Sri Lanka: why go there?

So I'm planning a trip this winter to India, and was thinking of a short excursion to Sri Lanka. No real reason really, except for its sheer exotic-ness and, I'm guessing, off-the-beaten-track-ness. Plus it's close to India.

So why do people go there? What's there to do? Beaches? Food? Temples?

Are flights from India cheap? How about visas? Could I get by comfortably on US$40 per day? The war is over, right? Are tourists flocking there now?

Tell me about Sri Lanka!

To take a page from another, I highly recommend perusing a guide book on this beautiful if troubled country..

What's there to do? Beaches? Food? Temples?

I don't know, would any of those interest YOU? I'll be there in January and hope to play a little golf - the 2nd oldest golf tournament in the world is in Sri Lanka - compliments of the Raj.

I like Edward's suggestion - if you tell us what YOU are interested in, we can be of more help.

Puh-leeze.....
I'm interested in anything Sri Lanka has to offer the curious traveler. Golf? That's the kind of suggestion I'm looking for, except that I don't golf! What is unique about this little country on the fringe of Asia?

Hunt down the Pilot Guides 45-minute travel docu on Sri Lanka and the Maldives w/Megan McCormick. You can find it in torrents on the internet. It'll take you from soup to nuts in the event you're not willing to do the research yourself.

Within 300km from airport you can find lot of old(most more than 1000years) temples, ruined ancient cities and lot of archeologically important places.
And you can find places where lot of wildlife gatherings. Specially between August and November there is huge 300+ gathering of Asian elephants at Minneriya (a place near ancient city Polonnaruwa). These animals gathers near a lake.
And bird watching places, elephant orphanage.
Magnificent Temple of tooth (Kandy) and its Perehera (Esala Perahera: festival of the tooth in August)
Beautiful beaches and corals in south coast. And specially you can have whale watching tour.
And local foods and many more... if need more info about anything above contact me.

Scorpio guy.Srilanka has the sting.To start with the fares from India are very reasonable.Indian airlines from Chennai could be as low as INR6500 return.Then there is Air Lanka,which hits most airports in South India -Bangalore,Chennai,Trichy,Coimbatore,Trivandrum & so on..in other words accessibility is no problem.
South of Colombo are lovely beaches-Bentota,Hikkaduwa,Unawatuna.These are on the west coast.Inland,there are some fantastic wildlife scantuaries,known for for its unique flora & fauna-Sinharaja,Yala....
As you travel east from Colombo,you head towards the mountains.Kandy known for its temples & others mentioned above.
How many days are you planning?Srilanka is very affordable if one plans.
Yes.Golfing is great.I did Colombo,Victoria & Nuwara Eliya.Would'nt forget it.
Srilanka is a gem in the Indian Ocean.

The war is over, right? Are tourists flocking there now?

The civil war was going on for about 30 years, but tourists were still flocking to Sri Lanka during all these years. It was only the northern and eastern part of the island that was inaccessible due to the conflict.

"Sri Lanka could be described as diet India. It's much easier to get around - well the distances are substantially less - and in many ways the country is a watered-down India. Definitely South Asian, but without much of the madness, sheer number of people and oppressing poverty found elsewhere on the continent. A compact circuit with a mixture of great beaches and inland temples makes life easy and is perfect for a first time Asia trip, even if only for a ten day break."

Source:

[http://www.travelindependent.info/asia-southern.htm#Sri%20Lanka]

Thanks much 5, 6 and 7. It's sounding better now. Maybe I will make an effort to get there.

As for this comment...
>but tourists were still flocking to Sri Lanka during all these years.

At least one travel writer, Paul Theroux, described the island in fairly bleak terms recently, with very few tourists.

I read the Patagonia express from Paul Theroux and he tended to describe everything in fairly bleak terms! :-)

Take a look at my blog entry on Polonnaruwa - maybe you like it.
http://anticpond.blogspot.com/search/label/Polonnaruwa