Welcome to Sri Lanka: Bite-Sized Utopia

It was the scent of Sri Lanka we noticed first. Nose-tickling and exotic; the spicy curries and flavourful Kottu Roti, sweet burning incense and fruity tropical air. 

Then the other senses, bubbling together in a heady mix. The colours; deep ocean blues, lush tea greens. A silky pink Sari flashing past as we whizz along in a rainbow tuk tuk. The sounds; waves lapping, a thick jungle breeze, a Buddhist prayer, the clacking of train carriages and vendors spruiking their wares. The warmth; of long hot days, of welcoming smiles, a sweet milk tea. 

Five trips to Sri Lanka have firmly cemented this island nation on our best-loved travel list. Where else could you enjoy a surf lesson one day, and hike in tea plantations the next? Or explore ancient ruins in the morning and sit in the doorway of the world’s most scenic train ride in the afternoon? 

From Jaffna and the north, only just opening to tourism after a decades-long civil war, to the sunny shores of the south, with Ancient World Heritage sites and safari plains in between; Sri Lanka leaves us wanting more every. single. time.