We were going to visit Sri Lanka in February '05, but the Tsunami literally "washed" away our plans for one year.
Sri Lanka is a large island, off the tip of South India...extremely green, a mountainous interior, with beautiful sand beaches. And, it's hot all year - a great place to escape our Nothern Hemisphere. It also has a long history with interesting sights.
Our trip was arranged by Aitken Spence Travels, the largest tour operator in Sri Lanka. We had our own driver/guide, a car with a/c, ***** Hotels, water and soft drinks included on all drives, fees for admissions and sights. This gave us the flexibility to stop any time something piqued our interest. For example, to watch an elephant (on his way to "work") walking down the middle of the traffic....
or men wrestling huge logs onto a truck, using only their brute strength..
In Kandy, we spent hours browsing the antique shops.....
Every little town we drove through had a clock tower in the center....
We stopped for a wedding....
and there were always magnificent Buddhas - all different!
Detail on Buddha's Feet
The Sri Lankans we met, without exception, thanked Americans for coming to their aid during the Tsunami - the people who stood in the mud, side-by-side with them, helping out. And they asked us to tell our fellow Americans to visit their country so they could thank them in person!
Don't be timid...you can fly there easily - Airlines Include: Thai, Singapore, Sri Lankan. You can arrange a group tour or go on your own. Costs range from reasonable to inexpensive. No Visa is required. And, it's very safe, as long as you stay out of the "Tamil uprest" regions in the North and East part of the country.
If you have plans for Asia, go to Sri Lanka...now!
Published by Sheila Simkin on March 28, 2006 05:00 AM
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