I didn’t know much about Sri Lanka before I decided to go there. I’d heard about the great waves and knew they had a cricket team but that was about it.
However, the country soon became one of my most loved travel destinations.
My friend Asha and I were catching up on the phone when we realised we had both just quit our jobs at the same time and were due to finish work within about a week of each other.
We both wanted to travel so decided it was a sign that we should start our adventure together. We wanted to get going pretty quickly because we both had commitments later in the year. We briefly looked into China and Nepal but it appeared the visas could take a while so we picked Sri Lanka.
We applied for our visas online and received them the next day, booked our flights and were off within two weeks of that first phone call.
Sri Lanka is a small island country southeast of India.
I’d pictured in my mind that Sri Lanka would be like a mini India but it’s such a unique place that had quiet beaches, cool rainforests and beautiful countryside.
The tourism industry is relatively new, because the country’s civil war only ended in 2009. In fact, many Sri Lankans I met on the east coast had still never been to the northern town of Jaffna which had been held by the rebel group Tamil Tigers for most of their lifetimes.
One of the things that impressed me about Sri Lanka was the magic of travelling to a place that was true to itself and hadn’t been changed too much by Western tourism. It felt like you were experiencing the place in the same way a local would.
For example, in many places, there were no bars or Western restaurants. Sri Lanka is mostly a Buddhist country with populations of Hindus, Muslims and Christians in co-existence.
Drinking alcohol is not in their culture; most of the restaurants don’t serve alcohol, the only bars were in tourist hotspots and there were few bottle shops.
I learnt that in their culture, young women wouldn’t go out at night for a meal with their friends without their families or husband.
So there were times when these two young, Western women travelling the world with small backpacks created intrigue.
The coastal tourist party towns of Sri Lanka
It’s different in the popular coastal towns where the local lads running the tourism industry are well-immersed in Western culture and live for the evening parties of drinking with wild women.
But even in these party towns the local women are more conservative and tend to stay at home.
We met families visiting the beach from towns further inland, with women dressed from head to toe paddling in the shallow water. They looked on fascinated at us swimming freely in the deeper water.
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Is Sri Lanka safe for tourists?
Sri Lanka seemed safe and the people were generally very giving. In some developing countries, the hustle for the tourist dollar, or rupee in this case, is too hectic but it was very relaxed here.
I shared many smiles with locals and was given travel advice, friendly company, and even food without expecting anything in return.
You should visit Sri Lanka soon!
I would definitely recommend travelling to Sri Lanka. And go there soon if you want to experience the real Sri Lanka!
The sweet shanty shops will soon be replaced by big hotels. Even family homes which offer rooms as homestays are being expanded to accommodate more tourists.
Obviously, there is a lot of rebuilding still going on post-war anyway. The south and east coast was also hit by the tsunami in 2004 so a lot of buildings there were destroyed and homes and businesses have been rebuilt since.
But there are bigger concrete buildings, metal foundation poles going in and palm trees being knocked down to make way for development to cater for the influx of tourism.
I hope you’ll get to experience the magic of taking tuktuks off-road to remote surf breaks, darting around wandering cows and goats, pulling over to admire wild elephants majestically meandering through the jungle, and meeting the beaming locals who are ecstatic at your interest in their food, culture and home.
The beautiful people and the diverse landscape is what will stay with me in my memory of Sri Lanka. Oh, and that delicious coconut sambal. More on the food in the next blog post.
If you’re interested to see more, here’s my YouTube video playlist of my trip to Sri Lanka!
