2500-YEAR-OLD culture
The multicultural settling of the country is a huge part of it. Massive cultural events like “Sri Dalada Perahera”, a colorful religious procession held as an offering to Lord Buddha’s Tooth Relic, happen yearly and tourists come swarming to witness the grand event. Ceylonese daily life itself is rich in diversified artistic customs and rituals. Step into a local house in Jaffna, it smells different, their food tastes different, their clothes different and their surroundings are different, the weather feels different compared to a local house in the southernmost part of the country, or even the up country.
widen the mind and the spirit
Cinnamon Trails
Milking Experience
Sri Lankan Paddy Field Breakfast
Haputale Hindu Temple
Rubber Production
Make your Own Village Lunch
Haputale Hindu Temple
The goddess descends from the wind and cloud and sky.
The power of the goddess emanates into its surroundings and just walking up to the Naga Patthini Devalaya makes you fall silent.
Listening to the Sanskrit chanting during pooja and getting Thiruneeru (sacred ash) applied to your forehead will give you a glimpse into the sacred world of the Patthini worshipers
Milking Experience
Akway has provided a livelihood for the dairy farmers of the adjacent villages by purchasing all the milk they are able to supply.
The hotel boasts freshly made dairy products such as cream, cheese, yogurt, milk toffee, and condensed milk, all made possible because of tireless farmers like Sanath who will tell you his story and teach you the niceties of dairy farming.
Milk a cow, and enjoy a fresh cuppa.be it Sri Lankan coffee or tea… you can be sure that the cream comes from just a walk away.
Sri Lankan Paddy Field Breakfast
Breakfast, they say, is the most important meal of the day. The experience of making and sharing a traditional village breakfast in an unparalleled locale is something every visitor to Sri Lanka must experience.
Sit at the glorious paddy fields that will provide you with a different vista depending on the time of the year. Make your own hoppers and enjoy a meal that can be vegan or vegetarian or mix it up as part of a full English fry-up with all the trimmings.
In April, May, October, and November you will see the tireless farmers start the process with the harrowing process “See Saama” using a traditional plow “Nagula” and oxen.
Cinnamon Trails
Known as the best cinnamon in the world, pure Ceylon Cinnamon comes from a tree indigenous to Sri Lanka. Cinnamon bark peeling and turning them into quills as we know them is a technique and an art form.It is not just the plant but also the unique art of cinnamon curing and processing that makes this the most flavourful cinnamon on earth.
Another Akway livelihood partner, Sanath has been utilizing his many talents to provide guests with this unparalleled experience. He takes great pride in his craft and will show you how to use a “koketta” to create these perfect peelings of Cinnamon bark. He will explain the process followed and may even share a few secrets if you’re patient enough to learn them.
Production of Rubber
Rubber production in Sri Lanka commenced in 1876, with the planting of 1.919 rubber seedlings in the Henarathgoda Botanical Garden
Taking you to the Rubber Plantation you will experience the way of extracting rubber milk by the village rubber trappers, their life style, the Traditional Machine they used for the manufacturing process, and rubber sheet storing system
Make your own Village Lunch
With an infectious smile that embodies the spirit of Sri Lankan villagers she takes us on a journey of a life that is very different to ours..
The aromas that waft out of her “dung kussiya” (outdoor kitchen) speaks to the heart. She takes great pride in talking about the traditional equipment she uses in her cooking. The large Wangediya and Mole gaha* (A large Mortar and pestle) is her favorite kitchen gadget and her “miris gala” (grinding stone) has been passed down her family for generations.
