Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a small island nation off the coast of India and throughout its history has garnered a host of names, from the Teardrop of India to the Pearl of the Orient. Its indelible beauty and collective richness has obviously had a profound effect on its visitors, from its white sandy beaches to the cool, green inland hills.

Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, is also the island’s largest city and is most definitely a wild experience. It’s noisy and frenetic, but vibrant and pulsing. The people are extremely friendly and have a laid back attitude to their heavy, snarled traffic and power outages. The Fort district is the city’s business center while Galle Face Green is a pleasant seafront expanse of green for strolling about and playing cricket. The Cinnamon Gardens is the most upscale, fashionable neighborhood in the city, with huge mansions and neat tree-lined streets.

The small historic towns of Anuradhapura and Galle are little treasure troves of history and old buildings. Anuradhapura was Sri Lanka’s first capital for over 1000 years and is the site of the Sacred Bo-Tree, supposedly the tree under which Buddha achieved enlightenment, and the Thuparama Dagoba, an ancient temple said to have the right collarbone of Buddha.

The port of Galle is also thought to be the Biblical city of Tarshish and is a heavy presentation of the Dutch influence left in Sri Lanka with the 36ha Dutch Fort, The New Oriental Hotel built for Dutch governors, and miscellaneous Dutch houses, museums, and churches.

Before the tsunami of 2004, Hikkaduwa contained Sri Lanka’s most developed beach resorts, from excellent restaurants to café-lined beaches. There were a number of water sports available to visitors such as snorkeling in the accessible coral sanctuary, scuba diving around shipwrecks in the bay, glass-floor bloats, and decent surfing. However, Hikkaduwa was the most severely affected by the 2004 catastrophe with the highest number of casualties. The infrastructure is slowly being rebuilt and services being restored, but it will take a long time for this area to recover from its devastating loss.

For a truly exotic treat, head on over to Yala West and hire a jeep driver or be near a watering hole at dawn and dusk to catch a glimpse of the amazing array of animals found on the island like elephants, leopards, bears, deer, crocodiles, wild boar, monkeys, buffalo, and wild peacocks.