Essence of Sri Lanka

Despite its fame as a resplendent island and a leading tourist destination, the secret of Sri Lanka’s attraction lies with its people. The spice addicted, cricket crazy and tea drinking people of Sri Lanka are famed for big smiles and a bigger heart. With a culture enriched with three thousand years of knowledge, Buddhism and many a colonial traditions, the Sri Lankan society is a potpourri of religions and races different yet similar in many a ways.

fire bars

The Sri Lankans all love their food spicy and their tea light; an unavoidable for a country, which produces the world’s best spices and tea. Introduced to the country in the 19th century by colonial British Ceylon tea is the best tea in the world while Sri Lanka has also been known for its high quality spices since time immemorial.

Gems

In Sri Lanka, cricket is the ultimate passion which draws all the Sri Lankans together irrespective of caste, race and creed.

Sri Lanka cricket team

Other than tea and cricket, gems especially blue sapphires is synonymous with Sri Lanka. Country’s gem industry has a long, colourful history. Known also as ‘Rathnadeepa’ or the land of gems Sri Lanka had been producing brilliant blue Sapphire and red rubies among many other. Along with gems, Sri Lanka had been exporting fine crafted ivory to many royal courts of Europe.

 

Travel to Sri Lanka

It’s encouraging to read the monthly statistics of tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka. The numbers are increasing which certainly is a good sign. Why do tourists come to Sri Lanka? Occasionally there are articles in numerous journals and newspapers by those who have visited Sri Lanka giving their impressions. Most of them are complimentary comments.

wildlife tour in sri lanka

Recently this column recorded some of the memorable moments experienced by an Australian writer, Tara Mathews during a recent visit to Sri Lanka.  She has also given five reasons why one should go and explore Sri Lanka in the series of articles she has published in the newsletter ‘vegTARAian’ she edits.