.All Trips / Asia / Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: A Land Like No Other (Part 1b) Sir Arthur C. Clarke

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Much of my time in Colombo was spent at the home of Sir Arthur C. Clarke.  Arthur’s contributions to science, science fiction, space and space travel are well known, and if you want to learn more about these I recommend you visit the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation website and watch its short video biography of Arthur.  Probably the most important achievement of Arthur’s life was his landmark description in 1945 of the concept of a series of communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit (now known as the Clarke orbit) that provided the fundamental concept to the global boom that has revolutionized telecommunications and shrunk the size of our planet.  Arthur was always a dreamer, and he never thought that in his lifetime any …

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.All Trips / Asia / Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: A Land Like No Other (Part 1a) Colombo

sri-lanka-colombo-intro-photo-001

Sri Lanka…Ceylon…Taprobane…Serendip…Pearl of the Indian Ocean  — all synonyms for the same magical tropical isle.

The Sri Lankan tourist board describes Sri Lanka as “A Land Like No Other”.  I think its a terrific and very apt slogan, for there’s no other place I know of that offers this admixture of the sea, wonderful beaches, mountains, waterfalls, jungle, tea plantations, ancient cities and temples, and a remarkable cultural diversity —  all on a tear drop shaped piece of land only a few hundred miles long.  For thousands of years Ceylon was a port of call on the shipping routes of the Indian Ocean.  Many of its cities, including Colombo, have great natural harbors.  Sri Lanka’s past history includes occupations by the Dutch, Portuguese, and most recently …

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