Sri Lanka has a long and lively history documented in stone and manuscripts for thousands of years, with folk stories spicing up the facts!! Here history is not a forgotten past, archeological sites are not dead cities… it is our living heritage. A fresh flower, a burning incense balanced on a tilting stone in front of a 3rd century Buddha statue in the forest, throbbing drums at stupas that have been venerated continuously for over 2500 years.

Reflecting the highly developed arts and technology natured by the Buddhist philosophy, Sri Lanka – as tiny as it is – has a total of 8 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. So you do have a lot to cover! You can choose to visit cities that came into being over 2500 years ago: Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Ruhuna all with a surfeit of lovely irrigation lakes, gigantic Stupas, sublime images of the Buddha, the incredible rock fortresses of Yapahuwa, Sigiriya where nature and construction were molded with artistry, imagination and technology, the silent minimalist forest monasteries such as Ritigala, Arankale, the echo filled cave temples of Dambulla, Mulkirigala with hundreds of statues