Travel
to Sri Lanka and make your dream Holiday come true!
Holiday in Sri Lanka is ideal if you're looking
forward to have fun, enjoy the sunshine and frolic
in white sandy beaches. If you want to do bird
watching, see wildlife paying a visit to Ceylon will
be a holiday you'll never forget. If you want to try
out eco tourism, Sri Lanka is a marvelous place to
spend your vacation. Sri Lanka is one place where
you could be in harmony with nature like in no other
place. By spending your holiday in Sri Lanka you'll
get so much of entertainment.
A Holiday in Sri Lanka means that you'll have loads
of fun, experience a unique culture
& heritage at www.lanka-travel.info
Lanka Travel Directory is the web site giving the
most comprehensive information on Ceylon. So if you
are thinking of a Vacation in Sri Lanka you have
come to the right place!
Sri Lanka is a teardrop-shaped island in the Indian
Ocean just below the Southern tip of India, and lying
North of the equator.
Driving TBA
Currency (LKR) Sri Lankan Rupee
Electrical 230 Volts
Telephones Country Code 94
Time: GMT + 5.30.
Electricity: 230/240 volts AC, 50Hz. Round three-pin
plugs are usual, with bayonet lamp fittings.
Telephone: IDD facilities are available to the principal
cities. Country code: 94. Outgoing international code:
00. Phone cards are available at post offices and shops.
Climate: Tropical climate. Upland areas are cooler and
more temperate, and coastal areas are cooled by sea
breezes. There are two monsoons, which occur May to July
and December to January.
Clothing: Lightweights and rainwear.
Food & Drink: Standard foods are spicy and it is advised
to approach curries with caution. There are many
vegetables, fruits, meats and seafoods. Continental,
Chinese, Indian and Japanese menus are available in
Colombo. A speciality is basic curry, made with coconut
milk, sliced onion, green chilli, aromatic spices such
as cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and saffron and aromatic
leaves. Hoppers is a cross between a muffin and a
crumpet with a wafer-crisp edge, served with a fresh egg
soft-baked on top. Stringhoppers are steamed circlets of
rice flour, a little more delicate than noodles or
spaghetti. Jaggery is a fudge made from the crystallised
sap of the kitul palm. The durian fruit is considered a
great delicacy. Tea is the national drink and thought to
be amongst the best in the world. Toddy, the sap of the
palm tree, is a popular local drink; fermented, it
becomes arrack which, it should be noted, comes in
varying degrees of strength. Alcohol cannot be sold on
poya holidays (which occur each lunar month on the day
of the full moon).
Shopping: Special purchases include handicrafts and
curios of silver, brass, bone, ceramics, wood and
terracotta. Also cane baskets, straw hats, reed and coir
mats and tea. Batik fabric, lace and lacquerware are
also popular. Some of the masks, which are used in
dance-dramas, in processions and on festival days, can
be bought by tourists. The ‘18-disease’ mask shows a
demon in possession of a victim; he is surrounded by 18
faces – each of which cures a specific ailment. Versions
produced for the tourist market are often of a high
standard. Sri Lanka is also rich in gems. Fabrics
include batiks, cottons, rayons, silks and fine lace.
Shopping hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1730, Sat 0900-1300.
Tipping: Most hotels include a service charge of ten per
cent. Extra tipping is optional.
Currency: Sri Lanka Rupee (SLRe, singular; SLRs, plural)
= 100 cents. Notes are in denominations of SLRs1000,
500, 200, 100, 50, 20 and 10. Coins are in denominations
of SLRs10, 5, 2 and 1, and 50, 25, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents.
There are also large numbers of commemorative coins in
circulation.
Credit & debit cards: American Express, Visa and
MasterCard are widely accepted. Diners Club has more
limited acceptance. Check with your credit or debit card
company for details of merchant acceptability and other
services which may be available.
Travellers cheques: The rate of exchange for travellers
cheques is better than the rate of exchange for cash. To
avoid additional exchange rate charges, travellers are
advised to take travellers cheques in US Dollars or
Pounds Sterling.
Driving TBA