I traveled to Sri Lanka for a week and a half this month during my spring break, and it was a wonderful time. I'm unfortunately kind of busy right now getting ready for a trip to Jordan this coming week, so I don't have time to do a post that does Sri Lanka justice.
In short, though, it's a fascinating place full of pristine beaches and beautiful mountains, gorgeous tea plantations and ubiquitous monkeys, delicious food and really nice people. The food is spicier than India's, and as visitors we didn't see much rampant poverty like that which is so commonly associated with India -- not to say it doesn't exist. The people are still recovering from the tsunami in 2004, which killed tens of thousands and leveled coastal communities, as well as the effects of the country's civil war, which lasted over 25 years and only ended three years ago.
I hope these photos can convey how beautiful and interesting Sri Lanka is:
In short, though, it's a fascinating place full of pristine beaches and beautiful mountains, gorgeous tea plantations and ubiquitous monkeys, delicious food and really nice people. The food is spicier than India's, and as visitors we didn't see much rampant poverty like that which is so commonly associated with India -- not to say it doesn't exist. The people are still recovering from the tsunami in 2004, which killed tens of thousands and leveled coastal communities, as well as the effects of the country's civil war, which lasted over 25 years and only ended three years ago.
I hope these photos can convey how beautiful and interesting Sri Lanka is:
The city of Kandy, in the hills in the center of the country
Women at the Kandy's Temple of the Tooth, which is said to contain Buddha's tooth
Giant Buddha
Chiller
Buddhas in caves
The ubiquitous rice and curry
Sigiriya, the site of an ancient rock fortress
Sri Lanka's colorful (and ancient) transportation
Mmm... cream soda
A farm in the beach town of Nilaveli
A civil war-era bunker on an empty beach in Nilaveli
Ruins from the tsunami in Nilaveli
Picking onions in Nilaveli
Tharini, the daughter of the awesome family that ran our guesthouse in Nilaveli, attacks a coconut
Muslim boys in Trincomalee, a coastal city that was the scene of fighting
and ethnic tension just a few years ago
Hindu ceremony in Trinco
More spice than you could possibly imagine
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
Bathing in a nearby river
Third class on a train into the Hill Country
Sunrise in Haputale, in Sri Lanka's Hill Country
Hello.
Farina, one of our hosts in Haputale, with her delicious breakfast
19th century-era, British railway system
Tea fields at sunrise
The view from Lipton's Seat, where Sir Thomas Lipton, founder of the Lipton
tea empire, used to come and ponder life's greatest questions
Tea. Lots of tea.
Elephants!
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