My travels abroad (9) Trip to Sri Lanka (2)

May 22, 2023

My travels abroad (9) Trip to Sri Lanka (2)

During my trip to Sri Lanka, I traveled more than half of country from south to north, saw many ancient civilizations and left a deep impression. Initially, Sri Lanka was an unpopular country for our travels, but after arriving, I felt that it was worth going there to see and learn about culture brought by ancient India, as well as ancient art and Buddhist culture of Sri Lanka. At same time, it is also a good place to relax. Folk customs are simple, and one feels peace and tranquility, in complete pristine condition.

Landscapes of Sri Lanka

During trip, I found that people there are simple and nice, and they are very close to nature. In inner part of central part of island, I saw many people walking barefoot, whether on sandy, muddy or rocky roads, although surface temperature is very high, especially on a rocky road at noon, very hot, but they can get used to walking exactly as usual without any disturbance.

Women walk barefoot in Sri Lanka

In nature, inhabitants are very friendly to animals and live in harmony. I remember driving that day to Sigiriya. A simple road divided virgin forest into two parts. The road was asphalted, and road surface is undulating in relief. Passing when there is an intersection will actively stop and stop and wait for car of other side to leave before than get back on road. While driving, driver will stop and wait when it detects that animals are passing on road, and then continue driving after animals have crossed road.

An old tree in Sri Lanka

On day when our car was driving normally on road, driver braked sharply. It turned out that a mongoose was slowly passing by. I don't know word "Mongoose". I asked twice and checked dictionary before I recognized this animal. On way back from our visit to Lion Rock, an elephant suddenly appeared ahead of us and walked leisurely along road. The car stopped and waited. The driver told us that this situation was more dangerous. Many years ago there was an elephant There was a bus that was traveling at a relatively high speed, and there was a strong collision with elephant. As a result, two people on bus died and many were injured. The elephant also died after walking several kilometers. While our car was waiting, cars behind lined up and waited together, but wild elephant still walked slowly along road, not hurrying. Ten minutes later, elephant was no longer visible on road, so our car continued moving. At fork in front of road, elephant stood in bushes outside car window and watched our car pass. The driver said, this road After six hours on road, vehicles mostly it is not allowed to pass because there are many wild elephants on road at this time, and wild elephants are aggressive, which is different from other small animals such as monkeys.

Buddha statues on roadside in Sri Lanka

In many places in Sri Lanka, we can see monkeys living peacefully with people. In many picturesque places, such as Dambulla, ancient capitals of East and West and Lion Rock, they go about their business like pedestrians on road. They are also independent of each other, do not interfere with each other, and coexist harmoniously.

Exquisite frescoes in Sri Lanka

There are many examples of closeness to nature in Sri Lanka. We can also see shape of large trees on sides of roads. Many large trees have a history and different forms, and they are all preserved on sides of roads. The branches allow nature to take its course, covering sky above road, which is very beautiful.

Sri Lanka roadside landscape

Sri Lanka intentionally does not change nature, but is close to nature and coexists harmoniously. Perhaps this is also one of attractive places in this country.