Few islands have inspired, and continue to inspire, travellers quite like Sri Lanka.

Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo, two of the most famed travellers from the Middle Ages, both have extensive accounts that speak of the island’s timeless ability to evoke awe: how, they both wondered separately in their writings, had such diversity of cultures and environmental richness been bequeathed to one tiny island in the Indian Ocean? Their questions continued to be echoed today by modern travellers as they post videos and photographs of their travels within the island on social media, in countless languages.