It is incredible that a hours flight takes you to a different climate, prosperity, structure and culture. You are immediately struck that Sri Lanka is better developed, monied, organised, cleaner and commercialised than India. I hadn't expected the baby cousin to India, called India's "teardrop" to be so much more sophisticated.
The climate is humid, 60F+ thru the night, the hotel, Casa Columbo is stunning, one of the best rooms I've ever had, the streets wide and clean, the people helpful, there's no empty shops, two luxury hotels being built, the buildings look more substantial than in India, financial institutions everywhere and a great vibe re the British. The civil (anything but!) war ended after 30 years. in the intervening couple of years, with an end to terrorism in Columbo, there has been a huge amount of investment in the infrastructure. Only two months ago, the Commonwealth meeting took place here, which prompted a new highway from the airport and an extremely impressive new theatre which hosted the event. You might recall, Cameron ruffled feathers by visiting the Tamils in the north to show support. In typical UN style, they have allowed the Sri Lankan government to investigate war crimes by the Sri Lankan government. How can the UN claim to be impartial!
Apart from the stunning hotel, we visited a very vibey outdoor cafe hosting a jazz concert, an amazing Buddhist temple and the beach, which was jumping with youngsters watching the sunset while flying kites, swimming and posturing! We now have 6 days touring the island, it's a quirk that I've always wanted to visit here, without ever knowing why? A little bit like Bucharest, Seoul and Jakarta!