While security concerns deter many visitors, traveling in Sri Lanka can be very rewarding because there is so much on offer and few other tourists to crowd the experience. Flights from Japan arrive in the middle of the night, ensuring that one's first impression is not a traffic jam.
Fancy a mud hut with a view? A pleasant 2 1/2-hour drive from Negombo International Airport brings you to the Culture Club, an eco-resort nestled on the shores of a picturesque reservoir shared by exotic birds, fisherman and communal bathers. Here one can stay in traditional mud huts, recently constructed but authentic down to their mosquito-repelling cow-dung floors, but with better amenities (and no, the floors don't smell). Great care has been taken to site the huts to ensure both privacy and the feel of being in a village.
The Culture Club is an ideal base for exploring the Cultural Triangle of Anuradhapura, Pollonaruwa and Sigiriya, the island's major archaeological and religious sites. It is also close to the Buddhist cave temples at Dambulla and the superb 12-meter standing Buddha at Aukana, which dates from the fifth century.