Enchanted island

‘Excuse me, madam, you are writing for a Buddhist priest?’ For a moment, I was confused — but then enlightenment struck. No, I assured the waiter, whose smile was, indeed, like the Buddha’s, the pieces I was writing were for the British press. After a few days in Sri Lanka, however, I could see how writing for a Buddhist priest might well make much more sense.

Buddhas are everywhere in this beautiful country, a country whose Sinhalese name means ‘enchanted island’ and which Marco Polo described as ‘the finest small island in the world’. It is a country which has inspired writers from Paul Bowles to Neruda and Chekhov, a country whose riches and spices have caught the eye, and invading armies, of not one European nation, but three. Early Arab traders called it ‘Serendhib’, a word which has become a synonym for the making of happy accidents by chance. And this is a country full of happy accidents.