Sri Lanka

• Go in the summer silly! - Indian Ocean
• Lovers in Luxury - Maldives
• Feet first into the Maldives - Maldives
• No news, No shoes - Maldives
• My wedding pact with David Walliams - Maldives
• Push the boat out - Seychelles
• Relaxation Addict - Seychelles
• Mauritius the Delicious - Mauritius
• Mr Perma-Tan in Paradise - Mauritius
• Never seen you looking so lovely - Mauritius
• Island Iffy No Longer - Sri Lanka
• Having a swell time! - Seychelles
• Perfect, even for the world’s pickiest guest! - Maldives
• Do not disturb - Mauritius

GIVEN THE CHOICE OF A family holiday in Sri Lanka or in the Caribbean, most would pick the safer-sounding West Indies.

A friend of mine, a mother-of-three, summed it up. “Isn”t Sri Lanka a bit, um, “iffy?” Well, actually, no. After taking our two sons, aged ten and eight, on what was one of the most successful and best value holidays in years, I’m wondering why on earth we didn’t go before.

It’s true, though, that Sri Lanka is only now regaining its reputation after its 20-year civil war. But now there is international backing for peace talks between the Tamils and the Sinhalese, it looks as if business for tourists has been resumed.

I’d previously rejected it out of hand as being at the wrong end of the globe. In fact, it is a ten-hour non-stop flight away - the same distance as Grenada.

And I didn’t know what to expect. Should one anticipate the challenging exoticism of India, or the tailored tourist charm of the Maldives?

Sri Lanka’s attraction, we were to discover is that it’s both. It’s far more westernised than India - more international, with better beaches - but, unlike the Maldives, there is a lot more to do than dive and sunbathe.

An advantage of visiting a country that has been in mild international quarantine is that it has an other-worldly flavour.

Like a time warp

As we were driving in from the airport, my husband, who reported on the outbreak of war there in 1983, said: “It’s like a time warp. Even the advertisements haven’t changed.”

The reason for going to Sri Lanka was much-needed winter sun, so it was a bit of a setback that a 90mph gale was roaring down the runway as we landed. “It’s the tail-end of a monsoon,” said our driver, Sunanda. “It’ll be gone tomorrow.”

Yeah, right, said my cynical son. But the next morning, the sky was blue, the clouds had gone, and we left Colombo for Kandy up in the mountains.

If you have ten days, there are two ways to explore Sri Lanka. Either you head north and “do” the cultural triangle; the breath-taking temples of Polonnaruwa, cave paintings of Dambulla and holy city of Anuradhapura. Or you can go south to mountains, tea plantations, animal reserves and beaches. With two youngsters, we opted for the latter.

In Sri Lanka even the drives are interesting. On our way to Kandy we stopped at a stall selling red bananas, at a spice garden and most successfully, at the Pinnawela orphanage for baby elephants.

This is a sanctuary for elephants whose parents have been killed by poachers. In the feeding shelter we saw a five-day-old calf, so new it was covered in bristles of brown hair, being hand-fed with milk from a baby’s bottle.

A childless female elephant was brought in to see if it might adopt the small creature. After a few moments, the tiny calf burrowed its head on to her massive teats.

The other wonder of Sri Lanka is the range of hotels. In Kandy, the two places we stayed in could not have been more different. Mahaweli Reach looked colonial on the outside, but beyond that could have been anywhere. The pool was huge, the rooms were bland but comfortable, and dinner was an international buffet.

Our next night was spent at Helga’s Folly, run by the idiosyncratic Helga Blow. Helga was left the hotel by her father, the Sri Lankan ambassador to Paris, and she has turned it into a home. Bracingly strong margaritas are served to the sound of Cole Porter at seven o’clock and guests dress for dinner. When we retired, we found another romantic touch: our four-poster had been scattered with rose petals.

Unlike India where the distance between cities can be gruelling, Sri Lanka is more compact. We decided to make our ascent into the mountains by train. Kandy station with its wooden-panelled ticket booths, looked as if it has been lifted from the set of The Railway Children.

For the five-hour journey to Nuwara Eliya, seats in the air-conditioned Observation Car were £1.50 each.

Here we sat, looking out of a picture window at breath-taking scenery. As the train chuffed through the tea plantations my younger son gasped: “This is paradise.”

When we stopped along the way, bearers jumped aboard, carrying baskets of sweets and freshly-roasted peanuts.

The only disappointment was Nuwara Eliya itself. Shrouded in mist - and golf courses - it is the hill station where the Sri Lankan elite retreated when the weather became too hot. It still retains a genteel air of enforced leisure.

Next day we headed through the passes of Badulla to the southern coast. Then we saw the sea. Sri Lanka’s coastline is always described in brochures in clichés - palm trees, miles of deserted sand. It’s disconcerting to find it’s all true.

True flavour of sri lanka

We stayed at the designer Lighthouse Hotel in Galle, before moving along the coast to Bentota to stay in Villa Mohotti. This was the hotel that best combined comfort with the true flavour of Sri Lanka.

Set in a coconut grove, this 19th-century Dutch colonial planter’s mansion is luxurious and yet feels like home.

At the nearby beach, there are no street traders, sun loungers or food stalls, because a law bans even signs to advertise them. Ironically, we actually needed a bit of sign-posting to find out where to eat, but a young man came to our rescue.

Inevitably he had a cousin with a beach restaurant. What was unexpected was that the ultra-fresh 500g lobster was less than a fiver and perfectly served with just a squeeze of lime juice.

Our children - who are so deprived they’d never tasted it before - ordered seconds. The holiday might have been cheap, but I fear they’ve come away with very expensive tastes.