About Sri Lanka – Why travel to Sri Lanka?
This is a brief guide to the entire island of Sri Lanka, with principal sites and why you should visit Sri Lanka. This is our island of paradise, in the heart of the turquoise blue Indian Ocean.
A personal representative of the pope who arrived in Sri Lanka over six centuries ago wrote that “From Ceylon to Paradise, according to native legend, is 40 miles; there may be heard the sound of the fountains of Paradise.” For those unable to enter Paradise itself, its neighbor has enough diversity of landscape, people and culture to make one forget about eternal salvation: mountains, jungles, ruined cities, vast man-made lakes, statues as impressive as anywhere in the world, fertile uplands where tea estates reach as far as the eye can see; elephants, leopards, birds, turtles, coral and darting tropical fish. And then there are the beaches….
Early travelers arrived by boast, eventually turning the harbor in Colombo
into a lively and active port. The entire Southwest Coast was thriving until the disaster of December 26, 2004, but the rebuilding effort got underway rapidly and many hotels were open again within six months. The end of the 3 decade conflict has lead way to further development throughout the island with initiatives to bring the islands tourism back to its hay day. The commercial capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, is rapidly being converted to a Green city with parks, cycling & jogging tracks, restaurants and cafes sprouting throughout the city along the busy by-lanes, entertainment centers, arts and exhibitions and many lively festive activities being initiated by the resident societies throughout the city. Colombo is the place to be.
Inland are rubber and cinnamon estates to explore, and the unparalleled Sinharaja rainforest, but venture further afield and you will have even more to take your breath away. Kandy, the second-largest city, was the last capital of the Sinhalese Kingdom and is still home to culture, religion and traditional art. It is here, each August that the stupendous Kandy Perahera festival takes place, featuring 100 robed elephants, fiendish dancers, acrobats and a procession so ancient it was chronicled by Marco Polo. From Kandy, the sheer beauty of the tea estates punctured by waterfalls will draw you into the Hill country, which surrounds the town of Nuwara Eliya; or southwards to the fabled Adam’s Peak, which is sacred goal to the multitude of pilgrims who scale it every season. At its foot lies the ancient city of gems, Ratnapura, one of the five major gem producers of the world.
In the arid North Central Province, is Sri Lanka’s Cultural Triangle, cities dating
back to 250 BC have survived the ravages of time. Anuradhapura was the capital of the island for over 1,000 years and has ruins that rate not far behind the Egyptian Pyramids. Polonaruma succeeded it for a short but glorious medieval reign, with impressive ruins in fine fettle. Last but not least, the stupendous monolith of the fortress of Sigiriya has been declared the eighth wonder of the world and a UNESCO heritage site. While northern Sri lanka is making rapid recovery from the devastation of war, the East Coast bore the brunt of the boxing day tsunami. Its magnificent beaches are however, undeterred and as the Sri Lankan peoples spirit is ever endearing the destruction is a just a distant memory today.
Other fabulous and uniquely Sri Lanka attractions include Dolphin and Blue whale watching, abundant wildlife, Silt fisherman, a plethora of Soft adventure sports throughout the island, bird watching and Eco tails, Galle Dutch fort a UNESCO world heritage site, and more.
The final temptation for the traveler to Sri Lanka is idleness. We in Sri Lanka have a term from it, “Nikkungs”…which means ‘to do nothing’. With a tradition of facilities to cater for all budgets, this is an island where you may wish to do “Nikkungs” but lie back and stare at coconut palms and the crystal ocean waters crash against the shore.