BUMPETY-bump-bump-bump. The white van proceeded along thetwisting, jerky streets of Sri Lanka, determined to arrive in itsspiritual capital of Kandy.

Surviving the British, Dutch and Portuguese colonies, Sri Lankahas developed into a character of its own &- contrastingimperial characteristics with its own tropical beauty, exoticwildlife, ancient cities and sunny beaches, to form an enchantingland.

We stopped at an elephant orphanage in Pinnewala, where the babyelephants bathed in a lake against the lush, tropical backdrop. Onthe way out, as the van climbed up the hill, the temperaturedropped and the climate changed from a clammy heat to a coolspring. Renowned for its “Temple of the Tooth,’ thehome of the sacred tooth of the Buddha, Kandy is the spiritual andcultural sanctuary of Sri Lanka.

Boys and girls were dressed up in white uniforms, the girls withblue ribbons in their oiled and plaited hair, all giggling andchattering as we zoomed by. Small cottages lay asleep amidst thegreen hills, with monkeys running loose through the abundantforests.

We stopped over for a cultural dance when we got to Kandy. Thedrums banged loudly while a flurry of red, orange and yellowpranced about the stage beating drums vigorously and singing inSinahalese. It was the traditional welcome orchestra of men dressedin bright colored sarongs playing traditional instruments calledPancha Thuryas.

The hotel in Kandy was filled with colonial idiosyncrasies&- the smell of freshly polished dark wood, and lanterns andweapons of the imperial era adorning the dim-lit halls. The roomslooked like small guesthouses enclosed within the corridor, eachwith its own terraced entrance.

Before leaving Kandy, we made a brief stop at the famous”Royal Botanic Gardens.’ They span over a 153-acre areaand contain regions similar to the Japanese Gardens, and theCoconut Palms. Next stop, Nuwara Eliya.

Nuwara Eliya, meaning “City of light,’ is snuggled1,890 meters high within the tea-plantations and as we made our wayinto the town, I watched in amazement at the never-ending bounty offertile tea-hills being hand-picked by women in dazzling yellow andred, with bamboo baskets hanging from their shoulders.

The van climbed higher and higher and, as the air chilled, itbegan to rain. Mists shrouded the dense jungles of palm trees andtea plantations and we could barely see the white teeth upon thedark-brown skin of little flower boys selling crimson poppies andorchids beside the street of a hill far from any habitation. Iwondered how they do it. Rainbow umbrellas fanned out under therain and school children huddled under, chattering andlaughing.

We made another shortstop at a tea factory, and were shown thevarious processes of tea making. There was a crisp, piquant smellof tea throughout the barren place.

We finally arrived in Nuwara Eliya, which resembles an oldVictorian town from the colonial times; sloping green-tiled roofs,horses, an old brick post-office, a country-house style “HillClub”, and a 19th century golf course, even our hotel had animperial elegance of its own. A horse racecourse lay outside mybedroom window, and I could see two horses galloping in the cool,morning air.

The next day we began the long descent downhill, to make our wayto the west coastline.

Slowly the fragrance of tealeaves gives way to the sunny, warmair of the beaches further down. It takes five hours in car fromNuwara Eliya to the beach resort of Bentota, including a stop forlunch.

The hotel had a brilliant relaxing aura. Little coves housed tworooms each that opened out to the pool, beyond which was the beach.The beach is fringed with palm trees and a boat lies overturned inthe sand. The sea wasn’t so blue because it was the month ofJuly &- the monsoon period, but there was a huge park forrelaxation and the air was invigorating.

Along with a “western’ breakfast, the hotel alsoserved a wide variety of local food. Seeni Sambal is Maldives Fishcooked with garlic, chilies and cinnamon and a sweet dish calledAluwa is made of coconut treacle with rice flour and cashews.Almost all the dishes have the staple ingredients: coconuts,cashews, cinnamon, cardamoms and fish, which are easily found inthe spice gardens, palm trees, forests and seas around thetear-drop island.

On the edge of my seat, I breathed a sigh of relief when thedriver of the tuk tuk I hired, a popular, door-less, three-wheeledvehicle used as a taxi, swerved in time to avoid the bus besideus.

Colombo was the last destination on the itinerary. SriLanka’s commercial capital is 125 kilometers from Bentota andthe only place where I actually saw American norms such as KentuckyFried Chicken. It was Sunday, so most shops were closed and thestreets were empty. The heat in Colombo was nauseating, and Iquickly rushed for shelter in a nearby restaurant. The city alsohad fashion shops, such as Odel and House of Fashion, with itsdesigner brands and fragrant soaps. It was quite a change from theisolated towns I had been visiting.

It took a few hours the next day to get to the airport outsideof Colombo. We made our way, hushed and tiptoeing, at 3 a.m.everything was quiet. The churches, temples and mosques lay muted.The shops had dropped their jagged eyelids. We rode by, as the citylooked back at us with a weary finger on its lips.

Visitors of Sri Lanka come and go, each bestowing the countrywith praising names such as “Paradise’, “Pearl ofthe Orient’, “Isle of Diversity’, “TheResplendent land’ and “Serendib,’ from the Arabicword meaning Serendipity.

A lucky discovery indeed, I thought to myself, as we drove intothe night and Sri Lankan stars winked, above me.