🇬🇧 London Heathrow → 🇱🇰 Colombo · 2 weeks

Eat a rice and curry lunch on a banana leaf at a local 'hotel' (Sri Lankan slang for a local restaurant) — look for plastic chairs, ceiling fans, and a handwritten menu on a board. The Ministry of Crab in Colombo is famous, but the ¥400-600 meal at a roadside spot in Galle or Kandy will be equally memorable and costs ¥300-500 LKR.

Climb Sigiriya Lion Rock by 7am — the jungle mist clears from the plains below within the first hour and the heat is manageable. Most tour groups arrive around 9-10am; by then you'll be descending. Book tickets online (USD 30 for foreigners) to skip the queue.

Visit Minneriya National Park between June and September for the 'Gathering' — up to 300 wild elephants congregate around the reservoir in the late afternoon as the water level drops. Arrive at 3pm with a jeep safari (USD 25-30 per person from Sigiriya); the numbers of elephants and the lack of fencing make it unlike any wildlife encounter in the world.

Take the Kandy-to-Ella scenic train (the 8:47am from Kandy, 6-hour journey) — book a first-class observation car seat online at least a week ahead via the Sri Lanka Railways website (LKR 1500). The route through cloud-wrapped tea estates and across the Nine Arches Bridge is one of the world's great railway journeys.