Anyone BEEN to Sri Lanka & can share experience

Indiamad

I'm spending a couple of weeks in SL very soon before India and would love to hear from anyone about their experiences, good or bad....particularly weather conditions at this time of year and transport options, safety etc.

Thanks

gregornot

Namaste,
I also would like to know about SL with the war, when I was in India in Jan, The State Dept was warning folks not to go, due to possible involvement with the T. Tigers and the war. I wanted to go to Kandy to see the Temple, but was told that everyone was fleeing the country.

I heard a couple days ago that the T Tigers had attacked an airbase for the first time, so any local update on tourism scenewould be appreciated.

Peace, gregor

__________________
To conclude with the ever inspiring words of the Buddha:
"If the roots remain untouched and firm in the ground,
a felled tree still puts forth new shoots.

If the underlying habit of craving and aversion is not
uprooted, suffering arises anew over and over again."
~Dhammapada XXIV verse 338

sirensongs

Right now, it's very hot and getting hotter. You could do fine if you restricted yourself to the cool Hill Country/NuwaraEliya and such, where it's never hot. I was there in March-April 2005 and found it very hot outside of hill country (BTW, Kandy is not hill country. Kandy is the gateway to hill country, but is still hot and muggy now.)

There is a wonderful Buddhist med. retreat there in hill country outside Kandy, in Gallaha, called Nilambe.

Sri Lanka is mostly very clean, green and relatively sedate, esp. after India!

Sorry, I can't give new info about the terrorism/war, but it doesn't sound like a good time to go. Normally (if you can use that word) the violence is within the Tamil-held north and eastern territories. With the recent air strikes/suicide bomber in and around Colombo it's more complicated.

I do know that there is little or no violence in Kandy and the Hill Country. Problem is you have to go through Colombo to get there.

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anorak

I went for a few days in January and found it like a clean version of India!
However, since the recent bombings in Galle and Hikkaduwa, a lot of foreign package tourists have cancelled their trips. This increases that ammount of hassle you get from tourist touts, I was alone and every single Sri Lankan I spoke to, bar none, wanted something. Otherwise enjoyable conversations with people always ended in them asking me for money and it was tiring. I very nearly came to blows with a railwayman at Alutgama station, we spent an hour or so chatting about all sorts of things, places to go, things to see, differences between our respective railways (I'm a railwayman in the UK), then he demanded money for the information he'd given. When I told him that he was getting nothing he became aggressive and called me a beggar, the platform was full by that time and he started to try and grab my bag. I stood up and told him in no uncertaiun terms that I'd give him a pasting if he carried on, when my train arrived he kept his distance and continued to call me all sorts as the train pulled out.

Nice country, shit people. Give it a miss until the tour parties return.

gregornot

Namaste,
I really appreciate info in SL and hope people post more about the country but not looking for a SirLankaMike's. But with the war happening it would help with travel plans.
peace, gregor

sirensongs

What a drag! Sri Lanka (during my brief stay) always seemed a bit more dignified than this. Yuck. :-(

Goes to show how much the locals really suffer from all the civil war nonsense.

woodlouse

Well I loved Sri Lanka and the people. People behave well or badly wherever in the world you may be, but I found them overwhelmingly warm and friendly.
I visited for two months, almost exactly one year after the tsunami.
Persistent touts and scam artists in tourist areas are inevitable, especially if tourist numbers are dropping.

My favourite things:
a walk up Sri Pada (Adam's peak) for dawn
fireflies in the bushes during the monsoon in the countryside (they're an indicator species for clean air - how wonderful)
Kandy - spent 10 days there on and off and it began to feel like home! the botanical gardens were lovely
train journeys, especially in the hill country
a home-stay with a Muslim family in Galle
volunteering near Wasgamuwa national park
wild elephants
coconut for breakfast! (and lunch and dinner)
seeing a cycle race, all the cyclists supporters were hanging out of tuk tuks and egging them on
Unawatuna beach
sigiriya - very early in the morning, with its own little cloud of mist
friendly women on buses
meeting Sri Lanka's self confessed only dreadlocked reggae artist
seeing 'bear monkeys' in the gardens near Nuwaraya Eliya
the terraced tea gardens
Yala national park
train journey from Negombo to Colombo - it takes forever, but time passes quickly when you can chat to a monk
fresh mango slices from the street with that salty spicey stuff on
unripe mango with salt
temple chanting - yes it woke me up!
The tsunami memorial on boxing day in Kandy - all the traffic and all the noise stopped as the announcement was made - very moving
all the monkeys, especially the bonnet macaques that look like they're wearing wigs
the wonderful wildlife, especially tiny navy blue hummingbirds
the vibrancy of the young people - couldn't see any stoppy teenagers here!

and yes, some of these things similar in India...

Lou Wilson

I spent 1 month duration in Sri Lanka each time in 1999, 2004 and early 2007. I travelled from the US and have friends there. There is a war going on but its localized usually. You can go anywhere except the north Jaffna and north east (Trinco) Now is the hottest time. It can rain anytime during the year. The people are very nice - it is about twice as expensive as India but 10 times as clean and very healthy.
Some say that Sri Lanka is the land of shiny Japanese cars. This true since Sri Lanka does not make its own cars. Now the Chana Motor company of China is shipping in loads of shiny cars and vans.
If you go to Adams Peak go to Dalhousie a little town at the base on the Hatton Road. The Green House is a wonderful place to stay. Very good price and wonderful Tamil Family in the midst of the Tea Plantations.
Adams Peak area is nice and cool Colombo is very hot and polluted
I have many pictures of Sri Lanka on India Mike at
http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/s...0/ppuser/15002 and at my website at http://www.overbrookfountains.com/1SrilankaIndia1.html
Any other questions please ask.