The mood is set straightaway by the very warmth and genuinely friendly smile and service of the cabin crew even as you enter the hi-tech fleet of Sri Lankan Airlines. It immediately makes you feel at home. You are at ease – be it on a business tour or just for fun. The craft gently takes off to fly you to one of the great countries in the Indian sub-continental region that hosts a rich culture, a mystical tradition and the best of Mother Nature. In tune with the flight, your expectations and elation too soar high.
If you are flying from Trivandrum airport by Sri Lankan Airlines, within thirtyfive minutes you are in Colombo, the capital of the Sri Lanka, with entirely elitist’s environs that would surprise you. There are a number of tourists’ attractions in Sri Lanka. The picturesque Kandy, the ancient city of Anuradhapura, the National Parks, the rejuvenating salutiferous hill stations, the Dutch relics of Galle etc., etc., etc. The magnificent Sigiriya rock fortress built during the 5th century by King Kashyapa, is today one of the world heritage centres. It is stated that only a few tourists have climbed all the thousand and odd steps to reach atop this spectacular fortress. Fortunately I was one among the thousands of tourists who have had scaled the full length and height of the fortress…visually though! The grand Buddhist temples and Bhamyan-like images of the god-incarnate in Sri Lanka are a spiritual treat to the soul.
For nature lovers and adventurers, the country has many surprises in store. Predominantly a beach and sand destination, Sri Lanka is very famous for canoeing, surfing, rock-climbing, trekking, mountain biking and more conventional activities like cricket and golf. About 20% of the visitors to Sri Lanka are British nationals, who come to enjoy the myriad magical bounties of this beautiful former British colony. Among other things two major attractions for the Britishers are the tea plantations at Nuwara Eliya with one of the beautiful and huge golf course in this part of the world and a race course too.
The picturesque Peradeniya Botanical Gardens spread over 147 acres of lovely landscape with a marvelous multiplicity of flora are a feast to the eyes. And elsewhere the children and the adults would be thrilled to see the variety of creepy little turtles of various sizes thrive in the hatchery in Kosgoda, and hundreds of orphaned elephants at the Pinnewala elephant sanctuary – a few commendable eco-responsible endeavours of the island nation.
The on-set of south-west monsoon brings with it many wonders making the lush green island look greener and a lot merrier. The magnificent Bambarakanda waterfall, the highest in the island, is something you would love to watch for hours together in a meditative mood. The amazing river Kwai swells to tempt you for a swim or a boat ride. And at times you find some adventure loving foreign tourists do some kayaking along the roaring river! It is one of the spots that appears in Sir David Lean’s 1957 masterpiece "The bridge over the River Kwai"! It is an out-of-the-world experience to watch pensively the river Kwai flow gently.
Sri Lankan food is very much Indian-like. The typical Sri Lankan meal comprises the staple cereal rice spiked with a spicy curry made of coconut, chilli, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon! Vegetables, meat and fish at liberal quantities go as side dishes. Rambutan, the fat red furred fruit and the mangoustine are the two important fruits of Sri Lanka. Plenty you find them all along roadsides. The season is just getting over. Pineapples are there almost all days round the year, the particularly elongated pineapples of Sri Lanka are a different lot with a unique taste.
Most of the festivals of the island nation are of religious nature. During July and August there are particularly two important festivals. The southern jungles of the nation celebrate what is called Katarangama, the Buddhist festival with a concluding grand show of fire walking. The other festival is Perahara at Kandy, a ten day Hindu carnival with lot of pageant shows, gaja melas presenting scores of caparisoned elephants, acrobats, jigglers and entertainers staging lot of amusement for the visitors. This particular festival is very much Indian in its nature. Yet another important festival is Duruthu Perahera, a procession festival celebrated in the month of January, in commemoration with the first visit of Buddha to Sri Lanka.
So far if you have not visited Sri Lanka, that’s because you have had no idea about its tourism potential or that you were a bit hesitant for reasons as told to anyone in the subcontinent. But the picture is entirely different from what you have heard or imagined. Despite the bloody ethnic clashes for the past two decades between the Sinhalese army and the Tamil tigers, the serene island has kept its cool and charm, attracting millions of tourists from around the world. Sri Lankan tourism figures are a proof of its never-say-die tourist-enchantment nature.
In the past decade the tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka show a little over 32% increase with about 400 million tourists visiting the country as of now every year. The tourists to Sri Lanka are mainly from Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia. Europe’s tourists’ share of the Sri Lankan pie is 53% followed by Asia, the US and the Australasia with 36%, 5% and 3% respectively while the tourist influx from other regions forms the rest. Coping with this trend, the hospitality industry in the country has upgraded the accommodation capacity by about 32% over the years.
The unique hospitality of this island of fantasy comes alive in its entirety at the many wonderful hotels that are located there. Some of them offer a life-time tour package. Take for example the Best of Sri Lanka Holiday Package floated by the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces which has two finest hotels in the country - the majestic beach resort, Taj Exotica at Bentota situated on a hillock, overlooking the Indian Ocean and the palm-fringed long stretch of golden beach with its several banquet and conference halls of palatial proportions and Taj Samudra spread amidst 11 acres of landscaped gardens and facing the historic Galle Face Green waterfront.at Colombo. The hotel that has hosted two SAARC summits and foreign dignitaries like the former US first lady Hillary Clinton and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Unveiled with the opening of the skies between India and Sri Lanka, the Taj Best of Sri Lanka holiday offer is going great guns greeting the international traveler this summer through the end of September this year – the best time to tour this "country like no other"!
The most tempting island nation that is so near to our east coast, which cherishes a legendary bondage with our country, is just waiting to receive you! Get set to fly to this fantastic tourists’ destination with your family and enjoy the country’s hospitality. And don’t forget to carry back home your travel bag stuffed with samples of the world famous Sri Lankan tea, spices, fabric, gems and of course a couple of colourful and meticulously carved traditional masks of Sri Lanka’s artisans of Ambalangoda. Some of the world famous handicrafts of Sri Lanka are its silverware, ornamented brassworks, reed/rush/bamboo/rattan ware, coir goods, mat-works from the Dumbara valley, the lacquer ware of the Kandyan highlands, handloom textiles, lot and lot more.
