Sri Lanka the Land of Legend

Sri Lanka, the Resplendent Isle, has been known to travellers, from Graeco-Roman mariners of antiquity to modern-day tourists, by many laudatory names - Taprobane, Serendib, Ratnadvipa (Isle of Gems), Zeilan and Ceylon, among others: all of which echo its paradisiacal qualities and character. The island figures as the focal point in the Ramayana legend of Rama and Sita, and is said to have been blessed by three separate visits of the Lord Buddha, besides inspiring the fantastic stories of Sindbad in the Arabian Nights. The island impressed travellers from the Chinese monk Fa Hsien (5th century AD) to Marco Polo (circa 1293); and still charms tourists of varied pursuits, persuasions and pleasures to this day with its myriad magical mysteries; and - not least of all - continues to enamour its people with fresh facets of what was long considered the "crowning jewel" of the British Empire.

Resembling a teardrop-shaped, gold-fringed emerald set on the blue bosom of the Indian Ocean, it lies pendant from the southernmost tip of the subcontinent between 5O 55'-9O 50' north and 79O 42'-81O 52' east. A mere 270 miles (435 km) north-south from Point Pedro to Dondra Head and 140 miles (225 km) across at its widest, it contains within its compact 25,332 square miles (65,610 sq. km) an unparalleled diversity of scenic sights, sounds and scents; colourful ceremonies and quaint customs, culture and crafts; monolithic ruins and titanic monuments of a civilization both ancient and advanced; a multitude of climes and ecosystems from tropical rainforests to subalpine evergreen, rich farmlands to arid scrub jungle; extravagant fauna and flora, wonderful wilderness and wildlife; plus over 700 miles (1125 km) of pristine palm-fringed shoreline where one can swim, surf, snorkel, sail or simply soak up the sun … All within a short 6 hour drive at most, one from another. Truly making Sri Lanka a microcosm of the world …