• expired

Colombo (Sri Lanka) Return ex Perth $365, Syd $421, Melb $429, GC $437 with AirAsia

680

Some awesome fares tonight to the Sri Lanka - The Land of Lions. Spent some time putting this one together, but well worth it once again. Unfortunately, there are no AirAsia flights from Adelaide to Colombo. Good luck!

Used the following dates in this test, but there's stacks of dates at these prices:

Depart 22/08 Return 07/09 Melbourne
Depart 21/08 Return 07/09 Sydney
Depart 21/08 Return 09/09 Perth
Depart 13/08 Return 29/08 Gold Coast

Booking Period: 07 April 2014 - 20 April 2014
Travel Period: 08 April 2014 - 30 September 2014

Some Interesting Reading:

Sri Lanka is often referred to as a pearl in the Indian Ocean, and with good reason. For a country of its size, you will be surprised by the island’s variety; from golden beaches to verdant tea plantation, an abundance of wildlife to ancient temples. The Cultural Triangle comprises a succession of ancient capitals and Buddhist sites scattered throughout the forests, while the busy lakeside city of Kandy attracts devotees to the Temple of Tooth. Huge man-made lakes have kept the area irrigated for millennia and continue to provide water for both the paddy fields and thirsty wild elephants and other wildlife.

The mountainous centre of the island is the county’s tea growing region and on the southern shore you will find fortified Galle, where the Portuguese walls defended Dutch churches. Sri Lanka was one of the first countries in the world to create national parks, now home to a great diversity of flora and fauna. More and more visitors are attracted by its whale watching opportunities, but the country is better known for its population of wild elephants and record number of leopards.

Its written history exceeds 2550 years and the island fell under Portuguese and Dutch influence after the 16th century, and Britain began its conquest in the 1790s. The British took over in 1796, and Ceylon became an English Crown colony in 1802. The British developed coffee, tea, and rubber plantations. On Feb. 4, 1948, after pressure from Ceylonese nationalist leaders, Ceylon became a self-governing dominion of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The natural beauty of Sri Lanka’s tropical forests, beaches and landscape, as well as its rich cultural heritage, make it a world famous tourist destination. The country with probably the most perfect climate in the world: 25-30 °C all year round and just enough rain to keep things lush and green – a bit more in the south, a bit less in the north – as the tail of the monsoons hit the island. Sri Lankan’s are always hospitable, smiling, friendly and helpful people.

(source http://www.klutours.com/in-brief-srilanka.html)

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closed Comments

  • +8

    Awesome deal. Sri Lanka is an awesome country with awesome people. If you are thinking about an overseas trip with some mates you should definitely jump on this.

    • Damn - booked earlier in the year already for travel July -> August… think we paid about 620 base fare but with choosing seats, meals etc total came to $2240 for 2 adults, 1 child.. can't wait!

      • Same here, I've already booked for 2 adults and 2 kids. Came around $3k.

        Now looking for hotel bookings and finding that the best hotels are getting filled fast. Best ones are very expensive. However given what facilities they offer, it's still very good value. It's a really beautiful place with all the natural beauty and ranked as #1 tourist destination in the world in most of the top tourism catalogues for past 2 years.

        • My wife is Sri Lankan and we have lots of friends/family there so that should make things a tad easier =D It's also my second visit

  • +1

    Snoopy how much a night is your apartment ?

    • +6

      Absolutely Pauladams. I love ozbargain but i hate the willful ignorance and obcession with money. Yes i love saving money but i dont see why everyone goes hysterical once you point out the ethical implications of some of these 'bargains'

      • Same, I posted mentioning Russia invading Ukraine and the negs came flying.

        I wonder where these pro-invaders would be if someone invaded Australia. Go, you good thing go?

      • +1

        .. Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka's most prominent Tamil and Test cricket's greatest wicket-taker, suggested undue attention was being given to the Tamil northern region.

        The off-spinner, who retired from test cricket in 2010 with 800 test wickets, added: "My opinion is, there were problems in the last 30 years in those areas. Nobody could move there. In wartime, I went with the UN, I saw the place, how it was. Now I regularly go and I see the place and it is about a 1,000 per cent improvement in facilities.

        http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/did-pm-misread-…

        There are always two sides to every story.

