Real Life Honeymoon Feature - Sri Lanka & Maldives

Melanie Plowman and Richard Cobb got married on 16th January 2010 at The Dairy, Waddesdon Manor, a stunning National Trust property near Aylesbury. The ceremony was truly magical for them, really heartfelt and warm, and they were surrounded by the people they love.

WHERE?

A week-long tour around Sri Lanka followed by a week on Kuramathi Island in the Maldives

WHEN?
18 Jan – 2 Feb 2010

WHY?
Having spent much time and most of our energy planning the wedding we realised that we hadn’t given enough focus to the honeymoon and by Christmas still hadn’t booked anything. Our dream honeymoon was to spend our time in a secluded paradise - a hut on a white sandy beach with a view of turquoise water. We had always wanted to go to the Maldives but felt that the costs put it beyond our reach and were struggling to come up with other options that felt right for us. That is when we thought of having our honeymoon as our wedding gift list. After this we contacted Kuoni who talked through our ideas and came up with a package to suit our needs with a week of culture followed by a week of relaxation and on New Year’s Eve it was booked!

WHAT DID YOU DO?
Our Honeymoon began at 7am on 18th January with a chauffer driven journey to the airport before we embarked in a 10-hour flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka. After a night at Mount Lavinia Hotel by the coast we departed for our tour with 8 other people. Our first stop was Pinnewala Elephant orphanage where we saw a herd of elephants bathing in the local river. We travelled on to Haberana in central Sri Lanka and spent 2 nights by a picturesque lake. While here we had an early morning visit to Sigiria Rock Fortress, a ruined palace situated on top of a magnificent and imposing rock formation. We climbed the many stairs to the top of the rock and were rewarded with stunning views of the lush green canopy of the surrounding plains. After this we spent the afternoon at the ruins of Polonnaruwa, the second ancient capital of Sri Lanka. Here we spent a few hours leisurely investigating some the many temples and stupa that fill the site. There were very few tourists that day and as much of the site is overgrown with moss and populated by monkeys we felt like explorers discovering cultural treasures that had been lost for thousands of years. The next day we visited the sacred Dambulla caves which are filled with statues of Buddha placed there by successive kings of Sri Lanka. After Dambula we travelled to Kandy. Here one of our most memorable moments was stopping at a house to watch a local family demonstrate how they use every part of the coconut to make an immense array of useful items from curry paste and cooking utensils to rope. In Kandy we visited the Temple of the Tooth which contains the only relic of Buddha, the Royal Botanical Gardens and watched a cultural dance show. Next we travelled to visit the Tea plantations of Nurawa Eliya in the cooler and less humid mountain region and sampled the delicious silver tip Ceylon Tea. This is a good website with lots of information on the Cultural Triangle in central Sri Lanka - http://www.srilanka.fm/culturaltriangle/

After a busy but thoroughly enjoyable week we headed to the Maldives for rest and relaxation. From Male we travelled by seaplane to Kuramathi and saw the first glimpse of our island by air. Kuramathi is quite a large island (http://kuramathi.com/) with approximately 150 villas. With so many guests to cater for there is no shortage of activities on offer and although the island is quite large it is designed with seclusion in mind. We had a beautifully laid-back pattern to our stay and spent most of our mornings snorkelling on the spectacular house reef near our villa. Delightful afternoons were wiled away in tranquil companionship sometimes reading together in the shade, exploring the lush island or sipping cocktails by the beach. One of our most relaxing activities was a couples massage in the open-air treatment room on a pavilion over the lagoon. Other activities included a trip to the nearby inhabited island of Rasdhoo, attending talks given by the resident marine biologist and a candlelit dinner on the beach. By the end of the week we had completely adapted to our new Maldavian lifestyle and didn’t want to go home.

MOST ROMANTIC MOMENT?
Our most romantic moment was spent strolling together along the seemingly endless sandbank at the far end of the island at sunset.

IT'S GREAT FOR HONEYMOONERS BECAUSE...
The tour around Sri Lanka is great for honeymooners because, for us, after the intense build up to and the adrenaline of the wedding spending an active week with a group of people meant that we didn’t have a come down once the big day was over. Although we were both shattered to begin with the organised tour was the perfect antidote to any post wedding blues we might have felt. The Maldives are incredible for honeymooners because the islands are a blissful and peaceful paradise, a perfect setting to reflect on our wonderful wedding and just enjoy the time together.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE SENDUSPACKING?
We were originally drawn to the site because of it’s name which we though was perfectly apt to go on our wedding invite. We especially liked being able to create our own bespoke page and divide up our honeymoon activities for people to select. This way our guests could choose something tangible as a gift rather than just giving money and the feedback we had from them was great.