Sri Lanka

We spent 7 years in Colombo. From our very first visit we fell in love with the country. It's like what India could or should have been. Quiet, fun loving, civilised people. And what a beautiful country. In such a small place there is so much diversity. There are spendid, uncrowded beaches all around the Island that soothe your soul with the gentle sound of the sea. The sun rises in Trinco and sets in Bentota while the fisherman stand on stilts to bring in their glistening catch in Matara. Then there is the Hill Country. Acres of rolling hills with manicured tea bushes. A gentle rolling mist comes in in the evening and cools the countryside. In the distance you can see gleaming waterfalls with names like St. Clair and Devon. The Hotels in the area match the ambience. Old world 'Grand' Hotels with a long bar and billiards with a fire place where you sip the first drink of the evening. Then there is the 'dry zone' where it does not rain quite as much as the rest of the island. The cuckoo sings in the evening and the leaves of the 'kohomba' trees rustle in the twilight. There is a gentle breeze and the sun breaks over the Kandalama lake. We climbed upti Ritigala with the ruins of an ancient Buddhist monastery on the slopes of the mountain. There is an even older legend of Hanuman there which still draws credulous tourists from India. There are elephants all around - wild ones who cross the roads at twilight secure in the belief that they are protected by the gentle islanders.

Truly a paradise on earth.