If it weren't for almost perpetual civil war, Sri Lanka would be a model of ethnic and religious diversity. Four of the world's chief faiths—Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity—live side-by-side on the teardrop-shaped island once known as Ceylon. The colonial history is a patchwork, too, with the island controlled successively by Portuguese, Dutch, and English interests prior to independence in 1948. Sri Lanka is also steeped—like its famous tea—in legend: Adam's Peak boasts a giant footprint on top, which Christian pilgrims claim is where Adam landed when he was flung to earth from the Garden of Eden. Buddhists assert it's the... More >>>