Photos from the outback of Sri Lanka

I took this while heading with my then-teenage kids on a trek in Sri Lanka. The sun was rising from the east through a structure erected to hold a water tank. The morning sunshine had made the entire landscape and pristine natural garden shine to a bright pleasing orange.

A scene through a window from my friend’s holiday home in Awissawella Sri Lanka. The scene felt like a green rainforest where time had stood still. A slight mist was falling on the range below. The tree on the right is a breadfruit tree. It produces tasty breadfruit, a staple diet for centuries in Sri Lanka for the locals. I loved it as a kid.

I was sipping my morning tea lazily when I captured this scene.

‘Temple Troop of Toque Macaques’ has been featured in numerous natural history documentaries. While visiting the historic town of Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, I caught this beautiful creature against a coloured backdrop, ascending a tree. The sharpness of the colours blew me away. Polonnaruwa is a city dating from the 8th century. It houses hundreds of archaeological structures best viewed in the soft sunlight. You’ll be surprised how many monkeys have made their homes within the ruins.

Two young turkey birds, domesticated and living in the temple with the monks, pass while the novice monks sweep the holy grounds at the Buddhist shrine in Mihintale, Sri Lanka, a 3rd BC site. The birds are free to roam on the temple grounds. The barefoot monks’ orange robes and their eco-friendly brooms made a contrasting backdrop against the turkeys. Mihintale is revered as the birthplace of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

The earth is parched brown from the drought in North East of Sri Lanka during the hot season.

The white cranes hang around for the fish that have survived in the diminishing water.

The morning sun shines through the plush leafy green garden in Polonnaruwa, an ancient central Sri Lankan city.

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Images belong to the original owners.