        • +2

          lol.

          Maybe you should ask someone who actually lives in the North and not a multi millionaire who has only been there for publicity. He may be good at cricket, but I would never take his advice on this human rights violations perpetrated by a majority government that occurred towards the end of a vile civil war.

          Feel free to watch this documentary: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/sri-lankas-killing-fields…

          That being said, Sri Lanka is an amazingly beautiful place with wonderful people. However what happened during the civil war will tarnish the country forever.

          Until the war criminals (both sides) are punished for their wrongdoings, the pain will always exist and remain.

        • Maybe you should ask someone who actually lives in the North and not a multi millionaire who has only been there for publicity.

          By accusing Murali as "..only been there for publicity..", you show how far off the mark you are! Not even Channel 4 levelled that allegation.

          Sri Lanka has responded to the "documentary" you linked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5O1JAfRXew

          Until the war criminals (both sides) are punished for their wrongdoings, the pain will always exist and remain.

          This is a misconception. I encourage you to read about TRC of South Africa and the difference between punitive justice vs restorative justice. Sri Lanka has pardoned and given vocational training to former Tamil tigers and released them to the society rather than punishing them.

          "..11,770 Rehabilitated Ex-LTTE Cadres of Both Genders Are Being Re-integrated into Society.."
          http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/15251

          Now please compare this to how some countries incarcerate suspects in GTMO-bay under severely harsh conditions and how other pro-Human rights countries don't make a fuss about such war crimes.

          On the other hand, the former leader of the women's brigade of Tamil Tiger terrorists now lives comfortably in the UK.

          Lord Naseby said that the creator, recruiter and organizer of Tamil child soldiers in Sri Lanka, Mrs. Adele Balasingham lives comfortably in Southern England.
          The Australian Nurse who trained child soldiers lives comfortably in London

          http://www.virunews.com/tiger-recruiter-lives-comfortably-en…
          http://myapologetics.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/the-australian…

          She is not punished by the UK government because this is a political game to topple the China-friendly Sri Lankan government rather than a quest for safeguarding human rights. If the latter were true, we would have seen them punishing their own former leaders for "invading a country on a completely phony pretext".

          Do we really have to fall victim to these political games of some super powers and let go off these bargains?

    • I don't take bargains from USA and UK - They are condemned for their human rights record. (WMD and Drones!)
      I don't take bargains from China - They are condemned for their human rights record.
      I don't take bargains from Thailand or Vietnam - The poor are abused for a pittance.
      I don't take bargains from Arab - Women are mistreated.
      I don't take bargains from India - lower castes are abused by the higher castes.
      ….
      ….
      Or, how about actually travelling there and help someone if you really care? This ticket price is a baaaaargain, so why don't you donate the savings you make to some defenceless victims?

        • -2

          pauladams,

          ….Just FYI only a Buddhist can be a president there. How would the minorities have reacted if there was a rule that only a white can be prime minister in Australia….

          This is absolutely rubbish. I can't blame you — you are a victim of the propaganda Tamil Tiger terrorists carried out. I encourage you to point out the clause of the constitution makes such a restriction (their constitution is available online). I have previously researched on this very aspect and questioned many pro-Tamil tiger speakers who could not substantiate their claim other than "…ah…someone else told me this….". If you research into this, you would realise that Sri Lankan constitution merely states that one of the religions (Buddhism) enjoys the state patronage. It stops there, but the propagandists do not. Be mindful that, there are number of modern European nations that has constitutionally privileged state religions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_religion

          SL’s transformation after war is ‘highly impressive’ – Australian delegation
          http://newsfirst.lk/english/2014/01/sls-transformation-war-h…

          So wouldn't you think refusing to grab a bargain flight ticket to Sri Lanka is misguided?

          I don't know about your value systems but Sri Lanka certainly fails when compared to contemporary Australian values.

