Joanna James
Whether it's the sun-kissed beaches or its majestic scenery of its hill country or the diverse wildlife, Sri Lanka has something to offer for everyone. Here are 5 reasons you should visit Sri Lanka.
Whether its breakfast, lunch or dinner Sri Lankan food is known to be rich in flavour. Curry goes with any meal and Sri Lankans are good at making the perfect curry! As the food is spice and taste filled a beer to wash down the meal wouldn't be a bad idea.
Lunch is normally rice served with the choice of 5 curries: Either chicken, fish or beef (if you're really lucky pork) curry with a combination of 3 vegetable curries and a papadam or fried red chillies. The fresh fruit juice is the healthy option to wash down the spice-heavy food.
UNESCO has declared 8 sites in Sri Lanka as World Heritage sites; these sites offers a unique wildlife experience no matter which part of the island you visit.
While the National Park in Yala is a great location to see water buffalos, monkeys, and elephants and several other animal species in their natural habitat you can watch turtles come ashore the Marakollya beach in the middle of the night to lay their eggs.
Mirissa, located on the southern coast of Sri Lanka gives its visitors the chance to witness the blue whale appear before disappearing back to the ocean.
The Minneriya National park lets tourists track leopards in their natural habitat and witness the unbelievable sight of the elephant migration that happens annually.
The beaches in Sri Lanka are some of the best in the world and the true beauty of the beaches can be enjoyed when they aren't many people around. Being a tropical country there are several beaches that you can choose from depending on what you're looking for.
While Hikkaduwa, Mirissa and Unawatuna are best suited for snorkelling, sunbathing and experience the lively nightlife, Bentota, a tourist haven for famous for its water sports is located near AVANI Kalutara Resort, an exotic seaside resort in Kalutara which even has a turtle hatchery located nearby.
Scuba diving, windsurfing, snorkelling and surfing are some of the recreational activities that tourist can enjoy at most of the popular beaches in Sri Lanka.
Out of the many hills that Sri Lanka has to offer climbing Sri Pada (as known by the locals) or Adams peak is a must do location for hiking enthusiasts. Adam's Peak is one of Sri Lanka's most beautiful mountains and also a highly celebrated place for pilgrimage due to legends that surround the "footprint" at the top of the mountain. While Buddhist believe that the footprint belongs to Lord Buddha, Christians believe that the footprint was left there by Adam as he was thrown out of heaven while others believe it belongs to St. Thomas.
Adams peak is considerably taller than all the other mountains in the region and provides a birds-eye view of the area and making you realize how high up you have climbed.
If you start your hike in the night you will reach the top just in time to catch an unparalleled sunrise which is void of clouds and obstacles.
Food, lodging and transportation in Sri Lanka are comparatively very cheap and can be managed easily on a backpacker's budget. Activities such as safaris, whale watching and visiting cultural, wildlife and religious landmarks are quite costly and will tend to take up a huge portion of your budget.
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