by Marc Andrews
LARGER-THAN-LIFE PINK BUDDHAS, frisky full-feathered peacocks, undisturbed sandy beaches and a kind, smiling people who are relieved that their civil war is over and the tsunami is now just a memory – Sri Lanka is, rightly, an awakening Asian infatuation. The former British colony, known as Ceylon before gaining independence in 1948, is nestled at the bottom of the Indian subcontinent between the Bay Of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. A strategic part of the ancient Spice Route, now a modern gateway into Asia, Sri Lanka turned towards socialism in the 1960s before steadying course to become a modern republic in the capitalist mold in 1972.