This is my first visit to the country. Just a 2 week trip on a B Visa. The Hotel accommodation given by company is really good one and to my expectations, no complaints. Got the refrigerator and locker too along with the usual television and coffee kettle.
Colombo has Uber penetrated well enough. So, that was great to get to my office which is about 5 kms from my stay. If not for the Uber, the Tuk Tuks(3 Wheeler Auto) would sure exploit you. Tuk Tuks in Srilanka have penetrated every nook and corner literally and am not exaggerating.
Since I had been given prior recommendations about Uber, have been saved a lot.
The food is more or less similar to India, in taste and cost. If you convert their cost in LKR to INR, you would not find any difference. In general, I noticed only the petrol(About INR Rs 17 at the time of writing this blog) and Uber to be cheaper. And Uber probably cheaper because of the petrol price.
The food court in the IT park isn't so great but you sure can manage it for the 2 weeks.
Got a chance to dinner at Shanmugha's and Sri Vani Vilas, thanks to my manager.
I found lots of people in the office to speak tamil that I could easily understand, Srilankan tamil is not significantly different. And, all colleagues in general are of very soft nature.
Now, when the weekend was approaching, I planned for a one day outing and asked for suggestions with people. Luckily I had an Uber contact who once dropped me at office and he had decent English, He offered me a trip to Kandy and Pinnawala for 8500 LKR to and fro.
I confirmed that the deal is really good with colleagues and said Ok to the uber driver. Kandy has got the Tooth Relic temple and Pinnawala has the famous Elephant Orphanage.
Pinnawala
To make sure we don't miss the elephant bath at 10 AM, we started from Hotel at 7 AM itself on the Saturday morning. On the way, to my request driver stopped for a traditional Srilankan breakfast. The special Heenati rice and similar ones with country chicken and other dishes were available for breakfast. I saw Rambhutan being sold on the road side and did taste them as well. We reached on time for the elephant bath. For Indian adult, ticket price is Rs 800 LKR after I showed my passport. It was displayed as LKR 3000 per adult foreigner otherwise Went to a souvenir shop on the way to the river and waited for the elephants to cross. It was a great sight to watch the elephant herd cross you so closely to the river for the bath.
After spending a few minutes, came out to see a small factory making paper out of the elephant poo (dung). They explained the process and took me to the store where all the different elephant poo paper products were sold. It was all too costly, so I just bought them as sample to show friends and family at home. Not sure why they have it at so high cost discouraging people from buying for normal use..
Then we went to fruit feeding location of the elephants, it costed Rs 250 LKR to feed some fruit slices to 2 of the elephant kids. I loved feeding them.
After having done with the elephants, which was all done in almost 1 hour only, we started to Kandy and on the way had the delicious red tender coconut that costs about 50 LKR.
Spices:
Had told the driver about buying some spices back home. So he took me to a Spice and Herbal Garden, Susantha. Someone who claimed himself a doctor greeted me and gave a walk around the garden with medicinal plants and spices describing their benefits. Especially the Cinnamon which is very famous in Srilanka. All the medicines and Cinnamon were sold at very high cost in that spice garden. Bought the 50g cinnamon at LKR 800 while at the Colombo market the same costs about LKR 250 only. Also bought herbal oil for Arthritis for LKR 4400. I later realised that I have done the biggest mistake of not googling before making the purchase and mostly went by the confidence given by the driver. The driver was literally playing my guide and he had already offered the cheaper deal to drive me to Kandy. Not sure if he did for a commission, I should have done my simple search. Other than this unnecessary spend, I have no regrets about this whole trip.The tricks and tactics were same like any other scam places, attack you emotionally and distract you with wrong facts mixed with some truth one after another, tall claims like complete cure for diabetes and arthritis. He even claimed of having Viagra equivalent based on aswagantha. TripAdvisor reviews have so many negative reviews about them
Tooth Relic temple
After the Spice encounter, we directly went to temple slowed by the traffic, after parking our car at the government multilevel parking area for very low price. Most of the road is single lane from Colombo to Kandy and also its hilly drive that it is extremely difficult to overtake a slow vehicle in front of you. Anyways there is also 70 kms speed limit as well. The number plates of all vehicles have white background in the front and the ones at the rear of the vehicle have yellow background for better night visibility. And when a vehicle overtakes, it signals by switching On the 'Right turn' indicator. Bought the LKR 1000 ticket for entry and bought lotus flowers to offer at the shrine. It is a peaceful place and most people come in white outfit.There used to be a tusker named Raja who had served at the temple and after his demise, his skin has been used and a replica has been made out of it and kept for public display. Also visited the museum where lots of scriptures related to the tooth relic incidents and stories were on display. Also, the ancient dresses used by the rulers were there for display. There are so many stories about the Tooth relic that are directly linked to India and Hindu rulers I was surprised to know all of that there.
