I got tickets through this deal 5 months ago:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/201010
Basically, I don't know anything about Sri Lanka and I'm looking for any advice from fellow ozbargainers.
Going with my wife for 2 weeks (mid 30s couple).
Going Sri Lanka on February.
LRogaor on 16/12/2015 - 18:02
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I lived there for 18 years. If you want to know anything just Pm me :)
new users with accounts less than a day old cannot initiate new conversations. :(
Ooh ok. I never knew that. Check your inbox i send you a message
Great! PM with any specific queries, native here. Enjoy!
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Oops. Enabled.
To star with, I'd like to know if its worth to stay in Colombo(if I'll be just for 2 weeks in the country) and for how long, what is the best way to travel around, and how to recognize good and safe places to eat and hang out with locals. any activities suggested?
Thank you.
Sri Lankan here! Came to Australia 5 months ago :-) Colombo is the capital of the country. Its fine to stay here as Colombo houses most of plush hotels. Its like staying in Melbourne. If you like to party and nightlife, colombo is the place to be. But if you want to explore the country, travel to Galle, Nuwara-Eliya and Jaffna if possible.
Sri Lankan people is very welcoming regards of tourists and you won't have to worry much about hanging with locals. If you want to get around in the city, You can hire a tuc tuc (3-wheeler) but always go for metered ones if you do because others will charge much more from tourists. For a bit more you can hire a decent car like Prius with taxi companies. For example off the street tuc tucs will cost you around $0.5 per km but a car will cost you $0.8 per km. If you want to travel cheap, avoid hotel cars, use Uber or Kangaroo cabs (most famous and best taxi company) - http://2588588.com/ .
If you worry about eating from random restaurants, Fast food joints such as pizza hut,KFC,Mcdonalds,Burger King,Dominos all are there. And just for the kicks get in to a Pizza hut and see the size of the menu and taste some pizza from there, You will understand how shitty pizza huts and all the fast food joints tastes here in Australia :-P
Food in Sri Lanka is really cheap. I strongly suggest you to taste some street food such as Koththu. It costs like $2.5 and tastes amazing. Its available practically everywhere.
Thanks for your advices, I will definitely try Pizza Hut. I am really looking forward to get a good taste of local food as well. We are not very keen on night life, we prefer getting to see as much as possible of the country. We are also considering doing some scuba diving, so if you can suggest anything on these regards it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks once again for taking the time to helping us out.If you are not keen on nightlife, you can perhaps spend the first or the last day exploring and shopping in Colombo because it is fairly close to the airport. Colombo also has good food, from classic Sri Lankan food to Japanese, Italian, Chinese… you name it.
If you like the sea, you should plan a visit to the Southern part of the country. It is only an hour from Colombo and you can find quality accommodation. East coast has lovely beaches too. Check this link out for details. I am pretty sure you can arrange scuba diving in the Southern seas.
If it is the wildlife you are after, there are a few good sanctuaries you should defiantly visit. This site has a lot of details. Just check weather before you arrange the travel dates. Sometimes the trails can be cut short by hard hitting rain.
Try local cuisine, it's delicious (even if I say so myself)! Any decent hotel should serve mild enough variations of the classic Sri Lankan dishes. When in doubt, ask. They are a very friendly bunch. On top of kottu @ruchira88 suggested, try hoppers, string hoppers and milk rice and wash it all down with a mean ginger tea. Another must try is 'king coconut', the coconut drink done right :) Also, the pineapples are a treat!
Have fun!
@kotobuki:
Thanks for the links.
Is it English widely spoken?
Can you suggest any internet company to get a sim with plenty of data.
Going on First week so helpfully is not rainy.@Rogaor: Yup, English is widley in use. If you need an ice breaker, throw in some crickety things, it's a love hate relationship with Aussies cricketers over there in SL :)
As ofr data SIMs, Dialog is the leading telco provider. You can grab SIMs at the airport as well. They have ready-to-go SIMs loaded.
Almost everyone understands and speaks English over there. Don't worry a single bit about language. All the signboards and hotel menus are in English.
If you want to scuba dive go to Galle. Refer these web sites http://www.divingsrilanka.com/ http://www.divesrilanka.com/
Here you can find restaurant reviews http://www.yamu.lk/ . Download their app and you won't have any problems finding good restaurants.
For authentic Sri Lankan food with fine dining experience, I can strongly recommend "Upali's" http://www.upalis.com/menu/default.aspx
Review is here - http://www.yamu.lk/place/upalis/ They have a restaurant here in Melbourne as well.Regarding Internet company's Dialog is the leading one as @kotobuki stated. You can get 4G almost everywhere in the country. If you want to upload videos of your tour or that sort of stuff, they have time based packages which you can activate using a sms and you could use unlimited amount of data for the allocated time for example 5 hours. Refer this - http://www.dialog.lk/ . You can buy a sim card at the airport.
Ah machang, great advice.
Galle is pretty. It was a Portuguese settlement.
Grab the local sim so you can get cheap data
Sri Lanka is awesome, i got back two weeks ago and spent two weeks there backpacking.
I stayed in the following places in chronological order: Colombo, Dambulla (for Sigiriya), Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Mirissa, Unawatuna and Colombo.
There's not too much in Colombo, typical busy city. Sigiriya is nice. Kandy was a waste of time. Nuwara Eliya in the tea country was scenic and quaint, although i wish i went to Ella instead (i tossed a coin). The train from Kandy to NE was awesome and well worth it.
Mirissa on the Southern beaches was the highlight, it's well placed so i would say spent 5-7 nights there and do day trips to other beaches. You won't be more than an hour on the bus away (cheap and frequent). Weligama is great if you would like to try out some surfing.
Food you must eat - Khottu roti! Uniquely Sri Lankan.
Thanks for posting ribze1;
I'm looking forward to follow the advices I've gotten here.
How did you planned your trip?
Do you know any traveller detailed blog that its worth to follow?
Is it any way to do the Kandy train trip without staying in Kandy?
Did you use any driver that you want to recommend?
Thank you very much.No problem at all.
How did you planned your trip? Honestly, i sorta figured out where i wanted to go and then just did it step by step. So i would decide on the next destination and book the hostel/guest house the night before.
Do you know any traveller detailed blog that its worth to follow? No unfortunately.
Is it any way to do the Kandy train trip without staying in Kandy? I'd say so, as long as you get to Kandy in time for the train. Trains aren't frequent unfortunately. The train from Nuwara Eliya to Ella is supposed to be beautiful as well.
Did you use any driver that you want to recommend? Did it all via local buses and trains - gives you the real experience.Speaking of trains, seats are a first come first served basis so be prepared to bolt for the carriage. I had to stand from Galle to Colombo (2.5 hours). You'll find 200 people will be second class tickets and they will be only 50 seats.
honest opinion here, no offense intended
see elephants
see cricket
see tea plantations
see sigariya
Anuradhapura was gooddont go to the temple of the tooth, load of rubbish. kandy in general was rubbish, i also thought dambulla was not very interesting, wasp infested caves and without being offensive, the same status 80+ times.
take a few days in maldives
good luck and have fun!