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The BEST out of the BEST 31“For a quarter century, Sri Lanka seems to have been plagued by misfortune, including a brutal civil war between the Sinhalese-dominated government and a separatist Tamil group. But the conflict finally ended last May, ushering in a more peaceful era for this teardrop-shaped island off India’s coast, rich in natural beauty and cultural splendors.” New York Times Ranked Sri Lanka as the best out of the “The 31 Places to Go in 2010“ |
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Sri Lanka
A teardrop-shaped island cast adrift in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka is filled with cultural and natural treasures. Indians, Portuguese, Dutch and British have all left their marks here, making for a delightful mix of ancient cities, monuments and atmospheric colonial architecture.
At the same time, palm-fringed beaches are never far away and lush mountainous greenery beckons inland. It’s clear to see why Marco Polo proclaimed Sri Lanka to be one of the best islands in the world
“Beauty of Ceylon lays not so much in its blue seas and golden beaches, its jungles and its mountain peaks, as in its ancient atmosphere. There is no nation in the world whose literature this island has not at some time been mentioned by one or other of its many names — Lanka, Serendib, Taprobane, Cellao, Zellan, to recall a few. History lies buried in its sands, and ghosts of romance lurk among its bastioned rocks, for Lanka is very, very old”
- D. J. G. Hennessy, GREEN AISLES -
There is a great pleasure in thus working out the features of a wild country, specially in an Island like Ceylon, which every portion, exhibits traces of former prosperity and immense population. Even these inhabited and chilly regions, up to elevation of seven thousand feet, are not blank pages of the book of nature, but the hand of man are so distinctly traced that the keen observer can read with tolerable certainty the existence of a nation long since passed away.
- Eight Years Wanderings in Ceylon by Samuel White Baker -