Temple Island

Temple Island is an island in Koggala Lake, a beautiful lake only a few miles from the historic city of Galle. As you can probably guess by the name, the island features a small but nice Buddhist temple which is apparently a popular pilgrimage point among locals during Sri Lanka’s monthly full moon celebrations.

To get there, you need to contract a boat tour of the lake (ask your tuk-tuk drive and negotiate hard for the price of the trip…don’t pay more than 4,000 rupees) which also includes a cruise around the lake a visit to several other islands. The temple itself is rather small but every inch of the interior is decorated with vibrantly-colored geometric designs and paintings featuring scenes from the Buddha’s life.