1956 Morris 1000 from the UK

This trip was actually one of my hardest to plan. Sri Lanka had never been on my radar; I'd never checked out the travel books in the bookstore, I'd never opened up to that page in my atlas, and it certainly wasn't in my future trip spreadsheet planner. But after hearing just a bit about all the different things there were to do and see, from visiting ancient historical cities, botanical gardens, and elephant orphanages, to climbing sacred peaks, walking around the tea plantations, to relaxing on the beach, I'd figure it was worth checking out. After all, it had been more than seven years since I had been to that part of the world.

"I wearily donned my backpack and emerged from the airport into the cool night air, ready to brace myself from the onset of mosquitoes, taxi drivers, touts, and other pestering creatures"

Walking the lines

Although Sri Lanka is 70% Buddhist, much of the coastal population is Christian, thanks to the many Europeans who came poking around the island for trade. The European flavor was not only displayed by the large number of churches and religious artifacts (such as plastic virgin Mary statues encased on glass prominently displayed at street intersections all over Negombo); the Portuguese left their forts, the Dutch left their canals, and the English left their language, which I, for one, was pretty happy about, since I didn't have the time to learn Singhalese prior to my visit. Although I was staying at a beautiful place right on the beach, I spent my first day taking short walks along the canals in between much needed naps. I didn't worry all that much about wasting a day in bed; Sri Lanka is a fairly small country and easy to get around, and I figured I'd have ample time later on to relax at the beach during the second half of my trip.