In this whole trip, i did not see a single movie poster throughout the route anywhere and when i enquired the driver, he said they done make sinhala movies so frequently, probably once in 3 months is best case. I wanted to visit a fruit shop and vegetable shop but both did not happen. That would sure be part of my next trip if I make one, But on the return we stopped for evening snack and tea. It was run by women more like the women cooperative supported by the govt. Multiple snack shops at a single place, kind of a small open food court with women led counters. Got a herbal black tea with a small jaggery piece as side dish. Also had Pittu with chatni, it wasnt sweet but tasted more like upma and another sweet that resembled paniyaram but not made of rice. I skipped my dinner that day.
Coming from Chennai, wasn't particular about the beaches there in Colombo. So just took a few pictures of the beach nearby my Hotel and thats it. My colleagues have told me about so many other beautiful places to visit in the south and north, i would have to plan it well in advance if and when i make it again next time to Colombo.
Chocolates
By Sunday I wanted to close my shopping. For chocolates, I googled this time. Found Kandos, shop to be pretty nearby. One tuk-tuk guy agreed to drop me back after shopping in just LKR 300 and again I took the bet. On the pretense of not sure about the shop location , he took me to a factory outlet Tea shop though I told him not interested . I thought no harm in getting a sample and bought plan tea for 200 grams that I had to buy for LKR 750. Then I gave the live direction to the tuk-tuk to reach the Kandos chocolate shop. Despite his reluctance I made him take me there as he was suggesting alternate places. Finally I bought enough chocolates with no discount. On the return, the tuk-tuk guy requested me to spend some time at a Gem shop. As he openly told me the truth that it would be of great help to him if I just spend 20 mins and I need not buy anything at all there. So I satisfied his request and for the first time in my life, had a simple experience at the Gem store as well who were trying to sell me a .37 ct high quality Pushparaham stone for Rs 2000 INR (no typo).
Exchange
When I landed at the Colombo airport from Chennai, I exchanged a small dollar amount only as I wasnt sure of using all the dollars given to me by the company in 2 weeks. I did it at the commercial bank kiosk at the airport, it was done in less than 2 mins. They gave me after checking my passport. And before the Kandy trip, I wanted some more LKR, so I went to the Sampath Bank that is nearby my Hotel and asked for exchange. They were first confused whether i was asking for INR looking at my passport, later agreed to do it. And it took me another 30 - 40 mins after all their paper work to get the small dollar converted to LKR, the exchange rate was same in both the banks. People in the Sampath bank were all almost young and were dressed really well, but the way they worked reminded me of Indian govt banks. I spent so much in the trip that I wanted some more LKR, this time I went to a nearby private exchange, he did it in less than a minute with an exchange rate of LKR 3 more than the banks. He did not even ask my passport, may be because it was a small amount.
In General, Colombo is a great place to visit. Great weather, lots of options to travel around the state and all at short distances. Air ticket cost is very less from India, they got On Arrival Visa for Indians. And it is just less than 1.5 hrs by flight. The city is comparatively cleaner than our Chennai. People mostly follow traffic rules and with significantly more traffic police at effective work. It seems the cars have 300% tax at Srilanka but I still could see lots of cars, even the premium ones. Because of the recent negative incidents, tourism had come to a stand still almost and everyone related is highly impacted with little or no business. You should visit and be informed of all the silly scams that could cost you dear, make sure to google enough before making any move.
