Sri Lanka

The word ‘serendipity’ comes from the fortuitous discovery of this little jewel that seems to hang off the ledge of India’s southeast coast, and it is everything that the word suggests: a wonderful, pleasant surprise every time you visit it. That’s what the earliest Arabs thought: an emerald glow on the horizon, which turned into a gorgeous string of sparkling beaches that surround a thick mass of the most verdant forests teeming with life. And cascading waterfalls, sinuous rivers, early Buddhist temples, and the air redolent with the fragrance of cinnamon and cardamom. Since then, quaint villages and mighty colonial cities have sprouted, art, literature, culture and handicrafts have flourished, tea estates have unfurled out off the mists, and wildlife and nature parks thrive. But at the core of it all, it still remains that untarnished jewel that prompted its early visitors to call it Serendib, a classic that will please you down the ages.