Jonathan in Bali

12 large luxurious accommodations, with romantic four-poster or twin beds, all with spotless en suite bathrooms, some with Jacuzzis, others with private mini-pools. Excellent restaurant where all meals are available, with views of the 14 acre estate, and even the UNESCO protected famed Rock of Sigiriya. You can climb the huge rock which was the centre and palace of King Kasapa fifteen hundred years ago. There are incredible frscoes. Another fantastic activity is the nearby elephant safari, where there resides the largest collection of Asian elephants in the world.

Negombo is known for its long sandy beaches and centuries old fishing industry. Negombo has a large bilingual population of Roman Catholics, known as Negombo Tamils who have their own Tamil dialect. Landing in the early 1500s, the Portuguese ousted the Jaffna Kingdom, constructed a fort in Negombo and took over the trade of cinnamon to the West. During the Portuguese occupation, the Karava (the dominant seafaring clan of Negombo), who were previously Buddhist and Hindu, embraced Catholicism. Negombo is sometimes known as 'Little Rome' and today nearly two thirds of its population profess the Catholic faith. There are over 25 Roman Catholic churches in the city. The Portuguese restructured the traditional production and management of cinnamon and maintained their control over the trade for more than a century. The decline of their power began in the 1630s when warfare between the Portuguese and the Kingdom of Kandy reached a stalemate. the King of Kandy turned to the Dutch for help. The Dutch captured Negombo from the Portuguese in 1646 and negotiated an armistice with Portugal for ten years. The legacy of the Dutch colonial era can be seen in the Negombo fort, constructed in 1672, other Dutch buildings, churches and the extensive canal system.

Mariamman is a Tamil folk goddess, whose worship probably originated in pre-vedic India. Her name means "Mother Mari”. She is a Hindu goddess of rain. She is the main mother goddess, closely associated with the Hindu goddesses Parvati and Durga. The goddess Mariamman is considered by many to be the incarnation of the Goddess Kali. It is said that Kali went to southern India as Mariamman. Her festivals are held during the late summer/early autumn season of "Aadi". Her worship mainly focuses on bringing rains and curing diseases like cholera, smallpox, and chicken pox. .

St. Sebastian’s Church, Wellaweediya is a Roman Catholic church in Negombo, in Sri Lanka, based on the Reims Cathedral in France, and built in Gothic Revival style Saint Sebastian is the patron saint of the city of Negombo. This church is one of the many churches in Sri Lanka dedicated to St Sebastian who is considered a martyr. He is particularly associated with giving relief from epidemics. The church was designed by Father G. Gannon. Although the foundation stone was laid by the Archbishop of Colombo, Pierre-Guillaume Marque, on 2 February 1936, construction was not completed until 10 years later. It replaced a smaller church to accommodate the increasing number of parishioners. Not to be confused with St. Sebastian's Church, Katuwapitiya, targeted in the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings. See another gallery for that church.

Negombo Lagoon is a large estuarine lagoon in Negombo. The lagoon is fed by a number of small rivers and a canal. It is linked to the sea by a narrow channel to the north, near Negombo city.

Church of St Mary, Mother of Presentation, in the parish of Pitipana, Negombo, Sri Lanka was built in 1914 by French priests, the altar is white marble and the church building with Roman architecture has a rare collection of stained glasses, a form of art popular in medieval Europe depicting important incidents in Jesus’ life. The village inhabitants are almost 96% Catholic. The large majority of them are fishermen. The spacious church is embellished with mosaic windows depicting the Virgin Mother, Jesus and saints. It resembles more a cathedral of grand proportions than a little church in a fishing village.

Centuries old colonial Portuguese houses in Negombo.

St. Mary’s Church, Grand Street, Negombo is a Roman Catholic church in the heart of Negombo. Its exterior surface is painted pink colour. It is one of the largest churches in Sri Lanka. Negombo has been influenced greatly by the Christian faith from the time it was occupied by the Portuguese. It is often called "Little Rome" in view of the large number of churches in the city. Construction of the church was started in 1874 and completed, after a long gap, in 1922. The art and architecture show the cultural amalgamation of European and Sri Lankan art and architecture during the early years of the 20th century.

