Aventra Travels (Pvt) Ltd representative will pick you up at 7:00 am, we leave for Ratnapura, “City of Gems” which is the name of the provincial capital of Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka and the Ratnapura District in which the town is situated. Some say the modern name is derived from the Portuguese name Rapadura for jaggery, the palm candy produced traditionally in this region, but the more common explanation in Sri Lanka is that it comes from the Sinhala “ratna” meaning gems and “pura” meaning city. Ratnapura is also spelled as Rathnapura. It is the centre of a long-established industry of precious stone mining including rubies, sapphires, and other gems. Apart from gem mining, the town is known for rice and fruit cultivations. Large plantations of low grown tea and rubber surround the town making it a very picturesque region to travel to. The Tea Plantations here are low country tea, rich in color and strength. We will visit a gem mining pit where you will see that it is still done as it was centuries ago. We will visit one of the museums, a gem workshop which will give you the opportunity to see a variety of precious stones, such as rubies, sapphires, cat’s eyes, alexandrite, aquamarines, tourmalines, spinels, topaz, garnets, amethyst, zircons etc. After exploring the region we will travel back to your hotel in either Colombo or Negombo.