Sri Lanka: A land like no other

IF, as the legend goes, God created the world in six days, then it is entirely likely that he devoted the seventh day wholly to creating Sri Lanka! Paradise is a word too easily bandied around these days on the global tourism front, but in its application to this jewel of an island hanging like a teardrop in the Indian Ocean, it matches the description in every sense of the word.

Indeed, early explorers were in such bewiderment over Sri Lanka’s abundance of natural beauty—from golden beaches lapped enticingly by pristine blue waters to carpets of green foliage that make up the breathtakingly picturesque tea country nestled in the country’s highlands—that they coined the word “Serendib” (meaning a fortunate discovery by accident) to describe the island.

In fact, “serendipity” and “a land like no other” were two of the befitting names attached to the country long before it made its international mark as Ceylon (in colonial days) and later, in the years following independence, as Sri Lanka. The names alone bear witness to its richness and beauty, and the intensity of the affection it evokes in everyone who has ever visited the country.


Manila Times, Philippines