          How would USA and UK compare to your interpretation of 'contemporary' values? Invading countries on 'phony pretexts'? Continuous drone attacks on other countries causing civilian deaths? Or causing the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children? [http://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/01/world/iraq-sanctions-kill-children-un-reports.html], Or suspects held without trial in GTMO-bay for 10 years? Do you expect war crimes investigations into these? ;-) Or, do you say these are your 'contemporary values'?

          If there is any human rights yard-stick that find faults with Sri Lanka, the same yard-sticks find much bigger faults with our western friends. If you choose turn a blind eye to the bigger faults caused by our friends, you surely aren't upholding any values.

          If you wonder why you have fallen victim to Tamil tiger propaganda, the reason is below:

          "WikiLeaks: David Miliband 'championed aid to Sri Lanka to win votes of Tamils in UK'"

          “He said that with UK elections on the horizon and many Tamils living in Labour constituencies with slim majorities, the government is paying particular attention to Sri Lanka, with Miliband recently remarking to Waite that he was spending 60 per cent of his time at the moment on Sri Lanka.”

          http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8175415/…

  • +7

    Just got back from Sri Lanka last week. Very nice. Do try it.

  • +3

    This is seeeeeeeriously cheap. Awesome find TA.

  • +2

    The Land of Lions ? misleading information, i think you can only find lion in Zoo

    • +2

      Someone a little better after losing a final mohan 76?

      • losing a final ? i don't get it

    • +6

      Sri Lanka is beautiful.

      Do heed the travel warnings though:

      http://smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Sri_Lanka

      Most of the violence never reaches Colombo or tourists, as long as you're white, but it's not the least corrupt third world country by far (current government has a lot of blood on it's hands - the decades-long war there has basically ended, not because a peaceful solution was found, but because the army finally slaughtered most of the minorities they've been oppressing, and there's no one left to defend themelves anymore). The army and police have a lot of practice making people disappear, especially journalists.

    • +2

      pauladams,

      Is this a dup comment? I've responded to this earlier.
      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/139578#comment-1925024

    • +2

      Just FYI here is the list of people who contested in 2010 presidential Election.

      http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_presidential_elect…

      I can see at least 4 of them either muslim or tamil background (non budhist).

      • +2

        hmmm, here's something else from the same article…

        Sri Lankan elections have a history of violence, misuse of state resources, and other violations of election laws. Sri Lankan police received nearly 975 election-related complaints, and 375 arrests were made relative thereto.[18] The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) had recorded 809 incidents from 23 November 2009, when the elections were officially announced, to 25 January 2010.[19] People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) has recorded 666 incidents between 17 December 2009 and 25 January 2010.[20] The UN, United States, and EU expressed concern over the level of violence.[21][22][23] Election monitoring groups stated that this election was the most violent in more than 20 years.[24][25] Although supporters of both main candidates were blamed for the incidents, the responsibility for most was pinned on Rajapaksa's supporters.[26] However, government politician Wimal Weerawansa accused the opposition of orchestrating violence against their own supporters and meetings in order to blame Rajapaksa's backers.[27] According to the National Polls Observation Center, criminal gangs and deserters from the army were employed to incite violence.[28]

        • +1

          Hey dealman, I was pointing to the fact that anyone can run for the election. Not only Buddhist as mentioned by pauladmas.

        • Oh you can run for elections, just don't expect to not be murdered leading up to the election.

        • -2

          There were 2 attempts on the lives of Sri Lankan presidential candidates and both attempts were carried out by the Tamil tigers.

          In addition, Tamil tigers successfully assassinated two heads of state; one from Sri Lanka and the other from India.

          Tamil tigers were crushed in 2009 and no further assassination attempts on presidential candidates have been reported.

        • -2

          Here is a CCTV footage of a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber carrying out an assassination in a Tamil political party office in 2007. The victims were also Tamils.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFCW-KxMKkQ

    • WTF?? And Australia's soooooo beautifully safe and virtuous, Paul Adams? How many murders this week?!

      • How many murders this week?!

        less than Srilanka

  • This is an insane price!! Why does this not have more votes :S

    • +10

      Because you didn't vote maybe? :)

  • Is this place safe with a toddler ?