Unique to Sri Lanka: men on stilts a few metres above the waves holding fish hooks and fishing rods. These fishermen on wooden poles about 2 metres above the sea sit or stand on a wooden crossbar. They don't use nets as it scares the fish. It's tedious and time-consuming work and the fish are small. The practice date back to the 1940s, and it’s struggling to survive against modern large scale fishing and trawlers. They can’t do it during the monsoons. Stilt fishing was badly affected by the 2004 tsunami that crushed much of coastal Sri Lanka. Few young people are interested, so it’s a dying art. As it is, only a handful of families still continue the practice.

Habarana is a small place in the Anuradhapura District of Sri Lanka.

EKHO Lake House Hotel, Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka. Built in 1870 as a circuit bungalow for British Government Agents, the Old Polonnaruwa Rest House has now been restored and renamed as EKHO Lake House, Polonnaruwa. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip stayed here on holiday in 1954. EKHO Lake House overlooks the panoramic Sea of Parakrama Samudraya, a shallow reservoir, consisting of five separate reservoirs, connected by narrow channels. The northernmost reservoir is the oldest and referred to as Topa wewa, built around 386 AD. The middle section Eramudu wewa and the southernmost portion, at the highest elevation, is Dumbutula wewa, both sections were added and the reservoir expanded during the reign of King Parâkramabâhu, who reigned from 1153 to 1186.

Poḷonnaruwa in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. was the royal ancient city of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa. The second most ancient of Sri Lanka's kingdoms, Polonnaruwa was first established by the Chola dynasty as their capital in the 10th century. The Ancient City of Polonnaruwa has been declared a World Heritage Site.

Modern temple, completed in 2000, using Japanese donations. On top of the cube-shaped building sits a golden Buddha image in the dhammachakka mudra (wheel-turning pose) and a huge neon sign.

Meera Maccam Mosque is one of the oldest mosques in Sri Lanka’s hill city Kandy. The land for the mosque was gifted to a Muslim Courtier who served the King of Kandy, Keerthi Sri Rajasinha and was completed in 1864 by a society of Muslims living in the city.

Nalanda Gedige is an ancient complete stone temple near Matale, Sri Lanka and its original site was considered as the center of Sri Lanka. The building was constructed in between 8th and 10th centuries and is believed to have been used by Buddhists. Nalanda Gedige is a curious hybrid of Buddhist and Hindu architecture.

Arulmigu Sri Muthumari Amman Kovil is a temple in Matale, dedicated to Mariamman, the goddess of rain and fertility. It was built in 1874 and used by both Hindus and Buddhists. The temple was originally a small statue under a tree prayed to by the Hindu people but has been developed by the people of Matale. One of the most dominant features is the 32.9 m (108 ft) high Gopuram, a large decorated tower above the main northern entrance to the temple. It is one of the largest Gopurams in Sri Lanka. The 1008 statues of Hindu deities are the work of South Indian sculptor, Nagalingam and his son Ramanathan. There were about 100 designers, painters and architects from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. It was completed in 2007 at the cost of approximately Rs 150 m.

St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Wahacotte, Kandy is dedicated to Saint Anthony. It is one of the most sacred pilgrim places for Catholics in Sri Lanka and a national shrine. The Benedictine mission is attached to the church. The foundations were laid on 13 June 1875 and the cathedral was consecrated on 19 December 1876.

Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple in Kandy It is in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. Kandy was the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings and is a World Heritage Site mainly due to the temple. After the parinirvana of Buddha, the tooth relic was preserved in Kalinga in India and smuggled to the island by Princess Hemamali and her husband, Prince Dantha on the instructions of her father King Guhasiva. They landed on the island in Lankapattana during the reign of Sirimeghavanna of Anuradhapura (301-328) and handed over the tooth relic.

Another great colonial hotel in Kandy, Sri Lanka: Hotel Suisse. %0A%0AThe building was originally the residence of Pilimatala Gabada Nilame, the Chief Minister of the Royal Granary, and was built in the 17th century on land where the King’s buffaloes grazed. Following the Great Rebellion of 1817–18 the building was confiscated by the British in 1818 and given to a British officer, who called it Haramby (Aramba) House.%0A%0AIn 1846 it became the residence of George Wall, the manager of the Ceylon Plantation Company. In the early 1880s the building was occupied by the Kandy Club. In 1887 the club moved.%0A%0AIn 1924 the building was acquired by a Swiss lady, Jeanne Louisa Burdayron, who operated it as a guest house before it became a hotel. The building was also used as a maternity ward for planters' wives. During World War II (between April 1944 and 1945), it was the headquarters of the South East Asia Command under Lord Louis Mountbatten.%0A%0AIt has 90 rooms.

