Sri Lanka, a third world country with a first class governance, Nov'16

Colombo Beach Front

Last night we arrived at Unawatuna, a catatonic beach town in the Lankan south. After a disappointing stay at Habarana and a great one at Kandy, we are happy to end the trip with an incredible stay at this cute little bungalow where we are the only guests for the next 5 nights with the entire property and the pool to ourselves. I sit on this bench across the pool, indulging in the luxury of sloth, with the whiskey in hand. A cross section of thoughts are falling off my chair. I should rather pen them down before they empty themselves like vapour. 

Today’s dive is at the top of my mind. The trainers were good but the sea was rough offering poor visibility. We saw some good marine life but nothing eye popping. That’s the problem if you have done Hawaii and Andaman (Yes, am bragging!). On our way to the dive site we saw a giant turtle. I was hoping to see one while under water but do you know anyone who won a lottery twice?

Kandy Botanical Garden

Sri Lanka is not very fascinating tourist destination per se but there are worthy mentions such as the Sigiriya Rock and the botanical garden of Kandy.

But first of all I must tell all Indians that it is not as cheap as most of you think. Your money will run farther at other South East Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand. Just to give you a flavour, a sedan is 3500 per day, eggs are 10 bucks, milk 100 a litre and entry tickets to most places are in the range of 500-1000. All INR. But the nation has some great achievements to its credit, especially in the fiefdom of governance:

a) People cross signals at zebra crossing and vehicles wait for them. Wow! The pedestrians don’t just walk past a zebra crossing since its their right. They wait for vehicles to slow down without having to apply screeching brakes, and only then take their turn.
b) Place is safe. And I mean all kinds of safety right from larceny to assaults. We went to the Colombo sea face area at around midnight. Our driver and our host assured that there was nothing to worry. And indeed. A few innocuous groups having a good time themselves while we had ours.
c) Sri Lanka is clean. Roads are clean, pavements and parks are clean. Tourist sights are clean. Beaches are partially clean.
d) Roads are great. No potholes at all inside cities or on highways.
e) People are nice and polite, straight forward and non-trickster types.
f) Government taxes are very high but unlike India, most people send their kids to government run schools and the sick to government run hospitals as these are of good quality. Basic necessities of life are taken care off.


Overall I would say that the trip was average from touristy point of view. But the way the country is managed, made me feel like a little boy who fantasizes the neighboring uncle as a better father than his own. It makes you wonder how a third world country could actually do so well on basics? Kudos to the people and their government.