Sri Lanka
Sometimes, you don't need a good reason to visit a place, and any excuse will do. My excuse was that I had bought a Sri Lanka guidebook in Delhi, and carried it more than 3500 km to the south of India. I was not going to waste all those calories for nothing.
While lacking the intensity of India, Sri Lanka had a different appeal. The north was a giant forest, dotted with lakes, Buddhas, and ancient ruins. Against this backdrop, the Sri Lankans carried on with their daily lives of fishing, farming, and occasionally fleecing tourists like myself.
Unfortunately, civil war had made travel difficult in some areas of Sri Lanka, and impossible in others. When I visited Sri Lanka, the ceasefire between the Sinhalese and Tamils had lasted nearly a year, and a hint of optimism was brewing. Tourism was recovering, and empty checkpoints hinted at better times ahead. Had the political storm passed, or was it just the eye? We will have to wait to find out.
Text and images copyright © by Curtis Marr. All rights reserved.