice gate before continuing to Ulhitiya Reservoir, a key tributary of the Mahaweli River. By 9:30 AM you reach Mahiyangana, where a visit to the historic temple — active since before 543 BC — marks the site believed to be Buddha's first visit to Sri Lanka.
At around 10:00 AM, lace up for a 30-minute hike to the Dambana Veddah village. Meet one of Sri Lanka's indigenous communities, see their homes, and learn how they hunt and farm. Join a short hunt if you wish, or handle their traditional longbows and arrows. You leave the village at 12:30 PM, stop for lunch in Mahiyangana, and return to your hotel by 3:00 PM. The tour is private, conducted in English, and includes hotel pickup and drop-off, air-conditioned transport, entrance fees, and a litre of bottled water per person.
