Trincomalee (Trinco) appeals to tourists primarily as the gateway to the fine and Uppuveli and Nilaveli beaches. Possibly the site of historic Gokana in the Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle), the town itself is mildly attractive and is situated around several picturesque bays and rocky peninsulas. Its economic trump card is a superb deep-water port, considered to be one of the world’s finest. However, this has made it the target for all manner of foreign attacks: the Danish preceded the Portuguese, who desecrated the city’s holiest Hindu shrine before losing Trinco to the Dutch. By the British takeover in 1795, the city had changed hands another seven times. It suffered further attacks in WWII, this time from Japanese bombing raids.

Today the population is a potentially explosive mix of Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims. Although the city was safe and enjoyably vibrant at the time of research, interethnic tensions erupted again in April 2006, so keep your ear to the ground.

Kandy served as the capital of the last Sinhalese kingdom, which fell to the British in 1815 after defying the Portuguese and Dutch for three centuries. It took the British 11 years to build a road linking Kandy with Colombo a task they finally completed in 1831.

The town, and the countryside around it, is lush and green and there are many pleasant walks from the town and further afield. The town centre, close to Kandy’s picturesque lake set in a bowl of hills, is a delightful jumble of old shops, antique and gemstone specialists, a bustling market and a very good selection of hotels, guesthouses and restaurants. As night falls the city becomes eerily quiet.

Kandy is particularly well known for the great Kandy Esala Perahera, held over 10 days leading up to the Nikini poya (full moon) at the end of the month of Esala (July/August), but has enough attractions to justify a visit at any time of year.

Locally, Kandy is known as either Maha Nuwara (Great City) or just Nuwara (City), which is what some conductors on Kandy-bound buses call out.