Colombo has Uber penetrated well enough. So, that was great to get to my office which is about 5 kms from my stay. If not for the Uber, the Tuk Tuks(3 Wheeler Auto) would sure exploit you. Tuk Tuks in Srilanka have penetrated every nook and corner literally and am not exaggerating.
Since I had been given prior recommendations about Uber, have been saved a lot.
The food is more or less similar to India, in taste and cost. If you convert their cost in LKR to INR, you would not find any difference. In general, I noticed only the petrol(About INR Rs 17 at the time of writing this blog) and Uber to be cheaper. And Uber probably cheaper because of the petrol price.
The food court in the IT park isn't so great but you sure can manage it for the 2 weeks.
Got a chance to dinner at Shanmugha's and Sri Vani Vilas, thanks to my manager.
I found lots of people in the office to speak tamil that I could easily understand, Srilankan tamil is not significantly different. And, all colleagues in general are of very soft nature.
Now, when the weekend was approaching, I planned for a one day outing and asked for suggestions with people. Luckily I had an Uber contact who once dropped me at office and he had decent English, He offered me a trip to Kandy and Pinnawala for 8500 LKR to and fro.
I confirmed that the deal is really good with colleagues and said Ok to the uber driver. Kandy has got the Tooth Relic temple and Pinnawala has the famous Elephant Orphanage.
Pinnawala
To make sure we don't miss the elephant bath at 10 AM, we started from Hotel at 7 AM itself on the Saturday morning. On the way, to my request driver stopped for a traditional Srilankan breakfast. The special Heenati rice and similar ones with country chicken and other dishes were available for breakfast. I saw Rambhutan being sold on the road side and did taste them as well. We reached on time for the elephant bath. For Indian adult, ticket price is Rs 800 LKR after I showed my passport. It was displayed as LKR 3000 per adult foreigner otherwise Went to a souvenir shop on the way to the river and waited for the elephants to cross. It was a great sight to watch the elephant herd cross you so closely to the river for the bath.
After spending a few minutes, came out to see a small factory making paper out of the elephant poo (dung). They explained the process and took me to the store where all the different elephant poo paper products were sold. It was all too costly, so I just bought them as sample to show friends and family at home. Not sure why they have it at so high cost discouraging people from buying for normal use..
Then we went to fruit feeding location of the elephants, it costed Rs 250 LKR to feed some fruit slices to 2 of the elephant kids. I loved feeding them.
After having done with the elephants, which was all done in almost 1 hour only, we started to Kandy and on the way had the delicious red tender coconut that costs about 50 LKR.
Spices:
Had told the driver about buying some spices back home. So he took me to a Spice and Herbal Garden, Susantha. Someone who claimed himself a doctor greeted me and gave a walk around the garden with medicinal plants and spices describing their benefits. Especially the Cinnamon which is very famous in Srilanka. All the medicines and Cinnamon were sold at very high cost in that spice garden. Bought the 50g cinnamon at LKR 800 while at the Colombo market the same costs about LKR 250 only. Also bought herbal oil for Arthritis for LKR 4400. I later realised that I have done the biggest mistake of not googling before making the purchase and mostly went by the confidence given by the driver. The driver was literally playing my guide and he had already offered the cheaper deal to drive me to Kandy. Not sure if he did for a commission, I should have done my simple search. Other than this unnecessary spend, I have no regrets about this whole trip.The tricks and tactics were same like any other scam places, attack you emotionally and distract you with wrong facts mixed with some truth one after another, tall claims like complete cure for diabetes and arthritis. He even claimed of having Viagra equivalent based on aswagantha. TripAdvisor reviews have so many negative reviews about them
Tooth Relic temple
After the Spice encounter, we directly went to temple slowed by the traffic, after parking our car at the government multilevel parking area for very low price. Most of the road is single lane from Colombo to Kandy and also its hilly drive that it is extremely difficult to overtake a slow vehicle in front of you. Anyways there is also 70 kms speed limit as well. The number plates of all vehicles have white background in the front and the ones at the rear of the vehicle have yellow background for better night visibility. And when a vehicle overtakes, it signals by switching On the 'Right turn' indicator. Bought the LKR 1000 ticket for entry and bought lotus flowers to offer at the shrine. It is a peaceful place and most people come in white outfit.There used to be a tusker named Raja who had served at the temple and after his demise, his skin has been used and a replica has been made out of it and kept for public display. Also visited the museum where lots of scriptures related to the tooth relic incidents and stories were on display. Also, the ancient dresses used by the rulers were there for display. There are so many stories about the Tooth relic that are directly linked to India and Hindu rulers I was surprised to know all of that there.
