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Thousands of articles can be found online that suggest the perfect trip itineraries for Sri Lanka. Well, I went through hundreds of them while planning my holiday this year. This article is hence not about the top attractions you absolutely have to see, and the experiences you definitely should have in Sri Lanka. Rather, I have shared my observations and suggestions based upon my experiences, encompassing a range of issues, from mobile SIM card advice to realistic travel time expectations. Hope this helps you with your trip plan, and that you have a great holiday like I did!
My first bleary-eyed thoughts
Every place has a unique feel, sometimes it can be subtle and more often than not, so completely obvious. For me, the vibe was electrical when my family and I disembarked at the Bandarnaike International Airport. There, right next to the modest duty free, was an overwhelming row of shops selling household appliances. And while my travel complacent mind was still figuring out what the anomaly in the airport scene was, my daughter wondered out loud “Why would anyone want to buy a washing machines and refrigerators at the airport?” We learnt that tax free makes for a sizeable price difference; so all returning Sri Lankans duly make their purchases of white goods and household electrical items here, casually carting their bulky purchases out through customs!
Line up for your local SIM
A SIM with a good data package is what we were seeking to keep us connected with the rest of the world over our 10-day holiday. Right outside customs in the public area sat the whole range of mobile service kiosks. While Mobitel and Etisalat had dedicated queues of people, Hutch was empty. With tired kids in tow, we decided to hit the kiosk with the empty counter for a quick purchase, only to realise the rationale behind the lines the next day. The Hutch connectivity was terrible! Through our driving holiday, we moved from one urban establishment to another urging the connection on the phone with eager eyes to go up to at least a respectable two bars. This was such a classic example of the popular saying “do as the locals do”!
Travel time is a lot more than you would expect
On the very first day of our tour, we were to drive from Negombo to the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage. My husband promptly whipped out his iPhone to check Google maps for the time it would take to our destination. However while Google maps confidently informed us it would take 2 hours to our destination, our driver guide padded up time estimates by another 1 hour. He chuckled at our puzzled expressions and told us that in Sri Lanka, Google “uncle” cannot be relied on completely.
We realized why very soon! Many of the roads, despite being in excellent shape are single road systems and pass through crowded towns and villages. Speed hence cannot be high, despite Google maps showing you that the route is clear all the way. Enjoy the view; keep an eye out for the lottery trucks that drive up and down roads lugging the first prize of cars in order to lure people to buy tickets. The lottery industry is huge in Sri Lanka!
Some of the best food can be found roadside or at the local restaurants
We had heard a lot of good things about Sri Lankan cuisine, and were raring to have a go at it. The Sri Lankan buffet counter at our first place of stay, a 5 star hotel at that, was not impressive. When I felt the same way at our second resort at Sigiriya, I mentioned this to our driver guide, who promptly made it his life’s mission to change my opinion. And he did. We stopped at many a roadside restaurant along the way, gorging on raw mango curry (amba maluwa), tempered banana blossoms (kehel muwa thel dala) and long beans in curry (mae karal) to the accompaniments of rice and poppadum.
Tourism still is in its first blushes
Sri Lankan Tourism has taken to growing by leaps and bounds since 2009 when the country took its first breath of peace in a long time. What we encountered here was a mixed bag of positives and negatives; for one, the locals are still extremely friendly and courteous, and have not been jaded by an overexposure to travelers. Many of the places of natural beauty have not yet been overridden by commercialization, and one hopes the Sri Lankan government has a firm grasp on this aspect.
Having said that, in quick response to the range of travelers visiting Sri Lanka, accommodations for all budgets have sprung up all over the popular tourist areas, be it beach towns like Mirisa, popular cultural spots like Anuradhapura and Galle, or the big cities too!
Sri Lanka makes it to the list of the world’s best beaches..easily so!
A lot of accolades have been showered on the white sands of the Maldives and Seychelles, and rightly so. Sri Lanka’s beaches, especially the ones south of Colombo are it’s best, with soft buttery sands and welcoming warm waters. Choose the beach you would like to spend time at based on what you seek from it: solitude or a lively party atmosphere, water sports or lazing on the sands.. there is a right beach for everyone.
Local currency is king
While credit card penetration is gaining ground, there is still a heavy dependence on cash. Do make sure you have liquidity in either Sri Lankan rupees or US dollars. Like in many countries airports give the worst exchange rates; so head into the city to convert your dollars. Our enterprising tour guide actually got us conversions at better than interbank rates, much to the wonder of my banker husband!
A good tour guide makes all the difference
This flows automatically from the earlier point. Through our travels over the years, we have strongly felt the influence of the tour guide on the quality of our holiday. A good one can make it immensely memorable; we still fondly reminisce about our Jordan holiday from a year ago, and I suspect we will be talking about our Sri Lanka holiday for the next two! On both of these holidays encountered in different parts of the world, our tour guides had a few qualities in common:
They were extremely resourceful. Name the request and they will try their best to see it through. Our guide even sweet-talked the factory outlet store manager we bought our crockery from to give us an additional discount percentage!
They were excellent with the children. Be it a cultural sight or a visit to a tea plantation, they made a big effort to make the experience interesting for the kids. And all us parents know, happy kidsmake for happy parents!
They were extremely flexible. Before we land at our destination, we always make it a point to customize our holiday itinerary to one that is of interest to us. Yet when there, there are always changes in plans. In Kithurgala, our kids made an on the spur decision that they would rather frolic in the river running by our hotel, than have a go at river rafting like we had originally signed up. In such an instance, and many other similar ones, I would look at Dumi our tour guide, and he would smile and say “Lets do it however you enjoy the most! Don’t worry about the time”
Going to shops where guides have tie-ups can be a blessing in disguise!
Having being expertly coached by my girlfriends, and everyone else whom we told that we were off to Sri Lanka (including my daughter’s dentist), I arrived in Sri Lanka well armed with a formidable shopping list; crockery, gems, tea and branded clothes in no particular order.
I have a very good reason to believe that my guide procured for me some excellent tea (I drink it now a days, and I know my tea!) and a great price for the amethyst I bought at a gem store where he had contacts. Yes, a guide forcing you to visit a particular shop or factory as part of the tour is absolutely wrong and not acceptable. But if you hand him your shopping list, and he helps you tick off the list at great prices, he’s your new best friend!
VandanaOm Kumar traveled to Sri Lanka in December 2016.
Image Details and Licences: Road side Sri Lankan fare and Jewllery store (C) Dumi. All other images attribution: Gayatri Kumar