SRILANKA
Sri Lanka is one of the leading romantic destinations in the whole world. The land of serendipity brings spiritual tranquility and a chance to rediscover oneself. The beauty of this tiny island is simply breath-taking. Known for its enchanting ancient ruins, endless soft-sanded beaches, imposing mountains, colourful festivals, tempting water sports, dense wild-life, diverse ethnical groups and off the top hospitality from the local residents, Sri Lanka is bound to make you come back again. Sri Lanka Travel and Tourism brings all of this for you right under your fingertips so that you can discover the serene island for yourself.
COLOMBO
The name 'Colombo', first introduced by the Portuguese in 1505, is believed to be derived from the classical Sinhala name කොලොන් තොට Kolon thota, meaning "port on the river Kelani".[11] Another belief is that the name is derived from the Sinhala name කොල-අඹ-තොට Kola-amba-thota which means 'Harbour with leafy/green mango trees'.[10] This coincides with Robert Knox's history of the island while he was a prisoner in Kandy. He writes that "On the West, the City of Columbo, so-called from a Tree the Natives call Ambo, (which bears the Mango-fruit) growing in that place; but this never bare fruit, but only leaves, which in their Language is Cola and thence they called the Tree Colambo: which the Christians in honour of Columbus turned to Columbo." The author of the oldest Sinhala grammar, Sidatsangarava, written in the 13th century wrote about a category of words that exclusively belonged to early Sinhala. It lists naramba (to see) and kolamba (ford or harbour) as deriving from the indigenous Vedda language. Kolamba may also be the source of the name of the commercial capital Colombo.