Sri Lanka

When it comes to travelogues, I really enjoy books about entire countries because you get to know a lot about a country and its many places and its history, culture, and politics. Most of these books focus on travel, but they also feature history,...

  Sri Lanka is a fascinating little gem of a country blessed with a seemingly perfect combination of ancient and colonial historical sites, diverse culture, wildlife, beautiful mountain scenery, and beaches. But the country also has its demons,...

The mountainous interior of Sri Lanka, Hill Country, is full of mountains, picturesque towns, and hillside plantations where the country’s famous tea is grown. Among the towns in the Hill Country is Nuwara Eliya, considered the centre of the...

While Kandy by itself is not that remarkable other than its lively cultural shows and the temple of the Buddhist Tooth, there are several fascinating sites outside of the city. This includes the Dambulla Buddhist cave, an elephant sanctuary with...

The city of Kandy lies in the center of Sri Lanka and can literally and figuratively be considered the country’s heart. As a cultural hub, it is where the island’s most famous festival of  Esala Perahera is held, and where the Temple of the Buddha’s...

One of Sri Lanka’s most distinctive and fascinating landmarks is the ancient fortress of Sigiriya. Located atop a massive 200m-high column of rock that dominates a vast plain, Sigiriya was built between 477-495 CE (AD) by a king as a refuge during a...

It’s always nice to come across wildlife while traveling. In Asia, I’ve seen a lot of wildlife such as monitor lizards, birds, snakes, and of course, monkeys, out and about. While I saw most of them in rural areas, temples, or while...