U.S., Jan. 16 -- Sri Lanka has slowly come into its own as a global holiday destination in recent times after decades of unrest. Although the pint-sized island nation has long been on the radar of more intrepid travellers, this sleeping giant only really roused in 2019 when travel bible and tastemakers Lonely Planet named it the year's best country to visit - a decade on from the end of the civil war.

Tourists from around the world are now beginning to experience what those in the know have long championed about the region's best-kept travel secret. Lush hill ranges strewn with patchworks of tea plantations, a cosmopolitan coastal capital that wears its colonial history with a hint of pride in Colombo and game-rich national parks that ho...