Jan

19

Top 31 Places for 2010?

Posted by Larry Habegger

Every year around this time the New York Times (and other publications) publish lists of their favorite destinations for the new year. Often places on the list are obvious, often not, and sometimes there are real surprises.

On the Times’s list this year I’d put Copenhagen, Shanghai, and Costa Rica in the first category, Damascus, Bahia, and Istanbul in the second category, and Shenzhen (China), Koh Kood (Thailand), and Montenegro in the third.

Number 1 on the list, however, is Sri Lanka, and that’s a place I’d put at the top of my list for this year, a country I last visited in 1979. The island is just emerging from three decades of civil war and finally, one hopes, can put such strife behind. The island is rich in archaeological treasures, ancient culture, exotic (from a Western perspective) wildlife, and pristine beaches. Not to mention the home of a revered relic, “Buddha’s Tooth.” It’s time for a return visit.

Filed Under Feature, Travel


Comments

2 Responses to “Top 31 Places for 2010?”

  1. Teresa O'Kane on January 29th, 2010 4:14 pm

    Couldn’t agree more about your number one recommendation. http://www.intltravelnews.com/2009/12/sri-lanka-%E2%80%94-surprising-and-a-bit-surreal/

  2. Oman on May 3rd, 2010 3:58 am

    Damascus is an extraordinary place - all the more so if combined with the rest of Syria - Tadmor was my highlight of a memorable journey

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