Sri Lanka Part 1

 12 February, Fairway Hotel, Colombo Fort.

We arrived in Sri Lanka late yesterday evening after a long flight via Singapore. Brisbane to Singapore was fine because we had splurged a bit on extra leg room seats. The second leg on to Colombo was a bit of a struggle on a crowded Sri Lanka Air plane. The plane was fine and the service and meals were on par for short haul international flights on other mid-range international carriers, but, for us, it had been a very long day!

Australians and most other countries need visas to visit Sri Lanka. There was an online option available to us, but multiple attempts at the online service left us with only a VOA, Visa on Arrival option. We were concerned that the process would take a long time, but as it turned out all they really wanted was the USD60 visa fee and stamp, stamp, we were on our way. With just carry-on backpacks, we were through Immigration and Customs in 30 minutes or so. Our next tasks were to withdraw some local cash and purchase a SIM card before heading out to meet our pre-arranged hotel pick-up driver.

Getting hold of cash in a foreign country is something that requires a bit of research, which we hadn’t done well enough. We had our trusty Wise Card and our Latitude Credit Card, both of which offer the best exchange rates we know of, but we didn’t dig deep enough into the ATM options available at the airport. On our first attempt we were quick enough, even in our travel weary state, to pick up on the 5% processing fee which would have hit us up for about AUD15 for a AUD300 equivalent in Rupee. A fellow traveller who had been testing out the other ATMs put us on to the Bank of Ceylon machine that had no fees. First win of the trip!

We had been more rigorous with our research into SIM cards and for USD10, we had a 100GB card loaded up on just one phone with the capacity to “hotspot” our second phone.

Next step was to find our driver outside the terminal. We had been told to meet our driver, Mr Lal, at the Airport Post Office near the departure gate. Seemed a bit odd for an arriving client, but we checked and the pickup was confirmed by the hotel. Of course, the location was incorrect, not a surprise to us as we have an almost 100% failure rate for pre-arranged pickups at airports. Eventually, Mr Lal emerged from the chaos on the footpath. We finally got settled in our room at 11:45pm, after 4.15 am Brisbane time. We had left home at 7am.

Getting about Sri Lanka is going to be a new experience for us. If at all possible, we prefer the independence and flexibility of driving ourselves. Otherwise we have used public transport, trains or buses. Driving in Sri Lanka is not recommended, so we need other options. There is a reasonable train network here, but it doesn’t service many of the places we plan to visit. We will catch a couple of trains, but many of our journeys will have to be with a car and driver.

Our first experience of arranging a driver was Mr Lal, the hotel’s driver from Nagombo, the small city to the north of Colombo where the International Airport is located. Aside from our difficulties, Mr Lal had hit us a solid 3,500LKR, about AUD17 for the 4km trip to the hotel. His quote for our trip into Colombo this morning was 8000LKR, over AUD40. So we fell back on Uber. Our Uber friend Mr Haris arrived on time, drove us in relative comfort the 30km to our hotel in Colombo all for 1700LKR, around AUD9. The tip options that pop up on the Uber App offered poor Mr Haris, 20LKR, 50LKR or 70LKR, 10c, 25c or 35c in Australian currency! Given his skill in avoiding suicidal Tuk Tuk drivers and maniacal bus drivers, we gave him 600LKR.

On the topic of getting about, we took a Tuk Tuk from near our hotel to a festival we had been told about by a local. We had been warned about the “Tuk Tuk Mafia,” so we were on full alert. This guy must have thought we very easy marks. His fare for the approximately 4km was 8000LKR, AUD40. Nice try, buster. He insisted that was the fare but backed off fairly quickly when confronted. He did score 1000LKR, for a fare that should have been 800LKR, but only because we just wanted to get away from him.

We suspect we were a little early for the main part of the festival that was to feature a parade of elephants. All we managed was a visit to the local temple, which, as a fellow Aussie commented, was like a stroll through a second-hand market.

After a cheap lunch in a high-end mall, we decided to check out the station where we needed to catch the train to our next stop, Galle. Even though today was a public holiday, the station was crowded with bustling locals and bedraggled young backpackers fighting off swarms of Tuk Tuk drivers. It was a relatively mild day but still plenty hot and humid enough to work up a serious thirst. Sadly for us, there were no sales of alcohol on the Full Moon Festival Day!!

13 February, Colombo

Not too far from our hotel in the Colombo Fort area are the main Colombo city markets and, amidst the total chaos of these thriving thoroughfares, were two sites on our to-do list, the Dutch Museum and the Red Mosque.

Sri Lanka is sometimes referred to as India “light”. We have to say that parts of these markets would probably come close to the real India! Wall to wall people, streams of Tuk Tuks, motor bikes, small trucks and sedans. The only vehicles missing were the local buses which simply couldn’t fit in the narrow streets. It was the thumping commercial heart of a traditional Asian city. Just fantastic!

We did find the Dutch Museum, which did a reasonable job of telling the story of the colonialisation  of old Ceylon. The Red Mosque was just around the corner, but our plan to do a tour was met with a big, red CLOSED sign.

