The island of Sri Lanka packs immense ecological and cultural diversity. We experienced urban chaos, beachside surf towns, frigid mountain-top tea plantations, ancient buddhist temple ruins, and european trading settlements all within a couple of weeks. 

Riding the rails was preferable to the high speed technicolor rave machines that pass as public busses, but a complete lack of personal space was common to both. Either way, each time we stepped off the transport we felt like we were somewhere completely new.