Why, when we see the world in colour, do we often find black and white portraits so engaging? With the distraction of colours stripped away we are driven to focus on elements such as the direction of a gaze, skin texture and the interplay of light and shadow on the face. Elements such as clothing and jewellery fade into the background and the expression on the face takes centre stage.
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Kandy is Sri Lanka’s second largest city after Colombo and was listed by UNESCO in 1988. It has a long and proud history. It was the last stronghold of Sinhalese independence, resisting both Portuguese and Dutch rule long after the rest of the island had been conquered.
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How do you feel about organised visits to local communities while travelling? Are they a welcome opportunity to learn more about the culture and history of a place? Or are they uncomfortably intrusive and too staged to offer genuine insights?
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You might think that the place where Buddhism was first introduced to Sri Lanka would be among its most visited sites, but Mihintale seems to be off the radar for most tourists. Hence we found it surprisingly quiet and peaceful even visiting mid-afternoon.
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Dambulla Cave Temple consists of five caves carved into a massive rock. Each cave contains Buddha statues and is decorated with intricate murals and frescoes. In total, the temple houses over 150 Buddha statues and statues of Sri Lankan kings, Hindu gods, and guardian deities.
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While significant parts of Hull were bombed during WWII, and many lives tragically lost, its Old Town survived and has been well preserved. The historic buildings and cobbled streets make it an ideal stand-in for Victorian or Georgian London. These streets have been transformed many times by film and TV studios for productions including The Crown, Victoria and Blitz.
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These simple, practical vehicles are ubiquitous in Sri Lanka, as they are in many other countries in the world. While tourists tend to refer to them as tuk-tuks, to the locals they are usually known as three-wheelers or simply three-wheels.
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On the north coast of Sri Lanka, near Jaffna and not far from the island’s northernmost point, we visited three very different shrines in close proximity to each other. Together, for me, they illustrated the diversity of religious belief in a country that has seen its fair share of internal conflict but, for now at least, has settled its differences.
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Anuradhapura was Sri Lanka’s first capital, founded in the 4th century BCE by King Pandukabhaya. It is considered the first city in the country to have embraced Buddhism. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site, home to massive ancient stupas, vast archaeological ruins, and a sacred tree.
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What do you do if you love to visit far-flung locations but are fed up with long haul flights and nights spent trying to sleep on a plane? You could splurge on business class to make your night more comfortable. But no amount of splurging will help with jet-lag, and however comfortable the sleeping arrangements your night will still be disturbed by noise from turbulence and your fellow passengers.
