For a small island, Sri Lanka has acquired a lot of names - Serendib, Ceylon, Teardrop of India, Resplendent Isle, Island of Dharma, Pearl of the Orient - an accumulation which reveals its richness and beauty, and the intensity of affection which it has evoked in visitors. For centuries it seduced travellers, who returned home with enchanting images of a langourous tropical isle of such deep spirituality and serenity that it entered the Western imagination as a Tahiti of the East.
This, sadly, is the same island which, for the past 15 years, has been traumatised by a ferocious ethnic and religious conflict that has punctured the most willful exoticism and burned Sri Lanka into Western minds as the Northern Ireland of the Indian Ocean.
Falls
Ramboda Falls
If you ever tasted a cup of good High Grown Ceylon Tea, preferably in the unblended form, you have tasted the BEST TEA there is. Of course, to experience that pleasure, you must go to the central hill country of Sri Lanka. And once you are there, take Route 5 from Maha Nuwara (Kandy) to Nuwara Eliya. This take you through some of the best scenery of the Hill Country. The road takes you by the shores of Mahaweli River from Peradeniya ( don't forget to visit the famous botanical gardens - remember "Bridge on the River Kwai?") to Gampola, long ago a capital of Sri Lanka. From Gampola it is a steep climb with many hairpin curves for some sixty kilometers, through spectacular scenery like this, until you get to Nuwara Eliya, the old British hill resort. To taste that heavenly cup of tea, on the way to Nuwara Eliya, look out for tea factories that advertise tea tasting. You won't forget that unique experience.
Diyaluma Falls
Where there are rivers and hills, there are also waterfalls. The tallest one in Sri Lanka is the Diyaluma falls, dropping 694 feet.
Sea
Sri Lanka has 1,340 km of sea shore, and most of it is spectacular and full of contrasts. A serene, white sandy cove, next to a craggy promontory with thundering waves beating against the granite boulders. Few miles up or down the beach, perhaps a quaint fishing village, with rugged sea going "oru," a craft akin to an oversized canoe with a history going back to Inca times, drying on the beach. If you happen to be in the area of Ahangama, or Weligama, near Matara, the southernmost city in Sri Lanka, exactly 100 miles (161 km), from Colombo, you might be in for a unique sight - the stilt fishermen of Weligama -. Have your cameras ready and with a full roll of film, because you won't find this anywhere else in the world.
If you like to do some scuba diving, or do some quiet swimming, go past Matara to the four-mile-wide bay at Tangalla. The calm and clear water of Tangalla bay is a swimmers paradise. Perhaps you like some rougher water, to do some surfing--- not to worry, The small towns of Hikkaduwa, Totagamuwa, and Dodanduwa, in the south- west corner of the island are blessed with the ideal beaches for that sport.
Tea With Clouds
Beginning in 1840 British planations in Ceylon began raising tea, which is a variety of Camellia (Camellia Sansis). At first tea was secondary in importance to coffee, until the coffee crops were laid waste by a disease that had no effect upon the tea. In this region tea bushes begin to produce a crop after four years, and usually a few lelaves are plucked by skilled workers every seven days. These mountainous areas with warm days, cool nights, moderately heavy rainfall, and acidic soils are one of the world's prime tea growing areas.
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