In this whole trip, i did not see a single movie poster throughout the route anywhere and when i enquired the driver, he said they done make sinhala movies so frequently, probably once in 3 months is best case. I wanted to visit a fruit shop and vegetable shop but both did not happen. That would sure be part of my next trip if I make one, But on the return we stopped for evening snack and tea. It was run by women more like the women cooperative supported by the govt. Multiple snack shops at a single place, kind of a small open food court with women led counters. Got a herbal black tea with a small jaggery piece as side dish. Also had Pittu with chatni, it wasnt sweet but tasted more like upma and another sweet that resembled paniyaram but not made of rice. I skipped my dinner that day.
Coming from Chennai, wasn't particular about the beaches there in Colombo. So just took a few pictures of the beach nearby my Hotel and thats it. My colleagues have told me about so many other beautiful places to visit in the south and north, i would have to plan it well in advance if and when i make it again next time to Colombo.
Chocolates
By Sunday I wanted to close my shopping. For chocolates, I googled this time. Found Kandos, shop to be pretty nearby. One tuk-tuk guy agreed to drop me back after shopping in just LKR 300 and again I took the bet. On the pretense of not sure about the shop location , he took me to a factory outlet Tea shop though I told him not interested . I thought no harm in getting a sample and bought plan tea for 200 grams that I had to buy for LKR 750. Then I gave the live direction to the tuk-tuk to reach the Kandos chocolate shop. Despite his reluctance I made him take me there as he was suggesting alternate places. Finally I bought enough chocolates with no discount. On the return, the tuk-tuk guy requested me to spend some time at a Gem shop. As he openly told me the truth that it would be of great help to him if I just spend 20 mins and I need not buy anything at all there. So I satisfied his request and for the first time in my life, had a simple experience at the Gem store as well who were trying to sell me a .37 ct high quality Pushparaham stone for Rs 2000 INR (no typo).
Exchange
When I landed at the Colombo airport from Chennai, I exchanged a small dollar amount only as I wasnt sure of using all the dollars given to me by the company in 2 weeks. I did it at the commercial bank kiosk at the airport, it was done in less than 2 mins. They gave me after checking my passport. And before the Kandy trip, I wanted some more LKR, so I went to the Sampath Bank that is nearby my Hotel and asked for exchange. They were first confused whether i was asking for INR looking at my passport, later agreed to do it. And it took me another 30 - 40 mins after all their paper work to get the small dollar converted to LKR, the exchange rate was same in both the banks. People in the Sampath bank were all almost young and were dressed really well, but the way they worked reminded me of Indian govt banks. I spent so much in the trip that I wanted some more LKR, this time I went to a nearby private exchange, he did it in less than a minute with an exchange rate of LKR 3 more than the banks. He did not even ask my passport, may be because it was a small amount.
In General, Colombo is a great place to visit. Great weather, lots of options to travel around the state and all at short distances. Air ticket cost is very less from India, they got On Arrival Visa for Indians. And it is just less than 1.5 hrs by flight. The city is comparatively cleaner than our Chennai. People mostly follow traffic rules and with significantly more traffic police at effective work. It seems the cars have 300% tax at Srilanka but I still could see lots of cars, even the premium ones. Because of the recent negative incidents, tourism had come to a stand still almost and everyone related is highly impacted with little or no business. You should visit and be informed of all the silly scams that could cost you dear, make sure to google enough before making any move.
