10 recently published experiences http://www.hereorthere.com/countries/sri-lanka en-us The most vivid memory from my adventures in Sri Lanka is the trip to Adam’s peak. The 2243 metre peak, also known as Samanalakanda (Butterfly Mountain), has multi-denominational religious significance and the walk up has served as a pilgrimage for over 1000 years. Buddhists call it the peak of Sri Pada (Sacred Footprint), as they believe an indentation on the summit is the footprint of Buddha. Hindus think this crater is the mark of Shiva, Muslims that of Adam, and some Christians believe the indentations were caused when Christ's Apostle, St. Thomas, prayed at the peak. But enough of all that; I'd heard the views from the top boasted the most humbling of Sri Lanka’s hill country, so off I went. Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka agentb Sun, 03 Feb 2008 23:02:36 +0000 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/agentb/experience/1273 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/1273 I arrived in Galle, Sri Lanka almost 6 months to the day after the tsunami had hit. I wasn't sure what to expect. There was a definite feeling of resourcefulness among the people living there, and a desire to help themselves out of the natural tragedy that had washed up on their shores on Boxing Day of 2004. From the moment I stepped off of the train I was bombarded with tragic tales of families lost and livelihoods diminished. The woman selling sarongs on the beach said that this was the only income she was supplying for her family after her husband was washed away in his fish boat. Galle, Sri Lanka Charlotte Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:17:09 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/charlotte/experience/770 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/770 Elephant Orphanage. What other words combined can evoke such feelings of warm fuzziness? When I planning a trip to Sri Lanka, I was told that I had to make sure that the Pinnawela elephant orphanage was on my itinerary. I hired a car that left from Colombo, and on our way to Kandy we took a short little detour to the town to Kegalla and to see this "orphanage" which has been heralded as the biggest number of elephants in captivity in the world. Kegalle, Sri Lanka Charlotte Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:45:18 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/charlotte/experience/766 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/766 Mount Lavinia was the first stop on our quick-fire tour of the South-Western Sri Lankan coastline; we had three days before my friends and I performed at the ISTA theatre festival at Overseas School of Colombo, and we wanted to make the most of it! The five-star resort was among the first areas of the damaged coastline to be repaired after the 2004 tsunami. In fact, most of Sri Lanka’s top resorts were rebuilt within 3-4 months after the devastating tsunami – strange to us when we saw later that there were still many civilian settlements that had not been restored to their original state yet. The luxury oozed from its marble reception, ensuite rooms and a private beach that was simply divine. Being students, the 5-star rates were way out of our league (even in Sri Lankan currency) so we sneaked the 10 of us into two double rooms for the night. Sleeping bags and rolled up towel-pillows served us well that night… Watching the sun set over the beautiful beach was amazing, es... Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka intotheflame Thu, 02 Aug 2007 01:14:09 +0100 http://www.hereorthere.com/members/intotheflame/experience/624 http://www.hereorthere.com/experiences/624