Nicknamed “Little England”, Nuwara Eliya was a hill country retreat for British colonialists since it was founded in 1846, enjoying cool climate, beautiful views and famous tea plantations.

The Hill Club is a gentlemen's club in Nuwara Eliya, founded in 1876 by early coffee, cinchona and teaplanters. It started with only a billiards room and a bar.The current building dates from the 1930s. The Club did not allow membership to women or locals until 1967. Situated on 26 acres it features a two storey grey stone building, wooden staircases, high roofs, hardwood floors, fireplaces and antique furniture. There are 40 rooms including two suites, a dining room, two bars, (the Mens Only Bar and the Mixed Bar), a reading room, ladies' lounge, games room (the Monsoon room), four International standard tennis courts. It currently has a membership of about 750, consisting of both foreigners and Sri Lankans.

St. Francis Xavier's Church was the first Christian church established in Nuwara Eliya on 23 October 1838.

Nanu-Oya railway station is the 63rd station on the Main Line, and is 206.9 km (128.6 mi) away from Colombo.

Galle is on the southwestern tip, 119 km from Colombo. According to James Emerson Tennent, Galle was the ancient seaport of Tarshish, from which King Solomon got ivory, peacocks and other valuables. Cinnamon was exported from Sri Lanka as early as 1400 BC. Ptolemy might also have known about the port, which he called Odoka. Morroccan traveller Ibn Battuta visted Galle (or Qali as he called it) in 1342. During the 12th and 13th centuries, Sinhalese refugees fleeing from Tamil armies from the north began to settle in Galle and other nearby areas. Galle was a prominent seaport long before western rule. Persians, Arabs, Greeks, Romans, Malays, Indians, and Chinese were doing business there. In 1411, the Galle Trilingual Inscription, a stone tablet inscription in three languages, Chinese, Tamil and Persian, was erected in Galle to commemorate the second visit to Sri Lanka by the Chinese admiral Zheng He. In 1502, a small fleet of Portuguese ships, under the command of Lourenço de Almeida, on their way to the Maldives, were blown off course by a storm and stopped in Galle. Galle is the best example of a fortified city built by the Portuguese in South and Southeast Asia, showing the interaction between Portuguese architectural styles and native traditions. In 1640, Portuguese were forced to surrender to the Dutch East India Company. The city was extensively fortified by the Dutch during the 17th century from 1649 onwards.The Dutch built the present fort in 1663. The Galle fort is a world heritage site and is the largest remaining fortress in Asia built by European occupiers. They built a fortified solid granite wall and three bastions, known as "Sun", "Moon" and "Star”. Galle reached the height of its development in the 18th century, during the Dutch colonial period. After the British took over the country from the Dutch in 1796, the British preserved the fort unchanged and used it as the administrative centre of the district. On 26 December 2004, the city was devastated by the massive tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which occurred in Aceh, Sumatra off the coast of Indonesia a thousand miles away. Thousands were killed in the city alone.

Dutch Reformed Church is within the Galle fort in Galle near the entrance to the fort. It was built by the Dutch in 1755 and is one of the oldest Protestant churches still in use in Sri Lanka. The church is said to have been built on the site of a Portuguese Capuchin Convent on the highest point in the Galle fort. The church was constructed in the Doric style of the period. The church underwent various changes during the British Period. The church did not suffer any damage from the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake due to its relative height and protection by the walls of the Galle fort.

Sri Rohana Uposathagaraya that is situated in the midst of the Pigeons Island, connected to the mainland by only a footbridge. Used as a chapter house, a steady stream of visitors can be seen crossing the bridge at any given point, on their way to see this quaint temple. Built in the year 2000, every May, nearly 100 monks from the Rohana sector receive their higher ordination at this temple.

Shrine of Our Lady of Matara is a Roman Catholic church devoted to the Virgin Mary in Matara. The shrine houses a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus. It’s claimed to be 400 years old. Church legend claims that a large wooden crate was hauled out of the sea by Weligama fishermen. When it was opened, the statue was found inside, untouched by seawater. The fishermen handed it over to the parish priest and the statue was placed in St. Mary's Church in Matara. On 26 December 2004 the tsunami in Asia damaged the shrine and killed 24 people attending Sunday Mass. Overall 30,000+ people died and one and a half million people were displaced from their homes.

St. Mary's Convent is a very famous girls school in Matara, Sri Lanka.

Ministry of Crab, Colombo, specialises in Sri Lanka’s legendary lagoon crab.