After visiting some intense countries in South-Asia and South-East Asia I decided to slow things down a bit and spend some time in Sri Lanka. I did not know much about the country but since it is a relatively small tropical island, it already sounds like a perfect holiday resort. I flew into Colombo (the capital of Sri Lanka) and acquired a 30 days visa.
Photo. National Museum of Colombo.
Photo. Old Galle Buck Lighthouse. 
Photo. Sambodhi Chaitiya stupa offers great views on the harbour and the sea promenade of Colombo.
Photo. Crowded promenade as seen from a pier. 
Photo. People are flying numerous kites.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is one of smallest of the 8 South-Asian countries (both in population and land area terms). Only the ultimate small island nation Maldives and one of the most closed countries in the world, Bhutan, are smaller. Sri Lanka is situated in the Indian Ocean right next to the south-eastern point of India. This location makes the country really closely tied to Indian subcontinent culture and religion. Like India, Sri Lanka as well is home to many different cultures and ethnicities. The majority of the population is Sinhalese, while a large minority, Tamils, have also played a major role in the history of the island. Sri Lanka regained its independence in the 1950s from the British East India Company. After just a couple of decades peace, a civil war broke out on 1983 between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils. Basically, after gaining independence a controversial law was passed by the government which discriminated the minority. Indian background Tamil population (approx. 700 000 people) were made stateless since they were forbidden to gain citizenship in the country they were living at. This, naturally, concluded in many difficulties for the group of people and almost third of them had to return back to India. Throughout the next 25 years, bloody fights were taking place in the northern and eastern part of Sri Lanka. Almost 100.000 people lost their lives throughout the years before the peace treaty was signed in 2009. It all ended when the Sri Lankan army defeated the Tamil Tigers and the Tamil minority withdraw their demand for a separate state. All of this fighting has left its mark for the tourism sector and of course in the peoples lives in the north and east. While travelling the country, the marks of the recent war are still visible and feelable in these regions. Besides the history and the culture, it is important to mention the interesting climate of Sri Lanka. The small island literally hosts numerous different climate zones. The central part is more mountainous, which means more rainfalls, lush forests and farming options. The southeastern and northwestern part is really dry and looks almost like a desert. Large open fields with lots of winds and plenty of wildlife make these regions popular for safaris. The two popular coastal areas (southwest and east) have completely opposite times for high and low seasons. High season (low rainfalls) in the southwest is from October to April and on the east coast from March to September.Colombo
Colombo is the largest city and the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. You will most probably land in here when you arrive in Sri Lanka. Most people do not enjoy the city that much and prefers to skip it and head out as fast as possible. I still find that it makes sense to spend a day or two here before going to discover the rest of the island. My first impressions when I head out walking in the city were truly positive. It looked like a clean city with wide streets and without too much fuss. Interesting though is that many tourists I met on the island had the opposite impressions. As for I described in my previous post about Kolkata in India (link to the post), Colombo as well hosts numerous Colonial-era buildings which are well concentrated in two areas – The Fort and Pettah. So just having a walk in these regions is already pretty cool. So a couple of points of interests in Colombo include:National Museum
The museum describes the history of Sri Lanka from the very beginning. It did not have anything about the Colonial and newer times though when I was there. Photo. National Museum of Colombo.Colonial buildings in the Fort area
Photo. Old Galle Buck Lighthouse. Photo. Sambodhi Chaitiya stupa offers great views on the harbour and the sea promenade of Colombo.Galle Face Green
The narrow beach and sea promenade just south from Fort area. People gather there during and before the sunset to enjoy time with family/friends. It is also home to a bunch of outdoor restaurants. Photo. Crowded promenade as seen from a pier. Photo. People are flying numerous kites.