With its mind-blowing beaches and lush rainforests, Sri Lanka is surely the next must-visit destination, writes Zach Hines.

Is your travel ethical? It’s a fair question these days, and one that you become acutely aware of when visiting Sri Lanka. From the dozens of security checks at the Colombo airport to the frequent army checkpoints down the coast, it’s hard to escape the fact that this gorgeous and inviting country is still embroiled in a decades-long civil war. Over lunch at the Galle Fort Hotel with a group of local architects and economists, the topic soon drifted naturally to the civil war, and President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s latest heavy-handed attempt to seize the rebel stronghold of Killinochchi. It’s tragic that in a place of such natural beauty, the one thing that is still very much on everyone’s mind is war. Of course, it’s a perfectly valid discussion about whether or not it is ethical to holiday in a country that is facing such turmoil, but it’s a plain fact that the tourism business is booming on the island—and, despite what you may think of the war, thankfully so.

After the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 demolished both coasts of the country (effects are still present, with sobering ruins of homes still lining parts of the coastal road), an increase in tourism is a welcome relief to the country’s economy. In fact, many overseas investors—and Hongkongers in particular—are now gobbling up tracts of prime beachside property between Colombo and Galle at bargain-basement prices. And now that the conflict on the eastern coast has ostensibly ended, expect the same to happen there at even more cutthroat rates.  It’s not hard to see why: home to some of the world’s most spectacular beaches and tropical rainforests, Sri Lanka is a sure bet to become one of the world’s top holiday destinations once the war ends.

The biggest city, Colombo, where you fly into, is a bit ramshackle, without much terribly exciting in the way of holidaymaking, but it’s the necessary starting point for your exploration of the rest of the country. From there, you can hire a van to take you to the mountain city of Kandy, home to plenty of family-centric, subcontinent things to do like ride elephants and visit tea plantations, as well as other more outré activities for adventurous travelers. Those too fabulous to spend the day looking at monkeys, and who would prefer to unwind with a platter of crustless cucumber sandwiches beneath tropical canopies, are advised to book themselves into the renovated art deco guesthouses of Helga’s Folly, run by the wonderfully eccentric Helga de Silva Blow Perera—to get to the booking info on her website (www.helgasfolly.com) you need to first wade through several pages of sepia-tinged photos of her opulent family and several husbands (“Father: His Excellency Frederick E. De Silva, Ambassador to France and Switzerland”).

However, we opted for the route down the southern coast, staying in private villas along the empty, surfer-friendly beaches and ending up in the city-in-a-citadel of Galle Fort. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Galle Fort has a long colonial history. Built by the Portuguese and overhauled by the Dutch, nearly all of the old structures remain intact and still serve as homes to the tightly knit community of friendly locals and assimilated expats who have been living in the fort for several generations. Overflowing with natural charm, laden with history, and home to a burgeoning arts and culture scene (Gore Vidal recently spoke in the citadel as part of their literary festival), the fort is an ideal place to reach a personal epiphany, make a new lifelong friend or just unplug from life for a weekend. 

The Galle Fort Hotel, a renovated colonial building that serves as a frequent backdrop to high-end photography for luxury European fashion brands, is a lush and indulgent escape from the stresses of rigidly scheduled Hong Kong life (we tried setting up an interview with the hotelier for 1:15pm, but flummoxed by our specificity he replied, “Just show up anytime before the sun sets”). With a small selection of minimalist rooms and a staff that prides itself on its attention to detail, the hotel often plays home-away-from-home to the canny (and lucky) few professionals who need only a laptop to work (the hotel is blanketed in WiFi). See www.galleforthotel.com.

However, we would recommend staying somewhere a little further up the coast on a nice slice of your own private beach. Specifically, try Sri Villas (www.srivillas.com) at Induruwa, about an hour from Galle and 90 minutes from Colombo. It has three villas and 15 rooms on offer, with home-cooked meals and endless days on the beach bleeding into the sunset. Traveling up and down the coast is as simple as having your villa arrange a private van (between US$30-$70 a journey depending on the length), though public transportation options (think crowded trains and buses) are also available.

When talking to a friend and property buyer on the island about the appeals of the “teardrop,” as the island nation is known, he told me to look at Koh Samui in Thailand. “How many German bakeries are there now? How far down the beach can you walk without running into a German baker?” Indeed, despite the bullish tourism sector in the country, during our drive down the coast we saw only two restaurants explicitly advertising “pizza, nachos and other delights from home,” or any other signs of the negative side of globalization. But you are best advised to visit the Teardrop now—because with the island’s unparalleled natural beauty and rock-bottom prices, the sad fact is, the bakers are surely coming.

Free Air Tickets
We’re giving away two round-trip tickets to Sri Lanka from SriLankan Airlines. To nab them, head to www.hk-magazine.com and click on the Giveaways page. Answer a simple question and you’ll be entered into a lucky draw for the pair of tickets. Entries must be received by Dec 31. Terms and conditions apply.

Even if you don’t win, you can take SriLankan Airlines to Colombo for $4,180 and up. Reservations at 2521-0708 and www.srilankan.lk.

Luxury Villas at a Discount
Sri Villas (below) is offering a 20 percent discount on all their published rates for HK readers. Just book online at www.srivillas.com and mention you are a reader of HK Magazine on the “make a reservation” form. Regular room rates start at $2,028.