Sri lanka

Sri Lanka is often mistaken for being similar to India 'cause it's so close to it. Arriving in Colombo it might even feel that way at the first sight. But traveling through Sri Lanka you'll soon discover that there are a lot differences between this little insular state and it's huge neighbor. 

Sri Lanka is an island and islander behave differently from the people on the mainland. They preserve their own habits and culture.

So it turns out that in contrast to India Sri Lanka is mainly Buddhist. That the majority of the people are devotees of that peaceful religion has a real impact on how it feels to travel through the country. You'll gonna meet very laid back, openminded and friendly people on Sri Lanka. But you're gonna meet far less on one spot 'cause Sri Lanka is not as densely populated as India.

When it comes to Sri Lanka, I'll always remember the most beautiful yet unexpected train ride I've ever been on. It was a comparatively  short distance of 140 km from Kandy to Ella. But what we didn't know when we boarded the train was that it's maximum speed would be around 40 km/h. Not because the train was too old (even though it looked like a colorful toy train)  but because the track led us right through the hill country with it's rocky hills, lush green valleys and all the tea plantations that Sri Lanka is so famous for. 

We were some of the last people to squeeze in and so we stood right at the door. To our luck the door wasn't closed throughout the journey. And so we could let our feet dangle out of the moving train having the stunning landscape of the hill country passing by right in front of us.