| SRI LANKA | | | | of the state is SINHALA used for the most part by all |
| Population: 19.4 million (UN, 2005) | | | | of the Sinhalese population and more, that is 75% of |
| Capital: Colombo (commercial), Sri Jayawardenepura | | | | the Sri Lanka, although TAMIL is also a national |
| (administrative) | | | | language. ENGLISH is the de facto language for |
| Area: 65,610 sq km (25,332 sq miles) | | | | government and business affairs, and is spoken |
| Major languages: Sinhala, Tamil, English | | | | competently by a sizable 10% of Sri Lanka. |
| Major religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity | | | | FOOD & ATTRACTION |
| Life expectancy: 71 years (men), 77 years (women) | | | | Nowhere else can a traveller see good ethnic and |
| (UN) | | | | religious proportion than in the capital itself, Colombo |
| Monetary unit: Sri Lankan rupee | | | | basically because it's got anything and everything. |
| The teardrop-shaped island of Sri Lanka is oddly | | | | Although Colombo is the biggest and the busiest place |
| labelled by the Chinese as the "land without sorrow". | | | | one can go to in their island adventure, there are other |
| The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a | | | | relaxing options like a lazy trek to the ancient cities, a |
| small nation is one of the most desired countries for | | | | cool surf in the heat of the sun, a scuba dive, a snorkel, |
| travel in the South Asia region. And while the fright of | | | | or a serene waterfront show of the sunset, all at once |
| the civil war or the 2004 tsunami is not good publicity | | | | if preferred, where it is truly peaceful and free to |
| for the tourism industry, Serendib, as Persians called it | | | | explore. It is the ideal place to start and end a |
| and whence English takes "serendipity" from, is | | | | traveller's Sri Lankan journey. |
| severely calm and serene in more ways than one, | | | | But should the equatorial sun, add the smothering diesel |
| inland and on the seas. | | | | fogged air of Colombo slowly deteriorate your travel |
| After the disastrous and destructive Indian Ocean | | | | zest, delve into the world-class attractions countryside |
| Tsunami of 2004 where 31,229 deaths were reported | | | | like rice valleys, mountain springs, forever falls, tea |
| and around a million left homeless, Sri Lanka's sweet | | | | terraces, virgin rain forests, golden coastlines, the |
| and slow recovery accolades it as the "small miracle." | | | | Elephant Rock, the Sigiriya Rock Fortress (Lion's |
| Europeans in the early days of world exploration | | | | Rock), lost cities, stone temples, forest monasteries, |
| thought they had discovered the "Garden of Eden", but | | | | and, really, the list goes on. These are but revelations |
| what has become of this Pearl of the Indian Ocean is | | | | to what the "small island, big trip" this enigmatic place is. |
| the crown jewel of the spice trade. On the inside, the | | | | Then again, no travel can be perfection without a taste |
| once-called Ceylon is peaceful and care-free, but | | | | of the Sri Lankan cuisine. In these parts of the world, |
| around it, wars were waged by great empires in a | | | | food is so good everything stops as if nothing bad can |
| quest to covet the rich island. | | | | happen. Sri Lankan cuisine- and people think Indian |
| GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE | | | | cuisine. The food here is like the motherland itself in |
| Sri Lanka is a 65,610 km2 territory of mainly flat and | | | | variety and heat. In truth, Sri Lankan food has an |
| rolling plains while mountainous in the central part to the | | | | identity of its own, exceptionally magnificent visually |
| south. Quite low that the island wonder has a highest | | | | and all otherwise, bar none. Rice, the staple, is the blank |
| altitude, the Pidurutalagala of 2,524 metres above the | | | | canvas to the art of colours and flavours effervescent |
| Indian Ocean, its lowest point, and as such, located at 7 | | | | on your typical Sri Lankan plate. Although spices used |
| 00 N, 81 00 E and south of India, the country basks in a | | | | here are similar to south Indian cuisine, spices are used |
| warm tropical monsoon climate moderated by ocean | | | | in whole and are turned to paste, instead of ground |
| winds and moisture. The three corresponding seasons | | | | spices, that gives it that distinctive velvety marriage of |
| are southwest monsoons from June to October, wet | | | | spices to the food. |
| northeast monsoon from December through March, | | | | Rice with curry is most common dish which can be in |
| and hot season from April to May. January has the | | | | vegetable or meat sorts served with scores of sides |
| coldest of days in the year, while April is extremely | | | | that create varieties of flavours in every bite. This |
| unbearable as the Sri Lankan sun glares like no other. | | | | modern Sri Lankan personality in food is one of |
| There is no ideal time to be in Sri Lanka. It is all about | | | | tradition and fusion from the West (British, Dutch, and |
| where you are when you're there. If one finds the | | | | Portuguese) and the East (Moors, Malays, Arabs and |
| urban jungle too hot for the liking and the air too dim | | | | Indians). Desserts here range from native cakes of |
| and thin for breathing, heed the call of the countryside | | | | coconut to a class that exudes western influences like |
| for better climate and air. | | | | creme caramel. I say desserts lay the sturdy |
| PEOPLE & CULTURE | | | | groundwork for a good Sri Lankan food adventure. Sri |
| In all ways, these factors work for the good of local | | | | Lankan gastronome is just so different from India, so |
| and vacation life, for the people in Sri Lanka, the Sri | | | | different from what one expects. |
| Lankans, are a peaceful and simple unit of people, unit | | | | To see Sri Lanka is to be in Sri Lanka even if it means |
| in the sense of being a nation amidst ethnic and | | | | riding along the same tracks the 2004 tsunami |
| religious disparity. Sri Lanka is constituted by a majority | | | | devoured. But as the train cuts right along the sea past |
| of Sinhalese, from Ceylonese of almost three-quarters | | | | areas and villages, montages flash like in an old 50's |
| of the population, followed by Sri Lankan Moors, Indian | | | | film creating some distance from the everyday life that |
| and Sri Lankan Tamil consecutively, and other | | | | you see for a moment and is gone. Until you get off |
| immigrants. | | | | the train, then you would realise the reality of the |
| The constitution of Sri Lanka attests to freedom of | | | | previous scenes. Succinctly put, Sri Lanka's main |
| religion, but, in the main, the republic is a Buddhist | | | | attraction is the people, the ones you meet here |
| country with almost 70% of the population following, | | | | picking tea in the rain, fishing on poles Sri Lankan style, |
| mainly Sinhalese, but with a great proportion of Hindus | | | | or cooking curry crab. |
| (mostly Tamils), Muslims, and Christians. The language | | | | |