    • +3

      yea, i was there in october-november and i saw parents with young children traveling.

      you would probably want to hire your own driver through so you didnt need to use public transport. you could take a train ride or two though.

      i never once felt unsafe in this country

      • +2

        I also agree with the idea of hiring a car with a sri lankan driver :). I strongly suggest to take the train ride from Colombo to the hill country(Badulla). There are plenty of hotels and rest houses available.
        Also if you have time you can visit the nice beaches in east coast.

  • -6

    Better bring a few cans of air freshener.

  • +4

    Sri Lanka was Lonely Planet's best travel destination in 2013

    http://www.lonelyplanet.com/themes/best-in-travel/top-10-cou…

    If you plan to make a trip to Sri Lanka, don't forget Migrationology's food guide. I find this dude's travel and food videos very interesting.

    A few other useful travel guides.

    • From Sydney Morning Herald: Wonder land

    http://www.smh.com.au/travel/activity/great-outdoors/wonder-…

    • Sri Lanka Guide - National Geographic

    http://travel.nationalgeographic.com.au/travel/countries/sri…

  • +3

    Thanks OP!

    Booked 24th June-8th July for $770 for 2 people. Great deal :)

  • +3

    And for anyone looking for great Sri Lankan/Australian accommodation in Galle to accommodate the great Airfare check us out www.templeberg.com. and http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel_Review-g297896-d3822876-….

    We're an Aussie/Kiwi family now based in Galle offering laid back rustic luxury at an affordable price.

    Prices for a one bedroom start at $99USD and for a two bedroom cottage $150USD. For May and June we are also running a special www.templeberg.com/news/specials

  • -1

    hmm, take a holiday in a country that has been accused of war crimes and support its corrupt government..no thanks

    • +2

      yet you happily live in a country where natives were murdered and generations were stolen.

      Ironic?

      • -2

        you are comparing what happened decades/centuries ago to what has been happening in the past few years and is still on-going. the difference is that you are in a position to make a material difference to the situation in srilanka, on the contrary, there is not a lot you can do regarding what transpired before you were even born. FYI i partook in the protests that were held in the melbourne CBD during the height of the crisis/genocide, it was disheartening to see that it fell on deaf ears.

    • +2

      Pauladams

      Lol !!! That is what you call a banana republic

      You sound like 'sour grapes' because the Tamil tiger terrorists were finally defeated. Care to educate yourself about what the World Bank says about Sri Lanka?

      Sri Lanka is now focusing on long-term strategic and structural development challenges as it strives to transition to an upper middle income country.

      The Sri Lankan economy has seen robust annual growth at 6.4 percent over the course of 2003 to 2012, well above its regional peers.

      Economic prosperity has been broadly shared.Shared prosperity has been associated with dramatic declines in poverty. Sri Lanka experienced a big decline in poverty between 2002 and 2009 – from 23 percent to 9 percent of the population.

      http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/srilanka/overview

    • +3

      pauladams,

      You are referring to the pre-1940s whereas we are talking about contemporary matters…However look at the values we espouse now compared to what a banana republic Sri Lanka is now.

      I have responded to this earlier with a list of contemporary, post-1990s war crimes committed by our 'powerful friends', which you haven't answered so far. Here is the link again:
      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/139578#comment-1925024

      You can't "espouse values" when you choose to turn a blind eye to those.

      Sri Lanka has defeated the Tamils.

      This is as ridiculous as saying "…America has defeated Muslims…" referring to the defeat of al-Qaeda. Sri Lanka crushed a group of terrorists that was also banned in India, Europe and in the USA. It is naive in your part to call them "Tamils". Do you call al-Qaeda as "Muslims"? Tamil tigers killed Tamil politicians and civilians, just like al-Qaeda kill other Muslim politicians and civilians. Tamil Tigers also killed one of India's former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Here is a video of a Tamil Tiger terrorist suicide bomber killing Tamil civilians. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIEtWRYy6ls

  • -3

    Rwanda , Bosnia and srilanka are all same with different timelines of course different scales.
    Ethnic cleansing based on religion/language/birth is not a my B A R G A I N.
    humanity is what I speak for..

    • +1

      Tamil tigers fought to carve out an ethnically pure state for Tamils in northern Sri Lanka and engaged in ethnic cleansing. Tamil Tigers were finally crushed in 2009.

