.jpg?trim=0,386,0,214&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800 "This surprisingly affordable Sri Lanka wellness retreat helped me completely de-stress – UK Times")
It was one of those moments that definitely wasn’t Instagram-friendly. Wearing nothing but a pair of paper pants, I hoisted myself into a heated wooden casket where I steamed away for 20 minutes, like a dumpling in a bamboo basket.
The casket is a traditional Sri Lankan vashpa swede, or sweat box, and is lined with adatoda leaves, which release their natural anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties while you drip like a tap.
The following day, my ritual humiliation, which by now I was getting used to, involved being scrubbed down with dark brown welmadata paste then placed into a bath of boiled herbs.
Both treatments, which also involved long, languid oil massages that made me drift in and out of sleep, are part of the wellness programme run by the small but cultishly popular Ayurvie Sigiriya retreat, set deep in Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle.
While the teardrop-shaped island off the southeastern tip of India is rapidly becoming popular for its beach culture (or Bali 2.0 as it’s been called), it’s also gaining ground as a unique wellness destination.
If, like me, you thought you had experienced ayurvedic treatments before, then you probably haven’t. Ayurvie Sigiriya is not a western-style spa with a couple of aromatherapy oil massages thrown in to spice up the spa menu. It’s the real deal.
It’s so off the beaten track that on our three-and-a-half-hour journey from Colombo, we passed a couple of wild elephants wandering by the side of the road, and even our local taxi driver struggled to find the right dirt access track. Hidden among rice paddies, the retreat has just 10 rooms and is designed to look like a traditional Sri Lankan village, with thatched-roof cottages and Buddhist deities greeting you at your door. But inside, the beds are plush, the water runs hot, the bath products are lush, and the wifi works.
Its absolute star turn is the treatments. In the open-air spa pavilion sit glass medicine cabinets filled with tinctures, oils and powders extracted from indigenous Sri Lankan herbs and plants. Although similar to Indian Ayurvedic medicine, the Sri Lankan system is a more gentle, herbal-based practice (designed to balance mind, body and soul with therapies and diet).
On arrival at the retreat, each new guest has a consultation with the ayurvedic physician Dr Hansika. “We believe our bodies are based on three pillars of wellness – food, sleep and activity,” she explains. “If these pillars are well-balanced, the house is well-balanced.”
Guests are then given a questionnaire about health and lifestyle to determine their dosha type, and Dr Hansika then creates a personalised “re-balancing” treatment programme.
It turns out I am a fiery pitha/vatha type (no surprises there), and my rebalancing programme was designed to calm my inner furnace with therapies involving water and a long list of recommended foods (chilli is out; sesame oil, barley and fish are in).
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While my partner and I were there for a short, gentle four-day wellness break, many guests sign up for the full 14 to 21-day detox programme, which pretty much cleanses them until they squeak. Morning and evening yoga on a breezy platform in the trees is included for all guests, as are daily bespoke treatments and three meals a day. No caffeine or alcohol is on offer, but you won’t go hungry.
As lifelong carnivores who are, admittedly, trying to cut down on meat, we found the food surprisingly delicious. Unctuous coconut-based curries, crispy dosas and rich onion chutneys are all cooked in a traditional Sri Lankan kitchen where meals are taken communally. Even the earthenware bowls, plates and cups in the kitchen are made at the on-site pottery studio (you can also have a pottery lesson).
After our long, daily treatment sessions, we managed to squeeze in a guided bike ride to a nearby temple and a pre-dawn hike up to the top of the extraordinary Sigiriya rock fortress, where we watched the sun rise from the ruins of an ancient palace.
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You are also never far from wildlife. On the grounds of the retreat, peacocks strutted, monitor lizards lumbered across the paths, mongooses played in the paddies, and geckos ran up the walls.
Although only there for four days, rarely in my life have I wound down so completely. My daze may have had something to do with caffeine withdrawal, but it probably had more to do with the daily massage and treatments delivered with such care by the team of ayurvedic therapists. At night, we both crashed early and slept solidly until our dawn yoga alarm woke us.
After all of that rest and detoxing, we decided it was time for a gentle retox. Instead of heading to the crowded beach towns on the south coast of Sri Lanka, we headed to the Maldives. Malé is just a 70-minute flight from Colombo, which makes it surprisingly simple to combine the two Indian Ocean destinations on a single break.
At Ifuru Island Maldives in the Raa Atoll, we continued our healthy eating, daily yoga and exercise, but instead of the calm drizzle of central Sri Lanka, it was in the sunshine glamour of the Indian Ocean. Our wellness halo didn’t slip – there was a time when you’d fly to the Maldives and play the: How Much All-Inclusive Food and Drink Can I Guzzle Down in a Day, game? But now it’s more about how much all-inclusive health and fitness can you squeeze in.
At Ifuru we filled our days with sunrise yoga on a powdery beach, swimming around the house reef with shoals of darting fish, paddle-boarding, sauna and steaming in the spa, sound bath healing and eating grilled reef fish and salad.
In a way it was the ultimate island hop, switching the jungle and calm of central Sri Lanka with the beach glamour of the Maldives – an easy way to have two very different wellness breaks in one.
Fiona McIntosh travelled as a guest at Ayurvie Sigiriya and Ifuru Island Maldives.
How to do it
Ayurvie Sigiriya costs from £316 per night for two people, including all food, treatments, yoga, and activities.
Ifuru Island Maldives costs from £447 for two people per night on an all-inclusive basis.
How to get there
Sri Lankan Airlines flies to Colombo Bandaranaike International airport from London Heathrow direct, with flight times of around 10 hours 45 minutes. Prices start at £822 return. Auyervie Sigiriya is a three-and-a-half hour drive from the airport.
Five other brilliant Sri Lankan ayurvedic retreats
Siddhalepa
The 200-year-old Siddhalepa resort prides itself on being the only retreat affiliated with an ayurvedic hospital and its own pharmaceutical range. This is for a serious health break, with 40 ayurvedic practitioners on site, all set in beautiful grounds in Wadduwu on the West coast, an hour from Colombo. Three-night minimum stay from £924 for two people, all inclusive.
Ulpotha
Ulpotha is revered yoga retreat with authentic ayurvedic treatments that can be added to your stay. With a breathtaking jungle village setting on a natural lake in central Sri Lanka, this is a haute hippie heaven. Guests need to commit to one or two-week packages with guest yogis, starting from £1,303 per week all-inclusive; ayurvedic treatments are extra.
Ayurvie Weligama
The sister retreat to Ayurvie Sigiriya, Ayurvie Weligama is a modern, beachside hotel on the south coast but offers the same programme of doctor-led treatments, food and therapies. Prices from £316 per night for two people, all inclusive.
Santani Wellness Kandy
Minimalist, luxury retreat Santani Wellness Kandy is set on a remote tea plantation with stunning mountain views, has all the bells and whistles of a five-star resort, including a cinema room, two swimming pools and a hydrotherapy spa. Bespoke programmes are offered, with western and ayurvedic treatments, as well as a variety of meal plans including vegetarian and raw food. Prices from £783 per room, all inclusive.
Amuna Ayurveda and Wellness Retreat
Also close to Sigiriya in central Sri Lanka, Amuna offers a programme of doctor-led treatments and ayurvedic treatments in a calm, rural setting. Check the website for a menu of retreats, from a one-day wellness visit to a full 21-day deeper-healing programme for chronic conditions. Room prices start from £191 a night.
