Why Visit Sri Lanka? Part 1 of 3

Sri Lanka is famous for its beautiful beaches and many visitors go simply to enjoy the sun, the sand and the water. Sri Lanka was the second area of the world to receive Buddhism after India, making Sri Lanka a destination of interest to students of Buddhism, Buddhist arts and Buddhist history. When one recalls the former name of Sri Lanka, Ceylon, the immediate association is to tea. So a visit to the tea country to see how tea is grown and processed and sampling exquisite teas is yet another reason to visit Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka also has national parks and wildlife refuges, and there are a number of parks in which you can do jeep safaris to see herds of wild elephants and even the elusive leopard.

Much of the east coast of Sri Lanka was devastated by the Tsunami of 2004. Between the tsunami and the ongoing conflict between the government and the Tamil Tigers, tourism in Sri Lanka has dwindled to a mere trickle. People who work in the tourist-related industries are clearly hungry for work.

Sri Lanka has long been on our list of places we'd like to visit. But with the seemingly endless conflict between the Sinhalese government and the Tamil Tigers, it has been easy to postpone the trip. In 2007, despite the ongoing conflict, we decided it was time to go. During our planning time, we kept current with the situation in Sri Lanka, relying primarily on Reuters, the BBC and the New York Times. We also corresponded with other travelers and residents of Sri Lanka via the Fodors travel forum and Thorntree, the Lonely Planet travel forum. We purchased two guidebooks, The Lonely Planet Guide and the Insight Compact Guide to Sri Lanka.

Choosing what to do and see in our limited time in Sri Lanka was perhaps the most difficult part of the planning. We made a first list and cut half of the destinations. We have a special interest in Buddhism, so we focused our trip on the Cultural Triangle. We spent time in Dambulla, Polonnaruwa Sigiriya, and Kandy. We had wanted to visit Anuradhapura, the first capital city, but it is farther north and had had a recent attack on the Air Force base there. Our driver advised we not go there, and we deferred to his judgment on the matter. We like to combine time to learn with time to relax, and chose to spend our relaxation time in the high tea country. We'll have to wait for the next trip to see Anuradhapura, the rainforest at Sinharaja, wildlife at Yala, the lovely beaches and historic Galle.

We eventually chose to spend four nights in the Dambulla area to visit the Ancient Cities, 2 nights in Kandy, and 4 nights for relaxation in the tea country.

We found the people of Sri Lanka to be warm and welcoming. Often people commented to us upon hearing that we were from the US that they rarely have visitors from the US. Indeed, while we chatted with many fellow travelers, we met only two other people from the US.

There are no direct flights from North America to Sri Lanka. Crossing the Pacific, Bangkok and Singapore are often used as gateways, as there are non-stop flights from both Singapore (on Singapore Air) and Bangkok (On Thai Air) to Colombo. From the East Coast, it is possible to use Delhi or Dubai as the transit point to board a non-stop flight to Sri Lanka. Flights from Bangkok and Singapore are scheduled to land after midnight and leave Colombo several hours later. With the increased attacks by the Tamil Tigers on military targets near the airport, the airport has been closed at night, sometimes for months at a time, and flights are rescheduled to arrive and leave in the early morning hours.

The airport is more than an hour away from Colombo. With the security checks, it can take much longer to drive into the city. Thus, if you arrive late at night, most people opt to stay the night somewhere in the vicinity of Negombo, the closest town to the airport. If you arrive in the daytime, I'd recommend that you drive directly to your first destination.

Sri Lanka has waived visa requirements for many nationalities, and we simply filled out an arrival card and were given a visa-free stay of up to 30 days. Immigration was quick and efficient.

The currency in Sri Lanka is the Sri Lankan rupee. Some of the historic sites quoted admission prices in US dollars, though with the fall of the dollar, some places insisted on Sri Lankan rupees. There is an ATM and a currency exchange window in the baggage claim area. We found ATMs readily in the Ancient cities area and Kandy.

Bottled water is advised and is available everywhere. It should be used not only for drinking but also for teeth-brushing. You should know the rules for food and water precautions, but at upscale places like our hotels we ate and drank everything, including fruit juices and salads with no problems. If you are eating in more local places, you may wish to be more cautious.

Routine travelers vaccines are recommended for travel to Sri Lanka: any needed boosters for tetanus/diptheria, polio, and measles/mumps/rubella, plus Hepatitis A and typhoid. There were mosquitoes at all of the places we visited, though they weren't awful anywhere. I noticed I got bitten at the Kandalama and on the drive in Kandulla National Park the most, but I did get a few bites at Kandy and at Tea Trails. The Ancient Cities area is considered malarial risk, and we opted to take malarone.

Consult CDC Travelers' Health for up to date information on travelers' health issues.

The biggest impact on us was that we did not visit Anuradhapura. No tourists have ever been targeted in the conflict. Indeed, most of the targets on both sides have been military targets. While the far north has been off-limits to travelers for quite a while, some places are considered riskier at times, and ok to go to at other times.

There are many military checkpoints on the roads, but we were never stopped. Our driver told us that only trucks going both directions and buses coming from the north are typically stopped. I noted that we saw lots of military training camps on our drive to Polonnaruwa. A friend told us of lots of checkpoints in Colombo, and our driver told us that whole streets in Colombo are closed when government officials are present.

Indeed, there was a photo in the local paper of the US Ambassador on his way to a meeting with government officials walking though a street jammed with stopped cars when it was closed for security. So if you are going to Colombo, it might well have more impact on you. The airport has increased security.

When you enter the airport, there is a checkpoint. Our driver said that as foreigners we would not be checked. He simply turned on the dome light in the car and answered where we were from and we were passed through. Friends had told us that our suitcases would be totally unpacked at the security check in the airport, but our driver said that only happens occasionally. Our suitcases were x-rayed but we did not have to open them.

In terms of safety, use common-sense precautions you would use everywhere in the world these days. Be alert to what is going on around you. Avoid large crowds and demonstrations.