Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka used to be called Ceylon but was renamed to avoid the constant issue of its people, the Celanese, being mistaken for a large American plastics company. Such are the social consequences of rampant capitalism.

You'd be forgiven for thinking I don't like Sri Lanka when you read some of the things I've written. Oddly enough, that's simply not the case. It's a marvellous place with marvellous people. But it's also a place of smack in the face contrasts and irreconcilable paradox.

A year on from the tsunami, the affected zone was still full of packing case shacks, despite the world's instant generosity providing all the money needed and more (80 million rupees disappeared into the pockets of the Prime Minister alone, allegedly) because the government wouldn't allow rebuilding in the zone. Sri Lankan schools, in the main, are open air buildings that look like something out of a British Empire era Pathe news flick and yet Sri Lanka has a 96% literacy rate. The roads are pot-holed, unpredictable and packed with a constant two-way stream of jostling vehicles playing high speed chicken and yet you'll be hard pushed to find a single accident. And the people are gentle and quietly hospitable but aggressive touts wander around the tourist areas like a swarm of persistent, irritating flies.

There are times when you'd pay big bucks just to be transported to a seat in a quiet corner of nowhere.

• Visiting Sri Lanka - A quick idea of what to expect
• Galle - Way down south
• Colombo - The big shitty