Southern India and Sri Lanka-Different enough to travel to both?
 

Hi-
I am planning a trip16-20 da ytrip to southern India starting in Chennai and ending in Mysore. We will be seeing southern circuit temple towns, tea, spice and rubber plantations , hill towns and backwaters of Kerala. I was thinking of flying to Sri Lanka at the end of this circuit for a change of scenery and to extend the trip. However,after reading the guidebooks, it seems like the scenery in Sri Lanka's tea country would looks simila rto India"s.. Correct? I am not interested in a beach vacation in either country., So I am feeling that basically going to Sri Lanka after 2-3 weeks in southern India might give me a "more of the same" feeling. rather than a change of scenery. What do you think?

Well, Sri Lanka is largely Buddhist (Theraveda) and South India is mostly Hindu (with what appears to be a preponderonce toward Vishnu worship) with a smattering of Catholics left from the French and Portuguese occupation, so from a cultural standpoint, the two are quite different. (Sri Lanka of course has some Hindu Tamils, but in my expereince there it is Buddism which is more apparent.) So I think you might find it quite interesting to see how Buddhism is interpreted in a more Indian context versus the Buddhism of say Thailand (also Theraveda) or China (Mahayana, and quite different). The art and architecture of the temples is quite different for example. The food is a bit different, not hugely so, but different from say Goa which has the Porgugese influence. I think you might also have an easier time seeing wildlife in Sri Lanka, as the parks there seem to be better set up for this than Peryiar in the south (I have not been to others in the south of India so can't really speak with experience but that is my impression.)

www.ulpotha.com/
COLOMBO:
www.gallefacehotel.com
KANDY:
www.helgasfolly.com/
TEA COUNTRY:
www.teatrails.com/
YALA:
www.galapita.com/
SOUTH COAST:

www.galleforthotel.com/

There's a week's worth of stuff you won't find in Sth India.

Shelly, I haven't been to southern India yet, but it's on my list. We loved Sri Lanka. From my research, Southern India seems sufficiently different that I wouldn't hesitate to do both.

Dogster has given you some good places to look at. BTW, my recommendation in Kandy is thekandyhouse.com

Thanks for your input,everyone. I'll get started on dogster's links as soon as I have the time. Ciccerone, we have decided to forgo Peryiar as I hear the wildlife viewing there is usually disappointing. Instead we are heading for Munnar's tea country. I will post my new proposed southern India itinerary when it is finalized. I am still in the researching several aspects of it. I hope you will comment on it when you see it.