      The massacre was part of a Tamil Tiger campaign of ethnic cleansing. In 1992, the village stood in the way of the Tamil Tigers' brutal campaign to ethnically cleanse parts of northern and eastern Sri Lanka which they wanted as part of their state of Tamil Eelam.
      ..
      Mr Ishabdeen, say the defeat of the Tamil Tigers and its leadership at the end of the May does provide prospects for peace. "Muslims, Sinhalese people and Tamils can all move freely. After the massacre, there was no peace. Now that the LTTE have been defeated we can take our cattle to those places we couldn't go in the past. Now we are happy - we have no fear."

      About 100,000 Muslim refugees victim of Tamil Tiger ethnic cleansing go home

      11,770 Rehabilitated former Tamil tiger terrorists are being re-integrated into society

      After the defeat of Tamil Tigers, the country is going through a rapid development phase. Certain foreign elements want these former Tamil tiger terrorists punished for their past crimes. Instead of punishing the former Tamil Tiger terrorists for their past crimes, the government pardoned them, provided them with occupational training and re-integrated them back to the society to achieve national reconciliation. As the World Bank report says, Sri Lanka is undergoing a rapid phase of development and overcoming poverty, which the World Bank calls peace dividends. This is indeed a good time to have a holiday there.

      • -1

        if you really believe the drivel thats being pushed by the rajapakse government, then i am sorry to say that you are beyong naive…

        • The links I quoted are from overseas news sources. It is unfortunate that you are still upset about the defeat Tamil tiger terrorists in 2009.

      • -2

        you are really bombing this thread aren't you fella.You call them terrorist other call them freedom fighters.. There is always two side to the coin. Believe in what you think !!!

        • +1

          ..others call them freedom fighters..

          Yes, those who support the ethnic cleansing and massacres committed by Tamil tigers call them "freedom fighters". I am merely quoting independent news sources. You are calling this "bombing" because they don't support your position?

        • +1

          Separate state just for Tamils is as crazy idea as your unreasonable comments. It can not win in this century as people are educated now and during a time entire world is shrinking to one village. People travel and move a lot these days. I am sure you did too. So keep you separatist ideas behind and learn to live peacefully with other people and learn to accept the differences.

          Try to keep this thread for the deal posted to go to a beautiful place rather than promoting your ideology.

  • -1

    Sri Lanka is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful countries in Indian Ocean, but do you want to step on 60,000 Tamils buried bodies from May 2009?
    Not sure if you have seen UK Channel 4's Killing Fields of Sri Lanka documentary. Just YouTube it before grabbing this bargain. Or check out Prime Minister Camron Twitter.
    If the current government doesn’t have anything to hide, why would it refuse an Independent War Crimes Investigations by the UN? Of course Australia, (even though we believe in humanity) doesn’t support UN as Abbotts want to stop the boats.
    Muralitharan, the cricketer, isn’t a native Sri Lankan Tamil, have never lived in the war affected areas. However used by the SL Govt for marketing and refusing allegations.

    • +2

      Ppl know what Cameron is fishing for.. You cannot accept the fact that there are Tamils like Murali in SL who didn't support terrorists. Don't worry about SL or their cricketers (they even have a Tamil as their national cricket captain and it's not a problem for Sri Lankans). You have more problems in your country than stepping into others businesses. If you have extra time, try raising some funds to build some toilets for your ppl. They are shitt*** everywhere. Find a different forum to spread your hatred and LTTE propaganda.
      This is about a good deal to fly to a nice place. The other thing is that you take the numbers out from your a** like many other politicians did fishing for votes from the stupid ppl like you.

      • -2

        Stupid? Learn to respect others in forums. It shows your lack of knowledge and respect for others in this forum.

    • +3

      But there are hundreds and thousands of graves here too.
      they are just well hidden/forgotten.

      Do you think 3 generations down from us will rememeber Sri Lanka/Gaza/Chechnya/Middle East/Twin Towers/etc the same way we remember them?

      They would remember them like we remember WWII/Native wipe out Australia/US/Canada/etc

      Its just a power game.

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