During his holiday here, my brother made an interesting observation: that, in general, Sri Lankans are less clean and hygienic. We argued about it, and then—of course, in the true spirit of sibling rivalry—I started looking for evidence to refute his hypothesis. I was also strongly motivated by a more immediate irritation: the lack of decent washrooms in touristy but sparsely populated areas outside Colombo, which forced me to strictly control my water intake.