I've been to Sir Lanke three times, never dove there but it was a
way-station on my way to dive the Maldives.  On the last occasion, I
hired a car and driver and had him take me up to Nuwar Elia, 8,000 feet
up in the mountains,a town that had the appearance of a local English
village, the Brits used to call such places "Hill Stations" and they
tried to re-create "Merry Olde England," in a pseudo-Alpine setting...a
kind of Shangra La with colorful tea plantations along the roadside and
many switchbacks to drive up there where.a young man (roadside seller)
threw Callow Lillies at my feet --I felt I had to pay him -- only a
pittance. I only did this because I once saw a movie with that famous
line--"The Callow Lillies are in bloom!  What a strange flower."

I'd be worried about going back to Sri Lanke in view of the
headlines...but there is a special Angel fish that swims off the coast
there that one can find nowhere else.  It would be nice to get a u/w
photo of it --but not sure that it would be worth the risk of getting
blown up in a terriorist attack and become "collateral damage" with a
headline in the home town newspapers...

LOCAL MAN KILLED IN TERRIORIST ATTACK!