SRILANKA TOUR

From time immemorial the island has been subjected to many different influences, both occidental and oriental. Consequently this small island state contains an exotic mixture of languages, cultures and religions. The few thousand Veddhas who live in remote jungle areas are the descendants of the original inhabitants. The majority of the population are descendants of the Aryan tribes that came from North India over 2'000 years ago. Sub-sequent Dravidian invasions and Arab migrations have created a wonderful cosmopolitan society.

The island has been known by a variety of names, a list which is as varied as its his-torical influences. More than 2000 years ago the famous Indian epic "Ramayana" told of misdeedsof the wicked king of Lanka. The Dravids called the isle Ilankai; to the old Greeks and the Romans it was known as Taprobane; the Arabic merchants called it Serendib; the Portuguese Ceiloa; the Dutch changed the name into Ceylan, and the British to Ceylon.The Republic of Sri Lanka was born in 1972, the prefix "Sri" is Sanskrit in origin and means resplendent.

In 1867 the first tea plants arrived from India, and prospered extremely well in the highlands. As a result the more resistant tea bushes replaced the susceptible coffee cultures. For more than a century tea became the most important export product. Ceylon Tea is today well known by tea-connoisseurs and tea-lovers, and in 1972 this persuaded the government, to retain the brand name "Ceylon Tea" and not to market it as "Sri Lanka Tea".

Singhalese or Tamil is only spoken in Sri Lankans but born after independence who only speak English and not Singalese or Tamil.