The morning had been fairly mild to this point, but as the sun broke through the morning smog, the heat and humidity had us waving down a Tuk Tuk to take us to the National Museum.

Before we give a run-down on the National Museum, it could be a good time to offer some advice to fellow travellers on Tuk Tuks.

Tuk Tuk 101

The Tuk Tuk is a very common transport throughout the lesser-developed countries of Asia. We have used them many times and have learned some valuable lessons that we would like to share.

Broadly speaking, Tuk Tuk drivers are struggling, small business people (mostly men) trying to make a living in an often extremely competitive game with very low returns. Most are honest, but almost all will take any advantage that particular circumstances offer them. More than a few, in our experience, are con artists or, on the far end of the scale, crooks.

So what have we learned?

Firstly, do some research. Google maps can help with this. You can estimate the distance of your planned trip and have some idea of how to get there. You can even track your progress to ensure you aren’t getting an unrequested tour of the local area. Many comments on the web can provide per kilometre rates. In some countries, these are regulated and advertised. Armed with this information, you are ready to negotiate a fare. Do this before you get in the vehicle! Ask a price. Knowing roughly what the trip should cost is your best weapon. The initial fare will be at least twice what you know is the fair rate. Offer a price just above what you think the normal rate should be, maybe 10%-20% over.  Stick to this rate and if the driver rejects your offer, smile and say no thanks and make it obvious you are walking off. Most times it won’t come to this. The driver will realise you aren’t an easy mark and accept what he knows is a premium fare anyhow. Remember, what you are paying is probably a pittance compared to what you would pay at home. Most drivers will treat you with respect and if able, may even engage in some friendly patter. These we tip. Others may feign some degree of pleasantness, but at some point offer you special extras, like a city tour or special discounts at his mate’s store. This is a common trick. Some will accept a no, but others may become insistent. Always refuse, politely, but base any tip accordingly. To us, that will easily become a zero tip.

Lastly, make sure you understand the value of the local currency. In many Asian countries, the number of zeroes in exchanges to western currencies  can easily confuse newbies. Disreputable drivers will take advantage of this.

Bottom line. Be firm, be calm, be pleasant and be well informed.

Our day ended with a long visit to the National Museum, which was huge, well set-out and informative for those who may have a particular interest in the history of the country. To us it was a bit of an over-kill.

Our first short Tuk Tuk ride was fine and, though the driver tried briefly to sell us a day tour with him, our polite “no” ended the matter and he accepted a reasonable, negotiated fare. He got a smile, a thank you and a good tip. Our final trip home was a “ walk away” negotiation. Strike one. Then the usual offer of a day tour, then he pulled up and offered a special deal on purchases at a jewellery store. Strike two. Tip zero. No smile.

What we hadn’t  mentioned was that our first trip out to the National Museum was a great experience. We figured this was a long trip and we calculated it was worth  400LKR. We negotiated 600LKR. The driver was a pleasant older gentleman who engaged briefly with us, made no offers of extras, made no offers of special discounts at his mate’s stores and ran into a lot of traffic. We paid him 1000LKR.

So. Westerners should “get a grip.” In the last example, the driver wanted USD1.30. We offered USD2. At the end of the day, we gave him, USD3.30. That was for a 4km trip, in death-defying heavy traffic, on an extremely hot and humid day.

14 February, Sirene Hotel, Galle Fort.

Lazy start today with a 10:30 train departing from Colombo Fort station heading for Galle. Galle is well known to Australian cricket fans as the venue for many Australian-Sri Lanka test matches. Our main interest was in the journey rather than the destination. The train tracks run along the coast for most of the trip and by repute, the journey is one of the most scenic in the country.

We had expected difficulty at the station, which has a reputation for being extremely crowded and chaotic. Not so this morning. Purchasing our tickets was extremely easy and finding the correct platform fairly simple despite the lack of signage.

Our 2nd class tickets for the almost 2 1/2 hour trip set us back AUD2.50, but, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Packed carriages, no airconditioning dirty, dusty floors and windows. What an adventure! We stood the whole trip at the entrance to the carriage, hanging out the open doors to catch the breeze.

We are often a little non-plussed by beaches and coastal scenery. We put this down to our lifetime exposure to some of the best beaches and coasts on the planet at home. So the actual coast was nice, but not spectacular. What was interesting to us was the unfolding pageant of humanity that lined the tracks. As we rolled through the outer suburbs of Colombo, we passed through shanty towns as bad or even worse than we have seen in Africa or poorer parts of South American cities. The one saving grace for these poor folk was that they had waterfront or close to waterfront locations. Our minds wandered to the plight of people living like this in cyclone prone or, worse, tsunami prone areas.

Further out, nicer homes lined the coastal sides of the tracks, while on the inland side, neat villages were interspersed with strips of coconut palm-studded jungle.

Arriving in Galle we were again thrust into whirl and buzz of buses, Tuk Tuks, hawkers and stunned backpackers. We strode off looking for some lunch, but decided to skip it due to a strong aversion to eating hot food in a humid, hot tropical climate.

