Sri Lanka

One month exploring this beautiful country was the perfect amount of time to take it slow and get a good feel for things. Started out in Colombo, made our way north to Jaffna, down into some mountain towns, and then to the south coast in Weligama. It was my first time to this part of the world and from what I’ve heard Sri Lanka is like an “India Lite”, meaning obviously much smaller and a bit calmer. Being almost three quarters Buddhist, it makes for a slightly different vibe than its predominantly Hindu neighbor.

Our favorite was the beautiful region around Jaffna in the north, not that there was anything stunning about it geographically speaking, but the people and little places to discover made it very special. Some places were very relaxed and inviting, while others were a bit intense, especially while exploring with a blonde girl by my side when I needed to jump into photographing situations in a large crowd of people.

We were fascinated by the way things ran here and the different mentalities we came across. We were especially shocked to hear that most Sri Lankans thought Donald Trump was a great guy, then they were confused when I told them that he doesn’t like dark skinned people. Some, we concluded, must simply be giving the thumbs up for camaraderie, not knowing that most Americans who travel are the ones who don’t like him.

Overall this place has lots of great potential for travel and I’d really like to get out on my own at some point and off the common path. The locals were almost always very excited to see westerners, curious to ask where we came from and how we liked their country. I can understand why some travelers are so drawn to this part of the world and I definitely hope I can keep making occasional visits for the rest of my life.