Serendipity – which means an unexpected favorable event was coined after the three princes of Serendip by a British author. Serendip happens to be the old name of Sri Lanka.
It was in the month of October that I decided to plan for the 11 day long Christmas vacation. The singular objective of this trip was to go as far away from India and temperate climate as possible. Wouldn’t it be nice to spend Christmas in the Nordic region – where Santa Claus is supposed to reside? Or how about Jordan – relaxing and reading a book floating on the dead sea? The world has so many exciting places to offer.
Sri Lanka, the tear drop shaped island right next door didn’t even make it to the top 10. Bangalore is closer to Colombo than Mumbai! Flight travel time from Bangalore to Colombo is an hour and 15 minutes.
Serendipitous circumstances and money – put an end to my fancy travel plans and I had to settle for Sri Lanka.
11 days in a country where
- They have no online train bookings!
- There is no app to book bus tickets online!
- All the rental cars in the country were booked, because it was the festive season!
Boy was I looking forward to this trip.
My disappointment vanished the moment I landed in the country.
It was a familiar place, yet somehow so much better. The language sounds the same.They are all brown skinned just like us.
I felt at home, travelling.
In all this similarity with its mighty neighbor, Sri Lanka manages to stand out with a sea of difference. For one – it was progressive – Women wear trendy clothes – sarees were rare and few, everybody was dressed in either frocks or skirts. Second, they are more liberal – Gambling is legal in the country. Third, Cultured and well-mannered – People followed the traffic rules strictly – I was even warned by somebody on the road when I tried to speed up – “We like to follow rules in our country, please respect them” he said. Fourth, Cleaner – the beaches were pristine, the coral reefs were magical and they made it a point to keep it like that. When I was scuba diving – I had strict instructions to keep my feet 1 meter above the sea bed in case I stepped on the coral reefs.
To top it all, it was breathtakingly beautiful. The train ride from Kandy (a town in the central part of Sri Lanka) to Ella is considered the most scenic route in the entire world. Sigiriya – a giant rock is equivalent to one of the wonders of the world and is a UNESCO heritage site.
Sri Lanka has a growing tourism industry which is not yet inundated by tourists. It’s the right mix of tourists from the sub-continent and westerners – to give you comfort of being a foreigner in a strange city and there are enough locals to retain the tradition and culture of the city – to give you an authentic experience.
Do I want to go there again – absolutely. If you are yet to finalize the next holiday destination, I might suggest that you check out the other side of the Ram Sethu, the mighty Ravana awaits.
29 September 2019