Our hotel is inside the old fort in what is probably a modified old Dutch home, located a stone’s throw from the bastion that still surrounds most of the old town. Galle Fort has become very touristy, but still retrains much of its original historical feel. We went up to the fort walls with hundreds of locals and tourists to experience the sunset. Sadly, the sunset was not very spectacular, but the people milling about created a great memorable experience.

15 February, My Village Hotel Tissamaharama

Today was our first experience of a pre-booked car and driver. It worked out fairly well. Although he got lost a couple of times, he eventually found our hotel, which was way further out of town than we had expected. This is not really a problem as we are only here for a safari to Yala National Park. Pick-up time tomorrow... 4:45am!

16 February Tissamaharama.

Five Safari trucks awaited us at 4:45am in the early morning darkness and our truck hadn’t even arrived at this point. By the time we were collected, not long after, the narrow alley in front of our hotel was choked with safari trucks.

Once we were off, we raced through the sleeping streets, joining a rapidly growing procession of scores of trucks like ours. By the time we reached the ticket station outside the park gates, there were well over 100 trucks.

The park opened at 6:15am and the long line of trucks inched into the park proper. What a nightmare! At some points early in the morning, we were jammed up with vehicles three abreast on a narrow dirt track. To put this into a European context, it was probably akin to a crowded August day in Venice. We managed to see a couple of family groups of elephants at this time, but only through a cluster of vehicles with their drivers jostling for a better view point for their passengers and our photos included arms and heads of passengers from other vehicles.

After an hour or so of this insanity, our driver pulled away and asked us if we would be happy to head off on our own. Given that he was a park employee, we all agreed to ditch the crowds.

At the end of the day, we saw a lot of the scenery of the park and, eventually, enough wildlife to send us home satisfied. 

16 February, MUM Jungle Hotel, Ella

It was a stressful start this morning when we hadn’t received the details of our car and driver for our 2hr, 96km trip to Ella. So far the company we have been using has been fairly reliable. The details came through about 30 minutes before our booked pick-up time. As it turned out, it was a very relaxing trip, relatively speaking. Our driver, Dishan, was way more cautious about passing than others we have travelled with, but there were still a few sharp in-breaths from the back seat.

Our hotel is on the edge of a mountain on the outskirts of town, up a nose bleed-inducing steep hill. Monkeys swing from the surrounding jungle trees and apparently need to be watched because they are practised thieves. The place has a real ‘Rastafarian” feel to it. A huge bong greets visitors to the bar/cafe. A mix of Rasta tech music completes the ambience.

We were a little concerned about having to negotiate the almost 1km hike into town, until, let’s call him “Rasta,” the Sri Lankan receptionist, pointed out the short cut to town. This is alongside, or on, the railway tracks, depending on how brave you feel.

Ella is a very touristy town, but with a laid-back feel, particularly from our hide-out in the hills.

The hills around Ella are covered with tea plantations. We took a short walk this afternoon to the Kinellan Tea Factory, about 1km out of town, dodging buses, Tuk Tuks and cars. The tour was great and the factory was like a journey into the 1950s. Some of the machinery was from the 1930s. As is often the way, we met a couple of fellow travellers, an English couple who have hired a Tuk Tuk and were doing much the same loop as us, but in reverse order.

We are getting the hang of this car and driver travel. As a rule of thumb, you should pay about AUD70 per 100km, or at today’s exchange rates USD55. It is possible to get cheaper rates, but some operators can be a bit dodgy! For example, this morning a German woman was probably stood up by a driver at our hotel in Tissamaharama. We went through a well-known aggregation site online, there are many of them with good reviews. After our first hire, the company that provided the service contacted us directly asking if we wanted additional services, which they quoted at a discounted price. So far this has worked well for us.

18 February, Ella

Took a Tuk Tuk out to the famous (at least in Sri Lanka) Nine Arch Bridge this morning. For much of the way the corkscrew-like road was not much wider than our vehicle. Once again there was a major road block of Tuk Tuks dropping off and picking up hundreds of tourists. We were in luck as the Ella to Kandy train was stopped on the bridge. We will catch the 9:40am train in the morning. The trip takes over 6 hours but this time we have gone for first class seats in an air-conditioned carriage.

Ella is a famous hiking area, so we thought we had better hit the trails for a 45 minutes trek to Little Adam’s Peak. After more than an hour dodging buses, trucks and the ever-present Tuk Tuks on the narrow road into the mountains, we were directed to a set of stairs that took us to an extremely flash public access resort complex with pools, spas, bars and restaurants. Further up the mountain was a zip line that shot punters down to the resort area. Hundreds of tourists splashed about in the pools and imbibed in the open-air bars. Loud techno-pop blasted out across the smoky valleys. Our image of a serene mountain lookout was shattered. The fires that raged here late last week must have re-ignited.

We have prided ourselves over the years in staying ahead of the tourist wave in Asia. Through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and even to some extent Malaysia, we have managed to enjoy travel without the pressure of the tourist hordes. Even in Japan, on our early visits, we were often the only westerners around outside the “golden triangle” of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. In Sri Lanka, it looks like the wave is building, but has not yet crested. For anybody thinking of coming to Sri Lanka, do it soon.