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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,034,272 times
Reputation: 11862
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Two remarkably similar nations:
* Both are roughly the same dimensions, although Sri Lanka is actually more than twice the size of Taiwan! (about the size of Ireland)
* Both near India and China, with histories tied to those nations.
* Both have a similar population size.
* Both were considered paradise on Earth by the Portuguese. Both blessed with great natural settings, with a mountainous interior.
* Both with great food.
Which interests you more? Which would you rather visit, given the chance? Of course they're very different. Taiwan is mostly urban, highly-developed (kind of like Japan or Korea), while Sri Lanka is wealthy compared to India, still maintains a rustic rural charm.
I've been to Taiwan and would love to go to Sri Lanka. Both Formosa and Ceylon conjure up the age of colonialism. Taiwan has a longer history of human settlement, but civilization in Sri Lanka seems to go back further, and it has monuments/temples/palaces older than what you'd find in Southern India. It is one of the only remaining vestiges of Buddhism in South Asia.
I've been to Taiwan many times, so I'd probably prefer going to Sri Lanka if just for the novelty. I actually don't know very much about Sri Lanka, but I've always been curious. I wonder if Sri Lanka has a lot of great architecture, colonial or otherwise. Taiwan tore a good deal of its great historic architecture down due to massive population growth and urban redevelopment.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,034,272 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by OyCrumbler
I've been to Taiwan many times, so I'd probably prefer going to Sri Lanka if just for the novelty. I actually don't know very much about Sri Lanka, but I've always been curious. I wonder if Sri Lanka has a lot of great architecture, colonial or otherwise. Taiwan tore a good deal of its great historic architecture down due to massive population growth and urban redevelopment.
I was just in Taiwan 2 weeks ago and may be heading to Sri Lanka in just over a week! lol.
Sri Lanka has a ton of UNESCO World heritage sites:
Including, amazingly, a cave temple dating back to the 4th century BC! There's also the Temple of the Tooth Relic, said to contain one of the Buddha's tooth.
It also boasts some of the best reserves for watching wildlife in South Asia, beautiful scenery, beaches, and a unique culinary cuisine distinct from India. Like Taiwan, I think it's really a gem, so much packed into a pretty small area.
Taiwan is interesting, for me the scenery was the best part about it. Aboriginal culture was interesting, but in terms of grand buildings it only dates to the 17th century or so. It obviously doesn't have the thousands of years of Chinese heritage that China does but then again, China hardly has any of that left. Very few of China's Han dynasty legacy remains, for instance.
Including, amazingly, a cave temple dating back to the 4th century BC! There's also the Temple of the Tooth Relic, said to contain one of the Buddha's tooth.
It also boasts some of the best reserves for watching wildlife in South Asia, beautiful scenery, beaches, and a unique culinary cuisine distinct from India. Like Taiwan, I think it's really a gem, so much packed into a pretty small area.
Taiwan is interesting, for me the scenery was the best part about it. Aboriginal culture was interesting, but in terms of grand buildings it only dates to the 17th century or so. It obviously doesn't have the thousands of years of Chinese heritage that China does but then again, China hardly has any of that left. Very few of China's Han dynasty legacy remains, for instance.
Congrats on the trips. I was thinking more along the lines of beautiful architecture in neighborhoods rather than monuments. Take some pictures and post them if you see any, yea?
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,034,272 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by OyCrumbler
Congrats on the trips. I was thinking more along the lines of beautiful architecture in neighborhoods rather than monuments. Take some pictures and post them if you see any, yea?
I shall, and I will write a travel blog. It has that too...the historic cities of Kandy and a few others I don't remember how to spell lol. Colombo has it's historic neighbourhoods too, it's more a colonial centre with Portuguese and British architecture.
Taiwan doesn't have the ethnic conflict that Sri Lanka does. And the food in Taiwan is some of the best in the world. Taiwan is farther north, so the climate would be a little more temperate than Sri Lanka.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,034,272 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
Taiwan doesn't have the ethnic conflict that Sri Lanka does. And the food in Taiwan is some of the best in the world. Taiwan is farther north, so the climate would be a little more temperate than Sri Lanka.
I think I prefer Sri Lankan cuisine. They're both super diverse but I think I prefer Indian to Chinese food in general. Southeast Asian food, including so-called 'Malaysian/Singaporean Chinese' (which i prefer to just call Malaysian/Singapore which Chinese influence), Malay, Malaysian-Indian.etc.
I think I prefer Sri Lankan cuisine. They're both super diverse but I think I prefer Indian to Chinese food in general. Southeast Asian food, including so-called 'Malaysian/Singaporean Chinese' (which i prefer to just call Malaysian/Singapore which Chinese influence), Malay, Malaysian-Indian.etc.
Yeah, I thought someone might post that about Sri Lankan food. Curries are definitely good. But the unique thing about Taiwan food is that they have all-vegeterian restaurants with some really unique fake-meat dishes that are surprisingly good. In addition to all the regular Chinese food, which they do to very high quality.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,034,272 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
Yeah, I thought someone might post that about Sri Lankan food. Curries are definitely good. But the unique thing about Taiwan food is that they have all-vegeterian restaurants with some really unique fake-meat dishes that are surprisingly good. In addition to all the regular Chinese food, which they do to very high quality.
That is true. I've tried some of the fake meat and it can be quite convincing, especially if masked with sauce. What I miss about Taipei is some of the desserts/sweets, like the shaved ice with mango, ice cream, pudding.etc. The cheap street food was good, a freshly caught whole fish, rice, 3 vegetables, for only $2 AU/US!
Having been to Sri Lanka, it has a richer built culture (from ancient cities and temples dating before the time of Christ), whereas most of Taiwan's ancient history is aboriginal. The recent history is more Chinese with some Japanese/native mix. Both are fascinating, but so different...Taiwan is no slouch in the nature department, Taroko would be a shoe-in for a UNESCO World heritage site if Taiwan was recognised by the UN. Both are highly underrated destinations to visit, often forgotten next to their two giant neighbours.
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