SAARC car rally completes Sri Lanka, Convoy travels over 9000km through six countries in 29 days

After covering nearly a 1000 km in the last three days, the SAARC Car Rally today completed the Sri Lankan leg of the Rally and returned to Colombo from Kandy. The route provided a glimpse of the amazing contrast in landscapes that Sri Lanka has been blessed with. While the picturesque Colombo-Tissamaharama coastal road is dotted with numerous beach resorts, the winding road through the tea estates of Nuwara Eliya is a unique experience.

After the night halt at Tissamahara lake resort, the Rally headed for Nuwara Eliya, a beautiful hill station with numerous tea estates, on day 28. The rally was received at Kandy by the Hon’ble Governor of Kandy and taken to Sri Dalada Maligawa, also called the Temple of the Tooth. It houses Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist relic - a sacred tooth of Lord Buddha. The Temple is one of the most important centers of pilgrimage for Buddhists. The rallyists were permitted to pay their respects at the sanctum sanctorum, a rare privilege.

On day 29, the Rally started from Kandy and headed for Anuradhapura, the ancient capital city of Sinhalese kings. The huge Sri Maha Bodhi tree here is the oldest historically authenticated tree in the world, having been tended by an uninterrupted succession of guardians for over 2000 years. The tree has grown from a sapling brought from Bodhgaya in India. The convoy reached Colombo in the evening and received a warm welcome.

With this, the journey of the Rally cars came to an end, after driving over 9000 km through six SAARC countries. Although the Rally will officially end on day 30 at Male, only the rally participants (and not the rally cars) will go to Maldives tomorrow as a symbolic gesture.

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