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Jewel in the Indian Ocean – Sri Lanka

author:007 on Venus

In 2014, I worked for a newspaper, and my usual work was trivial and intense, and the office was always quiet. Although colleagues also talk and laugh during lunch breaks and after work, they still discuss those things in the unit, and colleagues also yearn for the world outside the yard, but most people hardly go out because of the real problems that hinder life. When I was in school, I also liked geography class the most, and at that time it was not like the conditions are now, sitting in class and listening to the geography teacher lecture was like free travel, and this is how I fell in love with this class. As for falling in love with travel, it starts with a trip to Southeast Asia.

I had never thought of traveling with guides and guides, but I went to familiar places with my family, and around 2014, the Internet was overwhelmingly promoting the scarcity of tourism in the Maldives, claiming to be "the disappearing island in the world". A country made up of many islands, like a boat floating on the ocean, I think this country must be very interesting! I chose Sri Lanka because I've always loved the name and heard about it, and it's full of mystery to me. With longing and curiosity, my mother and I decided to go there to see, at that time most people chose Singapore, Malaysia, we chose Sri Lanka, Maldives and Malaysia, but at that time, Malaysia's airport was known as the most technological and humanized airport in Asia, so I thought it was good to stop by, and it was most convenient and safe to transfer to several surrounding countries from here.

Jewel in the Indian Ocean – Sri Lanka

The Great Buddha of Sri Lanka is as white as jade

Sri Lanka is known as the jewel of the Indian Ocean, located in a subtropical monsoon climate, hot and humid is its characteristics, tropical fruits and seafood are abundant. At the same time, there are many religious sects in this country, which do not interfere with each other and go their own way, but the religious color is very strong. As soon as I arrived at the entrance and exit of the airport, there was a big Buddha to show friendship. We were accommodated in a park hotel near the sea, which is itself a world flower garden, which is a local five-star standard and the interior is modern with a local touch. As soon as the sky is bright in the morning, there will be pigeons and birds "cooing" near the room, and the plantings are towering into the sky, although it is the season of June and July, but it does not feel particularly stuffy at all, the country does not have air conditioning there, there are many fans, and the sea breeze blows where there are trees and houses are particularly cool.

Jewel in the Indian Ocean – Sri Lanka

The landscape inside the Garden Hotel has been specially designed to provide Sri Lankan vegetation with a wide variety of vegetation

Jewel in the Indian Ocean – Sri Lanka

The most impressive thing is that the breakfast fruit is extra sweet and not greasy at all. I feel that I have never eaten such sweet natural fruits in Beijing. Breakfast has milk tea made from pure Ceylon black tea, and coconut water tastes good. The interior structure of the restaurant I like is large and open, belonging to the semi-open restaurant structure, opposite the strangely decorated swimming pool, unique local style, rustic with a little modern, heavy wood with wide decoration, warm and simple colors, South Asian style is remarkable.

Jewel in the Indian Ocean – Sri Lanka

I especially like this tree in the hotel, a bit like a green rose, the pruning posture is particularly beautiful, like a pavilion goddess, is embracing you with open arms

Jewel in the Indian Ocean – Sri Lanka

About noon the next day we went to the seaside market in the old city area to wander, along the way full of religious temples of different faiths, Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam each has its own neighborhoods and believers, and there are many unknown minority religious believers, some people do things along the street, some burn incense under the trees to worship the Buddha, to the point of the mosque still echoes, such a small country there are so many people of different faiths, but it seems that people have long been accustomed to it, get along very well.

Jewel in the Indian Ocean – Sri Lanka

The tour group was formed on an ad hoc basis in Beijing, and some went to the famous tourist attractions - Lion Rock and the Temple of the Relic of the Tooth. I felt that the traffic there was not particularly convenient at that time, and when it rained when I first arrived in the capital, the road became muddy, so I gave up the idea of going to the mountains. The tour guide is also temporarily found by the locality, this tour guide is tall, dark skin and a pair of big glasses, through his introduction, he has studied in Beijing for 2 years, is the only local tour guide who can speak basic Chinese. According to him, there are basically no large shopping malls here, and it is not recommended to travel after dark, if you want to buy something, you have to go to the market and the small shops nearby during the day.

Jewel in the Indian Ocean – Sri Lanka

It's a hot summer day, the sun is scorching, and the fishermen work hard every day

The market by the sea is the life of ordinary people, and the shore is full of Sri Lankan migrant workers - tall fishermen, this job is not as romantic as the photos, in fact, it is very hard. Dried fish lay flat on the beach, and most people here basically rely on these jobs to survive. Our guide took us to taste freshly squeezed coconut water, which was everywhere in the market, and then boarded a dinghy with others at King's Wharf and drove into the "mangrove forest" in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The island's world-famous mangrove forest is home to hundreds of animals, and this is the first time I've been so close to a pristine forest and marveling at the wonders of nature!

This area connected by the free growth of the island is home to all kinds of marine birds, as well as various amphibians, such as water lizards, snakes, etc., which sometimes dive into the water when you are not paying attention, and quietly row past the neighborhood without moving at all, and the island's island watchers live here all year round, and the whole Sri Lankan version of paradise. Our dinghyes, led by experienced sailors, slowly approached and then rowed away quietly, without disturbing them at all. After about 30 minutes, we came out of the water, and the water around us became darker the closer to the city, and the water near the city was not very clean, almost navy blue. The water quality is not as clean and clear as the Maldives, and people don't forget to buy a lot of black tea and coconut water when they leave.

Jewel in the Indian Ocean – Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is rich in all kinds of corundum sapphire raw materials, and if you have a lot of time, you can find local artisans to create them. Before 2013, many jewelers frequently came here to buy gem materials, but there are not many people who are really engaged in jewelry companies and profit, because the jewelry itself is also graded standards, and the additional labor costs are very high, although there are now 3D printing molding, artificial intervention to synthesize high-grade gemstones, but in the jewelry processing industry, more people still like the original artificial craftsmanship, mechanized models are not suitable for real fine jewelry. There was once a movie called "Blood Diamond" that basically said this, some businesses were distributed by God to local people from the beginning, to be the developers of their own resources, there are dates and no dates want to hit a shot, in the end it is also blind work.

In this less developed tourist country, we urbanites seem out of place. Judging by the expressions of the locals, they did not have much envy for the modernization of outsiders, as always, they lived their own ordinary life, satisfied with all the natural gifts given by God, working at sunrise and resting at sunset, sitting on the coast drinking black tea and waiting for batches of merchant ships to come and go...

Jewel in the Indian Ocean – Sri Lanka

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