The moment Bandaranaike International Airport comes into sight, the first palm trees greet you, a peacock crosses your path, and an incredibly spicy scent hits your nose, you know you're there, you're back, on one of the most beautiful islands in the Indian Ocean: Sri Lanka.

It all began in 2015 with our first three-week tour of Sri Lanka's tourist highlights: Sigiriya, Kandy, Ella, Galle... Even this first trip was such a wonderful experience, with countless big and small adventures, discoveries, and new acquaintances, that saying goodbye was particularly difficult, thanks in part to a wonderful travel companion.

The decision to go on a self-guided trip was the right one every minute. We learned so much new things in those three weeks, discovered places away from the hustle and bustle of tourism, immersed ourselves in the culinary diversity of the countless small family restaurants, met new friends, and always felt welcome. We returned home completely overwhelmed and well-rested.

These many impressions simply wouldn't leave me alone; we had only seen so much briefly, leaving no time for anything else. I looked at our photos again and again and immersed myself in the world full of colors, exotic animals and plants, temples and pagodas. But what fascinated me most was the warm interactions with one another, the cheerful nature of the people, their approach to their religion, mostly Buddhism, in a very natural, quiet way that invites you to be there without belonging to it, the possibilities to approach it in many different ways, the fascinating way of interacting with one another, the colorful mix of many ethnic groups.

Almost 10 years have passed since then, and I have made several trips, with family and alone, with ever-new impressions, and I remain fascinated by this incredibly diverse country.

It is what it is, it remains a magical place, and you'll come back again and again...

Our travel companion from back then has stayed by my side all these years, and that's a great treasure. Thanks to him and his family, daily life, the little things and the big things of everyday life, has become very familiar to me, helping me to throw prejudices aside.

It's a slightly different way of traveling and sharing the incredible treasures of a small island in the Indian Ocean with friends. All these wonderful impressions, supplemented by interesting and unexpected facts, are the content of my websites. They don't claim to be complete, but rather the desire to awaken a thirst for travel and curiosity about other cultures, other ways of life, and other customs, so that you can reflect, question, and tolerate them.

The little, unexciting things appear regularly - irregularly - in my blog... supplemented by current information and interesting facts.

Ayubowan, Elise

I´m happy, to accompany you on my journey, to share all the incredible treasures with you of a small island in a great ocean