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 Colombo

Colombo, the island's largest city, is noisy, frenetic - and just a little crazy. While the city holds less obvious interest than many other parts of the island, it's still a colorful enough place and worth a visit to see what makes Sri Lanka tick. Colombo is a relatively easy city to find your way around. To the north is the Fort district, the country's business centre, which has department stores, book shops, airline offices and is the site of the Central Bank which the Tamil Tigers blew up in January 1996. There are also ample sights such as the clock tower, a

former lighthouse, the president's residence (known by incorrigible traditionalists as Queen's House), and a cluster of colonial buildings which lend the district an aura of bygone Empire.

Immediately south of here is Galle Face Green, a seafront expanse of occasional green graced by cricket games and kite flyers. and trysting lovers delete. Cinnamon Gardens, further south, is Colombo's most fashionable neighborhood, with elegant mansions, tree-lined streets and the city's largest park. East of the fort is the pungent Pettah bazaar district. Walk through and marvel at the riot of goods - fruit, vegetables, meat, gems, gold, silver, brass and tin junk.

Shopping here in Colombo will be at the most popular ODEL, Paradise Road, Barefoot, House of Fashions, Lanka Hands and many other places to buy very fashionable clothing as well as other items according any interest for an affordable price and in very good quality.

Culture buffs shouldn't miss the National Museum, which has a good collection of historical works, the Art Gallery, which focuses on portraiture and temporary exhibits by local artists, and the city's many mosques and Buddhist and Hindu temples. After familiarizing yourself with Sri Lankan culture, check out the island's fauna at the Dehiwala Zoo. The highlight here is an afternoon elephant show. The closest real beach is at Mt Lavinia, a faded resort 10km (6.2mi) south of the city.
 Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura is Sri Lanka's first capital, a potent symbol of Sinhalese power, and the most extensive and important of Sri Lanka's ancient cities. It became a capital in 380 BC and for over 1000 years Sinhalese kings ruled from this great city. Its impressive remains were 'discovered' in the early 19th century and have been in the process of restoration ever since. They lie to the west and north of the modern town of Anuradhapura. The Sacred Bo-Tree is the city's holiest site, and was grown from the tree under which Buddha achieved enlightenment.

The Thuparama Dagoba, the oldest of many temples in Anuradhapura, is believed to contain the right collar-bone of Buddha. The Jetavanarama Dagoba is the largest remaining structure and may once have been over 100m (328ft) in height and housed an estimated 3000 monks. There are also museums that invite exploration, marvelously restored twin ponds which were used by monks as ritual baths, and immense tanks built to provide irrigation water for the growing of rice. The best way to explore the area is by bicycle.

The remains of the ancient lakeside city of Polonnaruwa, 75km (46mi) south-east of Anuradhapura, date mostly from the reign of the Indian Chola dynasty in the 11th and 12th century, but they cover a more compact site and are in an excellent state of repair.
   
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