Lonely Planet Sri Lanka

Published July 11, 2010 | By admin

Lonely Planet Sri Lanka Review

Sri Lanka is an island of exceptional beauty — but there is trouble in paradise. For two decades the island has been torn apart by violence between the two largest ethnic groups, Buddhist Sinhalese and Hindu Tamils. One of my most vivid memories of Colombo was a march of Buddhist monks carrying signs with political sentiments such as, “Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country.” The Tamil Tigers, on their part, will probably be remembered as virtuoso suicide bombers. So much for “tolerant” Asian religions.

Most of the violence has now ceased and the traveler need not be concerned with it, although traveling by land from Colombo to Jaffna in the north one has to pass along a dirt highway lined in places with minefields. Military fortresses will also be encountered along main highways.

I’m not much of a beach fan, although that’s why most tourists go to Sri Lanka. Given the ravages of the tsunami most of the beach resorts on the South and East coasts have probably been damaged. So this is an excellent time to go to Sri Lanka to see the beautiful tea estates in the cool, cloudy hill country and the Buddhist monuments near the center of the island. For the sand and sea set, some decent beach resorts near Colombo on the West coast were probably not affected by the Tsunami.

The Lonely Planet Guide sums up the many attractions of this beautiful country. As always, it includes reliable information on history and practical matters plus sidebars on interesting subjects such as birds, turtles, train schedules, and 101 uses for a coconut.

Smallchief