Tourism is not an ethics-free zone

The corporate press have little memory, so suggesting “hot” places to travel usually ignores human rights abuses in a country.

Take Sri Lanka. The New York Times has written before, post the end of the civil war in May 2009, to visit this glorious nation. No comment is made about a nation run by war criminals. It’s a police state, people.

The Times is back at it again:

30 Elephant Orphanage and Kandy Start at the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage in Kegalle and watch them take their baths; the older elephants submerge themselves in the gentle rapids, while the babies shower their backs with water spurting from their trunks — all against a backdrop of palm trees and distant mountains. Surrounding restaurants have terraces, perfect for nursing a Lion Lager. Next, hire a car and driver for the hilly and often beautiful one-hour drive to the ancient capital of Kandy. Though it suffers from urban sprawl, the city’s center is home to a sacred Buddhist shrine, Sri Dalada Maligawa, the Temple of the Tooth, which is set on a picturesque lake.

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