Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The South
Why Go?
A sense of romance and wonder sweeps up all visitors to Sri Lanka's south coast; after all,
this is the land where people dance across fire on monsoon nights, fishermen float on stilts
above the waves and turtles crawl up onto moonlit beaches.
Prepare your senses for overload. The landscape is one of utter beauty; the radiant-green
rice paddies and forests of swinging palm trees contrast with endless beaches of ivory-col-
oured sand and an ocean of rich turquoise. People drift past in clouds of bright colours, es-
pecially in the colonial bastion that is Galle's Fort.
No matter what you're after you'll find it here. You can dive across glowing coral reefs
or learn to surf on gentle sandbars. The culturally inclined can soak up works of Buddhist-
inspired art in lonely caves; for the naturalist there are huge whales splashing through off-
shore swells, and leopards moving like spirits in the night.
