Sri Lanka is one of my favourite countries to visit. There are so many stunning landscapes to see on a relatively small island. Sigiriya seems to sit above the treetops and can be seen for miles, tea plantations roll across endless hills and elephants gather around wide open reservoirs.
The legendary Brief Garden however is like a finding a magical secret garden through a door in the jungle. The garden and bungalow belonged to and was designed by Bevis Bawa in the 1960s. It inspired his brother, the famous Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa, to create Lunuganga.
I love finding these places of a bygone time and imagining the lives that were lived and the things they got up to. Search among the many paths, terraces, ponds and hidden nooks and crannies and you’ll find overgrown homoerotic sculptures, also beautiful white frangipani and the sinister looking black lily.
We were offered tea and shown around the yellow bungalow. The last thing we saw in the house was a stunning mural of Sri Lankan life, before a hidden passageway takes you down through the floor and pops you back out in the jungle.
The Easter bombings of 2019 hit the tourism industry in Sri Lanka badly, less than a year before coronavirus hit the industry worldwide. But this jewel of a country is so incredibly welcoming and I hope we’ll keep visiting again and again.
